Excited to return to the world of Albion, I anxiously downloaded the new DLC called “Knothole Island” while I booted up my trusty copy of Fable II. In the market square of Bowerstone I headed under the bridge to the peer to meet up with the man who can deliver a whole new expansion of adventure in Fable II. In a rustic looking submarine, I headed out to Knothole Island leaving my two families behind in the search for more adventure and fame.

In the snowy landscape that is quickly turned to sunshine by your generous hand, gamers will get to explore more Fable styled mission on the new island. The expansion seems to play out to prove itself with more multi-tiered dungeons with more puzzle components then any mission in the original game. Knothole also spices things up with more surprise encounters that aren't too surprising and a list of new items to collect. However despite all its hard work, Knothole feels like more of the same, which isn’t necessary bad, but that is not necessary good either. The best thing to keep in mind with the Knothole DLC is that a lot of complaints about Fable II have been addressed with the addition of a few new items and magical tombs.

** Four-Legged Spoiler **
Now I am going to let the secret is out of the bag **spoiler** you can resurrect your dog on Knothole Island. This gives all the gamers who have finished Fable II and went with the sacrifice or greed ending will be able to have their friend return to their side, if they wish. This is almost priceless if you have been playing through Fable II without the dog who adds an uncanny amount of extra enjoyment. To Lionhead’s credit they really did a wonderful job with the dog, love it or leave it, it actually has a fairly powerful impact on the game. Without your friend you miss out on a lot of extra look and the joy its company can bring. To get the dog back all you have to do is sacrifice a human life for your dog... no biggie. The ground is sour in the Knothole cemetery, so if you’re missing your dog, the Knothole download might be worth it just for that fact.

Undue What You Have Done
A few of the items added to the Knothole Island DLC have been gripped over by Fable II gamers since the games release and this is the lack of control over loosing weight in the game. Normally you just have to chow down on lean greens for a while to get back your figure, but now that can is simplified with new weight gain and loss potions available on Knothole Island. In addition you can purchase other potions that adjust your height and can remove some ungodly battle scars if you wish. This is the good for players who have been concerned with the process to undue certain aspects. If you can seem to shake the weight, Knothole is your Jenny Craig.

Hello again, Bowerstone Market
The main complaint I have with the Knothole DLC is that you have to sail back to the Bowerstone Market before the next quest will become available. This isn’t hinted at during your mission on the island which also makes it a little hard to decipher. Thanks to some helpful gamers I found the answer and it was to exit the Knothole Island area and go to the main game then return. Then the game picks up and carries on like normal. This glitch or intentional programming is a little annoying and hopefully can be patched in the future. After you complete one quest you will start to see the trend in the mission structure making travel back and forth seem even more unnecessary.

Shorter than a Albion Threesome
Another complaint about the expansion content from Lionhead is that it can be cleared in about 2 hours. Depending on how frugal you are with your MS points its hardly worth the investment when you convert the points over to playing time. This all depends on how hardcore you are into Fable, and how badly you want some of the new items, weapons, or clothing. Besides the return of your fallen best-friend it’s hard to see the upside if you don’t have the points lying around. I would have liked more depth to the Knothole campaign, maybe a bigger town, more towns, more NPCs, more something. The concept of the weather missions (which I won’t spoil) is a clever idea with a lot of untapped potential and this short-and-sweet downloadable content seems to end as quickly as it began.

Bark at the Balverines
So what else is there about Knothole Island and its ambushing Balverines? Well, not much. There are a few characters to point out, The Chieftain (dull), The inventor Gordon (doesn’t really have a part) and pale faced Jessica who is probably the most interesting character out of them all. Actually its not even Jessica that is interesting, it is the store she runs called “The Box of Secrets”. In this shop mysterious boxes can be traded for items like carrots to potions. All the items in the mysterious boxes are unique items to Knothole and can be carried over into the normal game. I was surprised to see the Halo-rifle being added into the mix for those who didn’t pre-order Fable II. Other then opening up the wrapped items in the Box of Secrets, Knothole doesn’t have too much personality. Really, Knothole is just two sides of a street, three vendors, and three dungeons. I’m not an expert, but the value seems a little thin.

I can’t recommend the Knothole Island downloadable content to all Fable II gamers. The main reason to hold off the purchase is because the quests can be completed in less than 2 hours. The main reason you might outweigh the points vs. playtime argument is if you really miss your dog (for those who have finish the game). If you four-legged friend means that to you then by all means spend the 800MS Points to get him back. Besides that little guy, I would wait until they drop the contents price before you jump in that yellow submarine for Knothole Island.

Final Score: 5.8

Reviewed by Downtown Jimmy | 01.15.09

	Ability to get your dog back! New items, weapons, and clothing to collect Weight loss potion New achievements
	Mission structure becomes repetitive Have to sail back and forth to activate quests Entire content can be cleared in under 2 hours Needed more depth