Reviewed by Eva Cekanska
There is a lot I could say about Oblivion. As a matter of fact I have already said a lot about Oblivion, on numerous occasions, whether in my Holiday Game Guide picks or in the review which we published earlier this year.
Nothing about this game is redundant, and thus, I feel it is only fair that this addition to my original review should also stray from venturing down that long, if tempting, path. However, in case you have not picked this game up yet, I will go over it in one foul swoop. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is gorgeous and intensely engaging. Featuring countless quests, including a grande and truly outstanding main story arch which spans the depths of the world created by Bethesda.
Over one hundred hours of game time should keep you entertained, and there is several ways in which you may choose to go about spending those hours. Aside from the many guilds, such as Thieves or Mages, the side quests, or even that main story line revolving around the evil dremora lord Mehrunes Dagon, Bethesda made sure you had things to do.
Frankly, I’m not opposed to riding my horse around the gorgeous province of Cyrodill, the graphics are beautiful enough that I may even come to feel imaginary wind and dewey precipitation on my brow. I have a wild imagination, life-like environments do a number on my senses.
But my point here in the long winded dissertation on just how fantastic the fourth addition to the Elder Scrolls franchise is that there is more. Upon completion of the game, you can download many patches and updates, including this very note worthy little number called Knights of the Nine.
Oblivion goes a long way to help you find out what you need to do in a quest. Sometimes this may even seem ridiculous, you know exactly who to talk to, where to find them, there is a dot on your map and if you’ve been there before you can speed right along to your destination by clicking. If I wasn’t the overzealous fangirl who just spent an introduction praising all things Oblivion, I’d almost call this system contrived. This is where Knights of the Nine shines. Nothing cliche about shiny knights, I assure you.
Knights of the Nine will be introduced to you, the player, through rumors. You will have to investigate, do a little asking around, be a little bit more conspicious than you’re used to.
Of course you might actually already know that something is afoot if you’ve purchased Knights of the Nine, this I do not dispute, but a quest update will not merely pop into your journal. What is it then, this ten hour addition to an already superb game? Well, as it happens, on the shores of the lovely, white paved, town of Anvil someone has slaughtered all of the priests and a madman is warning the citizens of ther imminent doom. He will also tell you of Umaril the Unfeathered, who is responsible for all this wrongdoing.
Without giving too much away, the Nine are the nine gods of Cyrodill, whose shrines are scattered throughout the breathtaking landscape. You will be visiting all of them to recover ancient artifacts in order to take on the baddie, and giving new life to the acient order of knights they once oversaw. The quest is rather epic, all things Oblivion, and the loot is quite worth the pilgrimmage.
An already outstanding game is made even better through this ten hour quest which explores another aspect of the vast and fascinating world of Tamriel. If you’ve come to play through the rest of Oblivion, I command you, download Knights and add to your experience. It is quite worth it, if only to rediscover what you originally loved so much about Bethesda, and why we must keep them in our hearts and thanks during this Holiday Season.
Knights of the Nine is available for download for PC at obliviondownloads.com for $9.99 and also on Xbox 360 Live Arcade for 800 points. The retail package for PC includes Knights of the Nine and all the other downloadable content (Wizard’s Tower, Vile Lair, The Orrery, Mehrunes’ Razor, Thieves Den, Horse Armor, and Spell Tomes) for $19.99.
Special thanks to Pete Hines and Bethesda for providing a downloadable version of this title.