Shivering Isles - First Impressions
Last week I downloaded the Shivering Isles expansion pack for Oblivion. After a lengthy download (it clocks in somewhere near the 1GB mark), I played for a solid 6 hours or so over the weekend and needless to say, I’m impressed. Bethesda has really hit the nail on the head in the downloadable content department. And they’ve managed to release an expansion that serves as a great supplement and compelling extension of the story to one of the greatest games ever made.
After the purchase and download, nothing is immediately different as you load up the game except for the “Loading additional content” message, which now takes a solid minute if you’ve got all the downloadable extras. As you approach Niben Bay in the game, you receive a message about a strange door, the head-shaped gateway to the Shivering Isles:
As you pass through you’re taken to a place called “The Fringe” on the edge of the Isles. At this point you’re tasked with investigating the town of Passwall and figuring out how to eliminate “the Gatekeeper”, a giant ogre-like creature without a face. From there is where you enter the Shivering Isles proper. You have two places to explore: Mania, land of euphoria and Willy Wonka-esque landscapes; or Dementia, a dark, sinister environment that feels like that sheisty swamp in the Neverending Story. The Swamp of Depression or whatever it’s called.
The conversations with the NPCs in Shivering Isles are all pretty hilarious. Since most of the inhabitants are some sort of insane, this makes the quests rather interesting. You’ll have to deliver tongs and calipers to a homeless guy that’s trying to build a skyboat. But since the boat requires water, he’s having a hard time getting the water to fly through the air so that the boat may also fly through the air. Crazy, I know, but don’t worry… the tools will help him accomplish said goal. In another quest you’ll have to help a man find a safe place to sleep outside because he’s too scared the walls of his house will collapse on him. Your job is to find him someplace to sleep away from all that danger. Oh yeah, and dialogue with Sheogorath is utterly ridiculous.
My favorite addition, however, is the inclusion of numerous new enemies, armor types, weapons, and plants/potion ingredients. Enemies have different animations and combat styles and it becomes easier to create some sweet new potions and poisons.
The Shivering Isles is without a doubt the most striking piece of downloadable content for any game yet released on the Xbox 360. Well worth the price (2400 MS points, translates to roughly… who knows, I suck at math). My next download better be for Crackdown. I know you’re reading this, Realtime Worlds. So please make it happen. For the children.
Tags: Bethesda Softworks, Microsoft, Reviews, Xbox 360
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