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New downloadable Oblivion content has arrived on the Xbox 360 Marketplace called "The Orrery." The new content can be purchased for 150 points and is a 9.83MB download. The previously released Horse Armor pack was received with an uneven response from gamers due to the cost for a few pieces of armor. So, is the new quest and reward worth the price?

"Harness the power of the stars. Rebuild the defiled Orrery and unlock the secrets of this Mages Guild inner sanctum."

New downloadable Oblivion content has arrived on the Xbox 360 Marketplace called "The Orrery." The new content can be purchased for 150 points and is a 9.83MB download. The previously released Horse Armor pack was received with an uneven response from gamers due to the cost for a few pieces of armor. So, is the new quest and reward worth the price?

The Quest

Upon starting your game, a message will pop up on the main screen saying that new content is being loaded. After loading up a game save, the new quest will be immediately added to your journal along with a map marker. A note from the Arcane University will also be placed in your possession, stating that some Dwarven artifacts need to be recovered.

The first stop in recovering the artifacts is a small bandit camp north of Kvatch. Your map is already marked with this location so finding it is no problem. After arriving at the camp, you are met with some resistance from a few bandits. Killing them uncovers a note giving you the locations of four more camps where the artifacts are hidden. Two are to the East and two are to the West of your current location. Each bandit camp is the same, kill a few enemies and pick up one of the artifacts from their bodies. When all the artifacts are recovered, you now have to head back to the Arcane University and deliver the pieces to Bothiel. She tells you to give her a day to make the repairs to the Orrery. So after waiting one day, you can now enter the previously locked Orrery. Enter the room and activate the control panel up the stairs to claim your reward.

The Reward

Now that the Orrery is functional, you are given special powers based on the phases of the moon. Make sure it is night time and activate the control panel. A message will appear stating that you now have a new power. Powers are accessed from the Greater Power section of your spell menu.

Due to the fact that the powers are based on the phases of the moon, it may take a while to uncover all of them. Also, only one power can be active at a time, so if you go back during a different moon phase your current power will be overwritten by the new one. These are the powers I received so far:

- Masser’s Grace - fortify agility 20 points, drain endurance 20 points. Duration 60 sec.
- Masser’s Might - fortify strength 20 points, drain speed 20 points. Duration 60 sec.

Verdict

First off, this quest was extremely short and easy to complete. I breezed through it with my level 31 Dark Elf battlemage with minimal opposition. I was eager for a reasonably long and tough quest, but I got the exact opposite. Even though the quest cost under $2.00, I am not sure if it was really worth it. Maybe once all of the powers are revealed there might be an actual reason for downloading this. Considering most people already spent $60 to $70 depending on which version of Oblivion they bought, 150 points still seems unreasonable for a 15-20 min. quest. I am not sure if I like the way Bethesda is releasing this cheap content, but I am sure gamers are going to eat this up. I guess I would recommend this to anyone absolutely craving new content, otherwise wait for the eventual expansions or content that is actually useful.

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