Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles

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The Shivering Isles wasn't as fun for me as the normal Oblivion fun, but it was indeed similar. They definitely put a good amount of effort into it. The characters are pretty well thought out. There outfits are different. And they have different voices for the characters too. The monsters are hard to kill, but don't do much damage in return. Not that I want them to though.

There is a good story line too. Similar to all the rest of the Oblivion quests.

My only compliant was that they took the regular Oblivion, and then did drugs, then made Shivering Isles. Everything went a bit bizarre. Everything functions the same, but its just weird. Half of the Isles are over flamboyant and uber-colorful, then the other half is dark and dreary.

But its fun.

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Buyer beware - the product description does not describe some important aspects of the game:
This game secretly installs SecuROM - a particularly nasty piece of software which can cause many problems for your computer. It communicates encrypted data to remote servers, and is almost mpossible to eradicate completely from your system.

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There are plenty of good reviews here so I don't want to rehash things. I do just want to point out that you can play this with a new character and not have problems. I finished Oblivion long ago and deleted the game from my hard disk, but thought I'd kept my save games. Ooops. I loaded Shivering Isles and couldn't find the saves, and was concerned that I'd have to spend hours leveling up before I could start the expansion pack. No worries. Just create a new character, wait for the quest to pop up, and jump on in as a Level 1. You can work the side quests while you build levels and get some nifty new armour and weapons. It's a good chance to try a new character type and experiment with new abilities. Until Elder Scrolls V comes out, this is the best we're going to get, and a great value for the money.

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Let me just start by saying that basically, this game is more of the same. But people who like this game aren't looking for a genre defining expansion, so if you liked the main game you'll like this. It basically adds more quests, items, creatures, dungeons, etc.

If you're fine with that you'll like the game. At 14 bucks it's a steal. Personally the story is passable. Something about a mad king with a mad realm needing saving or something. Oblivion's main weakness has always been the story and your purpose in the world. You never really feel like you make much of an impact with the things you do. And small things like literally 2 voice actors that voice every single NPC in the game take you right out of the immersion even more. Thankfully, Oblivion's main selling point is being immersed in exploring the world.

If you see a point in the distance, chance being you can walk, ride or swim from your current position all the way to that far off point. Chances are you'll never make it to that mark on your map anyways becuase half way you'll constantly find yourself going off the beaten path. Discovering dungeons, new castles, fighting bandits, opening portals and a myriad of things that make this game unqiue. Even with an expansion that adds some new elements, it still doesn't solve the problem of a meaningless story and your close to meaningless place in it. Yeah you can affect the world and your surroundings somewhat, but you never really feel a part of it, unless your exploring some hidden nook in it's huge world.

I wish this expansion had atleast added some freaking new voices for the NPC's. I can't tell you how jarring it is to hear every single NPC in the game speak in the exact same voice as his next door neighbor. It does seem like some of the new female characters are atleast "attractive". Visually the game is beautiful, but the character designs are freaking hideous.

I'm eagerly awaiting Elder Scrolls 5. Just making the minor changes I've complained about they can really have the next great RPG on their hands. That being said 14 dollars is a small price for 20-30 hours of brand new content.

Rating:

Took me 2 days to finish this addition. I wouldn't suggest it. Good content but not enough of it!