The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine

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to load. When I started the install, it took so long to actually do anything I thought my computer froze.

2. Content. My opinion here is all over the map, but frankly, overall, the expansion is a trifle disappointing.

* The Crusader/Knights of the Nine Faction quest - Pretty nifty; about as good as any of the guild or miscellaneous quests in Oblivion. The new villains - the axe-wielding, golden-armored Aurorans - are pretty cool, and I kind of like the whole Knights of the Round Table concept; but the artifacts you're questing for aren't earth-shatteringly unique or powerful, and like most of the guild/faction quests in Oblivion, after you've played the storyline out, the Knights just revert to a bunch of guys milling around an old church without anything to do (although you can come around and grab your followers - but only one of them at a time - to assist you during your adventures, if you wish). At least your knights bust out with a "Hail Master" and recognize you when you visit, unlike the snots over at the Mages Guild, who don't even seem know you're alive once you're named the Guild Master.

Then we have the Big Extras: there's the Mehrunes' Razor mini-quest; the oddly sudden inheritance of the Wizards Tower, the Vile Lair, and the Thieves Den; the rebuilding of the Mage Guild's Orrery, and a few odds-and-ends: the new spell-containing books and the horse armor. Now, I know that, at around twenty bucks, the Knights expansion pack is about half as expensive as Oblivion was at its forty to fifty dollar range. But unlike Oblivion's hundreds of hours of game play, with the mammoth main storyline and the dozens upon dozens of quests and side-quests, I expected to get at least half that content with Knights. Unfortunately, you don't. After returning the Knights of the Nine to glory (which, after the half-hour installation, takes up most of that twenty hours of additional fun), you're left with little real game play. The rest of the content pretty much consists of traveling to/discovering a few new locations, then getting a journal entry telling you to a) go see this merchant, then b) buy the stuff to decorate your new digs and/or horse. All these are nifty elements, but without any kind of oomph behind them. I wanted to go pirating with my pirate crew, a-la Bethesda's buggy-but-swashbuckling Elder Scrolls stand-alone, Redguard, but no. My wizard's tower looks pretty cool, but aside from some pet imps in the basement and a book left behind by the previous, presumably dead, owner, nothing happens here. Or in the Vile Lair either. And the horse armor? There's only two measly choices: elegant elvish or plain old steel plate. Whoopie. And for what? It's not like it serves a purpose. My horse still gets his butt smacked every time he looks at an ogre funny, so what's the point?

3. The M rating. Why? Nothing here is any bloodier or racier than in Oblivion. There's no l'amore, and nobody's running around buck-naked, as fun as that might be for us perverted old gamers. So why the 17+?

4. With all the Ayleid ruins and cultural references, how about some artifacts? Other than a few dusty, new-agey crystals scattered around in the dungeons, I mean.

All in all, there are some nice ideas here, but it seems Bethesda only had time to throw together some quick sketches for this pack, instead of bestowing the lavish painting that was Oblivion. Maybe as with Morrowind, Bethesda has a couple other expansions ready to go that - for another twenty bucks a pop - will add some much needed depth to the underdeveloped content introduced here. Hope so. But that's probably a long way down the road, and I honestly feel a little cheated. Just like when I learned about that whole Santa not being real business.