Fable II to get downloadable content

By Robert Purchese Published 24 November, 2008

Brand new area opens up in December.

Lionhead plans to expand the world of Fable II with a new area, Knothole Island, on 12th December.

The downloadable pack will cost 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60), and should offer a fair chunk of content to wade through.

Knothole Island is dying, you see; golden sands and tropical vegetation have been covered with snow and the inhabitants are freezing. The hero's task will be to return the sun to the sky by facing challenges at three shrines.

The first screenshots show Knothole Island as dark and menacing, and populated by a new kind of shadow or wraith-like baddie.

Lionhead is also going to offer a free co-op patch to let people to play together. However, you won't be able to enjoy the Knothole content together unless you've both bought the Knothole pack.

Still, download either the co-op patch or the entire Knothole Island, and you'll be showered in gifts: Knight's Boots, Assassin's Gloves, a Weight Loss Potion, a silver book and more. Lionhead will also publish a hearty array of around 50 Leaderboards to check your progress on.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (51) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • mizcicz #1 3 years ago

    YEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

  • Mr_Dodger #2 3 years ago

    Wonder if it's set before or after game end?

  • DUFFMAN5 #3 3 years ago

    Sounds great.

  • Triggerhappytel #4 3 years ago

    That came around extremely quickly. So, extracted from the main game, then?

  • insincere_dave #5 3 years ago

    No dog armour, no sale.

  • drunkymonkey #6 3 years ago

    That looks nice.

    Was Knothole Island in Fable 1? I forget.

  • OnlyMe #7 3 years ago

    SNOW! Something I sorely missed from Fable II (apart from you know where). I hope the snow doesn't go away when you complete the island. Just make it look prettier.

    EDIT: On the other hand, it was once a tropical area, and tropical is good too - at least it's not the standard forest stuff from the main game.

    Mr_Dodger: it's probably more like a side quest, which can be completed wether you've played through the main story or not. So wether it's set before or after the game end, is likely to be up to the player.
    Edited by 1 at 24/11/08 @ 17:41

  • Raz76 #8 3 years ago

    So a crossbow, shotgun and a couple of maps in Far Cry 2 or this? Hmm, tough decision...

  • optimusprym8 #9 3 years ago

    I would prefer to pay for a co-op patch that fixes the camera and makes it less of a last-minute tacked on thought. Let the raping begin

  • Monkey_Puncher #10 3 years ago

    Knothole Glade was in the first game, glad to see the area will be making a return. A snow area will be most welcome, the demon door in Bloodstone gave a taste of just how amazing snow areas could look in the game. I'd put money on the Snowspire and maybe Hook Coast areas appearing at some point as downloadable content as well, they were mentioned in books in the game alongside Knothole Glade.

  • Moribundman #11 3 years ago

    Hmm, might make it worth revisiting. I lost my save when I upgraded my HDD for the NXE (cable didn't work), and all my goodies such as gambling prizes and $1,000,000s were lost with it :-(

    Still didn't make me as teary as losingmy expertly sculpted Mass Effect character... My intention is to recreate him and play through that again!

    Oh yeah, Fable. Meh. Sounds like it might be worth a couple of quid...

  • ronuds #12 3 years ago

    Looks nice!

  • Aysir #13 3 years ago

    Considering how short the game was, this should have been free. a complete playthrough for an RPG should never take just over twenty hours. At the very least it should have been half that price, like Mass Effect's dlc was.

  • kinky_mong #14 3 years ago

    If there aren't any new achievements with it then they ain't getting my money. The fact it's come out so quickly means its very likely this new stuff is already on the disc and there trying to bleed more money out of people. Grumble grumble grumble.

  • evild_edd #15 3 years ago

    This sounds like a proper amount of DLC.

    Still on my 1st play-through, but I might get this when I return for my second life in the world of Albion (well, third, if you count the original....am rambling now, aren't I!!!?!??)

    Aaaanyway, will just have to wait to see a view on how much you get for your 800mp. Mass Effects DLC was OK, and about the right price. I don't think Fable 2 DLC has to match that price, as long as it offers more quantity for the higher price.

    Also, for the hours I've put in to Fable 2, I don't think it was a short title. Loving all the side-quests, achievement unlocking etc. I don't often get the completionist bug, but both Fable titles seem to have brought that tendancy out in me! :D

  • el-pimpz #16 3 years ago

    Any rough ideas of play time?. Not that it matters, any excuse to revisit is good by me tbh.
    Edited by 1 at 24/11/08 @ 18:46

  • The_Inquisitor #17 3 years ago

    great, a Weight Loss Potion... my character is so fat, despite feeding him sellery all the time. But the beer and meat that he indulged on early in his quest has taken its toll.

  • smelly #18 3 years ago

    Sounds to me like it isnt "extra content" - more content tha should've been in the game for free in the first place...

