In 2002 Bethesda softworks released The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
It was a huge imersive RPG experience that unfortunately had some
problems that prevented it from worldwide recognition. The Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblvion fixes all of these problems and could well be named
one of the best RPG's of all time.
So not to spoil the main story of the game, this will be brief. The
game takes place in a land called Tamriel and in the province of
Cyridiil. Accross Cyrodiil Oblivion gates have been popping up
everywhere unleashing deadly enemies named Daedra. The story is mainly
told and moved along by the characters that you speak to during the
game, all of the dialogue is voice acted which is an amazing technical
achievement and makes the game ever so more immersive. The story is
very lenghty and takes about 20 hours to complete if you don't do any
of the games side quests. There are hundreds of side quests that you
can undertake to get more items or gain more experience. In Cyrodiil
you can join three Guilds, The Mages Guild in which you undertake magic
orientated missions. The Fighters Guild allows you to take on battle
orientated missions and the Theives Guild lets you learn how to steal.
The Guilds missions will also take you about 10 hours to complete each
one and that doesnt include the many many quests you pick up from
people in the streets.
Oblivion is a first person RPG and although you can change the camera
and put it behind you, the first person is always the best. You fight
enemies with either a blade, blunt weapon like a mace or a bow. With
each of the weapons you fight using the right trigger to swing or fire
and the left trigger to either block with the weapon or with a shield.
The fighting is very well executed and is never boring since it is up
close and in your face. Magic is also very key to the gameplay in which
you will use it to heal your self with, fight with and even summon
deadly creatures that fight with you. The magic is very well balanced
and easy to do. Each of the above skills can be upgraded simply by
doing them and theres many more. The games difficulty increases as you
gain higher levels, which you do as you increase you major skills. This
way the game only gets harder as you get better. When you first sit
down to play, everything seems to feel overly complicated. The game
doesn't do a very good job at explaining everything, but the manual
does it perfect and I highly reccomend looking at all the skills in the
manual before you choose them. It also explains other complicated
better than the game for example alchemy and magic.
You can either explore Cyrodiil on foot or by horse and even exploring
accross the huge land can be extremely fun at times. One of the great
new features in Oblivion is now you can fast travel by bringing up your
journal and selecting the place you want to go once you have already
explored there. The game has frequent load screens but this doesnt
hinder the game at all as they are all very short.
The graphics in the game are superb. The interiors are hugely detailed
and diverse and the landscapes look amazing. The downside is that when
your exploring the countryside it often jutters because of loading
textures and details. Although this doesnt really affect the game in
any way it could well have been fixed. The hud is great and looks very
clear in HD. The weapons and armor are extremely detailed, they all
glimmer in the sun and have light reflect off them. The magic effects
also look very cool too with great light flashes and fire effects.
The fact that every person in Cyrodiil has a voice is amazing and
really makes you feel like your in this living breathing world. The
game has an amazing orchestral soundtrack by Jeremy Soule. It may not
be as good as the Morrowind soundtrack but it suits the game perfectly.
The main quest will take the average player about 20 hours to complete,
after then theres the guild quests which will take about 30 hours to
complete. After then there are still other quests that you can
undertake from just about anyone in cyridiil. The game is huge and
completely open ended. It could well be the best game the xbox 360 will
get. Anyone who doesnt have this game is truely missing out on a
fantastic videogame experience.
