Review Knights of the Nine review at Eurogamer

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

<a href=http://www.eurogamer.net>Eurogamer</a> has posted a <a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=70413>review</a> of the latest Bethesda's instant-classic masterpiece, <a href=http://www.elderscrolls.com/home/home.htm>Knights of the Nine</a>. The score is 8/10, the readers' score is, of course, 9.2/10; and the verdict is "entertaining distraction".
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<blockquote>Oblivion divided opinion. Released in March to rapturous applause, it seemed as though Bethesda had driven Western RPG standards to new heights. Presented with a seemingly overwhelming array of choices, dwarfed by an enormous land to explore, besotted by lavish detail and beauty - Oblivion appeared to be the Goliath we'd been waiting for. Critics opened their arms and welcomed what they saw as the first of the truly next-generation games.
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Yet it seems one person's selling points were another's drawbacks. Overwhelming choice was narrowed to dull repetition, vast lands became laborious obstacles, and beauty was criticised for her performance. Apathy soon crept in, attentions turned elsewhere. Could it be that this pinnacle of gaming lacked the depth to engage, was it guilty of having no soul?</blockquote>Now wouldn't it have been nice if the original review raised all those issues?
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[bat_boro]

... was it guilty of having no soul?

It was, indeed.

 

[suibhne]

This'll be like the original NWN all over again, when every review queued up to slaver - and only two years later, mystically, game journalists decided the OC was disappointing.

"R00fles!", as the people say.

 

[denizsi]

Umaril, an ancient Ayleid Sorcerer-King, seeks vengeance upon the Gods who banished him to the planes of Oblivion thousands of years ago. For 800 Microsoft points you must heed the call to help

I found this part to be hysteric for some reason.

I wish they at least made new animations, new perks, skills etc, something new right in the core, not just a different colour of lipstick. But I guess they would have to go on a quest to find Wizard of Oz to have both a brain and a heart.. without a compass.

 

[The Vanished One]

But if more of the same is what you're after, you can't really argue with what Bethesda's served up for its hardcore fans.

"More of the same". Have Bethesda lost their talent? The expansions for Morrowind weren't "more of the same"... at least Bloodmoon wasn't.

 

[JrK]

This'll be like the original NWN all over again, when every review queued up to slaver - and only two years later, mystically, game journalists decided the OC was disappointing.

"R00fles!", as the people say.

I bought that game for a PW a friend made and had lot's of fun with that, though I also knew then that the engine and implementation of rules sucked donkey balls. How hard could it have been to make power attack TOGGLEABLE.

Also, Oblivion is another story because you don't know the suckiness for sure until after you've played for 10 hours or so. It's way more of a dissappointment that way, together with the fact that

OBLIVION IS A MILESTONE OF THE AMOUNT OF LIES AND HYPE CREATED.

 

[Rat Keeng]

It features some nice touches, and it's promising to see Bethesda keen to nourish and support its hugely popular title.

Meh. What company would be dumb enough to stop supporting hugely popular titles? They're not that Interplayian, at least not yet.

At any rate, it's not like they're pumping out free patches left and right. The profit to work ratio is, presumably, far in favor of Bethesda's holdings.

 

[Ratty]

Yet it seems one person's selling points were another's drawbacks. Overwhelming choice was narrowed to dull repetition, vast lands became laborious obstacles, and beauty was criticised for her performance. Apathy soon crept in, attentions turned elsewhere. Could it be that this pinnacle of gaming lacked the depth to engage, was it guilty of having no soul?

What's that? Eurogamer writing a paragraph on Oblivion that contains *criticism*?! Pay-offs must be late this month.

In all seriousness, reactions such as this were to be expected. It isn't uncommon for reviewers to readjust their views in this manner once their sparse brain cells get resuscitated from blissful HDR-induced stupor and their IQs temporarily exceed room temperature. Remember how coolly the recent Dungeon Siege II expansion was received, and notice how NWN frequently appears on various Most Overrated Games Ever lists.That's how gaming journalism works - fall for the hype, then when everyone realizes what a piece of shit the game is, pretend you were saying it all along. Since everyone is too preoccupied with latest shiny turd, they won't notice the change, which means there *was* no change, so your enviable insight and steadfast objectivity remain unquestionable. Consentual reality!

 

[peak]

Oh, a bit of faith restored in Eurogamer since the FFXII reviews. Though it actually never ceased to be my favorite source of news and reviews.

 

[Elwro]

Umaril, an ancient Ayleid Sorcerer-King, seeks vengeance upon the Gods who banished him to the planes of Oblivion thousands of years ago. For 800 Microsoft points you must heed the call to help

I found this part to be hysteric for some reason.

