Fable 2 DLC Update

I just downloaded and completed the new Downloadable Content called See the Future. It is the second expansion from Xbox Live, the first being Knothole Island.

See the Future contains 2 new quests and 3 new areas to visit. Murgo returns. He's the swindler who sold you the music box in the beginning of the game. He's got some cursed items he wants you to exercise. You have to buy them, of course, at 5 gold a pop (not such a big deal for my 6 mil character... kinda bad for a beginning character).

The first is a snowglobe. When you use it, you are transported to a colorless village. You encounter three kinds of shadows... Blue, Yellow and Red. This is the first inkling to their weakness. Blues can only be killed by melee attacks. And they are pretty tough fighters themselves. Yellows can only be harmed by ranged attacks, and unlike bandits, they have good aim at long distances. Of course, Reds can only be harmbed by Will effects, and are bastard will users themselves. They use, form what I can gather, at least level 3 spells, so don't go into this mission as a fresh starting character.

Once you defeat the big dungeon that all this evil is spawned from, along with accompanying Shadow Cultists as main villains (who are easy to defeat and really really weak... weaker than the shadows) color is restored to the village. Everybody's happy, and all the people pass on to the afterlife peacefully (appearantly, the people in the snowglobe were only spirits).

The second item you get from Murgo is the Cursed Skull. It takes you to a swampy area where you are aiding a knight who was trapped by a necromancer. After the first part of the game, you soon figure that the knight isn't that nice of a guy, as he relishes in the little bits of power you bring him (power = wisps, or souls of the dead). This level is kind of a puzzle game. You need 3 different costumes: a hollow man, balverine, and hobbe- to figure some of it out. There are statues that only respond to certain creatures and won't open gates... then the wisps only follow the undead, so you need to wear the hollow man, etc. It introduces a new monster, the Poison Balverine... which sucks donkey nuts. They're as tough as the matriarch balverines, and they do extra, ongoing damage with poison fangs and claws. My suggestion: slow time, then raise undead minions. The Balvs will be distracted by the undead and you can unleash spells or ranged attacks against them.

That's it for the quests in this set, but you get two more items from Murgo. The next is an exact replica of the Tattered Spire. When you use it you return to the Spire and see Theresa. She reveals that the Spire also granted her a wish: to not see glimpses of the future, but to see all possible outcomes of the future. She takes your hand and drones on about a Queen, who's shoulders are heavy with rule (my character, who was a dude, drank the sex change potion... I wasn't paying attention as I was on the phone while I did it and suddenly he was a she... my point is, she would tell the same story, only of a king) and about the real future, which was the Queen's child... anyway, nothing really to do here. but you get a new outfit: Royal clothing, including a crown. Sad part is, you can't dye any of it different colors.

Again, you return to Murgo and he gives you a 4th, and final object (the spire, BTW, disappears from your inventory when you use it): the Coliseum. It's basically like the Crucible, except it's one massive open area (instead of several "battle rooms") and you just take on wave after wave of monsters. It's not really a quest, just a new thing to do. For every point you earn in the coliseum games, you get 1 gold, so it's a quick cash generator if you're any good. You can hit flit switches or kick chickens to earn point multipliers. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place (all determined by how many points you earn) give random items for prizes. The Ultimate prize (over 10,000 points... relatively easy as I did it on the first try) gives you the Royal Scepter. It's a magic weapon with 4 augment slots and it matches the Royal outfit.

Okay, I'm going to talk about all the stuff you can do. See the Future offers several new acheivements. ALSO: it gives you access to the Completonist Acheivement that is standard to the game. Originally, Completionist required you go to Xbox live, download the Pub Games arcade game, play online, earn points, and get an expression (Hat, Headband, Mustache Game) and a dog trick (backflip). That was the only way to get them. Otherwise, you couldn't get all expressions and dog tricks in normal gameplay, and it wasn't guaranteed to give you them playing the pub games. you had to be a lucky gambler and win lots of money.

Murgo offers 4 new potions. They are dog elixers that actually change your dog's breed. You can choose from the Husky, Bloodhound, Dalmation, and Mutt breeds (your dog is already a mutt... that potion just changes him back to original).

The new acheivements:
You get one for opening all the demon doors
One for having sex more than 25 times in game
performing 25 groin shots with a ranged weapon
Collecting all of Murgo's statues
Collecting the 10 new dyes (the final dye is a bitch to get... I still don't have it)
Several Coliseum acheivements, including kicking 5 chickens while wearing the chicken suit, getting a x10 multiplyer, defeating the necromancer in the coliseum.

Overall, I like it. You don't get much in the way of "stuff" but it has a few new items, and loads of new acheivements to strive for, as well as the coliseum, which, as I said earlier, is an easy way to earn cash. Easier than working even.

Something just came to mind: the spire wasn't completed until after you went there. I'm almost betting you can't get this item from Murgo until after you return from the Spire, or possibly even after you defeat Lucien. So, nevermind the Quick cash scheme with the Coliseum.

I never gave a proper review of Knothole Island. Here it is:

Knothole Island is suffering from 2 things: poor weather and incompetent chieftans. When you first arrive, it's in perpetual winter. You go on a mini quest and find the Sun totem to bring the winter to an end and start a blazing, dry summer. This is fine for a while, but then it's too hot, and too dry. So, you go find the storm totem, to bring the rains. this is fine for a bit, until supplies begin coming in damaged from the rains. So, you go for the Snow Totem. Then, you have the option of giving the weather power to the people, or to the incompetent chieftan.

They're basic dungeon delve quests. There are some puzzles and lots of monsters, but it's all very simple. Once you have all three, you can go to the totem Shrine and change the weather to whatever suits you. It's assumed that while you're away the people change the weather to whatever they need... as no one complains.

It offers lots and lots of new equipment, several of the items are labeled "only found on knothole island." Most importantly is the Augment Remover. You no longer destroy augments when you take them out of weapons. Lots of weapons with 4 augment slots. New augments. New potions (fat, thin, tall, short, and scar removing potions). A new legendary weapon: it's a staff. It looks awesome when you combine with the tophat and cuffed overcoat in later gameplay. There's a strange item shop. Instead of buying items, you have to trade. and it tells you what to trade for. In it you get the Black Wheel Gang outfit, including Greaser Wig, another new outfit. Several new weapons including an axe that looks like a guitar, a holy sword, an evil sword, and "Hal's Rifle." In the special collector's edition of the game, you get a Master Chief outfit and light sword from Halo. It's the equipment of some time travelling, interdimensionl travellor nicknamed "Hal." the rifle is the regular machine gun from Halo. It doesn't unload a clip terribly fast, but it does hold 24 rounds before you need to reload and has an augment slot.

Knothole Island also offers 3 new acheivements:
Bibliophile. You collect all of the volumes of the Knothole Islnd chronicles scattered around the island (there are 10 total).
Collector. You get all the special items from that crazy shop.
Meteorologist. you get Knothole Island's weather under controll.

Overall, it's short, but it has a lot of cool things to get, and some new buildings to purchase to add to your ever growing empire.

Fable 2 contains 1,000 gamer points worht of acheivements. Knothole Island offers 3 new achievements worth 100 points, and See the Future offers 13 new acheivements worth 250 points.

Overall, it's short, but it's fun.