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Rating

If you haven’t played this game, please do yourself a favor and buy it, it is def. in my list of greatest games of all time. I really can’t say enough good things about this game, I could play it 10 times through again and again and still not be sick of it, my only complaint is that it doesn’t last forever. I own it on p.c. and the playstation 3, and both are perfect.

Rating

Oblivion is the most beautiful video game I’ve ever played on the XBOX 360. There’s something for everyone. Magic, action, romance, humor, murder, fantasy, spirituality, and mystery are all yours to experience in abundance. Amazing graphics. And don’t forget to try the duplication glitch! Happy hunting.

Rating

for me, Morrowind was the beginning of my insanity with the Elder Scrolls games and Bethesda- whom makes them (note: and Fallout 3). I absolutely adored Morrowind (game of the year edition- ie: GOTY edition) and played it for nearly 2 years without even getting around to doing the *main quest*. I loved it…. and ive ended up doing the same with Oblivion (also GOTY edition) and consequentionally, will likely also do so with Fallout 3 GOTY edition when it comes out as well- and i usually dont like shooter games.

ah….but we’re here to talk Oblivion. Ill be the first to say that Oblivion isnt Morrowind by any means- definately 2 different areas of the world of Tamriel, and two different games- and rightly so. Who wants to play the same old thing with simply a new coat of paint? I’ll say that i beleive that Oblivion has been dumbed down a bit for this round- and im not sure why. you can join all the factions- pretty much from the word “go”…. which was lovely- but i liked the dilemma of really hammering out the pros and cons in Morrowind as to *what* guild or household to join and the ramifications of that decision. (these people dont get along with these guys, these other guys hate those guys…etc) And there really wasnt much of that in Oblivion. I also thought that the story lines, tho wonderfully in depth, could have been a bit more intricate- and the decision making could have been a bit more complex as it was on occasion in Morrowind.

I will say- i do like how they made playing a vampire a bit more (realistic?) doable in this game- which in reality could be worked around- as it is in the game, with a bit of careful planning and thought. Its nice that all the magic armors/items in the game are constant effect instead of having limited effect/duration items as well- which is handy- but it also takes away the planning and juggling to be done frequently in Morrowind- which could have used a bit more constant effect items….. dumbs it down a bit i felt- not having to really think and plan what i was doing and how etc.

The expansion packs Knights of the Nine and The Shivering Isles are both exciting, grand and welcome editions to the game and i was thrilled to have them. I loved the Shivering Isles especially- probalby because it fondly reminds me of Morrowind somehow- maybe in its darkness and feel and a bit of *how* it looks reminds me of Vardenfell. The Knights of the Nine was a great epic quest(s) ……and the Shivering Isles was another incredible, long, and involved series of quests….. that and Sheogorath- the Madgod is quite disturbing. lol.

if you are a fan of western RPGs- id suggest pickign Oblivion GOTY up- its a great game….. it’ll grab your attention and you’ll have a hard time pulling yourself away from it.

- id suggest picking up Morrowind (GOTY) as well- if you can forgive some clunky fighting mechanics, and dated game design for a great story and game that’ll suck you in

Rating

For anyone who is an an RPG fan and has a Play Station 3, look no further. In my opinion it is easily one of the Best, if not THE best game for the PS3 thus far.

The GOTY Edition is basically the Oblivion main game with Oblivion’s 2 largest Expansion packs bundled in with it, “The Knights of the Nine” and the “Shivering Isles Expansion” pack.

The “leveled system” isn’t perfect, as it is way too easy to level up an underpowered character while the in-game mobs/adversaries automatically get stronger so there is no going back to the newbie sewer dungeon as the rats and easy goblins have leveled up to minotaurs and goblin lords.

Thankfully, for casual gamers you can pretty much follow and beat the main quest at level 1 and for those who have underpowered characters, you can adjust the difficulty slider to an easier level.

For the more hardcore RPG gamers, you can easily get much more involved and with careful balancing and leveling of stats and skills you can build a character that is more than a match for the mobs on the default “medium” level and perhaps even hold your own at the “hardest” level on the difficulty slider. gamefaqs.com has some really good guides that can help you along with all that.

Anyway, the bottom line is that if you have a PS3 and you are into RPGs this game is definitley recommended.

Rating

The realism, the open world, the real time effects, the graphics are beautiful. The quests are great and there are so many of them that this game has infinate replay value, I could beat this game with every class and still love it. This is like the amazing Baulders Gate and Icewind games but on a whole new even more realistic level with infinate possabilites. I could just walk threw the woods in this game for hours a look at the lush enviroments because it’s so breathtaking and real looking. Game play is great, the classes, character building and multi-classing as well as naming your own class and created weapons etc is great and adds that much more realism to this great game. I will be playing this game for a long long time, I have haulted playing GOW, Dark Messiah, Quake Wars, Manhunt, WWE, Viking and many other recently bought titles to play and explore this wonderful game. The even better thing is with this version of the game you get the two add ons as well for even more gaming which goes deeper into this magical world. I hope we get more of these amazing games, we need a Forgotten Realms game like this one an Icewind Dale with create your own party. The open world concept is amazing, real time, and real encounters with open enviroments. I never thought the writings of R.A. Salvadore or J.R. Tolkien would ever come to life better than Baulders Gate 1/2 or Icewind Dale 1/2 but Elder Scrolls Obilivion surpasses them all by miles. Best game ever made from an fantasy RPG standpoint. This gets better as you play it, and with each class, multi-class or created class of character there are whole news avenues to explore. I will play this for years to come. Multi-player in this would have been amazing too.

Rating

I’d give this game more stars if I could. I rented this one to see what all the hype is about, and actually *had* to return it so I could start sleeping again. Its that immersive. The environment is HUGE. There are literally thousands of places to visit and things to do. If you wanted to just wander around picking flowers and hunting sunsets, you could actually do exactly that. Weather changes, the sun rises and sets, people carry out lives… you get the real sense that there’s a world moving around you while you go about the business of killing bad guys, learning to pick locks, and finding newer and better treasures and weapons. Quests are useful and well-managed within the interface. NPC all live their own lives – in one case I tried robbing a store… the next day I actually overheard a conversation between two NPC talking about how the store was robbed!!! Seriously!

* Bethesda pulled an excellent trick with this game – if you’d like, you can just play and the game learns and adapts to you. (Original character specialty is tailored to the way *you* play the tutorial. Levels happen in the background, and based on how you play. Etc.) If you want to get into the mechanics of leveling up, skills development, etc you certainly can, and its *extremely* deep and well thought-out.

* Technically, as someone who’s never played this type of game before I found that everything was easy to understand. That’s saying something.

* Easy interface, well-laid out and accessible.

* Character creation and development system is rediculously deep while still being intuitive.

* Immersive, living enviroment – weather, 24 hour days, NPCs with actual lives, habits, and personalities

* Graphics are crisp and clean

* Lots to do – you’ll never be bored by this game. You can fast-travel across the map in the time of a loading screen, or you can walk/ride from point A to point B and see everything in between. (And there’s a lot to see.)

Very well done. Get this game, but only if you have the willpower to resist it. Otherwise, kiss your life goodbye for a while…

Rating

RPG’s will no doubt soar to new heights in the future but right now there is none better than Bethesda’s amazing ‘Oblivion’.

There are so many standout features to this game but at the top of my list are visuals, scope, atmosphere, playability and storytelling.

If you are a reader of epic fantasy novels or ever played tabletop RPG’s in your youth, then this could very well be what you saw in your mind’s eye. Countless dank, darkly lit tunnels, caves, forts and castles, menacing enemies. The spell casting system has a visceral physicality that makes it very satisfying throughout. The fighting system is clever and versatile – a more powerful combat experience than say World of Warcraft. Combat actually suits the console interface and the remainder of the game is surprisingly easy to play on a console given the amount of story and character interaction.

I could write a book length review of this game because the game world is absolutely massive even before the expansions (included in this version) come into play. The imaginative plotting in this game puts it above many other peers – I’ve played 40 game days and, amongst many other adventures, I’ve executed a quest for half a day inside a painter’s painting, I’ve followed a mad man through his paranoid belief that a number of NPC’s are out to kill him and so on and so on. The beauty of the writing is the moral dilemmas that are sometimes posed by a quest’s conclusion. You might discover that you rescued an item for a character who does not rightfully own it or you are unsure which of two characters to support.

I’ve played, I estimate 40 or so hours of ‘Oblivion’ and I suspect I’ve not tapped 5% of the game world. It’s always engaging and often exciting attempting to overcome the myriad of clever quests or daunting enemies put in your way in this game world.

Last and not least, this game looks simply magnificent, it’s an adult fantasy world, more convincing than the partial manga style of many of the MMORGs. It certainly has the scope and grandeur that rivals any of them.

If you are partial to Tolkien style RPG entertainment – you really must experience ‘Oblivion’.

Rating

Oblivion is just about everything an RPG should be. The character creation and leveling system, the weapons and magic, the dungeons and outer world map, the limitless open environment, and the ridiculous graphics all contribute to what is easily the best RPG package I have ever played.

Your character awakes in a lonely prison cell, soon to be dead and forgotten, when the Emperor of all Tamriel appears at your cell door, secretly fleeing from an unknown assassin. Escaping from your cell on the heels of the Emperor and his personal guards, The Blades, you are immediately swept into the story of defending the lands from a secret cult of Deadra Worshippers with the goal of world domination.

Your character is fully customizable. At the start of your adventure, you choose your sex, race, birth-sign, profession, skills, specialties, and appearance (body type, face, skin, an extremely detailed process). Once you exit the tunnels hidden beneath your prison cell (a process which guides you through an interactive tutorial to familiarize you with the controls), you enter a virtual world with what could be the most freedom any video game has offered before. After gaping at the astounding graphics of the world map (I have not played the 360 version, but based on screenshots I have seen, the PS3 release is by far the better of the two), your choices are truly limitless.

Perhaps you wander immediately into the Ayleid Ruins across the lake, seeking your fortune in the dark, ancient fortress beneath. Or maybe venture into the Imperial City to make friends (and enemies) or obtain valuable goods and information. Join the Fighter’s Guild for some rewarding side quests, or if the arcane is your specialty the Mage’s Guild also awaits. If stealth is your forte, perhaps you will have what it takes to find the Thieves Guild instead, or maybe you will even be welcomed into the inner circles of the Dark Brotherhood of assassins. Be a valiant hero, a silent killer, a powerful sorcerer, an agile thief, or all or none of the above. The choice is yours.

For Elder Scrolls veterans, leveling your character is nothing new, but to the newcomer it is a unique and detailed process. Unlike the standard RPG, there are no Experience Points that accumulate toward a magic number that results in a level up. Instead, you improve your individual skills by using them successfully. Cast a fire spell that hits its intended target, and you gain a little experience at Destruction Magic. Damage your adversary with a short sword, and your Blade skills improve. Create a potion out of raw ingredients, your Alchemy skill improves. Improve a skill enough, and the skill itself will go up a level. Level-up any combination of your favorite skills ten times, and your character goes up a level. But if you don’t use a particular skill, it will never improve, perhaps to the detriment of your overall attributes.

Interact with hundreds of characters, creatures, and monsters scattered throughout dozens of locales, from large cities, small villages, and roadside inns, to dank caverns, crumbling fortresses, and ancient ruins hidden away in snow-capped mountains, thick forests, and even demon-filled Netherworlds. Enemies and artifacts encountered throughout the world level along with your character so you never have too much of an advantage, or too weak an enchantment. Background characters banter about current events and local news. Word of your accomplishments spreads across the continent as your fame (of infamy) increases. The level of detail that found its way into the game is impeccable.

The only element this game lacks (that fans of say, the Final Fantasy franchise, will miss) is an enthralling story. While there is indeed a main plot and ultimate goal for your character, Oblivion lacks the emotion and humanity of strong story that become the focal point of many other RPGs. This leads to more a systematic style of game-play, simply progressing for the sake of progress, rather than playing to develop an underlying story. In effect, the game sacrifices a gripping story and a bit of fun for your freedom to play it out however you want. If you are looking for pure game-play without the distraction of a story, then this truly is the perfect game. But if you are looking for a game with an interactive story, it may not be for you.

This is the ultimate gamer’s RPG, addictive, challenging, and visually stunning. This Game of the Year edition includes two built-in expansion packs, previously available only as separate downloads, and is worth the extra money if this sound likes the game for you.

Rating

I never owned a copy of Oblivion , I finished most of the quests in 2006 with a GamesPass rental from Blockbuster. So when Shivering Isles download came out I was sad that only those with XBOXLIVE access could download it. Back then the cost of Shivering Isles was $30 plus the cost of the game $60. So I heard that this disc was coming out . So I waited to get this version. (if youo don’t own Oblivion ,this is the version to get) Boy am I glad I did, This version runs much much smoother than the older version I had rented in 06 .I didn’t have any problems with this game it ran better than the older first print version ,I can tell they fixed some of the issues. The game runs very smooth compared to last years debut copy.

Since Shivering Isles and Kinghts of the Nine cache to your Hard Drive , the load times are much better when in those areas.

Ive been playing Oblivion now for over 200 hours! There’s so much to see and do in this game,its an epic adventure of massive proportions. I easily reloaded my old Oblivion save and took my level 30 character into Shivering Isles quests ,no problem.

If you don’t have Xbox Live or don’t have Oblivion yet this is by far the best version to get.

If you like adventure games in First or third Person perspective than Oblivion is the best RPG out for any console. Anybody who hasn’t played Oblivion yet in missing out on the longest adventure video game experience they may have ever tried.

Count on losing allot of sleep , I know I did, I couldn’t put the controller down.With 200+ hours of playtime I still havent seen all the caves and dungeons. There’s so many things that you can do in Oblivion This review would be way too long to cover all the aspects of this game. Oblivion is truly an epic RPG.I highly ,highly recommend it.Anybody who already owns Oblivion will not need this version as you can download all of the xtra content on Xbox LIVE.This version is for people without XboxLive or people who have do not own Oblivion.

Rating

I owned this game on Xbox360. I then upgraded my laptop and got it on PC also. After downloading a LOT of additional content (fileplanet has the most by a slim margin)I opened up an experience that is absolutely incredible for the RPG player.

No cheats needed. There are console codes out there, but don’t use them. Trust me. There are a zillion ways to succeed at playing this game, and an endless amount of combinations for spell and item crafting.

I cleared 140 hours on my Xbox 360 character without touching the main quest and have spent a lot of time playing the PC version. Completely immersive fun, almost MMORPG-like, with a PAUSE button and NO LAG. That’s the best part. Take it with you on the road and escape for a few hours, no matter what you need to be doing the next morning.

Yes, Crysis has better graphics. It’s not nearly as immersive or replayable. In fact, while it’s kicking the crap out of your system specs (downscalable to play on lower end systems with decent framerates though) it’ll outlive just about anything you have in your games library, as its predecessors in the Elder Scrolls line have done in lesser fashion. I play on a Core2Extreme 2.8, 4GB Ram and a Quadro FX 1600mGPU, so your mileage may vary. Well worth playing. Make sure you come up for air on occaision so your family knows you’re alive, or, better yet, get deployed so you have limited social options anyway.

Rating

Oblivion most certainly lives up to its reputation as a Game of the Year for 2006/2007.

The interface is very easy to manipulate. The combat system is intuitive, and I found the regeneration of fatigue and magicka/mana to be quite unique to the RPG environment. I often found myself lugging around potions for regenerating mana and hitpoints in other games. This is not the case with Oblivion! My dark elf character regenerated fatique and magicka, while it was extremely easy to cast spells that restored health.

The game crashed to desktop only a handful of times out of the dozen or so days I spent playing, so I’d say it was above average in terms of reliability. The game runs smoothly at 800×600 with a P4 3.0 GHz CPU and an ATI Radeon X1950 GT 256MB AGP video card.

The most noteworthy aspect of this game is the sheer number of quests and the “sandbox” aspect of exploration and character development. I did not have to stick with the main quest, but I often found myself sidetracked with various quests that lead to additional quests! It is not uncommon to have a dozen or more active quests in your log!

The second most intriguing component of this game is the ability to manufacture potions, spells, and enchantments for your items. This is quite a unique feature! No longer is the player restricted to cookie cutter items and equipment. You can enchant armor to provide chameleon (invisibility), while you can enchant weapons to suck the life out of your opponents with each strike.

One “mini-quest” even allows you to play as a vampire, whom must feed on sleeping victims or else you begin to lose hitpoints under the sun (complete with smoke rising off your skin).

I must say that Oblivion is one of THE most innovative games I have played in the recent years. This special GOTY edition includes Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles expansion, providing months upon months of playability. I have spent over 50 hours and have not even started the main quest.

Pros: Intuitive interface for exploration, enchanting items, and making spells. The combat interface is exceptional for a RPG. I recall the days of text-based RPGs and RPGs like Final Fantasy II for the SNES where you were always forced to take damage during turns. Oblivion is a mix of a first-person shooter and RPG. Godfather fans will probably see quite a resemblance, with the exception that Oblivion is far more fleshed out and involved than Godfather.

The GOTY edition includes the latest patch and I have not run into any problems with the quests that were previously found in earlier versions.

Cons: The voice acting gets repetitious since they keep recycling voice actors for the minor NPC’s. This is also a pro because this allows for a bigger budget in developing the game itself. I find myself reading the text more than listening to the NPC’s whining that someone stole their ring, or they need some special wine.

I found that not being able to fast travel to marked locations was annoying. Fast travel is useful because you can go from one location to another without being forced to ride a horse or run on foot. Unfortunately, fast travel only works if you have explored the region and found the location. In addition, fast travel only works if there aren’t enemies attacking and if you are outside in an open area. You can’t fast travel from the inside of a cave or inside of a building. This can be get rather boring at times.

