Title The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Date 04.08.2007 Genre RPG Platform PC Developer Bethesda Games Publisher 2K Games

Shivering Isles is certainly many times better than Oblivion in terms of environment and overall presentation, and is simply much more unique. Unfortunately, it still relies on the flawed core gameplay of Oblivion. Luckily, the Shivering Isles are interesting enough that you can ignore these flaws long enough to enjoy the comical quests and NPCs, odd creatures, Manic and Demented choices, and unique environments.

Anyway, the review. Be warned, it may contain some minor spoilers, but certainly no major ones.

Gameplay (Core)
Yes. Welcome the return of the horribly designed creature and loot scaling. This topic has beaten to death far too much, so I won't get too much into it. Basically, the terrible scaling system encourages "backwards" character design, suppression of level gaining, and can result in some annoying immersion breakers. For some reason, though, the scaling seems to be somewhat less annoying in the Shivering Isles, with the addition of quite a few unique items and less obvious NPC scaling issues (no armies of glass armor wearing bandits to stick out).

The rest of the gameplay is exactly the same as Oblivion, for better or worse. I won't rehash any of this, since it has already been covered extensively in Oblivion reviews.

Gameplay (Supplemental)
Unfortunately, Bethesda once again used their horribly shallow "you hear a rumor" (from an invisible man, apparently) introduction for the Shivering Isles that they used for most of the worthless DLC, which is definitely a wasted opportunity for a interesting beginning for the expansion. This mistake is made up quickly, though. The Shivering Isles far surpass Cyrodiil in terms of interesting quests and NPCs.

Many of the quests involve making important decisions between Manic or Demented paths. Many of the quests are completely different than your typical "fed-ex" or "kill" quests, although a few of these still exist. While there aren't too many dungeon types in the Shivering Isles, many of the quest-related dungeons have unique and sometimes surprising features.

As far as NPCs go, you will meet many more memorable, strange, and/or interesting characters in the Shivering Isles than you did in Cyrodiil. There is a man afraid to sleep near walls, a woman who fears the end of the world, a sick innkeeper, the Duchess of Dementia and the Duke of Mania, and of course, the Daedric Prince of Madness himself, Sheogorath, as well as his chamberlain Haskill.

There are even two merchants who can craft new and interesting weapons and armor for you using two new materials from the Shivering Isles. There is a new set of light armor and a new set of heavy armor on par with Glass/Daedric, respectively. Seems Bethesda is bringing back some features from TES3, as Tribunal and Bloodmoon both included some armor crafting opportunities.

Story
The plot of the Shivering Isles is a bit insane, as it should be. Without spoiling too much, basically, Sheogorath wants a human champion to stop the "Greymarch" from destroying his realm. As the story unfolds, a variety of plot twists occur amongst a bunch of interesting quests, aided by Sheogorath's often hilarious dialog and character development.

The interplay between Mania and Dementia is very well done. Sheogorath's personality includes both sides, and much of the plot involves choosing either Mania or Dementia as you progress through the quests. Will you ally with Mania, Thadon (Duke of Mania), and the Golden Saints for a quest, or will you choose to go along with Dementia, Syl (Duchess of Dementia), and the Dark Seducers? Will you take a "Manic" path or a "Demented" path through a certain dungeon? Every time these choices come up, the results are often quite different, leading to some interesting possibilities for replay.

Audio
The voice acting seems to be improved in the Shivering Isles. The smaller number of NPCs may have allowed for more unique voice acting. Sheogorath and Haskill, for example, have very expressive voices.

The new creatures have good sound effects, and all the environmental/dungeon sounds fit well into the Shivering Isles. Unfortunately, no new music is included, even though there was a good opportunity to add some unique music.

Visuals
The Shivering Isles are extremely well presented visually. The dichotomy of Mania and Dementia in the environment is very well done. Mania is full of vibrant flora, giant mushrooms, large rocks, and bright colors. Dementia is full of vines, dead-looking trees, swamp-like areas, and depressing colors. You will never be wondering which part of the Shivering Isles you are currently in.

Additionally, many of the quests feature interesting visuals. There are magical green flames, explosive shockwaves, shattering shards, obelisks that jut out of the ground, vine doors that "unravel" when appropriate, flowing gas, collapsing dungeons, and much more.

The odd creatures of the Shivering Isles are equally unique. There are goblin-like creatures wielding strange weaponry and shields, living trees, jumping amphibians, poisonous lizards, giant spiders, strange knights and priests, fanatics, and Atronachs sewn out of flesh. Many of these creatures have new animations such as leaping at you or up into the air.

Overall
Shivering Isles is definitely a good investment if you enjoy Oblivion at all. While it doesn't fix any of the major gameplay issues with Oblivion, it is a definite improvement over almost everything else.

Game Score

B+

Reviewed By: Contributed