Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles

June 17,2007 - Enchanted claymores, galling goblins, and brutish trolls await the brazen adventurer in Bethesda Softworks’ Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. A game which established itself early on as one of the triple-A titles to own on the Xbox 360, Oblivion received a well-deserved expansion in the form of The Shivering Isles; a 40-hour romp through the realm of Sheogorath, an oasis of all-new content for fans looking for another epic excursion. Fans that obtained quest downloads through Xbox Live, or the website for PC players, were treated to quick fixes such as Knights of the Nine, and Mehrune’s Razor, but The Shivering Isles poses as the first true expansion to the game, and a phenomenal one at that.

Once the expansion is installed and you jump into your game, your character “hears of a rumor” of a mysterious doorway appearing in Cyrodiil which acts as the threshold into The Shivering Isles, a realm dominated by the eccentric Daedric Prince, Sheogorath. Noted by his Scottish accent and wildly bizarre behavior, Sheogorath is easily the most memorable character across Oblivion or Shivering Isles. His outrageous mannerisms act as a nice change of pace from the characters you’re used to from Oblivion, providing comedic relief, but simultaneously acting as the main storyline pusher.

Upon entry into the realm, you are restricted to the Fringe, an area outside of the entrance to the Shivering Isles. So, in order to clarify things, when you first enter the mysterious doorway in Cyrodiil, you enter the Fringe; essentially, it’s a door to an area with another door. The second door, however, is guarded by a creature called the Gatekeeper, a vicious behemoth of a character tasked with defending the entrance to the realm. Once defeated, you choose to enter one of the two halves of the Shivering Isles; Mania or Dementia. The former is characterized as being bright, colorful, and cheery, while the latter is portrayed as dark, dank, depressing. The opposing sides are meant to reflect to two sides of Sheogorath himself. The environment designers did a great job of setting a clear distinction between the two very different zones, each even having their own respective guards/soldiers; Golden Saints (Mania) and Dark Seducers (Dementia).

After surprising him with your survival into the realm, Sheogorath has employs you as his “champion” to defend the kingdom against the impending Greymarch, which takes place at the end of every era and is led by fellow Daedric prince, Jyggalag. You are sent on a number of quests by Sheogorath as well as the Dutch and Dutchess of Mania and Dementia, Thadon and Syl, respectively. The Shivering Isles is no different from Oblivion as far as backbone gameplay, still allowing you some freedom as far as critical options for completing quests. For instance, there is a mission where you are allowed to watch as you torture three adventurers who entered the realm through Xidilian, the main line of defense before the Gatekeeper. The way you dispatch of them, however, is given to you in two options across three chambers; one inflicts physical harm while the other imposes mental injury, ultimately rendering them either dead or insane.

Although the gameplay itself remains very much unchanged, which was expected, that is about the only thing that didn’t undergo some alterations. Shivering Isles offers all-new enemies, with not one creature from Cyrodiil making an appearance. Elytra, Gnarls, Grummites, and Bolliwogs make their appearances, and represent only a few of the new beasts that are new to the game. Nearly all the new creatures have a unique special ability, gnarls grow in size with each magic attack that is used against it, and Hungers siphon your fatigue, weakening each of your successive blows. The new fiends act as a welcome change to the creatures you’re used to fighting in Oblivion, and when coupled with the new weapons, spells and items available in the Isles, the expansion is a great resource for new wares and abilities to take back to Cyrodiil.

Although there is about 40 hours of gameplay, which is enough to match the longevity of a standard action/adventure game, because of the way the story is crafted, it’s clearly apparent that Shivering Isles is an expansion and honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. Expansions aren’t meant to feel like entirely new games, or else they would be sequels, not expansions. 2400 Microsoft points, roughly $30, is a steep asking price for an expansion, but in this day and age, it isn’t too far off from what is expected, and Shivering Isles is in no way a bad expansion, so the hefty price tag may be somewhat acceptable. To make the hit to your wallet a little lighter, Shivering Isles does serve up an additional 250 achievable gamer points, which brings Oblivion’s total achievable points to 1250.

Bethesda Softworks wisely followed the “if it ain’t broke” axiom and left much of the core gameplay unchanged, opting instead to toss on oodles of new content and leaving no stone unturned as to how to make the game that much better. Even for 2400 points, Shivering Isles is a worthy candidate of your hard earned cash, adding dozens of hours of fresh gameplay to a game that we’re sure you already invested far too much time into.

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