While you can develop your character by improving his or her skills, there isn’t much development in character interaction. For example, when you join the Dark Brotherhood, almost everyone is open and receptive. It felt like this was the friendliest faction. Antoinetta Marie seemed to have more than a friendly disposition towards your character, but it never developed any further than typical banter with NPCs. I feel this is a major flaw in many of the games today, but it is most likely a technical limitation more than anything.

Bottom line:

Oblivion Game of the Year Edition gets a 10/10 rating from me based on being an overall excellent game. Very rarely does a game get almost everything right, and still be able to run smoothly on budget PC hardware. There is simply so much to accomplish in this game.

Rating

Now, I have to start this out that before I bought my boyfriend Oblivion: GOTY, I refused to play on his x-box. All of the other games I’ve tried for this platform are shooter games, or racing games. To summarize, they were all very male oriented, and required a lot of coordination with the thumbs, which I do not have. Oblivion actually has a story, but also lets you free-play, and complete unrelated quests ad nauseaum. The graphics are good, and the map is realistic. There are probably thousands of hours of gametime in the one package, so it is well worth the money. A lot of fun, you work your brain at the same time.. Or you can make it into another military game, and just hack everything to bits. Your call. It’s flexible like that.

Rating

First, let me be up front and say I’m not a video game expert. Rather, I’m a paper-and-dice RPG player since the 1970s, and until Oblivion hadn’t touched a video game since Wolfenstein. My wife and I bought our PS3 for its Blu-Ray player and DVD upconvert, not for gaming…that is, that’s what we thought. Then we bought Oblivion on a lark, and became gaming addicts. Since we’re a middle-aged couple with no kids, that in itself says quite a lot about the game.

We started out with me playing and my wife watching and helping with treasure-spotting and puzzle solving. Eventually she was reluctantly persuaded to give the console a try herself. She’s now played two characters to high levels and is working on her third new character.

While not a video game expert, I do happen to be a computer engineer by trade, so I can talk a bit about the technical aspects of the game mechanics.

Enough background…Here are the pluses and minuses I’ve observed, again based on my own point of view:

* Story line

The story lines are relatively rich and detailed. I say “lines” because there are multiple significant quest lines, not just the main quest. You can, in fact, utterly ignore the main quest after the tutorial, because the game operates in “sandbox mode”. In other words, you emerge from the tutorial into the world, and you can do as you wish. The Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine add-ons are built into the GOTY edition, each adding an additional primary quest. SI adds numerous side-quests as well. The base game also has at least four long-running quest lines (based on guilds) plus many smaller side-quests. I’ve heard it said that the game offers about 60 hours of playing time, but if you really explore all that the world has to offer it is in my experience much, much more than that.

Most of the quests are well-thought-out and well written. The AIs and their dialogs can be a little simplistic at times, as with many games. There’s no way to ask open-ended questions, for example — you choose from preset lists of things for your character to say. That said, however, there are *choices*, and you can play your character as anything from goody-two-shoes to a little surly to outright nasty and slimy. The main quest is basically good-aligned, but from a roleplay standpoint you can justify it even for a somewhat evil character as “enlightened self-interest.” There are two of the four guild quests that are definitely not good-aligned, however (one being more-or-less neutral and the other outright evil). All quests in the game are optional after the tutorial, so your alignment is not arbitrarily constrained.

The Knights of the Nine quest is very much good-aligned, while the Shivering Isles main quest is neither particularly good nor evil.

Most of the quests have dialog that urges you on, suggesting that something Very Bad will happen if you don’t finish that quest Right Now — but in fact, the game will “park” almost all of the quests for you, indefinitely, at any sensible stopping point. You can intermix multiple quests at the same time, jumping from one to another. The dialogs are just to instill a sense of dramatic tension in the game. Most of the time (though there are exceptions) nothing bad happens if you delay the next quest step for game-days or even game-months. This is true even of the main quest.

* Game mechanics, general

Oblivion is a single-player game, though there is enough puzzle solving that two people can play cooperatively in the same room — just one at the controls, though.

Oblivion works in first-person or third-person mode, and both are well implemented. Third-person does have some limitations with regard to ranged attacks — it’s pretty hard to aim spells or arrows from that mode. Melee combat works well in both modes, however, as do general movement and acrobatics.

Oblivion makes good use of the Sony SixAxis controller, with buttons being allocated in ways that will quickly become intuitive. I’ve found that the right joystick (camera movement) horizontal is a little “sticky” at the zero point. That is, it’s hard to turn the camera just slightly left or right. I’ve replicated the problem across multiple SixAxis controllers and with different sensitivity settings. It’s a “minor annoyance” rather than a serious problem, but it is there. The workaround for ranged attacks is to use the left joystick to step slightly right or left, which has the effect of a very fine-grained aiming control.

The DualShock controllers work fine with Oblivion, but the tactile feedback is not used.

The game options give you control over sensitivity of the joysticks, volume, picture brightness, and game difficulty. Unlike many games, Oblivion does not limit you to just a few preset difficulty levels, but rather provides a fine-grained “slider” control to set the difficulty as you prefer. At the easiest level, even a novice will almost never die. I recently tried the hardest setting briefly, after almost a year of experience in the game, and found that two sewer rats kicked my butt easily in the tutorial. So there appears to be plenty of range in the difficulty levels!

* Game mechanics, graphics and sound

Oblivion’s graphics range from “decent but a little cartoonish” (the people) to “absolutely stunning” (some of the landscapes and lighting effects). The designers did an amazing job with sunlight and with vegetation. There are times when you want to climb up a mountain just to watch a sunset or sunrise — seriously!

Dungeon, fort, and castle rendering are good but not eye-popping, though to be fair this game is several years old. The game supports 720p and not 1080p (though it works just fine on 1080p displays, just not using full capabilities).

There are a few interesting artifacts in the graphics from time to time, but nothing serious. Occasionally you’ll see a clipping error in which two solid objects are allowed to intersect, and occasionally the activation pointer (your “mouse cursor” from PC parlance) doesn’t quite line up exactly with the object you are going to activate. Very minor issues, barely noticeable in normal game play.

The sound is quite good and voices very comprehensible, especially if you have an optical cable linked to a multi-channel home theatre system. The quality of the actor voices is excellent, but as others have pointed out there are too few actors for too many characters, and the voice tones get repetitive. On rare occasions you can lose the dialog sound from scripted scenes, such as when a leader is addressing his or her troops. The game does a good job of fading out sounds over distance and of making sounds carry further in echoing environments. If you listen carefully, you can often get a hint of nearby enemies. Incidentally, the game allows optional captioned dialogs and would therefore be quite accessible to someone with a hearing impairment.

* Game mechanics, world model

Oblivion provides a geographically small but extremely detailed world model. You are in the province of Cyrodiil, a part of the empire of Tamriel. In physical terms, Cyrodiil is just a few square miles in area, but the game designers make it “feel” much larger by the way they scale time and terrain. Towns that are really just a couple of miles apart seem more distant than that. Each of the towns in the game has its own unique architecture, culture, and layout. The countryside between towns is fully explorable, with every boulder, hill, valley, and stream being defined and modeled. If you like the pretty waterfall, you can climb up on the rocks to get a better look at it. The “edge of the world” is implemented mostly by steep impassable terrain, rather than an arbitrary hard boundary in software, though you *can* get to the boundary if you really work at it.

The world model is very detailed, especially with regard to vegetation. Bethesda licensed a third-party plant rendering database that has very realistic 3D models of plants that in many cases change with the seasons. In addition, many of the plants are harvestable for alchemy ingredients, and your rate of success at this depends on the season for each plant species.

Many aspects of the game are governed by the underlying physics model licensed from Havock. Trajectories of arrows, for example, are very realistic (I do some archery in the real world and was pretty impressed with this game implementation!). There are very few places where the game designers put artificial limits on what you can try. If you have the agility or strength to make your character do a particular climb or jump or throw, the game will let you do it in most cases. This can get you into trouble occasionally — for example, it’s quite possible to jump down a chasm and get wedged between boulders in a way that you can’t jump out, just as you could in mountainous country in the real world. Interestingly, the physics model is realistic enough that you can sometimes climb out of such predicaments by dropping carried objects and then standing on them as they fill the space below you.

Throughout the game are many hundreds (thousands?) of container objects such as chests, barrels, crates, sacks, bags, dressers, desks, and cabinets. These are (mostly) fixed in location, and the game lets you store an unlimited amount of objects in them. Bodies of slain creatures also act like containers in terms of game mechanics, though they usually disappear when the game resets the local “cell”. In fact, almost all containers reset after approximately 73 hours of elapsed in-game time, when the “cell” resets. Their contents go back to defaults or to a random mix of clutter or food, depending on the situation. Thus, it is *not* safe to use just any container to store your character’s loot — as I learned the hard way the first time I played, storing some valuable loot in what I thought was a safe location.

There are exceptions, though: Any container in a house that you own is safe to use and will not reset (with one exception, a particular container in a particular house that has a documented software bug). Also, there are various “torn grain sacks” scattered around the game that are specifically immune to the cell reset and are therefore safe to use until you can afford a house. Most of the guild halls have at least one of these safe containers — but when your character has lived for a while in the basement of the Mage’s Guild, you will have a strong incentive to acquire enough gold to buy a house!

One notable annoyance with respect to containers is the handling of bookshelves in the game. It is dreadful, in my opinion the very worst complaint I have about the game. The designers used the physics model to make the shelves behave realistically, but in the virtual world — when you have only a “grab” button and an object handle and not real hands — “realistic” is emphatically NOT what you want from shelves. Placing a stack of books on a shelf in your house can be an exercise in patience that would test a monk. It would have been better if the shelves were just ordinary containers, and when you put objects into them the game should simply arrange them into some reasonable visual representation, perhaps ordering books by title or ordering objects by size or by insertion order. (In fairness, use of shelves is entirely optional — as far as I know, you never *have* to put anything on a shelf. But it would be nice to be able to do so in your house without having to do a game save first in case you accidentally knock off everything else from the shelf! Game saves are for just before epic battles, not before you put a book on a shelf.)

* Game mechanics, character stats

RPG players will be quite comfortable with the stats system in Oblivion. You have your basic attributes (strength, agility, speed, intelligence, and so on) and your skills (blade, sneak, marksman, alchemy, conjuration, and so on) that are initially determined by your choice of race (species), class, specialization (combat, magic, or stealth), and birth sign (zodiac sign). Thereafter, you level up your attributes by practicing up the skills that influence each attribute. For example, fighting a lot with blade weapons will increase your blade skill and will give you the opportunity to add points to strength next time you level up. You have seven major skills (which depend on your class) and many minor skills; level-up occurs when you increase your major skills in any combination a total of ten points. You can advance your skills not only by adventuring but also by practicing in-game just as you could in the real world. For example, have your character stand and cast illusion spells again and again, and you will get better at illusion skill. This gives you a lot of control over your character’s advancement and stats development, though the game manual doesn’t document this in detail. The online wiki provides very detailed information on leveling and game stats.

Available races include several kinds of humans and elves, a catlike race called kajhiit, orcs, and a semi-acquatic reptilian race called argonians. The orcs are not evil as they are in Tolkein — rather, they are just a very warrior-based culture akin to Klingons, with a somewhat taciturn manner. Surprisingly (to me, at least) there are no dwarves in Oblivion, though they are mentioned in the lore you find throughout the game.

There are about two dozen predefined character classes, with the usual mage, thief, ranger, healer, and so on plus numerous variations on the above. If you want full control, however, you can actually custom-design your own class, picking your list of major skills and your area of specialization (combat, stealth, or magic). It is sometimes best to pick major skills that are *not* the things you intend to do most, to keep your character from leveling up too fast. Leveling fast means that the monsters and quests get harder at a more rapid rate than your character attributes and skills are improving. The online (unofficial) wiki provides some valuable advice on managing your leveling process.

The game is mostly gender-neutral with regard to statistics, and where they differ, the difference is usually balanced (that is, each gender gets bonuses and penalties, just in different areas). In at least one race, the female is the larger and stronger gender, so here again the game designers broke with stereotypes. Unfortunately, some of the clothing and armor is not so egalitarian. For some of the “adventuring clothing”, for example, the male version looks like a practical shirt-and-pants outfit, but the female version has a skirt or corset or other design that would be less practical for combat. Some of the female armor leaves more skin exposed than what a smart warrior would prefer, whereas the male version covers the areas that need to be covered. As someone who does reenactment armoured combat as a hobby, I found the armor particularly disappointing in this regard, even though I myself happen to be male. My wife agreed, and searched long and hard to find a set of adventuring clothing for her female mage that looks like adventuring garb. (It does exist, but you may have to hunt around for it.) To the game’s credit, not all of the armor is gender-biased — as you outgrow the crappy novice stuff, the better armor is mostly gender-neutral, with differing shape where it needs to have differing shape but with the same level of coverage and protection. I should also note that the scantier female armor is just a role-playing annoyance, not a game statistics penalty, as both men and women have equal protection in terms of game stats.

* Game mechanics, travel

You can walk or run anywhere in the game world freely, and are not limited to a fixed path following the current quest. You can also “fast travel” from most outdoors locations to any city, or to any significant location whose map marker you have “discovered” by having been there previously. In a few cases, quest-giving NPCs in the game give you a free map marker by “showing you the location on your map” in dialog, which allows you to fast-travel there right away if you wish.

From the player’s standpoint, fast travel feels like teleportation, but it isn’t. Rather, it is just assumed that your character walked there at his/her normal movement rate. Game time is assessed, with all attendant effects such as spell and potion expiration, change of weather and sunlight, etc. The fast travel routes are not always perfectly optimized — for example, they will go a long way around a small body of water to avoid a short swim — so if you really need to be somewhere fast in game time, you may want to do the travel in-character rather than by fast travel so you can pick the best route. On the other hand, the game designers realized that walking the same roads again and again can get tedious, so they gave you the fast travel option as a way to avoid this. Fast travel is risk-free — you will never get ambushed by bandits or monsters — but also accrues no experience points to your athletics or other skills. Walking from town to town is also a good time to do in-game spell practice to advance your magical skills, or to jump and run and swim to practice physical skills. But…it’s your choice as a player.

For faster travel, horses can be purchased, stolen, or (in a couple of specific quest points) acquired for free. Horses significantly improve the speed of travel, and the riding animation is realistic enough to be fun in its own right! There are some game mechanics annoyances with horses, however. First, any time you fast travel, a horse that you own will automatically go with you — and you have no choice in this. That means fast-traveling to a dangerous area leaves you stuck with a vulnerable and expensive animal you now have to protect. It would have been nice if the designers had made it so that fast travel to any town or other safe zone automatically fetched your horse, but travel elsewhere should have prompted you with a yes/no popup rather than just assuming you would want the horse.

There are some game mechanics tricks (not really cheats, just clever control manipulation) that allow you to carry a lot of weight while on horseback, but there are no such things as pack animals or saddlebags per se. Also, you cannot cast spells or fight while on horseback. On the plus side, though horses are somewhat vulnerable they are not defenseless, and they will fight back if attacked.

* Game mechanics, combat

You can do combat in first- or third-person mode, though I prefer first person. The weapon behavior feels realistic (I do some sword work as a hobby), albeit rather simplistic. You basically just swing your weapon, without a lot of specific moves and tactics. The good news about this, though, is that it allows weapon to be just one button, leaving other controls free for things like magic even during combat. Would I like to see a more detailed combat model? Perhaps, but what’s there is still fun and challenging.

Weapons come in blade, blunt, and archery varieties, and all three can be poisoned and/or enchanted, including custom-designed poisons and enchantments (if your character has the skills). Armor comes in “light” and “heavy” categories, with cuirass, greaves, helm, gauntlets (or bracers), boots, and shield making up the harness kit. You can mix and match heavy and light, and different quality levels, to make the kit you prefer, trading off weight for protection. Enchanted armor can be acquired as loot, bought from certain merchants, or manufactured by the character.

The archery aspect of the game is interesting. When you first start, archery is very weak, and my first time through the game I abandoned it in disgust. Then I realized that it becomes much more deadly when you practice up the skill. As your character advances, you can enchant the bow and/or the arrows, or poison the arrows, or combine all of the above. Given that, and a good marksman skill level, and your character can put down some serious hurt with a bow! Regrettably, there are no crossbows in the game, though there are bows of differing quality levels.

You can use both weapons and magic interchangeably in combat, and can rapidly interlace them against the same foe, and you can fight alongside your conjured creature or (in certain situations) allied NPCs. The friendly NPCs are often more in the way than helpful, though — the AIs lack the good sense to get out of the way when you are trying to cast a spell or swing your sword. They will often run directly into your line of fire or your weapon arc, and when you hit them they may turn against you. If you accidentally kill a friendly, even in the heat of melee, the game makes no accommodation of the accidental nature of the death, and you are charged with murder. This can get you imprisoned, fined, killed by the guards or other normally friendly NPCs, or it can get you invited into the assassin guild even if you were playing a good character. The lesson here is that if you are entering combat with friendly NPCs nearby, you should save the game first and be prepared to reload and start over if you accidentally kill a friendly. In fact, my wife and I find that during most of the quests where allies are involved, it’s easier to use stealth to sneak away from them, go kill all the hostiles, then come back and lead your allies through the now-empty dungeon. It’s kind of comical to hear them remark things like, “So far, so good!” as you lead them safely past the bodies of the monsters you already slew for them!

* Game mechanics, magic

Magic in Oblivion falls into the categories of Alchemy, Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism, and Restoration. Most of these are self-explanatory. Mysticism has to do with detecting life (a way to “see” invisible enemies) and trapping the spirit energy of a dying enemy to power magic items. Each of the magic schools is independently skilled and advanced, and they are governed by different attributes (intelligence, willpower, or personality).

