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Review GamerDad examines Knights of the Nine

Diogo Ribeiro

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Jun 23, 2003
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Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

<a href=http://www.gamerdad.com/>GamerDad</a> spent some time checking out <a href=http://www.bethsoft.com/games/games_oblivion-kotn.html>Knights of the Nine</a>. They go over each of the modules offered up in <a href=http://www.bethsoft.com/>Bethesda</a>'s first expansion pack for <a href=http://www.elderscrolls.com/games/oblivion_overview.htm>Oblivion</a>, ultimately giving it <a href=http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=3566><b>3/5 stars</b></a>. Here's a clip about the <b>Mehrune's Razor</b> mod:
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<b>Mehrune's Razor:</b> Now *this* is a quest! A huge dungeon full of atmosphere and interesting areas and loads of enemies. Unfortunately it is also littered with every other problem that plagues Oblivion - scaled enemies, scaled drops and scaled chests. It is a sort of cognitive dissonance - you are working your way through a nicely designed and atmospheric dungeon that is mostly empty and contains a bunch of enemies that are easily defeated. All of this for a single excellent weapon and a decent armor set that you will probably just sell since you already have something better. I was very disappointed with this module - such a great dungeon full of possibilities left unrealized in a sea of scaled blandness. <u>Had it presented an actual challenge and more than a minor reward it would have been worth purchasing by itself.</u>
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That kind of describes Oblivion in itself.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPG Watch</A>
 

geminito

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Sep 24, 2003
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Waiting a long time for this negative review, were you? RPG Codex, where carefully selected news keeps you misinformed!
 

Micmu

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geminito said:
Waiting a long time for this negative review, were you? RPG Codex, where carefully selected news keeps you misinformed!
You stink and your opinion is not surprising.
 

Greatatlantic

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I'd just like to say GamerDad is one of the best review sites out there. Not sure why a site dedicated to helping families make informed desicions about games manages to write great reviews, but it does.
 

Xerxos

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Jan 30, 2007
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Unfortunately it is also littered with every other problem that plagues Oblivion - scaled enemies, scaled drops and scaled chests.

I think the problem isn't the scaling in general, just the way Oblivion scales it's encounters. Many RPGs have scaled encounters, but none of them as bad as Oblivions.

That and the low numbers of monsters. Oh and of course the flawed leveling system. Perhaps I should mention the low numbers of dungeon tile sets as well?
 

KreideBein

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Sep 19, 2006
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That was an excellent review. It almost sounded like it was written by a Codexer, actually. The only thing that I'm curious about, though, is why the reviewer awarded the game 3/5, despite the reviewer being seemingly somewhat negative about KotN. It seems like 2/5 would have more closely matched the review itself.
 

Ladonna

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Oblivionitis takes a long time to leave the system. Only a handful, it seems, are immune.
 

MacBone

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I was browsing through their store, and I came across this little number, the GamerMom! thong. With products like these, it's easy to see why they're so family friendly. Hubba hubba!
 

sheek

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Check out their forums. Anybody else think the idea of GamerDad/Mom is creepy?
 

Limorkil

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Jan 19, 2004
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I am a fan of Oblivion and I find that review very fair. Note I said "fair". It is totally not biased. Some people seem to think that anything that is not 100% positive is, therefore, negative. Not so. The downloadable content is pretty crummy and most of the ES community, or at least those above the pleiocene level of evolution, of which there are some, would agree with the review.

One point that the review touches on, but does not give enough weight to, is how absolutely stupid the premises of the downloadable content are. Apart from Spell Tomes (I think), Knights of the Nine itself is the only addon that integrates itself seemlessly into the game world: to start the quest you have to run into a particular NPC in a particular town, just like any other quest. As the review points out, the other addons just dump the quest on you as soon as you install them. The result is, if you buy the complete package or several at once, when you load your save game you are immediately hit with half a dozen popup messages giving you quests from out of nowhere. If you start a new game then you get all this once you leave the starter dungeon.

Okay, not great, but the review mentions this so what? Well what it doesn't mention is the premise for each quest. Picture the scene: You are an unknown prisoner who just escaped from the imperial city dungeon after witnessing the Emperor's assasination. No-one knows who you are or where you are. You exit the dungeon via the sewers and end up by a sewer outlet at the side of a lake. Suddenly, all at once:
- A messenger hands you a flyer advertising free armor for a horse you do not have
- Another messenger gives you a note from a long lost uncle who has left you a secret underground lair in his will
- Another messenger gives you a note from another long lost relative, who just happens to be a powerful wizard and who has left you a huge tower in the northern mountains
- You overhear a rumor (even though there is no-one anywhere nearby) about a hidden pirate ship located in a particular town
- You overhear another rumor about a ruin that is the last resting place of a legendary artefact belonging to no other than the main bad guy of the main quest and, somehow, the rumor you overhear also includes map coordinates because you are able to locate the ruin on your map
- You get a note from a woman at the mages guild who wants you - the just now escaped unknown prisoner standing by a sewer outlet on a lake - to come and help her find some missing dwemer artefacts.

I know the Codex has made fun of the un-rpgness that is Oblivion, but even an Oblivion fanboi like myself has to admit that the above is probably the most bloody stupid thing in RPG history. How hard would it have been to come up with realistic, non-intrusive ways to discover the downloadable content? Not hard at all, which makes it all the more pathetic.
 

Limorkil

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sheek said:
Anybody else think the idea of GamerDad/Mom is creepy?

No. But the full name of the website when you add it to your favorites is:

GamerDad - Gaming with Children

And that definitely sounds creepy.


Edit: Just reading some of their reviews. Apparently "Grand Theft Auto - Vice City" is not for kids.
 

aries202

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Mar 5, 2005
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Denmark, Europe
For a long time, some of the reviews from the gamerdad website has been written by a veteran reviewe, named Long.

As for the gamerdad site itself, I've found it to be one of the more good sides, trying to be fair and realistic about a game, when they are reviewing games.

If my memory doesn't fail me, I seem to remember that gamerdad did go over the most troublesome
points in Oblivion and gave Oblivion its score according to that.

As for Grand Theft Auto and other games, I seem to tend to lean more towards gamerdads scores, which means that I personally don't believe that
Oblivion should have gotten T(eenI rating, but that the PEGI info board got the rating right with
its 16+ rating.
 

Dhruin

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Aug 15, 2003
Messages
758
GamerDad was founded by veteran gaming journalist Andrew Bub and the current EiC is Dave Long - another professional - so it's not surprising they are a cut above the average site.

This article wasn't written by a Codexer - but it was written by a Watcher. ;) txa1265 writes for us, knows his stuff and is a quality writer.
 

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