Introduction:

It’s been quite some time since I anticipated something with so much excitement that my palms became sweaty and my pulse raced. But, the nearer I came to arriving at the local Fry’s Outpost Tuesday afternoon of the 27th of March, the more excited I got. Anyone who’s been reading the DriverHeaven forums for any length of time over the past year will already know what a fan I am of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. (Fanatic, anyone?)

Oblivion, for short, is the highly anticipated – and highly acclaimed -- sequel to Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Never in my gaming experience had I imagined such a vast, open, completely explorable environment as I discovered in Morrowind. I played Morrowind – after a few false starts and some computer crashes – for nearly five years. Developing a character and sticking with that character for so long kind of does something to a gamer. One develops a unique relationship that’s difficult to explain to those not acquainted with the genre.

The dramatic entrance into the Shivering Isle universe ...

This isn’t to say that I haven’t played other games. Oh, yes, I have! Many of them, too! Half Life 2; Splinter Cell – the first three in the series; Dungeon Siege; Neverwinter Nights – the original and two add-ons; Call of Duty I & II; F.E.A.R.; and many, many others. I’ve even worked with a developer for an add-on for Deep Space Nine: The Fallen. But, just as soon as I’d finish one of these other games/projects, I’d get right back to my character in Morrowind and continue.

With Oblivion, I got the game the first day it became available at Best Buy. Not only was I excited about it, but a few family members were as well -- my older son and daughter-in-law among them. My son got his game for the XBOX 360. Not to be outdone, my daughter-in-law had me build her an upgraded PC system so she could play the game in her own leisure and on her own system. It was a lot of fun comparing notes and sharing individual experiences as we each progressed through the objectives using completely different characters and methods.

Just as soon as Knights of the Nine came out (the first official add-on for Oblivion), I was again one of the first in line to get it. And, I wasn’t disappointed.

you bring the beers i'll bring the hot chicks ...

Shivering Isles:

So, now we come to the latest, and, according to some reports, the last, official add-on for Oblivion – Oblivion: Shivering Isles.

How does it stack up against the original? How is it different? Does it have any depth? Are the objectives interesting? What about the Side Quests? I’m sure we all are interested in the answers to these, and many other, questions.

If you liked Oblivion at all, I’m sure that Shivering Isles will fit the ticket just fine. Like the other Elder Scrolls games, the character is pretty much dropped into the game without much information as to how to proceed or what exactly is developing. I really do like the fact that Bethesda allows gamers to simply continue with their already developed character. This provides an essential element of continuity for me. However, it’s just as easy to create a totally new character and begin afresh. It’s entirely up to the gamer to decide how to proceed. That’s another thing I like about TES (The Elder Scrolls) series. There’s just a lot of flexibility that lets the gamer make choices in just what and how to play the game.

gardening was never more fun, time for some pruning.

Compared to Oblivion:

Bethesda has listened to the fans and has made some improvements and added some nice touches to the overall experience. However, those who complained about the combat style will likely still be frustrated. For myself, though, I don’t do melee fighting nearly as much as I do Summoned Creatures and Spell Casting. There are so many ways to enjoy – and WIN -- the fights that it’s really not fair, in my mind, to find that much fault with the combat.

One of my favorite tactics is to use the Mage’s Paralyze Staff on the opponent (it casts a spell), watch them fall to the ground, then follow quickly with Fireball and watch them bounce off the ceilings and walls. Of course, that doesn’t work with all opponents as some can resist Paralyze spells. And, it’s that kind of experience that keeps the gamer on his/her toes when going into combat. If one depends too much on Majicka, the opponent just may well have a Silence spell that eliminates your Majicka for a certain duration. So, the gamer has to have something else up his/her sleeve in order to counter attack.

The Gatekeeper: One guy in serious need of a personality transplant

So What’s New?

First of all, the environments and flora are all new in Shivering Isles. However, the gamer doesn’t see these new environments until actually entering the Isles (which you reach by a portal in the main game section). There are also some very different creatures to deal with. I don’t want to give away too much, but, suffice it to say that, in some cases, very different combat tactics are called for. Also, in at least one instance I’ve come across, the gamer will not have success with the objective unless he/she involves certain NPC (characters).

Additionally, there’s new armor and weapons in the Isles. And, new potions and spells, too! Those who like the Alchemy skill will find a vast new experience picking the flora and creating potions.

Oh... nice golden armour, with panties to match. no seriously.

What’s the game about?

It seems that, without warning or explanation, a new mysterious gate has opened in Nibben Bay. Someone needs to investigate and YOU’VE been selected.

Upon investigating this mysterious portal, a screaming and clearly demented adventurer exits the portal back into Nibben bay, to be killed by a guard. The guard proceeds to warn you that all who enter will be sentencing themselves to a certain death, but fear not he will be there to “clean up the mess” when you return (ekkk)! Obviously the only thing to do is to totally ignore his advice. Onward we go !

Just as soon as you pass through this gate, you enter an area called, The Fringe. Here you can talk to some of the inhabitants and find out a few clues as to what’s going on. Upon talking to a few of them, the name, Sheogorath comes up many times. (He’s a god, by the way and not a very popular one at that.) It seems that many of these people have had some bad experience and their minds have been affected. To get to the bottom of the situation, you have to go through one of two other gates to get to Sheogorath.
Problem is, there’s this huge Gatekeeper blocking the way, a creation of a rather sinister lady in a nearby village. He has the key to the gates buried in his belly and you have to kill him to get the key.