All characters, regardless of class, can cast at least some basic magic spells, and all characters can use magic items and create alchemical potions and poisons. Custom spells can be created only by characters who gain admission to the Arcane University, which requires advancing about halfway along the Mage Guild quest line (but you can do this as any character class). Enchanted items (weapons, armor, and clothing) can be created using Soul Gems (a large jewel, filled with an enemy’s spirit energy using a mysticism spell) by students at the Arcane University, or by using Sigil Stones that are obtained during the main quest line (and nowhere else….which is the strongest argument for doing the main quest at least part way through).

Spellcasting is a manna-based system (Oblivion calls it “Magicka”), with your energy regenerating slowly but continuously during the game (for most characters, except those with one particular birth sign). Potions and some touchable objects in the game can also recharge your magicka.

Custom magic is a powerful feature of the game. You can make spells that combine a more-or-less arbitrary number and strength of offensive and defensive capabilities, up to the limit of your character’s skill and magicka. This is an opportunity to be very creative, such as making spells that “stack” on one another to deliver a deadly pile-up of offensive effects onto an enemy, or making a spell that harms an enemy then makes you temporarily invisible to avoid their return attack.

Alchemy is, in the game as in real life, somewhat pedestrian in nature. You go out in the woods or to farms to gather flowers and vegetables and food items for ingredients (or buy them in stores). You obtain the best-quality lab gear you can afford or locate. Then you make potions. It sounds dull, and it can get a bit repetitive — but it’s worth it! A character with moderate to advanced alchemy skills can make a large amount of money selling potions, and you can make customized beneficial or harmful potions to aid in combat. Potions can heal, restore magicka, repair damaged attributes, confer temporary “buffs” to stats, hide you, shield you, or reflect attacks back at your enemies. Poisons can inflict damage, paralyze, silence, illuminate, or otherwise harm and/or annoy your foe.

Weapons, armor, clothing, and jewelry can be custom-enchanted by characters with access to the appropriate in-game resources. Offensive enchantments can be multi-effect (up to the limits of the Soul Gem you use to make them), but defensive enchantments are one-per-item only. Enchantment is only allowed once per item (that is, if you want to multi-effect enchant a weapon, you have to do it all at once). This is an annoying limitation to the player, but was probably intentional to provide game balance. You still have a great deal of latitude in making custom items, however. Only one weapon at a time can be used, but the defensive items can be mixed and matched. You basically have nine defensive “slots” to fill: feet, legs, torso, hands, head, left ring, right ring, amulet, and shield. (You are allowed one ring on each hand, plus gauntlets or bracers that apply to both hands.) The shield only helps your armor rating if you bear it opposite a one-handed weapon, but its enchantment remains active as long as it is in your “equipped inventory” even if not currently in use. Feet can wear shoes or boots, and the head can wear a helmet or a mage hood.

The defensive “slots” can make you choose between role-play and game-stats optimization. For example, if you wear mage robes they take the place of both pants and shirt, so one item occupies two of your potential enchantment slots. Also, there is no non-armor equivalent to a shield, so if you are a mage you have to choose between carrying a shield just to get the enchantment, or giving up an enchantment slot. For the hands, there are no such things as light gloves, but if you are playing a non-fighter you can wear lightweight bracers or the wrist manacles that you acquire in the tutorial, which the game treats as weightless but enchantable.

Conjuration magic is a powerful tool in combat. You can summon any one (at a time) of numerous monsters or undead to fight alongside your character. Their strength and attack capabilities vary widely, and you can “know” multiple conjuration spells so you can choose the best ally for the situation. At higher Conjuration skill levels, some of the summoned creatures are formidable allies that can make a huge difference in battles. Among other things, even a weak conjured creature is likely to distract your enemies, so you have time to heal up, switch weapons, recharge your magicka, use ranged attacks, cast defensive or buffing spells, grab loot, hide, or flee.

* Role playing

Oblivion lends itself very well to those who want more than just a hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. There are plenty of opportunities for the latter — bandit camps, marauder and necromancer lairs, caves, mines, ancient ruins, and the Oblivion gates that are the centerpiece of the main quest — but there are also ways to make your character much more than just a pile of stats and equipment.

There are four guilds (Fighter, Mage, Thief, and Dark Brotherhood [assassin]) that you can optionally join, and in which you can advance. There are also other factions, such as knightly orders, which you may be invited to join depending on your character’s actions. Joining a faction gains you allies and enemies and sometimes access to equipment, shelter, or training.

Your character’s appearance is customized at the start of the game and can’t be changed later, but you have a fairly wide latitude in clothing, weapons, and armor. The armor varies not only in quality but also — dramatically — in appearance, from fairly realistic renditions of Roman and European plate armor, to chain, and several fantasy armors that look more magical or other-worldly. Shivering Isles adds two more unique armor types. Clothing varies from ragged to courtly and can be looted, purchased, stolen, or sometimes picked up for free from guilds or cities. Because clothing can be enchanted just like armor, a non-fighter character can actually have a maxed-out armor rating through sufficiently enchanted traveling clothes and jewelry.

Characters with sufficient wealth and fame can purchase a house in any of the major towns in the game. Ironically, the available house in the capital is literally just a shack by the waterfront — but it’s cozy and safe, and has an incredible sunset view! There are several middle-tier houses in other towns, and in one town there is a three-story mansion you can buy, and you can even hire a housekeeper to maintain it and to cook for you. The houses vary widely in price and features, but all provide a safe place to sleep and to store possessions.

Culture varies from town to town, and the game designers borrowed heavily from Roman, Norse, and other real-world architectural and cultural motifs to flavor the various regions.

One interesting aspect of roleplay is the blurring of character classes. In Oblivion, the fantasy world is one in which everyone uses magic to some degree, and everyone uses weapons to some degree. Your “pure” mage will still need to learn to fight, and your “pure” barbarian will still need to know some basic spellcraft. Get over it. There is still a huge amount of room to maneuver in terms of roleplay. For example, say you are playing a fighter. Perhaps you only use magic for healing and for carrying loot, not for combat. Or perhaps you are a mage: Do you charge in and obliterate the enemy with massive destruction, or do you use illusion to acquire tons of loot without ever entering into a battle? Or perhaps your wizard has used arcane skills to enchant a powerful magic sword, or a deadly bow and arrows, or perhaps you attack with a formidable staff of shock, frost, or fire. If you are a thief or assassin, do you use illusion to conceal yourself, or perhaps to charm or lull or demoralize your enemies, or do you use alchemy to poison your knife and then use alteration to “feather” yourself to carry away the huge pile of loot?

In other words, the world of Oblivion is a dangerous place where everyone from merchant to barbarian needs to be able to handle basic weaponry, and where magic is a part of the fabric of life, so even shopkeepers know how to heal themselves with potions or spells.

Houses provide a great roleplay opportunity. The furnishings come in predefined room groupings, and for the most part you can’t move them around. But which house (or houses) you buy offers a very different atmosphere for your living quarters, and you can arrange your trophies — such as unique weapons and armor or unusual magic items — on shelves and tables and (if you bought the Skingrad mansion) in display cases. Is your character a light-traveling adventurer who buys the modest shack in Imperial City or Bravil and prefers to sell off unneeded items and live simply? Or are you a great warlord, or a wizard of great renown, whose Skingrad mansion is a personal museum and alchemy lab? Or are you a middle-class merchant or journeyman mage who likes the comfort and convenience of the house in Chorrol? Or perhaps your orcish barbarian craves the rugged Nordic look of the lodge in mountain-circled Bruma.

Interpersonal roleplay in Oblivion is limited. The AIs aren’t bad, as game AIs go, but they’re not real people like you would get in an online MMORPG or at a real tabletop RPG session. You do end up caring about some of the NPCs’ fate, and you feel bad when they die in the game, but you don’t have a real emotional connection. That being said, however, if you can get used to being a mostly solitary hero, the opportunities for character depth and interesting roleplay bits are plentiful.

* Overall impressions

I’ve said for many years that my ultimate gaming dream is to be able to play AD&D on a holodeck, with the computer taking care of all the messy bookkeeping. Oblivion doesn’t realize that dream — we need a few more decades of technology to get to that level — but it’s a pretty darned good attempt at bringing the fun of a tabletop RPG to real-time gaming on a video console. My wife and I have enjoyed a couple hundred hours of fun from this game, and we’re not tired of it yet. Five stars!

Rating

I came into this series in time for Morrowind, and I got hooked. At first I couldn’t get the hang of it, but I finally managed to figure it out and the end result was plenty of entertainment. The world–both in Morrowind and here in Oblivion–is huge, and there are hundreds of places to visit and explore. I especially liked the inclusion of random hamlets and houses in the wilderness. They add a touch of realism.

And the world itself it beautiful. I’ll be playing and be struck by the view or a particularly tranquil-looking meadow. There’s nothing quite like cresting a hill in Oblivion, too. You come up over the rise and a valley is laid out in front of you–you can see all the way across a mountain range. No backdrop palettes here. If you see a mountain off in the distance, you can climb it.

Even after you complete the main questline, you’ll only have scratched the surface of the content. There are hundreds of odd jobs to be done in each of the towns, and they aren’t the mindless cut-and-paste quests you get in other games. My favorite so far is one for the Dark Brotherhood where they lock you in a house with several other people, and you must assassinate them one at a time without the rest catching on and attacking you. Another fun one was tracking down a man who said he was a vampire hunter, only to learn he’s little more than a thief and a murderer. Everything’s heavy on story and cutscenes, which is good! You’ll get sucked in. The atmosphere is quality.

Each player will have things they like to do. Some like the combat aspect, others like making their own spells and practicing sorcery, and others like to search for rare plants to put into potions. Any pursuit will give you hours and hours of gameplay. The money problem in Morrowind has been fixed (it was notoriously easy in that game so quickly earn thousands upon thousands of gold, and be able to afford anything offered). You’ll make more gold as you level up, but you won’t find whole suits of ebony armor worth 100,000 gold lying around on each enemy like in Morrowind. Expensive, quality items are nice and rare, and you appreciate them more because of it.

If you do build up a surplus of gold, you can always buy a house or two or five. There’s one for sale in pretty much every town, and they range in price from 5,000 gold to 25,000 or so. The furnishings for these houses (many come unfurnished) are another 1,500 apiece. You really don’t need to buy a house (as the game recommends repeatedly on the many loading screens), because you’ll never have much use for it. The only thing in your houses that’s useful is the bed, and it’s almost always easier to just use an inn or fast travel to a campsite. Still, they are fun to have, and they’re great later on when you need a place to store items you’ve saved up.

Negatives? Just two little ones. After you play for a while, the game seems to slow down, which can prove to be a headache when you need to access the menus. Sometimes it locks up completely for a minute or so. And the loading screens–lordy, the screens!–sometimes there are multiple loading screens for the interior of a house. Castles will be divided into several loading zones. Passing from indoors to out or vice-versa requires a load. So does leaving or entering a town, sewer, cave, mine, shrine, ruin, cellar, attic, tower, or in some cases, room. This can become frustrating.

Other than that, this game is virtually flawless. It can give you dozens of hours of playtime if you get into the guild quests and professions, and probably twice that if you decide you want to explore and find all the locations on the map.

This is probably the best all-around lazy Sunday game on the 360 so far, the kind of thing you could spend an afternoon messing about with and feel like you did something semi-useful when you finally save and quit.

Rating

I have played Oblivion on both the PC and XBOX 360, and the 360 version blows the other away.

The controls work effortlessly. Even though it was designed as a computer game first, then released on 360, it seems as though the controls were designed for a game controller. It is much easier and more efficient to play with the 360′s controller.

Graphically, the game is amazing. If you have your 360 hooked up to a true HD TV, buy a hat and get ready to hold on to it! It is still one of the best looking games out there. What’s more, I have experienced no drops in frame rate at all while playing the game. It always runs quite smoothly, allowing one to stay immersed in the experience. It is possible to play in either first- or third-person view, but I would definitely recommend first-person. Magic is hard to target in third-person view and I didn’t get the same feeling of ‘being there’ as in first-person mode.

Two final things:

1) Downloading extra content is a breeze over XBOX Live. There are a couple of add-ons (one that adds spell tomes to loot in dungeons and elsewhere which teach you spells) that I felt really enhanced the game.

2) The game is now out on the Platinum Hits line for the 360. I believe it was $25 or $30, and it is worth every penny of that, and more.

Rating

These statements are in response to previous qustions and reviews.

This pack was designed for people that can not or do not have broadband service and wanted these two huge add ons for Oblivion. there ARE only the two included here yes. two others were available for FREE from Official Xbox Magazine in early 2007. The horse armor was never given for free and is not available on here. OR of course if you do not already have this game then this is the best option available.

if you already own a copy of oblivion and purchase this, you will then have two full copies of the game. about a year ago when bethesda said they will in time release the downloadable content on disc it was known that it would be on its own disc! some hoped it would be a disc update like halo2s extra maps were, but microsoft did not like the ease of someone buying one copy and just giving it to all of their friends.

that would still be possible with disc two in this set, yea but they made sure you are buying the full game along with the extra content. that was the deal made with microsoft.

disc two WILL install all of the patches that were required to play the additional content. then it will ask you which items you want to install, all, one, or neither.

my main character in oblivion is nearing the 300 hour mark. there is no fear of the game becoming “unplayable”. the reviewer “mean critic” makes no good points and gives very little facts.

the game will then be played with disc one (a normal oblivion disc) while the other information is streamed from a hard drive or memory card. that is the way the downloadable content WAS PROGRAMMED to work. the information that is stored on the drive loads very fast compared to when loading from the disc.

if you buy this and already own oblivion, you could trade it in at many video game stores if you dont want to own a second copy.

Rating

This game is amazing! Great detail, great graphics and never ending game play. It gets a bit frustrating once in awwhile but with a little patience and persistance things move forward. Really enjoy the game. Would recommend it to anyone that enjoys RPG.

Rating

When I originally played Elder Scrolls III on the Xbox I said to myself, “This is the best RPG I have ever played.” The title has shifted to it’s successor. This game is truly amazing not only in it’s graphical presentation but also in the game play.

If you have ever played a first person shooter then you will enjoy this game. It’s practically a FPS but with a sword and a shield. The quest are of course easy to very difficult, but if you get the RECOMMENDED strategy guide (will save you from stress and anger) the game is very enjoyable.

With all said this game gave me 122 hours of fun and enjoyment. Highly recommend and I can’t wait for part V.

Rating

This is the best Game out for the 360, if you have a 360 and dont have Oblivion, shame on you, dont ask just go buy it. Even if your not even remotely an RPG fan i guarantee youll love this game. Just go to ebay and try and find it cheaper than $40 total USED, and youll see that this game has the highest resale than any other, why? cause it is that good.

Im amazed they could fit so much information on one disc, I have been hesitating to play this for fear that my girl would get jealous and leave me, cause im spending more time on the 360 than her. Let me tell you, ive been playing for roughly 50 hours and i havent even started the main quest yet. Its a totally open world, you can go anywhere anytime, letting you choose how you want to play the game.

You start of by creating your character, everything from the race to the the shape of your chin is all customizable, just remember that each race has its strengths and weaknesses too. Heck you can even decide what sign youre born under, and once youre in the game you can decide what kind of fighter youll be too. Long range with arrows and magic, or up close with warhammers and blades. Its all up to you to decide, might as well train on them all and become the ultimate warrior!

I just bought a horse and am now roaming the countryside finding things like old forts and mines to explore. I even came upon a group of daedric(satanic) worshipers who wanted me to do something for their evil god. There are so many factions too, like right now im a member of the mages guild, the gladatorial arena, and the fighters guild. People recognize you more as your fame goes up, and you can even talk to people and con them into liking you, obviously doesnt work with all of them; some NPC’s are just A**holes.

This here is the most game for your money, at least a 120 plus hour game, if your hesitating still, dont; just go get it and see what i meen, you wont be sorry.

Rating

I purchased this game on the word of a friend that i wouldn’t be able to put it down. I started off slow but within two days I couldn’t stop playing. From being a gladiator to a pickpocket this game has it all. If you are looking for a way to escape the everyday then look no further. Oblivion will remove you from the ordinary and place you in to a world so realistic you won’t want to return.

Rating

I have put over 250 hours in to this game.

I can’t stop. Damn family commitments keep cutting into my Oblivion time, haha.

If you like to explore, you will love this game.

If you are a spaz and want to smash buttons, you might want to try something else.

Rating

In just my humble opinion as a gamer geek for almost 30 years, this is the single most enjoyable and fulfilling video game I have ever played. I have other good XBOX 360 games, but have collected 1″ of dust since the first second I slid Oblivian’s disk into the XBOX 360. Just from a RPG perspective, this title completely embarrasses every Japanese turn-based RPG out there. I just finished FF XXII on the PS2 and it was a quality epic production in it’s own right, but pales in comparison. The concepts in the game aren’t new if you played Elder Scrolls III, but ED IV-Oblivion builds on the ES III engine with massive improvements in most game attributes.

Pros:

· Gorgeous next-gen graphics. One of the best looking titles on XBOX 360 and easily the best looking RPG on any console system.

· Amazing musical score, environmental & ambient sounds.

· Second-to-none voice acting and an unprecedented amount of it.

· HUGE environments dwarfing Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas

· Unprecedented complex and deep character development and leveling

· Hundred and hundreds of missions, and we are talking quality here, not just quantity. Each mission is complex with multiple optional solutions, takes time to complete with multilevel/multi-step involvement. It is deeply satisfying when you have completed any mission.

· SAVE THE GAME AT ANY TIME IN ANY PLACE – even during combat!

Cons (Unfortunatelty, there a few and they are worth mentioning:

· Load times are tragically long – something that has not improved over ES III.

· There are times when the game will permanently freeze the XBOX 360 system requiring a reboot – another issue that was not fixed from ES III.

· I am not sure you can call this a con, but the official strategy guide and online help is necessary to understand and enjoy all of the complexities of the game. Though mission assistance is not required, understanding all functionalities, as well as environmental and character attributes is amplified with reference material.

