When I play videogames, especially now on the Xbox 360, I get a big feeling of satisfaction out of beating them - and in the instances where I've earned every Achievement, I couldn't be more proud and thrilled! One game finished as I move onto the next one - but this wasn't the case when I finished Oblivion last year - instead of feeling that excitement, I was sad. There is no game, or game world, like Oblivion, and for it to actually be finished was something I hated to admit. I wanted to go back to it on many occasions, knowing that there could be so many more hidden items out there. Luckily, Bethesda is always one to please their fans and they've gone above and beyond the call of duty with the first official expansion to Oblivion, Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles.

Let us get one thing straight right off the mark: this is not Oblivion in slightly different terrain. The missions and quests in Shivering Isles are not a rehash of adventures that will feel all too familiar; instead, Bethesda have created all-new missions and dungeons that have features unseen in Oblivion and that are much more story-oriented. For example, hidden within the Southern edge of the Shivering Isles (I'll discuss the actual realm and why we're there shortly) you'll find an ancient abandoned temple. Once you get inside it comes to light that it's been infested with ghosts, all looping through time and repeating their greatest moment of failure again and again as they are overrun by the Knights of Order. Unable to physically touch the ghosts, good or bad, you'll need to find a way to help defend the temple and free the ghosts from the curse.

Not only is this a great standalone quest unlike anything from Oblivion, but it ties in nicely with the overall story. In the realm of the Shivering Isles numerous temples lay in ruin across the land. It turns out every thousand years the Graymarch begins - the Knights of Order storm the land and lay waste to everything, then the rebuilding process begins again. Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince who rules the land, does not enjoy this. Elder Scroll fans will remember this Prince of Madness from Morrowind and Oblivion fans will recognize him as one of the numerous Daedric statue quests. Sheogorath rules this land and considering he is a most unstable prince who loves madness, you can expect it to be far removed from anything found in Oblivion's Cyrodill.

Speaking of Cyrodill, before I get too far ahead of myself I realize there are some people out there who have not experienced the original Oblivion. While this is a travesty and they truly are missing out on one of the most satisfying console experiences ever, I'll let it slide! [Phew, thanks - I just haven't had time to look at it yet! Ed]. Oblivion is a first person RPG that thrusts you into a huge world and basically lets you go wild. You can build your characters up to be thieves, magicians, warriors, or even vampires, using swords, axes, staffs and more to fight enemies and cast spells. The game features a huge world to explore, hundreds of quests and side quests, dozens of dungeons to raid and treasure to collect, guilds to join and some great voice acting and music to accompany your adventure, which should last well over 100 hours. To this day it also remains one of the best looking titles out there - and luckily for you you'll have to play it to find the Shivering Isles, so if you haven't then you really have no excuse now. The price of Oblivion is separate to the price of Shivering Isles ($30), so new players will have quite an investment on their hands... but one that is absolutely worth it.

The Isles are basically split into two halves, but not in a drastic way. One side is very over-saturated, colorful and pleasing on the surface, full of huge, bright mushrooms coming out of the ground; however, the people of the towns are demented on the inside. They play mind games, and the Duke of this half of the land, called Mania, is obsessed with mind-altering food and drinks. The other side, Dementia, does not hide its madness. The land is more claustrophobic, dark, and tangled with roots shooting out of the ground. Each land has its own guards, both stylized to fit their area perfectly - the guards of Mania wear golden armor and shine as a beacon of hope, playing up their manipulation skills. On the other side, the guards of Dementia are gray in skin tone, and wear black and purple gear; they do not hide much and are often referred to as the Dark Seducers.

In the middle of all of this lies the capital New Sheoth, where you can find Sheogorath and his palace - one side of the palace garden is blooming with mushrooms and green grass, while the other side is dead and entangled with roots. Each side has a flame that represents their form of madness, as well as a carpet that is split in half by the colors red and green. This all leads to Sheogorath himself, who wears split armor that represents both forms of madness - luckily it's not a drastic change in his armor and you'll actually have to look closely to even notice that it changes from one side to the other. Sheogorath himself is one of the best characters I've come across in a videogame; he's absolutely hilarious and demented, perfectly representing both forms of madness. If you hit him, he summons you to the top of the Isles where you promptly fall for about fifteen seconds and land on top of a hill full of other dead bodies. He's a Madgod and an absolute joy to talk to... he perfectly sets the tone of the Shivering Isles and makes the game a hell of a lot of fun.

