Fable II Knothole Island Impressions

by Erik Brudvig - IGN.com | 13 January 2009 12:00
 
A distant island is in peril. Will you be the hero?
 
Two pieces of downloadable content have been put up on the Xbox Live Marketplace for Fable II today, one coming with a price of 800 Microsoft points (US $10) and the other free. Both are titled Knothole Island and listed as a game add-on and both have a size of 531 MB, which could make things rather confusing. We've sorted through everything and are here with our impressions to let you know what is what and where to spend your points.
 
The free download isn't much more than a small set of items to entice you into the download and access to new leaderboards on Lionhead.com. You won't be able to access Knothole Island and complete the quests, even though the download is titled Knothole Island. However, you will need to download this free pack if you want to play Fable II co-op with anybody who has downloaded either of the Knothole Island downloads. To play co-op through the new Knothole Island quests, both players must have purchased the 800 MS point add-on.
 

Click here to watch direct feed vids of Knothole Island.
 
The items that come with the free download are Burned Calorie Potion, Solar Shielding Spectacles, Knothole Island, Vol 1, Assassin Gloves, and Knothole Knight Boots. As it turns out, this is just a taste of the vast number of new and cool things you can find on Knothole Island if you purchase the premium pack.
 
After you purchase the Knothole Island premium add-on and boot up Fable II, you'll find a new quest has automatically been added to your book. Travel to Bowerstone Market and head down to the river's edge under the bridge and you'll find Gordon waiting to take you to the new island. Knothole Island has been plagued by some nasty weather lately and the lush paradise has slowly frozen over and become a wasteland. Gordon has traveled to the mainland to seek out a hero who can save the inhabitants from certain doom.
 

This frozen land needs your help.

There are three primary things to do on Knothole Island, as indicated by the three new achievements this download adds. The three achievements offer 100 points, bringing the total number of points that Fable II currently offers to 1,100. Here are the new tasks:
 
The Bibliophile: 25 points Find all of the books detailing the history of Knothole Island, or help another Hero to do so.
 
The Meteorologist: 50 points Bring all of Knothole Island's weather problems under control, or help another Hero to do so.
 
The Collector: 25 points Acquire all the mystery items in The Box of Secrets shop, or see another Hero do so.
 
The big one, titled The Meteorologist, is the main quest line for this new island. As you can see by the description, it isn't just the deep freeze currently plaguing Knothole that you'll have to deal with. In fact, by muddling with the weather you'll find that things don't always go as planned, forcing you to go on another quest to save the inhabitants from first a drought and then a perpetual storm. Each time you complete one of the three quests -- which involves seeking out a key to enter a dungeon and then solving a few light puzzles while battling enemies -- you'll bear witness to some drastic weather changes. As you might guess, flooding, drought and blizzards can change the landscape and in Knothole Island you'll find that access to different areas only becomes possible under specific weather extremes.
 
You'll also find that the few shops on Knothole Island will slowly being to replenish their stock or open for business as you progress through the main quest line. This offered some of the most exciting moments of my entire time on the island. New potions that can make you fatter or slimmer, taller or shorter are put on sale. New wacky weapon augments can be purchased and a tool becomes available to remove existing augments. You can even find an elixir that will remove some of those nasty scars you may have suffered during your travels.
 

The main quest line will last a couple of hours if you take your time.

Even cooler is the Box of Secrets shop. Here you'll find presents laid out on a series of tables -- more appear as you move through the Meteorologist series of quests -- that can be traded for. You likely won't have everything required for the trades unless you've been a serious packrat, but everything necessary can be purchased around Albion and then brought back to trade for unique items. My favorite is the Greaser Wig. The title of that item should be all you need to know. Grab all of the presents and you'll score one of the three new achievements.
 
The last achievement is just a fetch quest. Scattered throughout Knothole Island are a series of 10 glowing books to find. There's really not much to say about that one, but if you're really scrounging for achievement points you'll probably keep looking until you find them all.
 

The changing weather makes the whole island drastically change.

All told, I enjoyed the Knothole Island download, but I'm not sure if the price will sit well with everyone. There is a lot here when you consider the three quests, three new achievements, and dozens of new items to purchase and find. I got a kick out of some of the wackier things the new items allow you to do to your character, such as creating a short, obese greaser with a leather jacket. The lighthearted approach to role-playing that Lionhead has created hasn't lost a step with this download.
 
The main quest line will take you a couple hours to complete with more or less mileage depending on your pace and the rest of the things to do on the island could add a couple more. However, this download doesn't have the sort of replayability that multiplayer map packs for shooters enjoy. Once you finish the quests, snag all of the new items, and buy up the six new buildings, you likely won't be coming back to Knothole.
 
Supplied by IGN.com