  • smelly #19 3 years ago

    >But the beer and meat that he indulged on early in his quest has taken its toll.

    sounds like my life

  • jachap #20 3 years ago

    Will the patch fix the spouse-disappearing bug?

  • CapnCloudchaser #21 3 years ago

    Awesome, this sounds like a good bargain too. I'm still playing through it religiously, just started my third character. Was hoping I would stop soon so I could get round to Fallout 3. Oh well.

    Wish I could have a weight loss potion in real life :(

  • bonker #22 3 years ago

    Well having played through the game and chosen the 'costly' decision at the 'end', I'm at a loss as to why I should even be loading Fable II ever again??

    Someone enlighten me - what am I missing??

  • SixFootHalfling #23 3 years ago

    Why wasn't this in the game to begin with?

    2 months to make a whole new dynamic area and quests, is nowhere near enough so this had to be cut from the game, which would explain why it was so short.

    I'm not paying for something that should have been in the game from the beginning.

  • Bulbatron #24 3 years ago

    This all sounds great, but since I no longer have my dog :-(it hardly seems worth loading in the game any more.

  • Markusdragon #25 3 years ago

    @SixFootHalfling:
    Fable II was content-complete in May (the rest of the time was devoted to bug-hunting), so whilst it may seem like a short amount of development time to us mere mortals, inside Lionhead it's already been six months since work on the actual game stopped. More than enough time to put out a short expansion pack, really.

  • CapnCloudchaser #26 3 years ago

    Surely the point of Fable 2 is to play it more than once so that you can experience the differences with whatever choices you make and how they shape the world? The game is so short I thought that was the point, so I'm confused by people who are complaining about the loss of dog and don't see the point; create a new game, maybe?

  • Bulbatron #27 3 years ago

    The point is that you grow attached to your character. Yes, creating another character would be the easy thing to do, but that other character wouldn't have the same dog as the one I lost, nor would it have the gold I saved nor the items from Fable II Pub games that I went to all the effort to get.

    So yes, I will create a new character at some point, just to see what it is like to play it differently to how I did before, but my first character is the one I put all the time and effort into moulding, and now without the dog, (who I named Shemp), my character feels incomplete.
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 07:32

  • Aysir #28 3 years ago

    I have to agree with Bulbatron, I lost my dog with my 1st character as well - and that was the character I actually spent time playing. It's a bit silly that the honourable decision actually stops you from collecting the silver keys post ending. I wonder if the DLC will reincarnate your dog or something....

    CapnCloudchaser, your playing through Fable on a third playthrough instead of Fallout 3...are you insane!? Fallout 3 as a proper RPG is far better than Fable IMO.

  • MrChuckles #29 3 years ago

    @Markusdragon:
    'Fable II was content-complete in May (the rest of the time was devoted to bug-hunting), so whilst it may seem like a short amount of development time to us mere mortals, inside Lionhead it's already been six months since work on the actual game stopped. More than enough time to put out a short expansion pack, really.'

    Aye, on most games, development stops way before the game comes out to the public. While the coders worked on the multiplayer day 1 patch i expect some of the team was working on this.

  • shotgun44 #30 3 years ago

    I don't like worldwide leaderboards! 'Yay, i'm 92,456th best hexic player in the world...'

  • Monkey_Puncher #31 3 years ago

    There's a place in the new content called the Temple of Ressurection, you'll be able to bring back anyone....or anything that you might have lost in the past.

  • Bulbatron #32 3 years ago

    Really? How do you know this Monkey_Puncher? Are you being serious, or are you just toying with us! :-) If true, then YAY!

  • vansinne #33 3 years ago

    So you loose the dog? Thanks for that one, assholes.

  • Bulbatron #34 3 years ago

    Ah, fuck vansinne, I'm really sorry about that! I'm usually very careful about adding spoiler tags, but in replying to the point above, I just forgot to add them again. I'll add them now. It won't help you of course, but hopefully I won't fuck it up for anybody else. Once again, I've very sorry.
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 07:33

  • iancognito #35 3 years ago

    So you loose the dog? Thanks for that one, assholes.

    Well, you don't have to lose the dog. It depends on a choice you make in the game.

  • Beano #36 3 years ago

    "No dog armour, no sale. "


    A revive dog spell or something would be nice for us who choose the less selfish ending and want to play the new area with the dog back ;)

    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 08:35

  • TipTop #37 3 years ago

    Ubisoft should take note. This seems, on the face of it, a much better proposition than FC2's DLC.

    As for losing your dog, it was your choice! Made clear at the time, I might add. Why should you be rewarded for taking that particular decision when others took a different one. Should the millionaires also get their dogs back? Should those with dogs get the plaudits and also become millionaires? What's at fault imho is the lack of multiple saves. That would be a nicer feature.
    Edited by 2 at 25/11/08 @ 09:06

  • kangarootoo #38 3 years ago

    "That came around extremely quickly. So, extracted from the main game, then? "

    What does that even mean in the real world?