But, why are we here? How did we get to the Isles? Well, as soon as you download the expansion and twenty-four in-game hours pass you'll be notified that a strange portal has opened in the middle of the sea. Despite some warning from guards nearby, who say that nothing ever comes out the same, you head in and find yourself in a beautiful land called The Fringe. The sky is full of purple celestial bodies, strange yet lovely colored plants and mushrooms are blooming; overall it's a great looking place that has little resemblance to Cyrodill or Oblivion. After defeated a monstrous gatekeeper you're allowed entry into the Shivering Isles, where you find yourself proving your worth to Sheogorath, who wants to help you prevent the Graymarch from happening yet again. The game is full of some nice twists and a lot of open-ended quests, some of which will ask you to make some drastic choices that will affect the storyline and cannot be undone.

Even the minor quests are a lot of fun though; not only are they unique to Shivering Isles, but they're some of the most open-ended yet. One quest simply wants you to rid the town of a thief who is despised by just about everyone. You can kill him, find the last five flawless pearls he needs and he'll leave, or you can even wait until you come into "higher power" in the Shivering Isles and throw him into a dungeon yourself. The more you progress, the more ways you can complete each quest - it really is up to you how you proceed and the sheer number of options and possibilities is staggering! Another unique quest involves a part of the land called the Hill of Suicides. If you happen across this area by chance then you'll simply see some ghosts standing atop a hill, as if they're contemplating jumping off. Later you encounter a man on a quest who wishes to die, but refuses to kill himself because he knows he'll end up on the hill. Plenty of unique characters like him await you, such as a man who speaks in English but most of the words make little sense and are simply hysterical to hear, while another man can see the future, but it's so bleak and hopeless that he doesn't even bother trying to do anything about it, as it is already written.

Though Shivering Isles contains no new music, it does have thousands of additional lines of dialogue, some new and very unique weapons, a couple of sets of armor and, of course, new enemies aplenty. In the wild, most of the enemies you encounter are bizarre creatures formed from plants, known as Gnarl Bark (perhaps a pun on Gnarles Barkley?) and amphibious creatures that make you never want to set foot near a pond ever again. They all have new attacks and put up a bigger fight than just about any creature you'd come across in Cyrodill.

Graphically, Shivering Isles is better than I could have hoped. The Isles look spectacular in their two forms of Madness, the sky is breathtaking at night, the weapons and new enemies all look great and overall you'll be pleased that the expansion does not look like Cyrodill with a different layout. It truly feels like its own realm and though there are no performance enhancements or new technology added, it at least looks amazing. The sound is very good as well; as mentioned above, it has no new compositions, which is a shame, but luckily the Oblivion music is great anyway, so I'll let that slide. All the new lines of dialogue are done by mostly familiar voices, with the exception of the main characters, and they all do a stellar job, performing one of the best video game scripts I've had the pleasure of hearing and reading. Overall the sound and graphics have had a lot of extra work put into them to make the expansion worthwhile in every way.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles is an experience that shouldn't be missed by anybody. Elder Scrolls fans will appreciate the shout outs to Morrowind that await you around every corner (there's even a store called The Missing Pauldron, a joke only fans of Morrowind and Oblivion will get), and Shivering Isles not only lives up to but actually surpasses Oblivion in many respects. It has everything that made the original so fantastic and then some. Depending on how you play, you'll be in the Isles for a good thirty hours and I recommend milking that for all you can. Find all the hidden treasure, complete all the side quests, explore every dungeon and cavern; exhaust it completely and fall in love with it again, because you don't find a game as enjoyable and refreshing as this very often.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).