Rating

Oblivion is the best video game I have ever bought for my son age 12-Unless you cheat and use a guide book there are hours and hours of interesting play. My son has played the game for two months and still has more stuff to find–usually he finishes a video game in a couple of days of after school play and I feel we have wasted 60 bucks–But oblivion is worth the money!!

I also don’t mind watching him play the game-the more skilled he gets the stronger the monsters are that are sent against him so he has to work harder–there are also consequences for actions in this game- breaking the rules can affect you making it harder to get through the game–also diffrent actions can affect what weapons and tresures you find through out the game -it isn’t always the same

Rating

I’ve played Morrowind, and now Oblivion for 4 years and enjoy it every time. Probably since I’m an over-50 gamer, I don’t rush through it, but take my time and savor the awesome graphics.

Rating

you should buy this game if you want a openended rpg or a quality game. the only thing is it was made as a sequel to a pc game. the menus and interface are relatively easy to use but much better on the pc. if you have the rig to run it, get it for the pc. if you dont, it works just fine on the xbox. just be aware that all the spell menus and stuff are harder to navigate with a gamepad than a mouse and keyboard. you’ll prolly love this game

Rating

The last time I played a role playing game was like diablo on the pc. This game though is rated so high I thought, I will give it a shot.

Man am I glad I did, this game is really a great game. First off the start is fun because you can really customize yourself, which is neat. I went for the elf look intending on using a bow and arrow.

The game itself is huge. Granted I have “only” played 20 hours but it seems to be just a massive game. Truly if you wanted to, you could spend countless hours playing things you have never done before, it is that big.

The quests themselves can seem to be repetitive, find a cave, kill the bad guys and so on. That is ok though, since you can approach it so differently. Last time I completed a quest I used sneak almost the entire time. Other times I had my longsword and shield and slices and diced my way through enemies. In terms of attacking, severel options as well

The difficulty of the game can be changed at anytime, which above anything else is convient for those of us that made some stupid mistakes. . . So I don’t think people will have trouble beating the game (if I can get through it, anyone can)

It really is a remarkable game. I plan on purchasing one or two of the expansions when i finish (maybe 6 months from now?)

Rating

I have really enjoyed playing this game. It has a feel of the MMOs and yet you can solo everything. Great graphics.

Rating

simply put, this game is amazing. it will consume you. it will own you. i finished the main campaign, and theres still TONS to do. even without the extra content, there are 4 guilds you can join, each with their own massive quest line. with the extra content, you’re looking at 200+ hours of gameplay. im about 90 hours in now, and still feel like ive barely scratched the surface. everything is nearly perfect. the world is huge. its filled with many cities and smaller villages. countless caves and dungeons are scattered throughout the land for you to explore.

you could spend 50 hours playing this game and not even touch the main quest. when you emerge from the initial sewer area, the gloves are off. you are free to go anywhere and do anything. the world is simply beautifful, with an amazing view from some spots spanning half the continent.

there are thousands of different non-player-characters. unfortunately they only got a handful of voice actors. Patrick Steward is perfect as the emperor, they couldnt have chosen anyone better.

the graphics, while not on par with the likes of Gears of War, are still fantastic 2 years after its initial release. especially if you take the size into consideration. this is one of the biggest console games ever made, maybe second only to Morrowind. to me, Oblivion is like a slightly streamlined, much more well made version of that.

gameplay is vastly improved from Oblivion. left trigger activates shield, right trigger swings sword. there are countless magicka spells from standard fire balls and summoning monsters to invisibility and nightvision.

honestly, i cant say all that needs to be said in a single review. this is the most epic, beautiful, fully realized role playing game on the console market today. its the best game on the 360, and the plateau set by this game is not likely to be matched any time soon.

Rating

I bought this game about a year ago and I just finished the main quest about three days ago. Simply put, this may be one of the best, if not the absolute best, role playing games I have ever played.

There is so much to see and do in this game that I just don’t have the space to write it all out here. Besides the main quest, you can join guilds, help out the citizens in the towns and cities with favors, scour the land for a cure to vampirism, steal for the poor, kill an entire village… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Endless amounts of treasure, weapons, items and monsters to dispose of make this game an experience in its own right.

This game really succeeds in creating mood and atmosphere. Whether travelling across an open field or exploring a dark dungeon underneath the city, the graphics and surround sound will help put you right in the middle of the moment. For example, the world of Oblivion is a world where portals to another dimension and the creatures coming out of them threaten the lives of its inhabitants and of all existence. Whenever you come across one of these Oblivion gates, the music slowly becomes more menacing and the skies slowly begin to turn red with thunder and lightning crashing overhead. If you really let yourself get taken in by this game, just the sight of one of these gates will send a little chill down your spine.

If there are any problems I have with the game, it’s that the loading can get a little annoying at times. Sometimes it’ll load quickly and sometimes it’ll go quite slow. There are plenty of load times in this game and I noticed on some spare occasions that the game crashed on me in the middle of a load. Thankfully, the game autosaves quite frequently, so in the case of a game crash, you won’t really be getting screwed by losing hours and hours of playtime.

I haven’t even mentioned all the downloadable extras that you can get from Xbox Live, especially the just released expansion pack, “Shivering Isles”, which I have just started playing and promises well over 30+ hours of game time. Add this to the 200+ hours you can get out of Oblivion by itself and that’s a lot of time you’ll be spending with this fascinating adventure. That’s the great thing about this game. Even when you think you’re done with it, there’s still much more to do.

If you are in any way a fan of RPGs, this one is well worth it.

Rating

Amazing. I was never the biggest fan of Morrowind, I just couldn’t get into it as much. I do own the game but I never got much out of it. When I picked up Oblivion, it was totally different and GREAT. A great RPG game.

The graphics in this game are amazing point blank. If your out in the wilderness, and just look out really far everything is REALLY detailed, the people are detailed, and everything little thing you can think of is. The company really put time into the graphics, so fans of graphics will love this game.

The sound, is really good throughout the game. It sets the tone for everything going on, even though it gets in the way sometimes while talking I have the music turned off so all I hear is what im doing or people. But it has a good tone for the music.

The controls are GREAT. The fighting with swords, bow control everything is good and controlled well. The use of magic is easy, overall the controls are set great and I havent had an issue with it yet.

The fun factors of this game are crazy. Unless you play this game all day everyday, it will take you a WHILE to beat it. There are a bunch of things you can do in this game. Like, raid dungeons, kill bandits, steal items from them and so on. You can just roam the whole Cyrodill and find hidden places. There is a “main quest” in the game, which is the main storyline. It has a great concept, but is kinda short 2 me, but thats ONLY the main quest. There are so many other quests out there its crazy. There is a Dark Brotherhood group you can join (my personal favorite), Theives Guild (which has great benefits), Fighters Guild (good for building fame), Mages Guild (good for magic). Then after finishing all those side quests, you can do miscellaneous quests, like for single people and so on. A lot of them are fun and can benefit you in certain ways.

One thing I found fun was getting your “sneak” level up, by doing this it makes it REALLY easy for you to pickpocket people, and also steal from stores easier. You can do this to get extra GOLD etc, but i’d recommend doing Theives Guild quests before doing so so you can sale them the stolen items (basically the only ones that will buy it from you). Once you get your player to a LEVEL 10, go to the NOCTURNAL SHRINE and to the quest, by finishing this you will get the SKELETON KEY which will allow you do open ANY chest, door, or anything locked without the risk of breaking pick locks . Also, the variety of the type of character you can choose is NICE, you can choose from a variety of different races, with different skills and attributes. Right now my person is a Dark Elf (pretty good to start with I think).

Overall, I highly reccomend this game to any RPG fans, and any people that love long games with a high amount of variety!

Peace.

Rating

This game is vast with a huge array of characters to interact with and quests to undertake. I bought it for my husband as a birthday present but we try to share it equally in order to to maintain a stable marriage! I love this game, the detail is remarkable – in the variety of buildings, the scenery outdoors, the plants and the people/creatures along the way. My husband, who has been a Dungeon Master in D&D, is more interested in the stats than I am, I’m just in it for the ride and find it very entertaining and hugely enjoyable – I strongly recommend this game!

Rating

Rated as a number one best seller, my purchase was driven by the fantastic price on Amazon. My son (college age) that plays it, absolutely loves the graphics and theme and “play” of this game. Apparantly so do his peers as the room was full of college students watching, playing along and shouting out instructions of strategy. I would ONLY allow mature audiences to play this type of game, though. I do not think it is for younger children. Ratings on all games should be honored by parents as some content is geared for more mature participants.

Rating

Bethesda outdid themselves with Oblivion and Fallout 3. Oblivion Game of the Year has hundreds of hours of game play. You can play first person or third, I prefer first. Fast load times and able to save at any time is a big plus too. This is well worth the $30 and will give you many hours of exploring. Talking to people will open up many side quests. Be careful of the vampires though. I prefer a weaker, magic user, light armour, stealthy character (Brenton Assassin) but you can be a hack and slash character (or in between) if you want when you create your character in the beginning.

This is a must have and I already had it on my PC and bought it for the PS3 too because it is so good, same goes for Fallout 3.

Rating

This has to be the best game ever!

The amount of things you can do with this game seems only limited by your imagination, and the time you have to spend in it. You can go through your life as a ‘knight’…then turn around and be the best ‘thief’ ever…

In addition, you can purchase additional ‘quests’ and ‘nuggets’ from Xbox live.

Truly an enjoyable experience! I have been 3 different characters…the last of which I have been messing around with for several months.

Very fun indeed!

Rating

I read the reviews and bought this game as my first one for the PS3. I am amazed at how well done and fun this is.Its a HUGE detailed world with hours and hours and hours to play and explore. Very addicting! If you have PS3 and an HDTV, you will not be sorry. Get the game of the year version in order to get the expansion packs. Well worth the 60 bucks.

Rating

By now, this game is quite cheap. It’s definately worth getting.

Con: I got bored of the music after 150+ hours.

Pros: You will have a game to reflect upon and treasure for your entire life. Yep, it’s one of those.

I’m sure the other reviews have handled just about everything else.

Rating

This is an adventure game with a full open world for exploration and getting lost in. I still find in relaxing and fun to play after Fallout 3. It uses spells and swords instead of guns but the open landscapes are colorful to look at on a 55 inch LED HD monitor. They seem lifelike. The picture quality seems better on PS3 when viewing distant lands for detail. The quests are amazing and long so you will get your money out of the purchase. The only problem with the PS3 version is that there is no added Xbox DLC’s like 1-Mehrunes Razor which is quite an adventure. 2- Wizards Tower – which is the best DLC for a beginner so you have access to enchanted items you can create without completing or even starting the main quest or any of the quests. (Main Quest when completed, kind of feels like the game is over so I never liked starting it.) As well as the other smaller DLC’s Orrery Which opens the door in the mages main building, Thieves Den which gives you easy to find trainers and lock picks and a “trainers unlockable” chest all in one place – the hidden cave. The Horse armor was ok but not that useful but did add color to the horses. The last DLC “The Fighters Stronghold” gives you a full castle to live in.

So I would have to say that I still hope that when Xbox’s contract for the DLC expires Bethesda softworks will finally send it over to PS3 either as a DLC well worth it or a separate updated GTY edition. Either way the game is the best and is still enjoyable in 2010 and beyond.

Rating

I purchased this game for my husband for Christmas 2006. Here it is July 2007 and he is still completely hooked on it & still plays it every chance he gets. I have NEVER seen him so interested in a game before. Normally he’ll play a game and beat it within a week or two at the most. Not this one! I told him if he wanted we could purchase the add on for it but he insists “not yet!”- swears he has to beat this first. I have never seen a game go on for so long and keep his interest either. I purchased a couple other games for him that same Christmas but he has yet to even take one of them out of the plastic. Once he started playing the Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion he hasn’t wanted to play anything else (very rare b/c he’s such a Resident Evil fanatic). Buy this game, you will NOT be disappointed! Money well spent! )

Rating

I picked up this game and started playing seamlessly. If you’re a fan of RPGs, you’ll absolutely fall in love with this game. It’s just amazing. I picked up the controller and actively started playing with no problems at all; learning on-the-fly how to control your character, how to access menus, how to equip and use items, it’s just seamless. Everything is exactly as it should be. It’s just breathtaking to play. Fun, beautiful, exciting, engrossing, it’s all there. Best game I’ve ever played!

Rating

I can’t remember the last time I played a game so huge and involved and enjoyed it as much as Oblivion. There is a ton of customization, deep and open ended gameplay, multiple quest & story lines, and a large world to explore. How this game fit on a single disk will baffle me for the rest of my days.

I must warn everyone though, this game will take over your life and soon you will find yourself playing hours and hours per day. Even after completing the ‘story’ the game is far from over. There are dozens of hidden dungeons, miles of landscape to traverse… I don’t think I can make a complete review of this title without missing a ton of exciting and interesting features.

So why don’t you do yourself a favor and if you own a 360, get this game. Adventure & RPG fans will no doubt enjoy this game to death, but even people who don’t may find the compelling gameplay too difficult to overlook. It is truly one of the greatest games of all time.

Rating

What can I possibly say about this revolutionary computer RPG that hasn’t been said?

To me this is arguably the best computer game in the history of video game, period.

‘Oblivion’ is a non-linear, free-form, 1st-person RPG, colored with beautiful next generation graphic that enhances the immersive gameplay set in the gigantic gameworld, where you can do anything anywhere anytime you feel like it.

There are over 20 cities and settlements, 300 quests, 300 dungeons, caves, ruins, tunnels, and whatnots available in the game (combining ‘Knights of the Nine’, official DLCs, and ‘Shivering Isles’).

Then there is TES Construction Set. Using this amazing toolset used by Bethesda to create TES IV Oblivion, there are literally over 2000 mods made by gamers like you and I, available for free and still coming out on a daily basis.

I spent close to 200 hours with over 50 mods installed and I only covered less than 70 quests. I was too busy crawling underground, fighting monsters, retrieving loots, selling them for better equipments and houses, decorating.

To hell with saving the world. I only finished half of the main quest, and I have no intention to finish it in the foreseeable future.

The production value is simply stratospheric. From character design, character model, environment, grass, tree, flower, water, animal, item, monster, building, right down to single pebble and stone, Bethesda paid so much attention to details that it is breathtakingly marvelous.

Music by Jeremy Soule and sound effects are another praise-worthy achievements.

No other RPG in the history of video game gives the gamer so much freedom in gameplay as it is so evident from the very beginning in character creation.

If you spend enough time, you can virtually create any actual person’s face both living or dead in uncanny resemblance.

Whether you like it or not, I think ‘Oblivion’ has set the standard by which all future CRPG, and even other genres to some extent, will be measured for a long time.

To Bethesda’s credit, ‘Oblivion’ successfully streamlined the CRPG mechanics from its beloved franchise into more accessible mainstream game that became a runaway success; or dumbing down for console kiddies as many describe, depends on how you look at it. I know many of people were turned off by the changes made from older TES series, and ‘Oblivion vs Morrowind: Which is better?’ is still one of the most fiercely-debated topic in the official forum. Since I have fond memories of all previous TES series, I won’t get into the flaming war. I just don’t see any constructive point of insisting one game over another. They all have pros and cons, and no game is perfect.

I couldn’t read single review of new CRPG called ‘Two Worlds’ without comparing it to ‘Oblivion’. What a burden and curse it is for ‘Two Worlds’, which has been brutally trashed by critics and users alike. I really love that game, too. Although I really enjoyed that game, it was ultimately not enough to erase the memory of ‘Oblivion’. If ‘Fallout 3′ becomes anything close to the success of ‘Oblivion’, Bethesda Softwork will become the next formidable RPG Giant like ‘Blizzard’ / ‘Black Isle’ / ‘Bioware’ trinity once achieved back in the days. You can be sure Bethesda will come out with TES V, and its success is pretty much guaranteed no matter which direction it will take.

Now I think far too many game mechanics from the past CRPGs such as ‘Ultima’, ‘Baldur’s Gate’, ‘Wizardry’ or ‘Diablo’ series stemmed from the limitation of technology at the time rather than game design choice. I still have the original copies of ‘Baldur’s Gate’ and ‘Diablo’ series along with ‘Ultima’ series, ‘Wizardry 8′, ‘Planescape: Torment’, ‘Fallout 1, 2′, and of course ‘Daggerfall’ and ‘Morrowind’.

Except for ‘Morrowind’, I don’t see myself playing and enjoying those game as I once used to anymore.

I tried them recently and was pleasantly surprised how pathetically they are outdated now. The vidio gaming asthetics have grown exponentially since those days.

Even ‘Morrowind’ took some adjusting time to re-immerse myself. When I say technology, I am not just talking about graphic but the scope and possibilities that was just not feasible in the past. The improved technology doesn’t always result in better game but it immensely helps to create immersive gaming world, and the technology lifted all the barriers for game developers to realize their vision into games. This will result in new convergent games that crossover the genres. Upcoming games such as ‘Mass Effect’ and ‘Fallout 3′ are the evidence of new gaming asthetics being formed right now.

What would you like to see in the future Bethesda RPGs in terms of game mechanics?

For me, one thing I really like to see is the interaction with NPCs improved. Radiant A.I. is the right direction for the NPC interaction, but I like to see more detailed implementation. In ‘Gothic’ series, NPCs actually perform various activities, which player character can also performs. NPCs react when weapons drawn upon or intruded by. I know these reactions in ‘Gothic’ are scripted events but the presentation makes them as if the NPCs were alive. NPCs in ‘Oblivion’, while acting on dynamic schedule, sometimes look like pantomiming. Many times I’ve witnessed the awesome NPCs interaction only possible with ‘Radiant A.I’, but many times NPCs walks around aimlessly in circle, too. The character deposition drops when weapon is drawn during conversation, but it would be nice to hear more distinctive reaction from NPCs about the fact. Daily routine could be more detailed in animation. Fishing, chopping woods, forging metals, making weapons, eating and drinking, the lists go on. I like to have more dialogue choices and right to refuse any quest. Many times you are given just one choice in ‘Oblivion’.