ROTFL

 

[Voss]

Yet it seems one person's selling points were another's drawbacks. Overwhelming choice was narrowed to dull repetition, vast lands became laborious obstacles, and beauty was criticised for her performance. Apathy soon crept in, attentions turned elsewhere. Could it be that this pinnacle of gaming lacked the depth to engage, was it guilty of having no soul?

What's that? Eurogamer writing a paragraph on Oblivion that contains *criticism*?! Pay-offs must be late this month.

Nope. Read it again. They're talking about (an almost hypothetical) someone else who raised those points. Its all rhetorical, not actual criticism.

 

[Claw]

What strikes me most is how the second screenshot in the review reminds me of vanilla Oblivion, only tinted blue instead of red and with a heavily-armoured Auroran (Whoa, what a shitty name) wielding an axe instead of a heavy-armoured Deadra wielding a sword.

 

[MountainWest]

The comments-section wasn't as fanboyish as a 9.2 avarage might lead one to believe. As a matter of fact it was the other way around. Are people finally beginning to wake up from their Oblivion-induced brain wrecking trance and see through the blinding shinyness? Even the Codex got mentioned:

People have been expressing disappointment since it first came out. You think we don't like it...try heading over to RPGCodex.

 

[Texas Red]

The comments-section wasn't as fanboyish as a 9.2 avarage might lead one to believe. As a matter of fact it was the other way around. Are people finally beginning to wake up from their Oblivion-induced brain wrecking trance and see through the blinding shinyness? Even the Codex got mentioned:

People have been expressing disappointment since it first came out. You think we don't like it...try heading over to RPGCodex.

What is stopping them from fixing the average readers score in to a ridiculous 9.2? That would be the least of their crimes.

This shit with Oblivion has to stop. How could Bethesda have possibly bribed almost every review site there is? Maybe tomorrow we will see Vault Dweller review Oblivion with a 9.5/10 score. Or are people actually so stupid, or perhaps but sheep who can only follow? In any way this whole Oblivion business is frustrating. I hope Todd and his boyfriend Pete would just end up paralyzed because of a freak orgy gone wrong.

 

[OccupatedVoid]

I though we only put RPG-related news on this website. :D

 

[Lumpy]

A major review site can't afford to give Oblivion anything less than 9. Such a hyped game will surely get plenty of fanboys, who will stop reading your site if you think the "Best Game Ever!!!11!" is a piece of shit.
6 months later, nobody will care if you say "Oblivion is considered by many the best game ever. Is it really? It has its faults.". If anything, they will be impressed by your honesty and non-mainstreamity.

 

[cutterjohn]

Now wouldn't it have been nice if the original review raised all those issues?

Ah, but their paycheck for the review must've been smaller this time around... I for one just can't wait to see what a POS Fallout 3 is going to be. I'll bet you that it's just going to be a FPS on rails, but with less polish, support, and poorer story line than Quake 4.

obligatory r00fles

 

[Chinese Jetpilot]

I for one just can't wait to see what a POS Fallout 3 is going to be. I'll bet you that it's just going to be a FPS on rails, but with less polish, support, and poorer story line than Quake 4.

Seeing how half of their fans are crazed alchemists and botanists, I fully expect Bethesda to cater to them and advertise the fact that you can be a drug/ jet dealer in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if they even concocted a mini-game to create drugs. If you thought the younger crowd went nuts over Oblivion, you ain't seen nothing yet.

HO COO LIKE SCARFACE, CHI-CHI GET THE YAYO!

 

[suibhne]

A major review site can't afford to give Oblivion anything less than 9. Such a hyped game will surely get plenty of fanboys, who will stop reading your site if you think the "Best Game Ever!!!11!" is a piece of shit.

GameSpy gave Oblivion an 80% and they're doing just fine...other than the fact that Bethesda refuses to acknowledge the existence of that review.

 

[Lumpy]

Little golden stars are different from proper percentages. What you might remove half a golden star for, you'll take 5% off the game's score.
Besides, games are usually rated on the 50%-100% scale. If we disregard gems like Big Rigs.

 

[Limorkil]

My question would be: did these people actually PLAY the expansion?

Based on the way it was written, it sounds more like it was based on heresay rather than actual experience with the expansion, almost like the reviewer did not play it but they talked to someone who had. I understand the desire to not give away spoilers, but the whole review seems like it was based on a synopsis. Maybe the reviewer could not be bothered to play it so they loaded it in the TESCS (editor) and looked at it there.

