Review: The Elder Scrolls IV: The Shivering Isles - PC, PS3, Xbox 360 - 9.1

Shivering Isles is a true, full-length expansion to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and introduces a whole new land. The theme of the new world is madness, which is manifested in the batty characters and the twisted yet beautiful landscape.

Once you install Shivering Isles, you\'ll learn of a portal which has suddenly opened Niben Bay. After you step through, you step in the world of the Shivering Isles: the realm of the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath. It is split into the colorful land of Mania and the paranoid realm of Dementia. You are encouraged to act as Sheogorath\'s servant to carry out his strange demands and gain prestige in the Court of Madness.

As is standard for an RPG, you will embark on a series of quests, gaining rank to eventually claim the title of Madgod of the Shivering Isles. Some quests have you going through huge, complex dungeons to gather artifacts and defeat enemies. One of the more memorable early quests has you activate a trap-filled ancient dungeon. You can watch as a party explores it, pressing buttons to either send monsters to kill the adventurers or play tricks to drive them insane. This sadism is constantly encouraged in the Shivering Isles.

Unfortunately, not all of the tests are this fun and the end of the game is filled with simplistic fetch quests in identical dungeons. Fortunately, there are plenty of side quests you can pick up by talking to people in the two main towns that do provide a nice diversion, allowing you to interact with the Shivering Isles\' strange inhabitants.

Some of the characters, including the star, Sheogorath, do get annoying. He always shouts in a strange, non-humorous accent that might even make you want to turn down the volume. Fortunately, his assistant, Chancellor Haskill is a subtle character who ends up being often quite funny. The majority of the characters you meet are a step above what you find in regular RPGs.

Visually, the expansion does much more to set itself apart from Tamriel\'s world. The world mirrors the prince\'s schizophrenic nature, providing seemingly two different portions of the world with their own visual themes, characters, and creatures to fight. Animation is top-notch and the game remains a strong graphics showcase. It runs great on medium hardware and can last you nearly 30 hours of playtime.

The time and money that you invest into Shivering Isles will be well spent. It manages to add a bucketload of new content without making the game feel stale.

Gameplay: 9 - An amazing new quest line will last you longer than most games would.
Presentation: 9.5 - Awesome new lands and characters to discover, the only low-note is the Prince\'s annoying character
Graphics: 9 - Manages to add some colorful visual variety to the Oblivion world.
Sound: 9 - Fitting music and appropriate voice-acting. Prince is such a pain to listen to...
Value: 9 - Offers more content for $20-$30 than full games do nowadays.

Final Score: 9.1 - It doesn\'t hurt that the Shivering Isles introduces a fresh new take on the Elder Scrolls lore.

Marcin Skok
Editor-in-Chief
"The Gaming Corner"