Another thing is consequences of player character’s action and its influence to the persistent world such as guilds. In ‘Oblivion’, your deeds, either good or evil, hardly create impact on the gaming world. Although there are more than one method to solve many individual task, and more than one result in outcome of the quest, it really doesn’t change the grand scheme of the game. I heard ‘Bethesda’ is really working hard on this for the upcoming ‘Fallout 3′. Multiple endings and various intricate political stands among different factions would be greatly appreciated.

Next thing is different combat mechanics for 3rd person perspective. 1st person perspective is outstanding in ‘Oblivion’ but it would be sweet to have the alternative combat mechanics in ‘Vanity Mode’ also. That way, gamers have choice between realistic 1st-person combat and more arcady 3rd-person combat. Accurate jumping mechanics like the one in ‘Metroid Prime’ would be awesome compared to the unrealistical moonwalking in the air in ‘Oblivion’. More acrobatic combat moves like rolling and dodging would be fantastic additions.

Havoc engine is great, but I hope the object manipulation becomes more useful in the actual gaming world, quests, or combat in the next iteration.

And my pet peeve of the game, it’s so difficult to fight the enemies while NPCs are around, especially the essential characters that you must protect.

These are merely the positive suggestions rather than pointing out the game’s flaws.

New ideas to improve the immersion for too much open-endedness would be great idea to narrow the gap between linear RPG and non-linear RPG.

Making RPG and simulating more life-like world is the ultimate holy grail Bethesda has been working for since ‘Arena’, I am sure.

No matter which TES game you like the most, the pathetic reality is that the choice of CRPG is very scarce in the market right now, and we need more refined game like ‘Oblivion’ to embrace mainstream casual gamers without alienating the hardcore RPG gamers so that market will once be crowded with good CRPGs.

The newly released GOTY (Game of the year) edition of ‘TES IV Oblivion’ contains the original ‘Oblivion’ along with ‘Knights of the Nine’ and ‘Shiverilg Isles’. Unfortunately, the rest of the official DLCs (Downloadable Contents) are not available in the package. But the new PSN is now up and running, and there’s great chance that the DLCs will be available on PSN as many DLCs are for other games. I strongly recommend you to purchase the retail version of PS3 ‘Shivering Isles’ if you own the previous version of PS3 ‘Oblivion’ for it already contains ‘Knights of the Nine’. If you decide to go with GOTY edition, then make sure you uninstall the entire older version before you reinstall with the newer version. And yes, you can use the older save game files, but they could potentially cause some stability issues for the console version as opposed to the PC version. If you never played ‘Oblivion’, GOTY edition is a terrific purchase with infinite value. The graphic is simply breathtaking, and loading time is almost as fast as most of PC. There’s no shame in owning this excellent game on PS3 console. One downside of console version is the lack of access to thousands of user-created mods created by ‘TES Construction Set’. They are only compatible for PC.

This game literally never ends. You’ll spends hundreds of hours and one day, you’ll simply quit at your own device. ‘Oblivion’ is the one game truly non-linear, free-form, open-ended to the bitter end, indeed.

Rating

Oblivion is EXACTLY how I imagined an RPG should be like back in the 80′s, while playing Ultimas on Commodore 64s and Atari STs.

Oblivion has weather. While there is no wind other than a constant, gentle breeze, you do get rain/thunderstorms, fog, snow (no blizzards though, because there’s not much wind). You don’t slip and fall on ice but the sound of your steps is different whether you walk on the road, on grass, on snow or on ice.

The world of Cyrodill is not exactly continent-size, maybe some 20-30 miles in any direction from downtown Imperial City but… what a world this is. Cities, settlements, camps, estates, roadside inns, ruins, caves, dungeons, mines, shrines. The landscape is made up of plains, hard-to-climb mountains, rivers, swamps, waterfalls, seas. You can travel on foot or you can ride a horse. You can fight your way into fame and fortune while doing good or you can sneak into other people’s houses or pickpocket the unsuspecting. The guards will chase you and throw you in jail if you do illegal things but, if they like you enough, maybe they will look the other way sometimes. Powerful gods or humble people will ask you do ‘little things’ for them and, if you can make them happy, they will reward you according to their abilities. You can raise to the top of your profession, as a fighter, as a mage, as a thief or as an assassin or you can assemble your own little gang of dreamy crusaders so that you can fight evil and recover the relics of a legendary knight. Or you can do them all and become all, in sequence or make progress in all paths more or less simultaneously while moonlighting as a gladiator as well and, if still bored, how about helping a lady take care of the rats in her basement (that’s NOT what you think) or some drunk guy at the inn get rid of the Trolls that took over his daddy’s country estate? Oh and, I forgot, there’s a world to save or… wait… there’s TWO worlds, thanks to the Shivering Isles extension.

This game is so huge, I can’t see how you could really ‘finish’ it. After more than 2 months of almost daily playing, I am maybe 75-80% into the main quest, half a way through the Knights of the Nine, only started the Shivering Isles adventures. I did become the realm’s Chief Mage (and the titles earns me no respect from the scholar mages) and the grand master at the Fighters league, got myself 350,000 gold coins in my pocket, 2 comfortable houses and 2 nice offices, completed close to 100 quests, slaughtered 2000 creatures and hundreds of humans, murdered 4 or 5 and all but one by mistake (friendly fire), didn’t even come close to the Thieves guild and, foolishly, made it impossible for me to ever join the Dark Brotherhood (these are the assassins). Also, I’ve never been a vampire and didn’t yet start my career as a professional gladiator. I did massacre the peaceful dwellers of a small village but I did that under the influence of some drugs that made them look to me like bloody Orcs – that was the price to pay for infiltrating and destroying the source of that scourge. Oh, and while briefly in the land of Dementia – or was it Mania? – I did, willingly, push buttons that caused a few careless adventurers to go insane and I watched as they were becoming so. I humiliated a lovely princess – or was it a duchess? – and I killed so many fearsome monsters, I lost count myself but the game does keep a count so it’s easy to know. In fact, the game keeps track of so many things… I could easily find out how many jokes I told, how many potions I made, how many horses I’ve stolen (one), how many hours I slept or how many books I read.

Well…? What do you think?

On the ‘not so good’ side, the game does slow down when you are fighting 4-5 monsters at the same time or when there are other things that keep the PS3 busy while you are fighting the baddies – like a fire burning. Loading/saving times are a bit too long but, while this is happening, you do get to read some randomly selected good advice on the screen.

The other thing that saddens me is that I don’t believe the good people at Bethesda are working on the next chapter yet. I do hope that, as soon as they are done with Fallout-3, they are going to get busy with another adventure in Cyrodill or thereabouts.

My other problem is that I am now fighting with my kids over time on the PS3. We have a bunch of other games but, since Oblivion came into our house, I would say that 95%+ of our PS3 time was on Oblivion.

Rating

I bought Oblivion as one of the first games for my PS3, and I have played it many, many times more than any of the (many) other games I’ve also bought for it (as well as got the PC version). I’m not sure if it’s a fair statement to say it’s one of the best games ever made, but it certainly is one of the best-extended play games ever made. You can spend oodles and oodles of time on this game, only to come back and spend more some other time (don’t ask how I know this ). Furthermore, much of the game is open-ended, so you can decide what you want to do. Will you be a ruthless assassin, a cunning thief, a skilled mage, a powerful fighter, or a rogue bandit or adventurer? Even after you complete the main quest (more on this later), you can continue with the other quests and continue to play; the game ends when you shut the machine off (or fail the main quest). Also, there are so many options for every quest that you’ll likely find yourself with multiple characters to try out the various possibilities; and, even if that didn’t appeal to you, you’ll probably want to experiment with the various skill sets and races.

The gameplay is solid first/third person action. You use medieval weaponry, can ride horses (but not fight while mounted), explore a huge map and find hidden caves, mines, etc., fight mythic monsters and demigods, interact with NPC’s in a fairly wide range of ways, etc. There are a few bugs, but not too many – and, if you get this for the PC, you can get all of the patches (otherwise, you have to use a work-around). For console players, this game is very easy to control (I prefer the PS3 controls to PC controls, although you have quite a few more options with the PC version), which, compared to some other console games, is a great relief. For gameplay, I would rate this 3 to 4 stars. For addictiveness and fun, I would rate it 5.

The graphics are probably a 4; there are some major problems with realism in some areas, but the world is so gorgeous, and the customizable characters so visually interesting, that for visual appeal (rather than necessarily technical perfection), I give it a 4.

As far as actual storyline and storyline of the major and minor quests, I would rate this game about 3 stars; there is nothing terribly original or unique about it, and it is often predictable. There are moments of great cleverness and wit, and occasional touches of brilliance. The problem – which is, in other respects, a great feature – is that there is simply so much; since the majority is mediocre, though, the great is sort of lost in the fray.

After a very lucky encounter with the Emperor (lucky, because it gets you out of prison), the player sets off on a quest to stop the assassins who murdered the royal family and find the lost heir to the throne. You discover a daedric prince and his minions behind it all, and you must lead the heir to victory. Many of the tasks along the way (particularly in the middle, where it starts to feel like “filler”) are very mundane and tiresome, but most are fun. You traverse the empire, finding pieces of the puzzle, uncovering mysteries, felling baddies, enlisting aid, etc., until at last the empire is safe. It’s not a stellar story-line, but it’s solid and interesting enough, and ends in a cool way – leaving the door open for an interesting part 5.

I would rate the various major sub-quests (the guild related ones) between 2 and 4. The thieves guild would be a 3 or 4, as would the Dark Brotherhood, while the mages’ and fighter’s guild quests would be 2′s or 3′s. Perhaps it’s the appeal of sneaking about and being mischievous – and staying alive while doing it; or maybe it’s the monotonous beginning of the mages’ and fighter’s guild (run-around quests, like killing rats and collecting mushrooms; doing “chores” for the various guilds, etc.); but, however that may be, they are good quests, but not my favorite. They earned a lower rating not really for storyline (they’re all moderately interesting and about the same as far as originality goes), but for appeal. As far as the stories themselves: for the Mages’ Guild, you must defeat the a powerful necromancer and assume leadership of the Mages’ Guild; for the Thieves’ Guild, you must remove the curse of the Gray Fox and assume leadership of the guild; for the Fighter’s Guild, you must discover the (terrible) source of power of a rival group, and destroy it; for the Dark Brotherhood, you must uncover a traitor and assume leadership of the group.

As far as the the add-on packs (Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine); they’re about the same, rating wise, with their own hosts of pluses and minuses, but they add so much to the “world” that they are well worth playing at least once.

Despite some of the lower individual ratings, I think overall this game is 5/5 because of its sheer enjoyability. It isn’t perfect, but it’s very good and exceptionally fun; and that’s all that’s needed imho.

Rating

Even as a 22 year-old woman, I’ve played my fair share of RPG and adventure games – Fable, Zelda, Knights of the Old Republic – so I’m not a completely ignorant player, despite gaming being less popular in my sex and age group.

I began Oblivion on my brother’s new 360 while home for the weekend with nothing but laundry to do. I began the game as I do many of his games, just looking to fill a few hours between laundry loads. As I learned the controls and customized my character, I found myself loving that it was as story-heavy as my favorite Knights of the Old Republic game, but also combat-heavy. Being non-turn based, Oblivion required that I actually become good at fighting, like Zelda, rather than just queueing up attacks like Fable or KotoR.

I quickly learned that I wouldn’t be able to pick up everything under the sun, since there was a weight limit to what I could carry… no more pooling and customizing every weapon under the sun and having them all available at a whim – I had to actually be aware of which weapons were worth carrying and which items I should leave behind. This feature eliminated my least-favorite part of KotoR, which was carrying an obscene number of weapons and objects and spending hours just organizing and customizing the items up.

Once I got out of the tutorial in the sewers, I was dropped into a beautiful world. Where should I go? I just started running. Unlike Zelda or Fable, I didn’t have pre-drawn “roads” with obvious loading times… In Oblivion, I felt like the whole world was open, and that I didn’t have to kill low-level bats or goblins around every single turn. The best part was that as I ran, I was discovering places not on my map. I could have transported straight to my first marker, instead of take the 8 minute run across the countryside, but the run was VERY rewarding, in terms of discovering the new locations, harvesting plants for potions, and experiencing the ABSURDLY realistic views.

THIS, I thought to myself, is what you read about or see in the movies, when the hero goes on his journey… THIS is what games today lack, is the sense of reality. Getting from here to there shouldn’t mean that I meet the same 5 bad guys whenever a certain area loads, or that I’m praying for a way to transport between places so that I don’t have to run anymore. Oblivion made me WANT to run, and made me WANT to experience the reality, but it also provided the quick-travel option, just in case I had to retrace my steps and knew that I had gone down a certain road before.

By the end of the day, far after my laundry was done, I found myself hardly able to put down the controller. It’s been 2 weeks since I first played, and I keep finding myself wishing I was playing Oblivion. It’s almost to the point where I would buy the entire 360 system and Oblivion game, just to be able to play this one game. I can’t give a review on the full game, since I’ve only played for 10 hours and got to level 4, but judging by how much I want to play again, I know it is a 5.

Rating

Its been a while since this game fist came out and I have just gotten my hands on it for the first time. Since its release there has been a graphical update to the game which will download as long as your xbox is connected to the internet. The game still looks great even compared to todays games and the sound is quite good also.

The best thing about this game is the variety of things you can do. There is a main quest that you can jump into, but you aren’t required to. You can choose to search through the towns for quest to participate in or just search the world of oblivion for items. Character customization is very in depth allowing you to create a very personalized character suited for the way you like to play. The quest are fun and varied and allow you to solve them in different ways most of the time.

There are a few qualms I have with this game. One is that many of the main characters have the same voice. Another thing is that sometimes quests can get repetitive, but if you get sick of your current quest you can always just find another one. The game can also be a little glitchy in some places. For example, if you just of certain cliffs you can get stuck between rocks and be unable to move, forcing you to reload your game (fortunately you can save anywhere). Load times can also be a problem if you’re of the impatient type. Overall, the good of this game overcomes any these issues.

This is a game where you could easily throw lots of time into because of the huge ammount of possibilities. If you just follow the main quest the game could be beat relatively quickly, about 20 hours, but then you would miss out on a lot of fun of the game. If you’ve missed out on this game until now find a copy and pick it up. Its a good game that just about anyone can enjoy.

Rating

Dramaic opening sequency with narration by Patrick Stewart. Deep involving story line with hundreds of hours of game play and limitless replay value. If you have played Morrowind then you are familiar with the environment. The action is more fast paced and more graphic. The visuals are outstanding and the best part is so far with 100 hours of gameplay no freezing up or glitches like there was with Morrowind.

Rating

This game is the absolute best game ever made. Better than the halo series, half life series, the final fantasy series and any other so called best games ever mad. This game wins hands down in every catagory. Let me tell you something else first. I have morrowind and that game was an all right game to say the most. The graphics were bad, physics bad, and you could not hit the damn guy with any weapon or magic. I swung 30 times before damage actually took effect on the person. I played it for about 6 hours and then suddenly put this un-user friendly game back on he shelf, never to play it again. Then I get a x-360 and an HD LCD TV. So I picked up Oblivion to see if the game could par better than morrowind. The game is absolutely incredible. for 1, in hd the game is the most beautiful game ever made, the draw distance and textures are superb and the frame rate is solid. The physics engine used in this game is the same engine used in half life 2 and halo , so I knew the physics would be great, and they were. I hit the enemies evry time, actually feeling my sword impact there bodies. The musical score is also superb with no flaws and so is the story. there are hundreds of quest with over 200 hours of gameplay. im now at 20 hours and i cant put the game down. If you have a 60, whether you like rpgs or not, you need this perfect game, which is better than WoW in every possible way. Get this game, you owe it to yourself.

Rating

If you already own Oblivion, don’t buy this, that’s obvious. However, for all you late bloomers you still don’t have Oblivion, this is definitely worth the buy. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than buying all the stuff off Live. Easily. Get this.

Rating

I started playing this game sometime around October of ’06 and now its Feb 22nd ’07 and I just finnished every quest. Now I didn’t play it every day and there were several weeks that I didn’t play at all, but on average I would say I played for several hours 3-4 days a week, that’s how long this game is! Its addictive, fun and one of the few games where you can really get creative in how you complete the game. Just being able to complete each individual quest can take hours if you really want to take your time and play the quest to its full extent, and there are dozens of quests to complete. On top of all that once you complete all the quests you can still play the game and continue to seek riches and fight enemies and creatures, fight in the arena and much more. If youre into fantasy and rpg games you’ll love this game. Honestly I never was into rpg’s prior to this game, I was always more interested in 1st person shooters, but now my attitude has changed, this game broke me of that rut and I’m thrilled I took the chance and started playing it. I can’t wait for the next one to come out!

Rating

I owned the original ES4 on PC, and hoped this would be a great port to the PS3. After seeing the GOTY edition with the expansions, I grabbed it as my first game for my new PS3. I am thoroughly happy with this purchase. It took some adapting to get used to playing an RPG with a controller instead of the keyboard/mouse combo, but now I actually prefer it. And being able to play ES4 on a large HD screen is unbeatable.

If you’ve never played Elder Scrolls, but are the least bit interested in role-playing games, I still highly recommend Oblivion. The graphics are great and the game rewards those who venture “off the beaten path.” It has many quests, and still maintains a very open ended structure that allows you to go anywhere and do pretty much anything you want, all while developing your character. There is lots of replayability potential. I am already planning to play the game again as a different class.

Rating

This game is just outright awesome. I just hope they continue with the Elder Scrolls games.

Rating

When I fist heard about Oblivion, I was totally hyped. Its little brother Morrowind was a game that had a lot of potential and good ideas, but it didn’t quite pull them off. Right off the bat Oblivion impressed me, the graphics were excellent, and the combat had a nice feel, to top it off, the spellcasting is much, much better than it was in Morrowind. Bethesda has made an excellent successor that took advantage of Morrowind’s potential, and the game has far exceeded my expectations.

