ethesda has done one heck of a job of taking advantage of the downloadable content feature on the Xbox 360. Horse armor aside, you can really get some great new content to add to your adventure through Cyrodiil. Until now, these small add-ons have brought a few cool things to the table, but nothing really that deep was available. The Shivering Isles will change all of that by adding over 30 hours of all new content and story in one download.
Let’s just say for that sake of this preview that you don’t live under a rock and know what Oblivion is. If not, you can find a preview here and a review here to help you understand how awesome this game really is. Got it? Good.
It’s best to not think about the Shivering Isles as an expansion. Yes, it does require the full version of Oblivion to play, but that’s pretty much where the connection to the original game ends. SI is a brand new, stand-alone story complete with a huge new area to explore. Once you step foot into the gate that whisks you away to the Isles, you’ll encounter new characters, enemies, items, spells, plants and more. Even most of the textures are new. The only thing that didn’t seem to get the makeover was the music, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Shivering Isles bear a resemblance to Morrowind, the setting for the previous game in the Elder Scrolls series. Although Bethesda says that this wasn’t an inspiration for the style, fans will be instantly reminded of their adventures through the land of the Dark Elves just a few years ago. The Isles are cut into two sections that have very different geography, which you’ll get to know quite well. If you’re not using fast travel, you’re on foot—there are no mounts to explore with. The north, which is called Mania, has a light, happy feel to it. There are large mushroom trees and thick, colorful plant life. The south, Dementia, is a much darker place chock full of large protruding roots and thick swamps. Both areas are named to fit in with the running “madness” theme that plays on the idea that there are both good and scary sides of it.
A walk through Mania
Playing an Elder Scrolls game usually means working your way up to challenge a Daedric in some form or another. Not this time. No, this time you’re working for one, the nutjob Sheogorath. (You may remember this name from a mission where flaming dogs rained down on a town.) It seems that everyone in the Shivering Isles is a little crazy, but Sheogorath takes the cake. Not your typical Daedric prince with an evil, snarling demeanor, Sheo appears in a way that looks much like the human form of the devil. You know the one--pointy goatee and a snappy dresser. Also, some of the dialogue that comes out of his mouth will make you outright laugh: “He’s got more brains than a brain pie!” Or: “…that may be a bad sign. You know what’s a good sign? Free Sweetrolls!”
Basically, Sheogorath’s looking for an adventurer who can handle anything, and that’s where the player comes in. When first getting to the Isles, players are met by Haskell, Sheo’s right-hand man. He sits you down in a dark room and asks a few questions and then before we know it, the walls turn into butterflies and the adventure begins. Eventually, you learn that the Shivering Isles are in danger from the Daedric Prince of Order and his Greymarch, which would destroy everything. It’s your job to stop this from happening.
Everything in the Shivering Isles is much more complex than the previous missions in Oblivion. For the most part, there are none of the redundant “kill this guy” or “talk to this person” quests. Instead, there are new and complex tasks to complete within each mission. For example, one of the early missions involves finding and collecting three crystals to reactivate a resonator. Once completed, you’re tasked with taking care of adventurers who are drawn to the newly powered-up device. In any other mission, it would be the player in the “torture” rooms, but this time, the player is in control. In this case, the choice was insanity and death. When you choose insanity, the adventurers are gassed and then faced with single Gnarl creature that grows many times its normal size—causing one of the adventurers to cry with fear. The next room had a load of treasure locked and once again, the choice was insanity. Thousands of keys proceeded to rain from the ceiling, driving another one of them insane.
Not your average Oblivion gate
These new and more in-depth missions are the real meat of the new content. The storyline’s madness theme keeps a really engrossing balance of hilarity and seriousness. After every mission was completed, we couldn’t wait to hear what Sheogorath had to say next.
Although there are no new races or classes, there are some very cool new items for you to collect, loot or even hoard. One of the coolest are the Matricies. These mysterious items can actually be taken to a smith and forged into cool new armor and weapons. Aside from that, there is also a new sword that actually powers up after a certain number of kills and changes during the day and the night. Beyond the items, there is also a bevy of new alchemy ingredients like the drug Felldew or the mysterious Hydnum Azure Giant Spore.
Because of this download’s size and length, 250 points have been added within 10 new achievements. These achievements will still be filed under your Oblivion game, making the Elder Scrolls IV the first game to break the 1,000 point ceiling with 1,250 possible.
You’ll have no problem jumping into Shivering Isles’ new content, whether you bring in your high-level Dark Elf or start fresh with whole new character. In terms of Oblivion, the Shivering Isles is about one fourth the size, but still stretches 30 some hours. Very rarely does an expansion give you more content than most full games, but that’s what Bethesda seems to be the best at. If you’re a fan of Oblivion, it’s time to get excited.