The Battlespire is a training center for aspiring Imperial battlemages. It is built into a secret corner of the Daedric realm of Oblivion. When you enter the premises to take your final test, you discover that the academy has been taken over by Daedric invaders! And now that a seal blocks the portal you entered by, it looks like your only way out of this nightmare is through …
Originally planned as an add-on to Daggerfall, Battlespire was published as a stand-alone game in 1997. All the action takes place in the seven levels of the Battlespire and the regions of Oblivion intertwined with it. The character and class creation system is classic Elder Scrolls, even if only six player races made the cut. Also missing are the rest function, gold and shops. But it's not as if sleep was a good idea, anyway, with all those Daedric minions breathing down your neck … and if you need more equipment, find it on–site or take it off dead bodies. By the way, loot is the only randomized instance in Battlespire: Unlike the Daggerfall dungeons, the complex maps are entirely handcrafted, so you won't end up starving in a mis-built labyrinth.
No, you'll pretty likely die in combat instead. Enemies in the Battlespire are a lot tougher than those you encountered in Daggerfall. You need to outmaneuver hostiles if you want to survive! Now don’t get me wrong: Battlespire may be more action-oriented and linear than Daggerfall, but it's not all about bloodshed. You’ll have plenty opportunity of getting to know the invaders ... and make allies. Yes, you heard right: Allies. Not all Daedra are evil, nor does everyone agree with Mehrunes Dagon’s plans of conquest. While you can get far by being impolite or just resorting to violence, you would be a fool to not take advantage of all the political intrigue going on in Mehrunes’ household.
It's not as if this grey-on-grey morality had to keep
you from being evil: If it’s more your style to betray your allies after they outlived their usefulness, just do so! Playing Clan leaders off against each other or teasing horny (but impotent) Spider Daedra can be insanely funny. In addition to that, Battlespire adds to and draws on established Elder Scrolls lore. You enjoyed Oblivion and want to learn more about the Daedric realm, Mehrunes Dagon and his infighting court? Go play Battlespire!
My only minor gripe are the bugs. While vanilla Battlespire is not the bugfest Daggerfall was, you might have to start levels over again. Glyphs tend to fall through floors (these things are
needed to progress, mind you). But if you plan on ignoring this fun and demanding game just because of this, you'll commit a grave error, because patching it to version 1.5 will help a lot. The scheming, the voice acting and the (often hilarious) dialog options are too brilliant to miss out on.