For the more technical user, take a look at Gamespot’s “make it pretty modpack”. It makes the ui a lot better, and the graphics packs look great too at very little cost to your cpu+gpu resources

enjoy your game!

-S

Rating

I bought Oblivion and was immediately hooked. I played this game for 8+ hours a day. The gameplay is great as well as the graphics. It’s by far the best graphics for a game for 360. The best thing about this game imo is the flexibility to do what ever you want. If you want to join a guild and work your way up to the top you can or if you just want to go fight things and level, you can as well.

After playing Oblivion for probably 2 weeks and becoming completely addicted. My game would freeze while trying to load it. At first i thought it was my Xbox. After further research i found out that it’s part of the game. Some games freeze and others don’t.

Overall I give this game a 9.5/10 though.

Rating

This game is incredibly detailed, with lush visuals, atmospheres, and music. You can complete quests at your own whim, without any restrictive rules or measures that are usually a part of RPG-type games. This is probably the best game I have played besides Dragonquest VIII, which is a bit more fun and whimsical. It is easy to play this without realising how much time has actually passed by — very addictive.

Rating

What makes this game so great is the incredible level of flexibility it (and its predecessor “Morrowind”) allows. First you can choose your race (10 choices) and configure your appearance to match yourself or your favorite star. Then you can choose your character’s class from over a dozen standard classes (sorcerer, barbarian, bard, etc) or design your own. After that, while there is a Main Quest providing the narrative backbone to the game, you are free to go off and explore ruins, join guilds, and pick up minor quests from characters you meet.

The world of the Elder Scrolls is vast, complex, and incredibly rich (even more so if you played “Morrowind”).

When this game came out, it required top-of-the-line hardware because of its beautiful (and CPU-intensive) graphics. Today, you should be fine with any relatively recent computer with a good graphics card.

For $45, Oblivion GOTY is an incredible value – you will get months (years?) of playtime out of this. Perfect for those of us without a life!

Oh, and did I mention that the game includes a kit for developing extensions to Oblivion (new quests, dungeons, monsters, treasures, cities…)? There is an active community creating new content all the time, so you may never be free of this game…

Rating

For the 8 of you who haven’t played this game yet, what are you waiting for?! (Of course, we all know there’s way more than 8 people who’ve not played this game, but…) There’s so much to do. So many places to go, so many people to meet (More than a few to kill, whether they be contracts from the Assassin’s Guild or just random Necromancers or other unsavory folk, rivals to evil people), fame to obtain, friends and enemies to make, and two, yes, TWO worlds to save!

This game is HUGE! The Province of Cyrodiil is relatively small compared to other games, but given all the ruins and caves and camps and mines and everything to find and explore, it feels, thankfully so, a LOT bigger than it is. If it were so easy to just traipse from one end of the land to the other (Some places you can’t Quick Travel to until you actually find them, even with the place marked on your map, others, you just can’t Quick Travel to) there’d be no ruins to discover. And what’s a game like this without exploration? Ruins and caves are full of monsters, and where there’s monsters, there’s more than likely treasure!

You can pick a class at the beginning after some trial play, or you can make your own. If you make your own class, definitely pick Armorer, Heavy Armor, Security, and Sneak as four of your seven class skills. These are necessary. As many monsters as you can one-shot with sneak attacks (not to mention actually getting close to them for a sneak attack), locks to pick, and as often as you’ll need to repair your weapons and armor, Sneak, Security, and Armorer are necessary skills. And then Heavy Armor for the superior protection they afford, coupled with the diminished degradation and elimination of encumbrance from obtaining high levels with this skill, Heavy Armor will also fail to slow you down if you routinely work on your Athletics skill, which goes up on it’s own as you hoof it from place to place! Of course, having Athletics as a class skill will allow it to level up faster…

I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of anything in this game. There’s so much in it, you’ll likely play it for months and still find new things to do, even if you pursue everything but the main quest at the same time. There’s bound to be things you missed.

In short without actually saying anything other than general information, this is what RPGs should be.

Rating

Outstanding game, wildly addictive. The graphics are amazing on my 40″ Bravia. Plenty of things to keep you entertained in this game — main plot missions, silly smaller missions, guilds, house buying — and I’ve only begun to scratch the surface. No buyer’s remorse here!

Rating

Oblivion is one of those RPG games that works no matter your play style. Along with the main quest there are also many side quests. I have nearly 50 hours of game play time and have only finished the first quest (after the tutorial) in the main story line. There are side quests in every city that you learn about through talking with people. There are also the faction quests that improve your position inside the guilds and the arena. If you are not the type of person that likes structure, then you can just run off into the wilderness and find all of the caves, mines, settlements, inns, forts, shrines, and more (there are a lot).

Character creation in Oblivion is more than just fluff. I suggest learning about the different races, attributes, and skills in the manual and in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides). Since the monsters and loot are scaled to your level it is important to know how characters level. Or you could end up fighting very tough enemies with weak healing and/or fighting skills.

Over all, I think this is a great game that can keep you entertained for a very long time. Even once you complete the game you can always create a new character that will give you a totally different style of play. Happy gaming.

Rating

My husband convinced me to start playing games in the hopes that I would play other games with him. Instead, I got so immersed in Oblivion (and so set in my ways) that no other game seems fun! This is my first game since playing Space Invaders on Atari, and I have to say, it is amazingly fun. I see lots of comments about graphics, and they are beautiful, but the best part of this game is the sheer freedom to explore. Even opening barrels and picking up ingredients from plants is so cool.

I’m on my third character, and have played from the warrior, mage and mixed perspective, and it’s all awesome. As your strengths increase, the strengths of your enemies increase as well. The one issue I have with this is that run-of-the-mill goblins take more effort to kill than Xivilai (very high-level Daedra); I find this unrealistic. As far as your character goes, the sky’s the limit. You can play a completely good character, a completely evil character, or employ characteristics of both sides. The creation tool where you get to choose everything from the shape of the nose to the shade of lipstick is creatively satisfying.

I have played the Shivering Isles expansion, and find it just as fun and fascinating as the main game. I downloaded this expansion, as well as Mehrunes’s Razor, Knights of the Nine and the Orrery from Xbox live, and am very happy with each purchase. As I am a beginner, each new game adds hours of play time.

I play on Xbox 360 and am impressed not only with the beautiful graphics, ease of play and first-person action, but also the speed with which the game loads and saves throughout. The only problem I’ve encountered is that the game freezes for no apparent reason every once in a while – so I save a lot!!

I recommend this game highly for any beginner. Aside from the very beginning where you’re faced with exiting the royal sewers, there is no constraint or pressure, and no time-sensitive quests until you level up a bit. You’re completely free to wander through all the towns (excluding Kvatch), plundering barrels and crates, picking ingredients from plants, talking to townsfolk and increasing mercantile skills (and sneak and security, too, if you’ve a mind to shoplift). To increase your fighting skills, hang out on the waterfront all around the imperial city and fight mudcrabs.

Bottom line, I have played for hours, created three characters, and have not run out of things to do or finished every quest. Whether you’re a serious gamer (like my husband) or a beginner with little to no hand-eye coordination (like me), you will more than likely find in Oblivion exactly what you’re looking for in a game.

Rating

I just recently bought the Game of the Year Edition for PS3, and to answer the burning question, YES, YOUR SAVED GAME FROM ELDER SCROLLS OBLIVION WILL TRANSFER OVER TO THE GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION. The GOTY edition contains Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. To play Shivering Isles, all you have to do is WAIT or SLEEP for 24 hours and a quest is updated and a marker on your map will appear. How easy is that! And Knights of the Nine, I’m told you are to talk to the prophet outside the chapel in Anvil. Sorry for all that, just trying to help out some of the Oblivion fans. As for my review of the game, AMAZING, UNBELIEVABLE, AWESOME. This is the best game I’ve seen since Zelda Ocarina of Time, and YES, I have played GTA IV! Just pick this game up, although I reccommend getting the Game of the Year Edition for the extra content. AND PLEASE, get the game for PS3! I’ve played both versions, 360 and PS3, and the PS3 version just looks fantastic. The 360 version, alright, but pails in comparison to the PS3 version. 5 out of 5! GET IT!!!

Rating

A big claim you say? I don’t think so. I thought about it thoroughly and there is no question that Oblivion is the best game that ever existed. Engaging story line, diverse characters, a world of options but it never seems to be overwhelming. If you like simplicity, you will find it (kill, smash, repeat) or if you want complexity (intricate politics, brotherhood of assassins, planned and complex thefts, alchemy, etc) you’ll get it to.

Oblivion has some faults, of course, like “robotic characters”, but the good far outshines the bad. This is a game like no other. It is a complex world and will want to explore it. I’m no fan of hardcore RPG’s where every single thing needs to be specified with 1000′s of options, but Oblivion somehow balances it all and delivers a smooth experience.

For the current price of the game, this simply can’t be beat. Oblivion will give you over 100hrs (or even more) of surreal game playing. No other game even comes close.

The best game ever, in my humble opinion.

Rating

Sure, the accessible world keeps getting smaller with each chapter in this series, but your flexibility with character creation, item and spell crafting and the monsters you face all make the game worth a buy. Contrary to some reports, not all monsters level with you; in fact only the more powerful ones do (and all humanoid monsters). This allows you to occaisionally stomp on something that may have caused you some grief a few levels ago. My current character is 34th level and there seems to be no cap at this point. Pretty doggone fun if you ask me.

Rating

2/19/2008

I’ve played the PC version, and had some problems with installing the expansions. Finally, I gave up and decided to break down and pick up a PS3, and this game. When they arrived, I set everything up, and I’m not looking back! This is a great port. I haven’t noticed any serious glitches, the sound and graphics are OUTSTANDING! This is a must have for any RPG fans that own a PS3!

Update: 10/2/2009

So I haven’t had much time to play over the past year, but I did manage to get some in. I previously said I hadn’t noticed any serious glitches. Well, that’s changed, unfortunately. I spent quite a bit of time messing around with side quests in the past. I finaly decided to start progressing the main story when I picked the game back up. My character was level 5, which is plenty high enough to do the beginning of the main quest (you can find Brother Martin and rescue him at level 1 with no problems.) That’s when the glitches came in. A wolf attacked us on the side of the road… Brother Martin got stuck in combat, and basically turned to stone. Nothing I could do would help unstick him. So I loaded a previous save. Same thing happened when we got attacked elsewhere. Well, thinking that must have been a glitch with that play through, I restarted the game. Got to the same area with a level 1 character. Same glitch, but with 2 NPCs, not just 1! I contacted Bethesda, and they basically said I was out of luck. I dropped about $100 on the stupid game, and it’s been unplayable so far. If I could re-rate this game, I’d give it a 2. Great potential, but horrible execution on Bethesda’s part.

Rating

I must agree with everyone else on that this may be the best RPG to date, a must buy for any RPG lover

Rating

I honestly haven’t been this impressed by an RPG in years. I love the fluid gameplay, i have really enjoyed just exploring and getting into a few “accidental” missions, for example i was sleeping at an inn/boat which ended up getting hi-jacked and had to fight my way through the boat to get back to shore.

The main story-line is engrossing, the voice-over work is well done. You can join various factions, fighter’s guild, mage’s guild, thieves guild and you can actually become a vampire (not kidding!).

i will be playing this all the way through more than once, guaranteed. There are so many various races and classes to choose from that the game can be played from many different angles.

Rating

I bought this game years back when it first came out and had to rebuy it again for I didn’t have it when I moved. I enjoyed this game for not only the best graphics but the enjoyment of playing and I’m greatful that Amazon carried this game and many more items I’ve purchased with this company. Thanks Amazon for having Oblivion and for me enjoying this game and many others out there that you do carry. I do trust your company and will definetly shop with you again.

Rating

The luster of this game is still fresh on me as I recently finished, but I’m not sure I’ve ever enjoyed a gaming experience as much as this one. The depth, scenery, intriguing story, leveling options, weapons/armor, among many other things, make this one of the greatest games ever made.

I’m not just an RPG’er either. I enjoy all types of games across different platforms, but Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Oblivion might be the best I’ve seen. I give the highest of recommendations to this one.

Rating

There have been games such as grand theft auto,halo and metal gear which have proven their worth in the gaming industry.But in terms of open world,hours of game play and replay value; this game has broken grounds and traditions in what a game really is. With endless possibilities and endings.This game lets you create who YOU want to be and what you want to do (in terms of an rpg game).This game is said to be over 200-400 hours long,so even though you think you been playing for a long time,think wrong.Cause i know that the side quests and caves will serve as a good distraction to you while you are on the main quest.More fun is added as you step into the world of the shivering isles where the Daedra god Sheogorath rules.Try not to get swept in his “madness” please.And help out the knights that protect cyrodil in the other expansion pack called “Nights of the Nine”.Embark on a quest to dispel the evil and restore glory to those nights that praise the divines.You better have alot of time on your hands and dedication cause this game is worth it.Buy this game and may the Nine Divines guide you on your quest!Now all that’s left is online play; hahaha

Rating

There has been a lot written about this game and I’m not feeling up to gushing about it for another three pages.

I was’nt sure before I bought it, but now I am…I love this game!

The combat and magic system is more FPS then RPG, but the story and non-linear gameplay options mixed with all the side quests, guilds, classes races, spell-making, item-enchanting and interaction with NPCs makes this a great RPG. It reminds me of Kingdom Hearts…but as a more traditional RPG…you know what I mean…

I like RPGs but don’t really like the turn based style battle systems, or the traditional D&D die based systems (Neverwinter Nights, etc.) but this game gives you a action based system with tons of customization, from your weapons to armor to spells, potions and classes this game has it all.

Sure, there are some bad things. On the PS3 there are occasional slowdowns and only having 8 quickslots is a little weak. There are also only about 4 or 5 voice actors for every NPC, but there is enough other variety to keep things interesting. I’ve only played a little less than 10 hours but am totally obsessed with this world and this game. I can’t wait until I replay it with a different class/race/etc. If you are a fan of RPGs and FPSs this game is a great hybrid. Pick it up!

Rating

I purchased this game a couple of days before I had to be back to college. I received it the day before i left, and was very pleased. The game play has been great, easily being one of the best games I have played in a long time. If you enjoy these kind of games, I would recommend this one. I have put well over 70 hours into it, and am still around half way done with the main quest line, with many other side quests to accomplish, along with 2 expansion packs in which I have not even started yet. This game is worth every penny you put into it.

Rating

I’m not exactly a gamer. I found this game on a recommendation from a friend. I think playing this game helped me understand myself better; it was therapeutic. I think the MODs are the best feature of the gaming system because if you don’t like something, someone else has probably already created a mod to change it to better suit you. I’ve already applied 4 mods and the game experience just keeps getting better and better. Best game I’ve ever played.

Rating

If you love RPG’s or wanna get into the genre, you cant miss oblivion – Specially GOTY (game of the year edition). You’ll get more than bang for your buck, ive played for over a month and i still havent got finished with original game let alone the extra content. Online reviews says 250hrs + of game play and that could be a conservative estimate. For $30 its a steal, you wont get disappointed, but the game does favor older gamers because of the apperent complexity of its gameplay, but its not so complex that no one can handle it. In conclusion, you will absolutely love this game, or at least I did!

Rating

Oblivion is the perfect change of pace from the traditional turn-based, random encounter role playing game. The developers obviously put a lot of time and care into this game. What my wife and I enjoyed about this game is the considerable depth of non-combat skills like Alchemy (you actually go out and harvest/buy the different ingredients to make your potion) and Enchanting items. When you play through the game for the first time, the leveling system can seem overwhelming and slow, but if you can learn how to customize your character and specifically focus on leveling up certain skills at the right time, it becomes easy (though still time consuming). The additional Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles expansions make this game an incredible deal. Overall:

Pros:

+The most in-depth character customization of any previous RPG for the 360.

+Great voice acting courtesy of Patrick Stewart, Terence Stamp, Linda Carter, etc. Overall high production quality.

+In-depth skill/leveling system.

+Great real-time combat system with swords, axes, hammers, bows, and magic. Combat relies more on skill than sheer level statistics.

+Very large open world to explore. Many hidden ruins and caves make this believable world a perfect escape from real life.

+Quests offer good variety and are very fun.

Cons:

+Enemies are scaled to level up as you do, minimizing the feeling of ever becoming super-powerful. (This can be fixed by lowering the difficulty later on).

+Enemy difficulty doesn’t often make sense (at the highest levels, the Goblin Warlord is the toughest character, whereas the strongest demons from Oblivion itself are weak in comparison).

+The omniscience of the law is very annoying. If you kill someone, they know about it instantly and chase you down no matter where you are.

Rating

We all have our favorite movies, our favorite books, authors, etc.

Some of us have favorite video games. Oblivion is all about sword-fighting and combat, magic and wizards and orcs and monsters… Now, normally I wouldn’t consider this my type of gaming – I’m more of a science fiction, action/adventure fan than science fantasy.

But Oblivion… …oh my, Oblivion…

There is more content, more creativity, more bang-for-your-buck entertainment in this game than frankly any other game I’ve ever played before. Period. The sheer scope of what this game lets you do is more than I’ll ever experience. From enchanting your own weapons and armor to creating your own potions or magical spells, buying and improving houses, managing inventory and treasures. There are so many hidden features and items… …it’s mind boggling.

You take the roll of a character (which you completely design and name) destined to save the land of Cyrodiil from the evil clutches of Mehrunes Dagon and the parallel universe that is Oblivion. However long it takes is entirely up to you, as along your path to complete the core quests of the game you will encounter simply countless “side jobs” and hidden quests to complete, dungeons to plunder and insuremountable quantities of loot to collect. With epic battles to fight, wild and imaginitive creates to save or slaughter, and a massive landscape to explore, there seems to be no end to Oblivion.

