reviews: Elder Scrolls IV
Exclusive hands-on with 360's first true expansion pack.
By Garnett Lee 02/05/2007
With a string of popular packs, Oblivion set the early example for what can be done with console downloadable content. A diverse collection that covered everything from Horse Armor to the completely integrated quest series in the Knights of the Nine kept fans happily adventuring in the realm of Cyrodiil. But for an expansion pack, developer Bethesda Softworks wanted to step out of the "more of the same" mold and go beyond just adding to its traditional fantasy world of stone castles and verdant forests. Just getting to the new Shivering Isles rips you completely out of the mundane domain of Cyrodiil, to be deposited in Sheogorath, the plane of the Daedric Prince of Madness.
Well, that's not entirely correct. Before you can play with madness you must pass a little test to gain entry. It all begins when an island mysteriously appears in Niben Bay a couple days in game time after you install the expansion (yes, you can just rest and skip right to it). On said island, a glowing portal in the form of the gaping maw shared by two maniacal looking faces carved into either side of an enormous stone head beckons. Inside waits Haskill, Chamberlain to the Prince. He explains that this is an invitation to the other side, one you're not forced take, one that could leave you stumbling around a mindless vegetable like an NPC you might encounter when you first hit the island, and one that being an intrepid adventurer you of course can't refuse.
Once through you find yourself in a walled-in little village known as the Fringe that sits outside the gates to Sheogorath. Here's where the test comes in: to gain entry you need to defeat a grotesque giant gatekeeper that resembles a certain boss out of Resident Evil 4. While challenges like this in the original game had specific solutions, for the expansion Bethesda wanted to open up freedom in solving quests to match the open feeling you get roaming the world. So, you're welcome to try to charge in, sword flailing, but the developers let you know this might be a little difficult by having NPCs lead you to watch the gatekeeper handily wipe out a team of knights in plate mail.
By poking around the village some, and talking with the locals, a couple of options present themselves. You can recruit an archer to fight with you by helping him take out the crypt guardians protecting bones he can use to make magic arrows. But poke around a little more and you'll run into the apprentice of the sorceress who created the gatekeeper. A little carefully applied speechcraft later, you'll know that the sorceress visits her creation every night at midnight, and that the tears she cries during these rendezvous are poison to her creation. Collected from a handkerchief she drops, they can be applied to your weapon to give you the upper hand against the giant. Or, do both: get the archer to help and gather the tears to poison your sword. When you do face the monster it certainly won't hurt to have every possible advantage.
Choice figures prominently throughout the expansion. The gate itself even offers you two doors from which to choose. Both lead to Sheogorath, but depending which you chose you'll either set foot in Mania or Dementia first. Imagine the realm as the projected psyche of the Prince of Madness, divided somewhat like what Freud described as the id and super-ego. In Mania excesses reign supreme; it's a bacchanalian celebration gone awry and everything glistens with an unbelievable sheen. Head to the other side and you get the baser side, and a real sense of descending into Dementia. Everything is dark and foreboding creating a twisted landscape Tim Burton could be proud of. Nowhere is the difference more pronounced than in the main city of each side. Guards in gilded armor patrol the avenues of Mania's Bliss while over in Dimentia the buildings seem to be closing in on you in the dirty narrow alleys of Crucible.
A visit to the Prince reveals the reasoning behind his invitation. Just as Cyrodiil faced the end of an era, so too does Sheogorath. It passes with an event called the Greymarch that wipes the slate clean, including the Prince, for a new beginning. But this Prince hopes to defy the progression by finding a human champion capable of halting the Greymarch. As you adventure in both aspects of Sheogorath, completing quests will help you rise in favor with the residents to become that champion. Before reaching the ultimate showdown you'll also have to take out your competition in court, the Duke of Mania and the Duchess of Dementia. And again there isn't one set way to take care of them. For instance one way to eliminate the Duke avoids direct confrontation, instead letting you help him to a fatal overdose.
One of your first tasks from the Prince will be to get the gatekeeper for the realm back up and running. But there are already some issues to deal with that need to be taken care of right away. Before there was a gatekeeper, mundane folks were discouraged from entering by the legend of the Xedilian dungeon. Its riches lured many, who then perished never to be heard from again. With nothing to stop them from coming, mundane adventurers have already shown up there, but the dungeon hasn't seen any action in a long while.
You'll have to help its caretaker get the place back up to snuff again, and in so doing enjoy the wicked delight of getting to take out the adventuring party, Dungeon Keeper-style. With that out of the way, you can get to working with the sorceress to create a new gatekeeper. From a gory collection of body parts including arms, heads, and hearts -- each with unique special traits -- you select the ingredients used to conjure up the new gatekeeper in a suitably spectacular summoning ritual.
Along with the serious stuff, you're bound to run across many situations along the way that lead to a chuckle or two by virtue of being in a world entirely constructed from a collection of neurosis. Because the expansion features fewer NPCs the team was able to go into more depth with each, fleshing out their personalities more completely, and with that giving them more to say. This figures directly into the quest design that aims to take advantage of these eccentric characters and their unique situations. Their warped psyches present plenty of convoluted, entertaining problems to solve, but it's not a direct attempt to be comedic. Bethesda feels that jokes never work well in games, so don't expect to see any sort of wink-at-the-camera stuff.
Besides plenty to keep you busy you'll also find ample rewards for your efforts. Crafters will want to seek out the smiths in Bliss and Crucible, each of which will be able to create a powerful new set of armor. In Bliss you can put together a sleek suit from amber collected around Mania. In Crucible you can, of course, forge a more sinister looking set of plate from madness ore collected around Dementia. And in either case matrixes found throughout the realm can be used by the smith during the process to imbue your new gear with additional magical capabilities. The new Dawnfang sword is also sure to be sought out by many. Get 12 kills with it and it becomes more powerful, leveling up in a sense, but the catch is that it resets every 12 hours with the cycle of the sun. But as the only item in the game that does anything like that, its appeal is undeniable.
With so much to play with, you're sure to want to get to it right away when you get Shivering Isles, and the way Oblivion handles character progression lets you do that. Because the enemies all scale along with you as you progress, you can start a new character and almost right away head into the expansion. While that might not be completely realistic -- there's a few basics you'll want like a better weapon, or a new spell -- you can make a quick run through Cyrodiil and be on your way in good time.
That's a good thing because you'll likely be pretty anxious after waiting for the expansion pack to finish downloading. From the amount of content on display it's sure to be huge, and, at least presently, the only way it will be available is as a download. That also means that this expansion will require the hard drive. It's a tough pill to swallow for Oblivion fans who own the core 360 system, but, for the 30 or so hours of new questing alone, one that will be hard to resist. From how strong a pull to return to Oblivion just this short time with the expansion exerted, don't be surprised to see its name popping up on your Friends List all over again in 2007.