Like all good adventurers and champions, you figure out a way to do that (with some help). But, if I told you how, you wouldn’t have to play the game now, would you?

my my, what nice teeth you have. Let's rip them out and make a necklace

Side Quests?

So far, I’m having a blast with them! If the gamer doesn’t involve themselves in the side quests I have to wonder if they really have an appreciation for what the TES series is all about. Honestly, Bethesda packs so much into one game there’s no way I can understand anyone saying they didn’t get their money’s worth. In my opinion, the only reasons one could come to feel that way are: 1. They simply do NOT like this type of game and; 2. They only concentrate on the main quest.

I find the side quests to be the icing on the cake when it comes to gaming. In fact, some of the side quests have so many twists and turns they could almost be considered main quests. In my humble opinion these side quests are worth the purchase money alone.

you need muscles as big as mountains to carry a sword that size

Are there any problems?

So far, in the game itself, I’ve had very, very few bad experiences. These are really and mostly due to my own tendency to go places I probably have no business going. BUT, at the same time, there should be no places we cannot go, either! What I’m talking about is that I’ve found a few times that my character got ‘stuck’ in a place where he couldn’t get out. This normally happens when jumping around the huge boulders and finding myself caught down between a couple of them and not able to jump up out of the crevice or other such like situation. This also happened a few times in Oblivion, so, it’s not something completely new - although I would have liked to have seen it fixed. However with such vast environments it is slightly excusable.

The one BIG thing I do have a consistent (100% so far) problem with is when exiting the game. No matter how I go about it, I get the Windows Error screen with the prompt to notify Microsoft of the problem. I’ve tried exiting via the Main Menu, exiting straight out of the game, and even using CTRL-ALT-DEL and End-tasking the game. They ALL result in the Windows Error. So, I’m hoping a patch is forthcoming to fix this. I did have this for a time in Oblivion as well. So, again, it’s not completely new but I’d have hoped it wouldn’t raise its ugly head again in the newest release. (Editor’s note: I can’t replicate this on my machines so I am guessing its specific to certain hardware configurations).

The landscapes really are quite beautiful ...

How is the performance?

The system I’m playing on is doing the job outstandingly! I play at 1280x1024 with Ultra High settings, HDR, and Video Sync ON.

The PC Specs:
Windows XP SP2 – completely updated;
ASUS A8R 32 MVP Deluxe motherboard – BIOS 0702
AMD A64 X2 4800+;
PowerColor X1950 Pro 256 MB DDR3 PCI Express;
Mushkin Dual Channel Xtreme Gamers’ RAM DDR - 2 GB (2x1GB);
Onboard RealTek Audio 5.1 Speaker system.

The engine runs very well on a wide array of hardware and also scales well. After speaking with Allan (Zardon), he is running his on a 52 inch screen at 1920x1080 with a Quad x6700, NV 8800 @ 16QxAA, 16AF and HDR on with all settings maxed and getting a solid 40-50fps average.

Closing thoughts:

Many who have read what I’ve written about in the past will likely expect a score of 10/10 from me. However, I’m a very fair and subjective person and I don’t believe there is such a thing – yet – as a perfect game. Oblivion comes close in many ways, but there are some things that would make it even better.

I can only imagine what the game would be like if more than one person could play. Yes, I’m talking about multiplayer. So many other games are coming out with both SP and MP these days and just imagining what the experience would be like in MP with a game like Oblivion and its add-ons just boggles the mind. Think of how it would be for a gang of four or eight playing together – or against one another – while trying to be the first to achieve the goal/s instead of simply capturing a flag or some other such silly thing. It would be a game players’ dream come true, I believe. Also with the great success of other MMOGs, having a game like Oblivion added to the genre would be a great achievement.

Another negative aspect is getting the character stuck in several situations, this really kills the experience. Many times I’m simply trying to sneak around an opponent and when I end up stuck in a rock, it really ruins the immersive feeling of actually being “in” the game. It is minor however in the grand scheme of things.

Finally, a positive note - for those of you running Windows VISTA, rest assured that, unlike S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the game runs perfectly.

Gameplay	19/20	With a diverse range of missions, submissions and a great feeling of freedom, it is a game which will deliver both short and long term gameplay.
Graphics	19/20	The engine has always been great, and this is no exception. With real time lighting, and landscapes spanning the whole colour palette, it is extremely diverse and smooth. Runs perfectly well on Vista too.
Sound	18/20	Sound is excellent, and while the voice acting and scripting can be cheesy and intentionally tongue in cheek, we have no complaints here.
Value	18/20	Excellent value for money, die hard Oblivion fans will spend months traversing every inch of landscape to find new and exciting quests.
Preference	18/20	No real flaws and it is diverse enough not to fall into the "more of the same" category. The new world is a wonderful place.
Overall	92/100	Another excellent game from Bethesda Softworks and fans of Oblivion are going to love this title without question. Highly recommended.

 

What do these awards mean?