Complaints? Well, the game seems to crash occasionally. Save often and it won’t cause much heartache. This game presents enough data to keep these modern gaming consoles working pretty hard. This game would be phenominal online, however no such option exists. Oblivion could very easily be the next World of Warcraft. Other than that, I have no complaints – I played this game to completion on both the Playstation 3 AND the Xbox 360. Again, as a non-enthusiast of Science Fantasy games, that HAS to say something for Oblivion.

Buy it – buy it on Xbox or PC so that you can add some of the downloadable content not available on the Playstation. Buy it, then set aside a LOT of free time to enjoy all it has to offer. I also strongly suggest getting the game guide – read my review on that before buying, though.

And Bethesda, quite frankly I would be relieved if you just made every game that ever comes out from here until the end of time.

Rating

Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion

This has got to be one of the best games ever. Another marvelous journey through fantasy from Bethesda.

Pros: You can not go wrong with this game. The graphics are stunning. Grass sways in the breeze, deer scamper through forests, the sun sets and rises, clouds drift lazily across the sky, stars and planets shine at night. You are completely immersed in a world that is this close to real.

Characters creation is detailed, right down to the width of your nose, choose hair, eye, and skin tone, race, class (Scout, Warrior Mage, there are 21 to choose from) beard and hair styles.

Tutorial is intuitive and throws you right into the game, no standing around wondering “What do I do” here. Menus and Map are easy to use and leave little wanting in the description department. On screen text is wonderful and legible a must for these text based RPGs. You’ll be doing a lot of chatting.

The story is fun and engaging, and completely unique from its predecessor, Morrowind. You still join guilds and go off on fetch quests, protect the weak and rob the rich, smack the bandit, help the old lady cross the street.

Create potions from the ingredients you find wandering around. Yes, go pick flowers! Enchant your own weapons, hunt the deer, if you wish, beat up Minotaurs and learn of the ancient Ayleid race that once roamed and ruled the land. It is truly free roam, see that mountain way over there? You can go climb that if you want.

Cons: The game is buggy and bit glitchy, but I understand that many of those problems have been fixed in the Game of the Year Edition.

Many caves and areas are connected to a quest, so exploring on your own is not conducive to getting goodies until you are told to go there.

The new Lock Picking mini-game is not fun, and is more annoying than any thing. The tool breaks almost instantly and your left with a locked chest and no goodie.

NPCs have a nasty habit of disappearing or dying (murdered) before you can finish their quest line.

Forward intrepid hero, Cyrodill awaits!

Rating

I’m a huge fan of single-player games. And this is the best. Traditional fantasy setting with castles, dungeons, goblins and etc. With enough strange stuff (daedra, and other creatures) to keep it original.

There are no arbitrary limitations. My main character wears heavy armor and sneaks around. Though he wasn’t very effective at the sneaking until reaching much higher levels. The point is that you can have combinations that aren’t allowed in other RPGs as long as you are willing to accept any penalties until your character develops all his skills.

A lot of great quest lines through the guilds that are mini games in themselves. A lot of surprises in the wilderness and in towns. The alchemy system is easy to follow and use. Even though my character is always decked out in heavy armor and can sneak around adequately, he could also cast spells. But as I said there is a trade-off. The spells I cast are basic, but enough to get me through tough scrapes. If I want more powerful magics, I just need to start training it up.

So character options are practically limitless. But you can also play as a straight-up fighter, mage, or rogue type. This gives even more replay-ability.

Very stable. The game has frozen on me twice with many months of game play behind me. Both times was right after I saved, so nothing lost.

The only thing I wish was the ability to create more characters and have control over them – a la Baldur’s Gate. The game does give limited control over having a few allies, but it is very difficult to outfit them. The game was not designed to have a party of adventrurers, however.

Rating

this game is by far one of the best and most fun out there. it has taken about 350+ hours of my life and i dont even regret it. super fun and super addictive. the expansions are a nice addition too.

if you like free roaming rpgs, this is for you!

Rating

This game is by far one of the best games that I have ever played. The scenery in the game is magnificent. The game play is very good and fluent. Everything about this game says AWESOME. There are however a few glitches in the game that I am sure you can fix by finding a patch online. Everything has a flaw somewhere though. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves a good RPG. There are Hundreds of Quests, Items, Spells, Dungeons, Monsters. The possibilities in this game are endless. This is the RPGers mega-grand-daddy.

Rating

I played Oblivion extensively on the PC when it first came out, but when I recently bought a Sony Play Station 3 for the primary purpose of playing Blu-ray discs, I decided to try Oblivion out on the new platform. While I loved the game before, I was always frustrated that I was never able to play the game on my computer on the highest video settings. Plus, playing the game meant sitting at my computer, something that I already was doing to excess.

So, I’ve been liberated from my desk chair and resituated in my easy chair and instead of playing on a small computer monitor with lowered video settings I’m playing on a 46 inch high def screen with a 1080 resolution. Visually, the game is simply stunning in high def. It was gorgeous even on lowered settings, but maxed out it is just delightful to look at. I have never, ever played console games before, so this was my first experience with the PS3 control. I found none of it intuitive or familiar. By the time my first character hit level 10, however, I had pretty much mastered every aspect of the control.

Apart from the graphics and the control, this is pretty much the same game I enjoyed so much on the PC. This is both a good and bad thing. It is good because this is one of the best games I’ve ever played. I have played extensively both Asheron’s Call and World of Warcraft, and loved the enormous size of both games, while also deploring a lot of the irritating people who pollute online games. Oblivion has something of the same size and enormity an MMRPG, without the irritating people. Personally, I don’t play games as a social activity, so the absence of people to play with isn’t a negative at all.

The one huge change from my PC experience is that I played only the first game expansion and not the Shivering Isles addition. Wow! It is a huge addition to the original game. Not only do you get new quests, you get an entire new realm to explore. Visually Dementia and especially Mania bring a strikingly different addition to the original game. I’m still exploring the new world (I’ve finished the first dozen or so quests in the expansion, but still have many, many to go — how many I’ve yet to discover).

I mentioned that you also get the negatives found in the original PC game. This is the tendency of many of the quests to break. Every time I’ve played a character in the game, I’ve run into a broken quest. On the PC you get fixes (either official or otherwise) that correct the problems. So far I’ve been unable to find fixes for the PS3 version. The broken quests can vary from game to game. One time I played the corpse that I was supposed to discover in a dungeon simply wasn’t there. I had done that quest before with a different character and knew precisely how to finish the quest, but on the spot where the corpse was supposed to be was nothing (the green arrow on my screen pointed to an empty spot). In the game that I am playing right now on the PS3, the witch that cures my vampirism won’t acknowledge the presence of Bloodgrass in my inventory. I’ve tried Bloodgrass both from shops and from the plains of Oblivion, but to no avail. So, I’ve been forced to play the game as a vampire. In the Shivering Isles add on you meet a character named Big Head who gives you a quest. But after learning of the quest I ran a few steps to the north, exploring the town when I got the message that Big Head was dead and the quest cancelled. His corpse remains there right in the middle of town. I also have a wonderful ring that I received as a reward for a quest completed that I am neither able to equip nor sell.

Despite these flaws, this is a great, great game. I loved it on the PC and I love it on the PS3.

I thought I would take a second and share one hint to newcomers to the game. From the very beginning, emphasis raising your Alchemy, but do not specialize in it. Go to every shop that sells alchemical ingredients and buy all of them. You can then sell back the potions that you make. If you keep doing this you will quickly make enough money to buy houses in all of the cities in all of the towns offering a residence. You will also get some great potions that you can use in combat. I don’t recommend specializing because it will cause your character to level as you raise your alchemy skill. It is important to level through your combat skills so that you won’t constantly get killed. As you level you fight tougher and tougher opponents, but if you are leveling through non-combat skills you will not be able to fight as well as creatures on your same level. You’ll find that even if you don’t specialize in alchemy, it will probably be the first skill you max out.

All in all, a great game regardless of platform. My only complaint are those broken quests. And if your first love in gaming is RPGs, this is your only really great option on a PS3. I don’t like racing games or 3D shooters, so this could be the last PS3 game I buy in a long, long time.

Rating

Purely addictive. Looks great and plays great! Engaging story, fantastic character developement, TONS of quests and side misssions! Simply the best One Player RPG on the market!

Rating

What can I possibly say about this revolutionary computer RPG that hasn’t been said?

To me this is arguably the best computer game in the history of video game, period.

‘Oblivion’ is a non-linear, free-form, 1st-person RPG, colored with beautiful next generation graphic that enhances the immersive gameplay set in the gigantic gameworld, where you can do anything anywhere anytime you feel like it.

There are over 20 cities and settlements, 300 quests, 300 dungeons, caves, ruins, tunnels, and whatnots available in the game (combining ‘Knights of the Nine’, official DLCs, and ‘Shivering Isles’).

Then there is TES Construction Set. Using this amazing toolset used by Bethesda to create TES IV Oblivion, there are literally over 2000 mods made by gamers like you and I, available for free and still coming out on a daily basis.

I spent close to 200 hours with over 50 mods installed and I only covered less than 70 quests. I was too busy crawling underground, fighting monsters, retrieving loots, selling them for better equipments and houses, decorating.

To hell with saving the world. I only finished half of the main quest, and I have no intention to finish it in the foreseeable future.

The production value is simply stratospheric. From character design, character model, environment, grass, tree, flower, water, animal, item, monster, building, right down to single pebble and stone, Bethesda paid so much attention to details that it is breathtakingly marvelous.

Music by Jeremy Soule and sound effects are another praise-worthy achievements.

No other RPG in the history of video game gives the gamer so much freedom in gameplay as it is so evident from the very beginning in character creation.

If you spend enough time, you can virtually create any actual person’s face both living or dead in uncanny resemblance.

Whether you like it or not, I think ‘Oblivion’ has set the standard by which all future CRPG, and even other genres to some extent, will be measured for a long time.

To Bethesda’s credit, ‘Oblivion’ successfully streamlined the CRPG mechanics from its beloved franchise into more accessible mainstream game that became a runaway success; or dumbing down for console kiddies as many describe, depends on how you look at it. I know many of people were turned off by the changes made from older TES series, and ‘Oblivion vs Morrowind: Which is better?’ is still one of the most fiercely-debated topic in the official forum. Since I have fond memories of all previous TES series, I won’t get into the flaming war. I just don’t see any constructive point of insisting one game over another. They all have pros and cons, and no game is perfect.

I couldn’t read single review of new CRPG called ‘Two Worlds’ without comparing it to ‘Oblivion’. What a burden and curse it is for ‘Two Worlds’, which has been brutally trashed by critics and users alike. I really love that game, too. Although I really enjoyed that game, it was ultimately not enough to erase the memory of ‘Oblivion’. If ‘Fallout 3′ becomes anything close to the success of ‘Oblivion’, Bethesda Softwork will become the next formidable RPG Giant like ‘Blizzard’ / ‘Black Isle’ / ‘Bioware’ trinity once achieved back in the days. You can be sure Bethesda will come out with TES V, and its success is pretty much guaranteed no matter which direction it will take.

Now I think far too many game mechanics from the past CRPGs such as ‘Ultima’, ‘Baldur’s Gate’, ‘Wizardry’ or ‘Diablo’ series stemmed from the limitation of technology at the time rather than game design choice. I still have the original copies of ‘Baldur’s Gate’ and ‘Diablo’ series along with ‘Ultima’ series, ‘Wizardry 8′, ‘Planescape: Torment’, ‘Fallout 1, 2′, and of course ‘Daggerfall’ and ‘Morrowind’.

Except for ‘Morrowind’, I don’t see myself playing and enjoying those game as I once used to anymore.

I tried them recently and was pleasantly surprised how pathetically they are outdated now. The vidio gaming asthetics have grown exponentially since those days.

Even ‘Morrowind’ took some adjusting time to re-immerse myself. When I say technology, I am not just talking about graphic but the scope and possibilities that was just not feasible in the past. The improved technology doesn’t always result in better game but it immensely helps to create immersive gaming world, and the technology lifted all the barriers for game developers to realize their vision into games. This will result in new convergent games that crossover the genres. Upcoming games such as ‘Mass Effect’ and ‘Fallout 3′ are the evidence of new gaming asthetics being formed right now.

What would you like to see in the future Bethesda RPGs in terms of game mechanics?

For me, one thing I really like to see is the interaction with NPCs improved. Radiant A.I. is the right direction for the NPC interaction, but I like to see more detailed implementation. In ‘Gothic’ series, NPCs actually perform various activities, which player character can also performs. NPCs react when weapons drawn upon or intruded by. I know these reactions in ‘Gothic’ are scripted events but the presentation makes them as if the NPCs were alive. NPCs in ‘Oblivion’, while acting on dynamic schedule, sometimes look like pantomiming. Many times I’ve witnessed the awesome NPCs interaction only possible with ‘Radiant A.I’, but many times NPCs walks around aimlessly in circle, too. The character deposition drops when weapon is drawn during conversation, but it would be nice to hear more distinctive reaction from NPCs about the fact. Daily routine could be more detailed in animation. Fishing, chopping woods, forging metals, making weapons, eating and drinking, the lists go on. I like to have more dialogue choices and right to refuse any quest. Many times you are given just one choice in ‘Oblivion’.

Another thing is consequences of player character’s action and its influence to the persistent world such as guilds. In ‘Oblivion’, your deeds, either good or evil, hardly create impact on the gaming world. Although there are more than one method to solve many individual task, and more than one result in outcome of the quest, it really doesn’t change the grand scheme of the game. I heard ‘Bethesda’ is really working hard on this for the upcoming ‘Fallout 3′. Multiple endings and various intricate political stands among different factions would be greatly appreciated.

Next thing is different combat mechanics for 3rd person perspective. 1st person perspective is outstanding in ‘Oblivion’ but it would be sweet to have the alternative combat mechanics in ‘Vanity Mode’ also. That way, gamers have choice between realistic 1st-person combat and more arcady 3rd-person combat. Accurate jumping mechanics like the one in ‘Metroid Prime’ would be awesome compared to the unrealistical moonwalking in the air in ‘Oblivion’. More acrobatic combat moves like rolling and dodging would be fantastic additions.

Havoc engine is great, but I hope the object manipulation becomes more useful in the actual gaming world, quests, or combat in the next iteration.

And my pet peeve of the game, it’s so difficult to fight the enemies while NPCs are around, especially the essential characters that you must protect.

These are merely the positive suggestions rather than pointing out the game’s flaws.

New ideas to improve the immersion for too much open-endedness would be great idea to narrow the gap between linear RPG and non-linear RPG.

Making RPG and simulating more life-like world is the ultimate holy grail Bethesda has been working for since ‘Arena’, I am sure.

No matter which TES game you like the most, the pathetic reality is that the choice of CRPG is very scarce in the market right now, and we need more refined game like ‘Oblivion’ to embrace mainstream casual gamers without alienating the hardcore RPG gamers so that market will once be crowded with good CRPGs.

The newly released GOTY (Game of the year) edition of ‘TES IV Oblivion’ contains the original ‘Oblivion’ along with ‘Knights of the Nine’ and ‘Shiverilg Isles’. Unfortunately, the rest of the official DLCs (Downloadable Contents) are not available in the package. You can either purchase them to download from the official website(www.elderscrolls.com) or you can purchase the retail version of ‘Knights of the Nine’ at the store, which also contains all the DLCs except the new ‘The Fighter’s Stronghold’. I strongly recommend you to purchase the retail version for you can freely install and uninstall anytime you need. The precedure of downloading through the website is such a pain.

This game literally never ends. You’ll spends hundreds of hours and one day, you’ll simply quit at your own device. ‘Oblivion’ is the one game truly non-linear, free-form, open-ended to the bitter end, indeed.

Rating

DO NOT GET THIS GAME IF YOU WANT TO HAVE TIME FOR ANYTHING ELSE!! It’s addictive. The in-game world is hugely sprawling and open-ended. It would take days (yes, IRL(in real life) days) just to wander around the country side and find all the little villages, towns, waterfalls, and other attractions/distractions, never mind the underground networks of caves and Ayleid ruins or the entirely separate plane of reality through the Oblivion gates.

The best part is, it’s completely up to you to decide what to focus on. If you find, instead of fighting ugly monsters from other dimensions you’d rather break into people’s houses and steal their stuff to sell in the markets you can do that. Not only can you do that, you can make a bonafide in-game career of it! Or you could be a full-time explorer looking for exotic artifacts.

My girlfriend and I have logged just over 400 hours playing this game and we’re not even hardcore gamers, it’s just that fun! I’m looking forward to Bethesda’s 2008 release of Fallout 3, should be the best RPG ever if it’s anything like Oblivion.

Rating

this game is great, i’ve played it in xbox 360 and this one is just as fun!

Rating

OK, I’ve been ruined so badly that all other games seem less appealing now. Guess I’ll have to wait for Elder Scrolls V now

This is the best game I’ve ever played, period.

It was hard to stop. The flexiblity of gameplay it provides is phenomenal. Great graphics, non-repetitive actions, non-linear flow, awesome soundtrack, numerous challenges…I can keep going. I spent 5 months playing this game at least 2-3 days out of a week, lasting about 2 hours at least. It is so vast, engaging and challenging enough to keep it interesting. No wonder it’s the game of the year.

Rating

This has to be one of the best games I have ever played. The scope of the game is incrediable. It can be staggering when you realize how much opprotunity you have to be another person. You can literaly be any character you can ever imagine. You can be an assassin, a mage, a theif, a fighter, a rouge… the possibilities are literaly endless. The world of Cyrodill is incrediably fun to explore, there’s caves, hideouts, mountains, cities. The NPC’s are fun to interact with and fight. The control scheme is good so you can easily go from attacking with a sword to using magic. It’s fluid. There’s not much else to say except get GOTY becuase it has Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles for no extra cost. Now go get this game.

