Clap your eyes on what the Limited Collector’s Edition contains, and a rather rustic looking Master Chief who makes an appearance. No kidding.

The Xbox 360 role-playing game Fable II will hit UK retail from Friday 24 October. There will be a limited edition box-set available from participating retailers at launch priced £49.99, the standard edition will be £44.99. Both are estimated retail prices so shop around, you may find them cheaper.

Here’s what the Collector’s Edition contains, lifted straight from the official blurb:

• Bonus DVD – Includes new ‘Making-of Feature’ with Peter Molyneux and the team at Lionhead Studios and concept art viewer

• Bonus In-Game Content (Requires LIVE account) – Includes “The Hall of the Dead” Dungeon, “The Wreckager” Legendary Cutlass Weapon and Otherworldly Bonus

• Collectible Hobbe figure with accessories – From the Qee Collection comes this one-of-a-kind Hobbe figure. Nasty, brutish, and short, he roams the countryside, preying on travelers and spiriting away the children of the unwary.

• 48-hour Xbox LIVE Gold Trial Card – With Xbox LIVE Gold, players can show off their individual hero by inviting friends into their unique version of Albion or they can visit their friends’ Albion, and earn additional gold, experience and renown to take back into their own.

• Five printed Fate Cards – These five beautiful cards foretell the Hero’s great destiny to journey across all of Albion, encountering deadly enemies and enigmatic allies. The path leads to a choice that will change the world forever.

You can get a taste of the whacky humour and attention to detail on offer in Fable II from as early as next Wednesday when the Fable II ‘Pub Games’ are made available to download from Xbox LIVE Marketplace. If you decide to pre-order Fable II, perhaps to guarantee your Limited Edition, the Pub Games download will cost you absolutely nothing. Otherwise, from 13 August, 800 Microsoft points will bag you three odd-ball parlour games: Fortune’s Tower, Keystone, and Spinnerbox. They’re loosely based on Black Jack, Roulette and Fruit Machines. Apart from having quite a laugh, as we understand these games are actually very good, the boon of playing Pub Games is that any money you earn can be used to purchase items in Fable II when you begin your quest.

And finally… it appears that Master Chief, of Halo fame, will have a role in Fable II. Or, could this artwork we have received be merely an imaginative way to show off the character customisation options? We suspect the latter, but it’s got everyone talking.