Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Review

Is more of the same enough when “same” means “awesome?” Find out inside.
Sandbox games are becoming more and more common with each generation of game consoles, and likewise, they are becoming more and more open-ended. The Elder Scrolls franchise is not a new one. Oblivion, which released in March 2006, was the fourth full installment in the series. Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles is also not another first for the long-running game franchise. There have been numerous expansions in the Elder Scrolls series over the last ten years. However, Shivering Isles is the first major expansion for Oblivion, and it comes as the first expansion to grace the Xbox 360, too.

Priced at $29.99 and available only on Xbox Live, Shivering Isles is alone – the first of its kind. You need a copy of Oblivion for Xbox 360 to even play the title, and what’s more, you need Xbox Live, which isn’t free, either, to download the expansion. Oh, and we almost forgot: you need Internet access. Then again, if you’re reading this, you probably have Internet, in which case pretend we didn’t say a thing about it and continue reading.

If you’re expecting something wildly different from what you played in Oblivion, stop right there. Shivering Isles, like all expansions, is no full-fledged sequel. It plays just like its immediate predecessor in more ways that we can name. However, this is no complaint, as the game it’s based on is one of the 360’s greatest. If you played and remotely enjoyed Oblivion, you’re going to be happy with Shivering Isles. But if you’ve never played Oblivion or any other games in the Elder Scrolls franchise for that matter, let us back up. If you dig non-linear sandbox-style games, then you’re going to love Shivering Isles. Catch our drift?

Whether you have a decked-out character with the best armor and weapon in the game or you want to create a new one from scratch, as soon as you’re done downloading Shivering Isles, you’re able to jump right into the expansion and experience it any way you want to. Unfortunately, when you first boot up Oblivion after downloading the expansion, you won’t receive any immediate direction as to how you’re supposed to get to the “Shivering Isles.” Bethesda’s approach is a little more laidback. This noted, a mysterious and equally sinister doorway appears in Niben Bay once you’ve downloaded the expansion, which you can use to enter the colorful and simultaneously dark Shivering Isles.

Within the Shivering Isles, new armor, weapons, side quests, dungeons, enemies, landscapes, towns, NPCs and a whole new main quest line awaits gamers. The storytelling in Shivering Isles is never boring, although it’s less conventional than your typical RPG. There are no cut-scenes in the game. The story is told through interacting with in-game characters (NPCs), with whom you must converse.

One complaint we had with Oblivion last year was the somewhat forgettable cast of characters. We’re happy to report that Shivering Isle’s features a cast with much more personality. Indeed, some of the people you come into contact with along your adventure are true characters – each more twisted and fascinating than the last. For example, the name Sheogorath might not mean anything to you right now, but after the first time you encounter the slightly manic and wordy Prince of Madness and ruler of the Shivering Isles, you won’t forget him. His dialogue is entertaining, and you won’t mind his constant ramblings, contradictions or any of the other nonsense he spews from his usually-grinning mouth. The same can be said about his servant, Chancellor Haskill, who is noticeably more serious and sarcastic than the man he serves. What’s more, the two people that rule over the two halves of the Shivering Isles, the drug-loving Duke of Mania and always-paranoid Duchess of Dementia, are both distinctly different but equally likable – or at least entertaining – characters.

The Shivering Isles is split into two parts: Mania and Dementia. Mania’s citizens are often eccentric, animated and almost always insane in one way or another. Oppositely, Dementia’s are sad, gloomy and demented, barely alive – and usually wishing they weren’t at all. There’s a relationship between the citizens of both realms and the landscapes they inhabit. Mania, as expected, is particularly colorful. Overgrown mushrooms cover most of the land, and where there are none, a colorfully psychedelic parade of trees, bushes, plants and other vegetation march, fueled by a light wind. On the other end of the spectrum, Dementia is a land that looks dead. Flooded by swampy bogs, dark forests, thundercloud-filled skies and a persistent aura of despair, the world contrasts the manic-but-colorful Mania in every way possible. Both lands feature undeniably insane people, but they’re all off their rockers for different reasons.

What was fun in Oblivion – exploring new areas, talking to town folk, completing quests – is still fun in Shivering Isles. However, this expansion seems to have more of a focus on the string of main story quests as opposed to side quests. Oblivion seemed to spill over with side quests, whereas Shivering Isles is a little less populated when it comes to them. This is somewhat disappointing to consider, but thankfully, the main quest line is ultimately enjoyable despite its tendency to rely on fetch quests.

There are a lot of new dungeons to explore – some optional, others mandatory – in Shivering Isles. Unfortunately, most of these look and feel too much like one another. We oftentimes found ourselves wishing we could just go back outside to the Shivering Isle’s far more interesting locales instead. A similar complaint we have is in regards to the fact that there is only one major city in the game. There are small towns, each made up of a couple shacks, spread across the Shivering Isles, and the main city in the realm is fairly large, but the town gameplay is so fun in the Elder Scrolls series, it feels like you can never have enough of it.

As an expansion pack, Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles never feels like it’s going out of the way to impress, and that’s because it’s not. Still, because the underlying formula behind the Elder Scrolls series is so irresistibly fun, we can’t help but love the game. We wish there were more side quests and we can’t help but wonder why Bethesda took our horse away. What’s more, the game has some flaws it inherits from Oblivion, such as its less-than-amazing combat system. But some minor quibbles aside, this is a great 20-plus-hour adventure. You can’t help but get lost in its immersive and imaginative design. If you loved Oblivion – we know we did – then you’ll definitely like Shivering Isles. It’s more of the same, but who says that’s a bad thing?