  • kangarootoo #39 3 years ago

    So, my two recent thoughts about Fable 2.

    1. "Weight loss potion", well hurrah for that. I decided I would try out being all corrupt, so I ate a load of shitty food (yes, thats right, eating junk food turns out into a daemon. Nice one PM) and now my character is enormous. It sort of ruins the effect of being a cool daemon.

    2. Found an infuriating bug last night. I've included some spoiler tags below, but its barely spoiler material. Just thought I would be double careful. Haven't spoilered everything, as the info about the bug may be useful for others to know in advance.

    Playing through the crucible, and got up to the last battle . Discovered that the slow down time spell, although being shown as slowing down the clock against which I was competing for a perfect round , was in fact being ignored when the final time was calculated . I didn't notice at first, so you can imagine my 'amusement' at discovering this was the case after several close but failed attempts. At one point I finished the final round with 1m22s on the clock, to be then told I had completed it in over 3 minutes. Nobheads! (I shouted at my telly at the time). .
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 09:15

  • Cronan #40 3 years ago

    Will they be fixing the Abbot's bug, the Vanishing Spouse bug, the Decorate bug, the Island of Doom bug, the "Zombie Child" bug, the Frozen Game bug, the Frozen dialog bug, the Sticky Achievements bug, the Missing Key bug, the Co-op bug where you lose all your XP, the very sluggish menu system, assorted crashes and hundreds of other game-breaking issues?

  • kangarootoo #41 3 years ago

    "the very sluggish menu system, assorted crashes and hundreds of other game-breaking issues?"

    I don't mean to nit pick, but I'm not sure the slightly sluggish menu is really a game breaker. I would rather they stopped automatically exiting the menu after each potion I scoff, rather than speeding it up, tbh.

  • captainrentboy #42 3 years ago

    My favourite glitch was on the quest to find my missing child, my child who had supposedly wandered off into the troll caves and needed my help immediately or she would be killed, my child who was infact stood behind her mother's legs the whole time my wife was explaining the whole horrible situation to me.
    ''No worries, there she is!! Huzzah!''
    Edited by 1 at 25/11/08 @ 09:43

  • CapnCloudchaser #43 3 years ago

    I agree with TipTop, choosing to sacrifice your dog was your own choice and it made sense you would also sacrifice the functionality of the dog as well, otherwise why would you miss him? It made the choices available just that more interesting, since they actually impacted on the game experience!

    Aysir, I wouldn't say that Fallout 3 is more of a proper RPG than Fable, but I do enjoy the Fable games rather too much :D I'm going to start Fallout 3 sometime this week though, although it'll probably get thrown out of the window when Sonic Unleashed comes out on Friday.. Heh, I might not have the best taste in games ;)

  • PlugMonkey #44 3 years ago

    MrED209 - Hasn't MarkusDragon already exploded your little 'it's only been 2 months since the game shipped' myth? More reading, less posting required here methinks.

  • bonker #45 3 years ago

    "There's a place in the new content called the Temple of Ressurection, you'll be able to bring back anyone....or anything that you might have lost in the past. "

    OK, that got my attention - I miss my (likewise, lesbian) wife more than the dog :)

  • DoctorZoidberg #46 3 years ago

    Jesus, you would think people would be happy to get a nice bit of extra content. Whether it was there before on the disc or not, who really cares?

    No-one is making you purchase or play it are they?

  • vansinne #47 3 years ago

    @ Bulbatron. Hey, no worries. Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh, that was written before my morning coffey. Mistakes happen. And I do love my dog.

  • SlackMaster #48 3 years ago

    I'm looking forwards to this content. I'll probably have to start a new character though as I too lost the dog.

    Will probably have to complete the gargoyle and some of the other achievements before I do though.

  • WinterSnowblind #49 3 years ago

    You guys realise that if it were already on the disc, people would be able to find it right?

    I don't see what's so unplausable about DLC coming out like this a few months after release, it's only a few new quests, and not a ridiculous amount of new assets being used.. And just how many people in a development team do you think are working on the game right up until the last minute? They probably did have people working on this while the game was in development, but I doubt it was ever planned to actually be in the game.

    And I see no problem with giving these guys more money for their hardwork. (yes, there are some glitches, but stop exagerating so much. Play Fallout if you want to see a buggy game).

  • slave23d #50 3 years ago

    when you have most of the assets already created and and its been six months since they stopped on the full game, its quick for them to bash out a new level. testing it would probably have taken longer than the actual making of the dlc.

  • RedSparrows #51 3 years ago

    I seem to get really lucky with games.

    One bug in Fable II, one in Fallout 3. Combined play of about 60 hours. I just don't find them very often ;o