The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Reviews

"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" (PC)

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 29 September 2022 04:28

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

After Emperor Uriel Septim VII dies, the player must help his illegitimate son Martin find a way to stop the invasion of the hellish realm Oblivion.

I did not like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (mainly because I was quickly put off by a bombardment of names I had no idea how to pronounce), so I was hoping this follow-up would be at least a moderate improvement. Thankfully, it was. :-) The main storyline held my interest fairly well, and the fact that it's fully voice acted alone makes it an exponential improvement on Morrowind!

Although, that said, I wouldn't say the voice acting is the best I've ever heard. Many characters clearly have the same voice, and let's just say I've heard livelier. On the other hand, the cast does include some pretty famous names, like Sean Bean as Martin, Patrick Stewart as Emperor Uriel, and Terence Stamp as cult leader Mankar Camoran.

Since I tend to favour stealth over combat, I chose the Agent class when creating my character. However, I never strayed far from the main campaign, which gave me almost no opportunities to practise the relevant skills. So, due to the way the level-up system works, I was still only at level one when I entered the first Oblivion Gate, and only level five by the time I finished the story. As a result, because of how quickly even the regular enemies can drain your health, I pretty much grew to depend on the God Mode cheat just to survive.

The graphics are good, but no matter how high I set the view distance, trees and other objects would keep popping into view unnaturally.

A good chunk of the game consists of wandering around aimlessly, especially if the way forward isn't immediately obvious, and am I the only one who thinks the running speed should have been the default walking speed? You can fast travel, but only to locations you've already found.

Amusingly, even though this isn't a direct sequel to Morrowind, I did come across one reference to it in my travels: a conversation that mentions the Nerevarine left on an expedition to other lands.

Overall, I enjoyed this game, but it's far from what I'd call great. The central narrative is good, but the stagnations you run into while exploring do mean the pacing suffers.

My rating: 75%

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Best RPG ever made...

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 30 July 2022 02:19

This game is the reason gamers like me don't get much sleep. It's basically your everyday fantasy RPG (Role Playing Game) set in a world full of demons, monsters, knights, bandits, goblins, and more. That's where the similarity ends. The game is based in a mythical world that's just plain massive. It's basically a country with several cities and towns. The mapping is spectacular, with no two areas alike (swamps, mountains, gaping forests, snow covered lands, lakes, rivers), the towns have unique architecture, and not to mention the developers show how the 360's graphics engine can make for some very realistic water effects. Everything in this game is superb, right down to the sound (not to mention Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart lend their voices). It wasn't enough to knock it down a point, but I did find the character creation a bit of a challenge, along with some of the people in the game, too many of them look old and worn out. Other than that, this game hit every mark in my book... it allows for complete control of your character, you can be a mage (magic) or a warrior, or both. You can actually choose your path. Follow the main quest first and beat the main story line, or follow some side quests and get your character to a more respectable level (which I recommend)? I truly believe out of any non-MMORPG out there this has one of the biggest replay value factors ever, not to mention hours upon hours of gameplay and entertainment (some quests require you to travel great distances to complete). The gameplay is fantastic, the selection of tools, weapons, and other items is magnificent, and the graphics are, for lack of a better word, gorgeous. This game, so far, is the only RPG that comes very close to real life. I think the only thing that makes it different from real life is that the real world has no reset button. This is a must have, must play, must get addicted game. Like great literature, this you cannot put down until it's done!

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion review

Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 26 February 2012 11:20

Oblivion has mods! but if you want more than one learn to follow 30 point instructions. DAO's face animations are way better. Voice acting and story (though much much more linear) too.The combat and I'm guessing most forms of gameplay are really weak. There's a mod for probably all these problems (gameplay for sure) but i got tired of trying to make them work together and fps rpg without gameplay is not my thing. Plus i spent so much time worrying about my inventory. Oh wait there's an interface rehaul and infinite carry mod...

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Freedom and Immersion

Posted : 16 years, 2 months ago on 7 March 2008 04:07

Immersive fantasy role playing computer game. Richly detailed world in which you have free reign to pursue the whims of the character you have (most likely painstakingly) created from scratch. Though its D&D structure is exceedingly well worn aside from the Half Life series never have I been so transported to a world. And here the advantage over Half Life is the freedom. You can play as a pickpocket who one day gets bitten by a vampire and spirals down a path of murder and who gains such a bounty that you are a fugitive forced to flee from the mighty Imperial Guard to the countryside, or travel as a conjurer summoning skeletons and then turning invisible to fend off bandits and beasts. Sure there's a main quest, but other than a few great moments, most of the fun is in exploring.

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Most Perfect RPG Ever Made

Posted : 16 years, 3 months ago on 29 January 2008 01:50

Oblivion is easily the most perfect role-playing game ever made. When it first came out a couple years ago, I tried it and didn't really get into it, but it was because of my video card holding me back. Running most games, especially one such as Oblivion, on low and even mid-range video cards is not recommended, as you miss out the true beauty of the game. Yes, the world was expansive, but everything was choppy and always loading and only a few trees were visible to forest looks so barren, and as you walk thru them, trees kept popping up. and along the cliffs, you saw the imperial city simply dissapear when you got to far, so back then, I just couldnt get into it.

But this was then and this is now. With my overclocked 8800GTS that can make even Crysis run smooth, i decided to try to get back into Oblivion, and opted for the GotY edition (includes all latest patches as well as both official add-ons). And I started a new character from scratch. and man am I hooked! What used to be choppy pound-the-mouse-button type of 'battles' is now a perfect fluid combat where I have to time exactly when to raise my shield, when the enemy drops his guard so I can swipe him with my sword, sneak up on him with an arrow to the skull, or fire off a ball of flame right into his face. The battles are awesome and nerve wracking - no other game comes as close to making you feel 'right there' in sword & sorcery fights. The sound effects are amazing as well.

Next comes the scenery. oh, the scenery. Many times, I would just gaze off into the distance and don't even notice a bandit or a rogue mage ambush me. With all graphics on max, the forests are alive, the scenery seems never ending, and the HDR lighting as well as dynamic day/night is something to see. And after spending a week in it, I feel i'm just barely grazing the surface of all the side quests and vast environment that can be explored. This game is as massive as a MMORPG yet doesnt require you to connect to internet and pay ridiculous monthly fees to keep playing. And that also helps keep the addiction in balance, because if you pay monthly fees for a MMORPG, you feel like you have to keep playing to get all your money's worth. Instead, I find myself playing Crysis one day, a rally game another, and back for some more dungeon exploring in Oblivion the following day. And for a game pushing on 2 years old, for it to feel so fresh and new simply by maxing the graphics shows how ahead of their time this release was. And its got an easy 2 or 3 more years before it would start to feel dated.

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