The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles

The best role-playing game from last year is back again with an exciting new expansion. The game is about to get a lot bigger, 25 percent bigger to be accurate. This will be the first true expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion title. The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles, which will add a good amount of new content to its already massive online world, ships next month from Bethesda.

There has already been a fair amount of patches which added new dungeons and quests, including Knights of the Nine which added an entire new faction to quest through. These minor updates took place in the games existing lands, while Shivering Isles will introduce a whole new land with new settlements, characters and quests. There is a wonderful new storyline and 10 new achievements if that wasn't enough.

The storyline starts by explaining the appearance of a new dimensional gateway above the Imperial City. The gateway leads to the realm known as the Shivering Isles. The residents of this realm are mad and plagued with a disease called Greymarch. Greymarch has been known to kill off anyone in the vicinity without any explanation. The Isles are ruled by the prince Sheogorath, who has made appearances before in the original game. The prince is searching for a mortal champion who can find the cause of Greymarch and stop it. This is your main quest. The main quest line in the game guides you through the ranks of Sheogorath's high court in which you complete tasks that the Prince sets for you.

Once you enter the gate you will find yourself in a dark room. You're greeted by Haskill, Sheogorath's right hand man. Once you agree to meet the challenge of entering the realm, the room sort of melts away in a very impressive display of butterflies. Now stand in the land of the Shivering Isles. The land of the Shivering Isles is split into two halves. The first half of the land is Mania which is bright and full of giant mushrooms and flying pixies. The second half is Dementia. This is a dark land and full of spiders and skinless hounds.

The land is huge and will take quite some time to explore. There are numerous sizeable towns and plenty of one off quests to keep you occupied. There really isn't too much change to the game play systems, just a lot of fresh new content.

If you plan on obtaining the title for the Xbox 360, you are in for a treat. Bethesda is going to make use of Microsoft's new achievement point allowance for downloadable content. Shivering Isles will contain 10 new achievements which you will be able to obtain by saving points earned following the main quest line. The company boasts 30 hours of game play in the new expansion which will be available starting in March.