The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

"It might not be the true expansion you were hoping for, but it's a still solid addition to an already outstanding game."

One of the defining qualities of an Elder Scrolls game is it's incredible replay value. Oblivion continued that tradition by providing hundreds of hours of gameplay. Bethesda has been releasing downloadable content that customers can purchase to hopefully extend the life of the game. For the most part, these add-ons are very sparse offering not much more than an hour or two of extra gameplay. However, the newest and most substantial add-on, Knights of the Nine adds a brand new guild and questline that'll keep you occupied for a good 4-6 hours. Knights offers the best Oblivion has to offer, with it's intricate and involving quests, you'll just wish it didn't end so quickly.

Knights starts off a lot more naturally than the other add-ons. Instead of a quest pop-up that tells you that you've recieved a letter or some kind of will, a new topic is introduced to start off the new questline. Once you inititate the questline, a Prophet gives you a gist of what has happend and what will happen if you don't do something about it. The Anvil chapel has been desecrated by an evil that goes by the name of Umaril the Unfeathered. Once thought to be defeated by the legendary Pelinal Whitestrake, Umaril has arisen once again and it's up to you to defeat him for good by finding Pelinal's weapons and armor and using it against Umaril.

The first leg of the quest requires you to pray to all the wayshrines in Cyrodiil. They don't show up as quest markers but you do recieve a map from the Prophet pinpointing the locations of the wayshrines. It's a tedious process, and depending on how much exploring you've done, this process can take awhile. After you pray to all the wayshrines, you'll encounter Pelinal himself as he fills in the rest of the details. After that, things kick into high gear and don't let up.

I've said this once and I'll say it again. Some of the best quests in Oblivion are in Knights of the Nine. There are genuine puzzles to sovle, riddles to decrypt and a proper storyline to wrap it all up. And again, it's relatively short. The questline is about 4-6 hours long, which is short by Oblivion standards. However, there's a lot of substance in this package, and with it's budget price and the inclusion of all the other add-ons, it's definitely worth a purchase if you want more Oblivion.

8.5/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/18/06