For example:

There's a new enemy type in the Aurorans. These heavily-armoured, lightning-casting, axe-wielding fellows carry out Umaril's wicked bidding: and being part of Oblivion's levelled-enemy clientèle means that they'll pack a punch whatever your level.

That reads like future-tense to me. These foes WILL pack a punch? Well, do they or don't they?

The whole review reads like that, like a preview rather than a review.

So I call this semi-neutral-non-critical-sitting-on-the-fence-just-done-to-get-it-out-first reveiwer BULLSHIT.

Funnily enough, I read somewhere else about one of the early tasks you have to do with the wayshrines and how you get this "uber" power upon completion. Imagine my surprise when I accidentally completed said task and received said power last night (yes I play Oblivion, and like it too), despite not actually having Knights of the Nine or indeed any purchased content. So clearly there is a lot of BS floating around about this expansion.

Frankly, the Knights of the Nine sounds like a rather uninspiring fan-made companion mod. I might be pleasantly surprised, but I doubt it. Both Tribunal and Bloodmoon introduced new features to Morrowind (new modder script functions in Tribunal and werewolves in Bloodmoon, plus new creatures in both). KotN sounds like it introduces nothing new, excpet for the suspiciously Dremora-like Aurora's (hell they even sound the same).

Unlike Oblivion itself, KotN sounds like it will meet expectations, simply because expectations have been sufficiently lowered.

 

[Texas Red]

"Both Tribunal and Bloodmoon introduced new features to Morrowind (new modder script functions in Tribunal and werewolves in Bloodmoon, plus new creatures in both). KotN sounds like it introduces nothing new, excpet for the suspiciously Dremora-like Aurora's (hell they even sound the same)."

Be assured that Bethesda will release a couple of expansions. I would say next year at November because OBVIOUSLY you cant miss the holiday sales. But dont expect the addons to be included. Oh no, you have to buy the seperately.

 

[suibhne]

Little golden stars are different from proper percentages. What you might remove half a golden star for, you'll take 5% off the game's score.
Besides, games are usually rated on the 50%-100% scale. If we disregard gems like Big Rigs.

While I agree, it's important to note that widely-used meta-review sites score them as straight percentages - and Bethesda thought the score was low enough that they needed to keep it far, far away from their website and publicity materials.

 

[cutterjohn]

I for one just can't wait to see what a POS Fallout 3 is going to be. I'll bet you that it's just going to be a FPS on rails, but with less polish, support, and poorer story line than Quake 4.

Seeing how half of their fans are crazed alchemists and botanists, I fully expect Bethesda to cater to them and advertise the fact that you can be a drug/ jet dealer in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if they even concocted a mini-game to create drugs. If you thought the younger crowd went nuts over Oblivion, you ain't seen nothing yet.

HO COO LIKE SCARFACE, CHI-CHI GET THE YAYO!

Nah, nothing so simple:
Yes, you TOO can be a pimp and drug baron, with your coterie of whores and crack heads! Featuring gangsta killer moves, and more wanton/random violence than GTA!

My question would be: did these people actually PLAY the expansion?

Based on the way it was written, it sounds more like it was based on heresay rather than actual experience with the expansion, almost like the reviewer did not play it but they talked to someone who had. I understand the desire to not give away spoilers, but the whole review seems like it was based on a synopsis. Maybe the reviewer could not be bothered to play it so they loaded it in the TESCS (editor) and looked at it there.

From what I've read/seen on some other forums(forgotten which ATM) apparently the KotN has been available to some people for quite some time, as I heard about it at least 1m before it was officially announced, and the person who mentioned had obviously already played through at least some of it(a reviewer).

[EDIT]1h later or so comment on Gamespy's Oblivious review

A major review site can't afford to give Oblivion anything less than 9. Such a hyped game will surely get plenty of fanboys, who will stop reading your site if you think the "Best Game Ever!!!11!" is a piece of shit.

GameSpy gave Oblivion an 80% and they're doing just fine...other than the fact that Bethesda refuses to acknowledge the existence of that review.

a bit streamlined and easier to get into, but even deeper and richer than Morrowind.

That line right there doesn't seem to be too terribly of a negative review, not to mention the verbal rating is GREAT! The only drawback to the review in Bethesda's fictional universe is that when converted to an out of 10 scale, it's not a 9+ or converted to a %age scale it's not 90's+.

The review itself is hardly different than any of the other more glowing reviews, and the especially amusing part is the cons: console UI, bugs, etc. snicker.

Deeper and richer than MW yet streamlined and easier to get into?! An oxymoron if I've ever heard one...
[/EDIT]