Fable 2: Knothole Island (Xbox 360) Review
Posted by Adam Larck on 01.17.2009
Fable 2 DLC provides a short bit of extra fun for fans of the game.
The first expansion for Fable 2, Knothole Island, was released on Tuesday for 800 Microsoft Points, or about $10. But what does your $10 buy you? Well, in brief, it gets you three quests with dungeons, more collectables to find, a fun store mini-game, new augments, weapons and clothes, and 100 more achievement points.
The new quests focus around trying to fix the weather in Knothole Island. To do this, you go around to three different dungeons and collect different totems that can change the weather between snow, sun, and rain, which alter the land in various ways.
These dungeons actually bring me to a side note I want to talk about, the puzzles. Each one has a different puzzle in it. While the second dungeon is just a fire dodging puzzle, the first and third dungeons have the hardest puzzles. They both deal with the different color attack orbs and trying to strike each type quick enough. They do speed up each time also, with the last one in the third dungeon staying visible for only a second before resetting. It can get annoying, but you just have to aim in advanced and be prepared.
After completing the quests (which should only take a few hours), what else is there to do? Well, like in the full game, there are items to collect. Instead of Silver Keys, they’re Knothole Island books, which, thankfully, there are only 10 of. Collecting these offers a 25 point achievement and nothing more.
The final achievement in the island can also take the longest to accomplish. There’s a mystery shop where you trade items for rarer items found only there, but some of the items you need are extremely rare to come by. Often, I found myself resting for seven days at a time just to shop at one particular dealer who may have the item you need. I found this to be monotonous, and thought that the items need to be a bit easier to find.
The items you get back though are worth it. They range from weapons to clothing to a hair style. Two weapons in particular were of interest to me. By trading in two lutes, you actually get a guitar as a weapon that’s one of the better ones in the game, and then, of course, there’s the assault rifle from Halo. Called Hal’s Rifle, it only does 59 damage, but has one augment slot and can fire 24 times before it needs to be reloaded, the same amount as in the actual Halo games.
New augments and weapons with more augment slots can also be bought on the island. In addition to new augments, players can buy a tool to remove augments. Also, potions can be bought to make characters taller, smaller, thinner, fatter, or even to remove scars. Players can now make themselves look however they want almost instantly.
The final thing I want to bring up contains a brief SPOILER, so for people who haven’t beaten the game you may want to skip this paragraph. For the people who sacrificed their dogs at the end of the game, Knothole Island will let you bring them back, for a cost. By sacrificing a villager at the cemetery, your four-legged friend is able to rejoin you on your adventure.
Overall, Knothole Island is good to give fans who have beaten Fable 2 a bit more to play. While it’s not a huge expansion that will tide you over for weeks, it’s good to give a bit more replay value for bigger fans. To players on the fence about the content, the short amount of missions and time it takes to complete them may not warrant a $10 purchase.
The 411: Good purchase for fans that have beaten the game who want more to do, but casual players may want to save their money for a possible bigger pack or price drop.
Graphics
9.0
Same graphics that have been seen in Fable 2. Many dungeons look familiar, but still look good.
Gameplay
7.5
The puzzles add a great change of pace to the game, but some of the reaction speed can get a bit challenging until you understand what to do.
Sound
7.0
Good voice acting for the cutscenes, but other than that not much sound besides the normal nature or attack sounds.
Lasting Appeal
4.0
This is what kills the content. After doing everything the island has to offer, there really is no incentive to come back. No mini-quests like on the main continent.
Fun Factor
7.0
I had a great time doing the quests and even the mystery shop. It's just after this is over, the fun kind of drops off.
