MTV’s 10 Favorite Gaming Moments of 2008

MTV Multiplayer brings us a list of their ten favorite gaming moments of 2008, with Fable II’s “Bravura” finale ranking among them.

The end of (Fable II) is not a dream. But it plays out as if presented in such a haze. It feels, one might dare assume, like what death or near-death might feel like, full of reflection and consequence, suddenness and slowness all at once. It comes in three parts.

First, an exit: the hero whose life you’ve guided, whose body and heart you’ve shaped through your choices in this folktale of a game, leaves the world he knows to be somewhere else. He goes to a beautiful, haunting place, a place that is both the easiest and hardest place to depart of any location a player will visit in a video game this year.

Then, part two, a retrospective: but of course, developers at Lionhead, you were watching how I played this game, weren’t you? You programmed the game to take snapshots of my character and are now playing them back for me, my character’s life flashing before my eyes. Did I really used to look like that? Did I really let my body go at that point and dress so badly in my youth?

And part three: the game requires a decision to be made. Three options are presented. You’ll never forget the choice you make. After that? The game doesn’t really end. You can keep playing in its open world, but everything will feel changed because of what you’ve been through.