Rating

I had this on my PC, but it was a bit buggy on my (decently) high end system so I never played it.

We bought an X-box 360 this year so I thought I’d give the game another chance, and I find the game to be a pure delight. There are a few minor bugs here and there, and the load times are occasionally annoying, but otherwise it is a perfect RPG. There is tons of variety and you can spend your time doing whatever turns you on. It’s nice to know I have the expansion content waiting for me as I’m quickly burning through the original content, and so will you, if you have time to play it!

This is a must own for new 360 owners, that’s for sure.

Rating

This game will suck you in and refuse to let go for many, many weeks. It’s gorgeous, fun, and well worth your time. Just don’t, you know, try to maintain a job, school, or a relationship while you play it.

Rating

Simply put: this game is incredible. I’ve played RPGs for years, but I’ve never had a more seamless experience than I’ve had playing this game.

First, the training mission. I didn’t even realize it was a training mission because the events happening around me were directly related to the overall plot of the game. The only notion I had that the game was actually training me was the occasional on-screen message to press this or that button, but those messages didn’t appear until I really wanted to do the action they taught me.

Second, the graphics. This world is gorgeous. I’ve found mysef just wandering through fields looking at the sights because of the level of detail and beauty — the EFFORT — that was put into the game. The sun rises and sets, the clouds pass by overhead, birds and animals react to my presence. It’s a joy just taking it all in.

Finally, however, the gameplay. This game is fun. I can advance in whatever skill set I want simply based on whatever I use. If I want to become skilled at using a bow, then I just use the bow all the time, and I get better at it. If I want to be a powerful mage, I just keep casting magic, and I’ll get better at it. The NPCs lead their own lives, talking and wandering around whether I interact with them or not. I can just stand around in a pub and listen in on the conversations around me, and I’ll learn so much about what’s going on in the realm.

This game raises RPGs to a whole new level — a level that, as an old-school D&D player, I’ve been waiting to experience within a computer game for years.

Rating

I thought Morrowind was one of the best games ever created, but Oblivion tops that without effort. The fact that you can go wherever you want is mindblowing. You can wander anywhere, jump off cliffs, swim (in less slaughterfish infested waters than Morrowind, thank heavens) and enter any building you want. Look in cupboards, drawers, barrels, chests. And take what you want (with consequences, of course). It’s non-linear, you don’t have to follow a plan, but for those who want quests, there are plenty! The main quest was amazingly touching. Like Morrowind, it made you feel really good. But for those addicted to battles, blood and warrior fever, there’s plenty of that, too. The scenery is amazing!! Oblivion is,without a doubt, the best game ever.

Rating

There isn’t much more I can say to present the details of this game that were not already covered by other reviewers. This is an awesome game. Highly addicting. The volume of additional content provided by modders makes the world worth coming back to time and again. I’ve sunk close to 300 hours in this game and still have not seen and donw all there is to do yet. Even Fallout 3, another amazing game from the same developer, is as open and expansive as Oblivion.

One this a definitely want to point out – You will read some reviews here lamenting the addition of SecuROM on this version of the game. SecuROM is a product used to thwart video game piracy. It cames in many flavors. In this case, it is a simple disk check. In other words, when you start the game, SecuROM activates and ensures that you have a legitimate copy of the game in your disk drive before allowing you to continue. That is it. It isn’t taking over your computer…it isn’t sending your passwords to identity thieves. It is simply making sure you have legally purchased the game. Blame the video game pirating commuity for making this step necessary, but when you’re done buy this game, install it, play it. You will forget all about your issues with DRM software.

Rating

This game is the chief selling point for the XBOX 360, and now it’s available with the two major expansions included.

If you already own Oblivion (and especially if you’ve already bought Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles from XBOX Live), DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM. You will be filled with the righteous fanboy rage you see in the one star reviews below.

But if you’re new to the 360, this game is a must have. Even the training mode/introduction is amazing, with Patrick Stewart as the voice of the dying King who sends you on your quest.

Highlights of the game and expansions:

OBLIVION:

+The quest story lines are well written, and the tone of guild and side quests varies and makes for a lot of fun (especially Thieves’ and Assassins’ Guilds)

+Great voice acting from the likes of Sean Bean (Boromir), Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), and Terence Stamp (General Zod/Jorel).

+A more engaging combat system than turn based RPGS, and amazing graphics

+Character customization is more detailed than you could hope for.

+It’s a very materialistic game. Looting is great fun, especially at higher levels.

+You get to battle demons in Hell, or whip thieves in caves. There are a lot of varieties of game play.

+The game is absolutely huge.

-You will find the leveling system infuriating about 20 hours into the game. All of your enemies level up with you; so, your best options are to avoid leveling up entirely (which limits your selection of weapons and armor), or to be obsessive about controlled leveling, which takes a lot of the fun out of the game.

-There’s no clear sense of “fair play” in the game. You can create a set of chameleon armor that will let you walk through the whole game unnoticed and kill whomever you wish. Once you can do that, how much worse is duplicating items using inventory tricks? You really set your own level of difficulty in how you play, but I find that takes away more than it adds.

-There are really no branching quest lines in the game, and nothing you do affects the story line. Why can’t I take control of the Mythic Dawn or Necromancers?

-There aren’t really any race or gender specific quests in the game. Why isn’t there some sort of elf society in the game that affects the storyline for an elf character?

While I have problems with it (comparing it to KOTOR, as I do all things), I haven’t found a better 360 game yet.

KNIGHTS OF THE NINE

+A new guild! They should release more expansions like this.

+You can lower your infamy to 0 by making a pilgrimage.

+If you have a crusader fantasy, this expansion is for you.

+You get some cool items, if you’re willing to stay infamy free.

-The quest line is pretty short.

Basically, this is a good early game quest line to take on, but it’s not as big as the other guilds.

SHIVERING ISLES

+This takes place in the realm of the demonic prince of madness. Where Oblivion involves lush, realistic landscapes and scary forays into Hell, Shivering Isles has lots of bizarre, beautiful, surreal images. It’s a much different design concept, and worth it for a change of pace.

+The quests are especially ingenious.

+The quest line is long enough to make it interesting.

-Despite what you may see advertised, there’s still very little in way of branching quest lines. Really, the only things that differ are when you get certain items and what greater powers you have access to.

This is a really great expansion, and can help you build skills early in the game. And you can become the demon prince of madness, so that’s cool.

In short, this is the best game for 360, and one of the best RPG’s on the market. It does have its limitations and frustrations, but it will give you about 80 more hours of fun than Bioshock (which is also really cool).

Rating

First off as a RPG junky I really love the open endedness of this game. The combat system is much improved from Morrowind and magic gets a boost in comparison. The graphics are stunning and impressive. I have been playing this game on and off since it was released. As my quest to push this game further I ran into some third party mods. I know most reviews talk about vanilla versions but I feel I would be doing an injustice if I didnt mention one mod in particular. Obscurios Oblivion Overhaul or know as OOO does wonders for this game. It adds ton of (clean) content such as weapons , armor , and npcs. It fixes the leveling system in the fact the mobs levels are different from your own. Some areas are lvl 1 and others like 30. It gives that sense of working towards a goal thing. Also it gets rid of the minor skill , beating the game at level one cheat . I dont mean to give any spoilers. If you buy this game definetly try this mod (free). For older players it will revitalize this game. Thanks for listening to my two copper .

Rating

Others have written volumes on the merits of ES4:Oblivion. Instead I will provide bullet points

Pros

- Something for everyone. Alchemy, hack and slash, exploration, fetch questing, summoning, lore, etc… play how you want to play

- high quality art design and technical graphics

- many lines of unique spoken dialogue

- AI characters interact with each other, including fighting each other in the wild

- emergent gameplay, AI reacts to what you do

- customize your own weapons and spells

- choose your own adventure, quest in the fighter’s guild, or join the dark brotherhood and become a murderous assassin

- hundreds of hours of gameplay

- difficulty slider, want to be an unstoppable god? slide it down to easy

cons

- scaling items and monsters. As you level, monsters level, items level, and the difficulty levels. Essentially this defeats the purpose of leveling and reduces combat to action game style hack and slash.

- some items do not level, if you obtain them early on in the game, they become weak and outdated items

- depending on what skills you level, the mid game (Levels 12-20) can become unbalanced. Enemies gain health and deal massive damage at mid levels. Easy 1 on 1 fights become loading screens when its 3 on 1.

- without max STR, END and the right custom spells closing Oblivion gates can become tedious due to the need to wait to regen magic

- once you “figure out” which spells work the best and max the right skills/stats or obtain the correct gear the game becomes too easy for 90% of the monsters.

- basically it’s tough to find the right balance w/ the slider. At some levels the default difficulty is either far too easy, or in some cases too hard meaning closing a single oblivion gate can be a 25 minute chore of grinding on the same monsters over and over again.

- once you get 80+ in blade or blunt or block and get a few reflect damage items , normal enemies die at your feet.

- however if you do not go that route, prepare to load up on restore magic potions and scrolls because

- there is no spell to restore magic, yet there is one to restore health. This means if you try to play as a pure mage you still need very high STR to carry all those potions

- the deep enchanting system results in sub par gear compared to what can be found elsewhere, rendering the entire enchanting system somewhat pointless

- for self enchanted items, sigil stones from the oblivion gates have the greatest power, again rendering traditional enchanting moot.

- certain spells are locked out of enchanting

- many glitches and places to get broken quests (I ran into a quest where i needed an 2 items that were supposed to be next to each other. When I arrived, only 1 item was there… breaking the quest, turned out minor as the quest resolution allowed you to use cash instead of the 2 items)

- frustrating escort missions. Friendly AI is flat out broken and the CPU will jump in front of your attacks causing you to attack them by mistake, they will do this constantly.

- because everything around you levels, that makes all areas equal. There are no “high level” areas that are scary, or “low level” areas that are fun for farming. Every area levels with you, from level 1-30 the gameplay only changes in terms of which items or spells you have. Trolls hit hard at level 1, and hit hard at level 30. The only difference will be what gear and spells you have.

I.e. if you have nice gear and spells even at level 10 you can fry them as easily as you can at level 30. Unless you dont have a fire based damage attack.

Rating

This is easily the game of the year even with the minor flaws being described in the reviews, The ability to pick and choose objectives or just roam freely is a true advancement. Overall the graphics, beasts and characters are all superior. I would agree that between level 1 and 5 there are minor issues with the quests and how they are finished, however, this really does not take away from the game overall. I have yet to play the “perfect game” I think this game comes very close, get it, enjoy it and PLAY IT!!!

Rating

This is one of the best games ever made ( I’ll put this is up there with Starcraft!). I’m not usually into RPG games as I find they take to much time. This game however, made me re-evaluate my priorities. Kids; they can wait. Work; that can wait too. Food; no need, I’m sure I can go another day without it…

Seriosuly, the only negative thing about this game is that there is a danger of forgetting about your real life!

Rating

I’m a longtime gamer who never got into online gaming, for numerous reasons. When I decided to buy a 360, I knew I needed to play Gears Of War. I like to shoot bad guys; most gamers do. But I knew I needed something else.

What drew me to Oblivion was the fact that it’s entirely single-player. You don’t need an Xbox Live Gold account to play. You don’t need to find others that match your skill level. It’s more than just slaughtering other players online. It’s not a mediocre single-player campaign filling space between the online options.

I read reviews claiming upwards of 200 hours of gameplay. That’s hardly an exaggeration. I’m at 120 hours and counting. I’m not bored yet. I’ve got guilds to join (and become leader of), quests to complete, skills to master, not to mention an empire to save. I never thought I liked RPGs, but there hasn’t been another disc in my 360 for months – not even Gears Of War.

If you’re not into the fast-twitch hyperactivity that comprises most online gaming, this is your game. It’s intelligent, interesting, and utterly addicting. And when you’re talking value for your hard-earned gaming dollar, Oblivion is the hands-down champion.

Rating

I don’t know whether to be completely psyched that I own this game or stressed that it just consumes so much free time. Whatever the case may be, after playing this game all other RPGs just seem kinda lame. Here, there’s so much to do it can be overwhelming, but it’s all up to the gamer where to go, what to do, who to be, even how hard the enemies are to kill, it’s all completely customizable. It’s just an amazing experience, just don’t let it suck out your social life. Look at it this way, if played just for bits and pieces at a time there will still be new things to discover in Oblivion well over a year from now. That’s just amazing. This is a must-own, even for non-RPG junkies.

Rating

I bought Oblivion when it was first released. I played it for a couple of days and put it up until just last month. I decided to play it again and I am hooked. I just didn’t give it much time to catch my interest but I can honestly say that I am sorry I didn’t. This is the deepest game I have ever played. I have 35 hours into it and it is going on strong. I had read that there is about 400 hours of gameplay if you play all the side quests, and if you have Live, there is a good deal of downloadable content to add even more game time. I can honestly say that this is one game that warrants buying the game guide to help you through. The graphics are simply beautiful. I can see why this took over 5 years to create. There is such a variety of landscapes to see. You will travel through the forests, through ruins, town and villages. You will go underground in caverns, catacombs and tunnels. You will fight everything from bandits, thugs, warriors to ghosts, skeletons, trolls, vampires and a variety of wildlife such as bears, wolves, lions. You can go on many side quests and enter guilds. You also travel to Oblivion, which is like traveling to hell. I am only touching the surface here. There is simply too much to try to describe here in this summary. You have to put thought into everything you do but not so much that it drags the game down with too much responsibility. I still have a long ways to go before I complete the game but just what I have done has been a lot of fun. It is probably the closest game I have ever played that can pull me to that world, much like reading a good book and getting yourself lost in it. There is really too much game here for a rental. It may honestly take many months to beat this game. Enjoy it and remember that the further you get into the game, the more fun it becomes. Enjoy.

Rating

I’ve hade the game for close to two years and I must say, this game has some much replay value it’s shocking. One of my save files on the game has a total of 144 hours clocked in. The massive numbers of quests to finish, items to find, battles to fight, and the add-on available through Xbox Live will keep gamers occupied for months on end.

One gripe I do have about the game is the slow loading times in between gameplay. Hopefully in the next game, that particular problem is solved.

Hopefully, you enjoy the game as much as I have.

PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating

Well what can I say, first person shooter meet roll playing game. This is the first game I played on my Xbox 360 and I am now tainted for life and addicted to this game. Nothing will equal the depth of this game for some time to come. The graphics are beautiful. The ability to do almost anything you can think of or travel there for that matter is something I never experienced on my old PS2. The story line is only part of the game. You are not bound to follow it if you don’t want to. It will be there when you are ready. There are a massive number of side quests you can complete and factions to associate your character with and even more to download on Xbox Live. I have been playing about 10 hours a week for the last four months and have reached over level 40. I am still not finished, I am not sure you can finish this game. I you are looking for bang for your buck this is the place. Just listen to my warning… once you start this game there is no turning back!!

Rating

…because you’ll be stuck in Cyrodil for a LONG time! This game has over 200 hours of gameplay! It is an absolute must have. I bought this game back in October. It’s now close to December, and I’m still not even %50 completed yet! This game is fantastic.

First off, let me say if you’re not into the Dungeons & Dragons type of game, this isn’t for you. However, if you are a fan of D&D, or ever were, this game is tailor made for you.

And the attention to details is astonishing. From creating a character, to growing as an adventurer, you can pick absolutely any path you want. Wanna be a divine knight? ok.

Wanna be an assassin? can do.

Wanna be a vampire? step on up.

A mage? got that covered too.

Oh, an archer you say? yup.

A thief? sure why not.

How about a warrior? absolutely.

And as far as races go, you can be man or woman, and many different races, from part lizard, to part cat, to orc, to man, to a few different types of elf, the options are endless.

And you can even custom build your class. Say you want to be a warrior mage, or a Mage thief. It’s all possible.

You even pick your zodiac, and what sign you were born under directly influences your attribute bonuses.

AND THAT’S JUST THE BEGINNING!

You adventure all over the country of Cyrodil, visiting the many cities. And nearly every single resident of the cities, including the counts & countesses, the shop owners, and the police have tasks for you to take on, earning yourself status, gold, magic weapons & armor, etc.

There are also many things hidden off the beaten path, from long abandoned mines and caves, full of monsters, riches, and adventures, to towns that are never outlined on the map, with their own set of residents with adventures to undertake!

There is also the main task – Save the world from the Daemons of Oblivion, who have assassinated the king and are trying to destroy the world of mankind!

It’s absolutely the most fun I’ve ever had with a video game, and it just never ends! Some games, you pay $60 for and play for 8 hours and it’s over. This game, you pay $60, and you won’t need another game for a year!!!

Overall, the best game I’ve ever owned. I’d give it more stars if I could.

Rating

This game almost rivals World of Warcraft. It keeps you on the edge of your seat most of the time. I do wish, though that you could play with other players at the same time. I would reccomend that you purchase the guide book to go along with it as it is a great help with it’s maps of the dungeons and gates and the different guides through the quests. Sometimes they can be confusing. Other than that, It’s a great game.

Rating

so im about 27 hours in now. its just gotten better as i progress. there are four guilds you can join, each with their own expansive list of quests. fighters guild, mages guild, dark brotherhood, and the thieves guild. you can compete in the arena of the imperial city in gladiator style matches. lush forests and environments as far as the eye can see. beautiful cities to explore. side quests are easy to find wherever you look. approximately 200 dungeons scattered throughout the continent will keep anyone busy for quite some time even without working on the extremely well written and entertaining quests or guilds. i havent progressed through the main story all that much yet, but what i have seen has been interesting. the emporer has died, and with his last words instructs you of his unknown child, the only heir to the thrown. it is your job to find him and bring him to his rightful place as emperor. i havent learned a lot since then, but it’s shaping up to be the most epic, amazing game i have ever seen. you can enter the deadra dimension known as oblivion, which resembles common depictions of hell. its great bringing up the dashboard menu, crankin up some metal and just unloading on the creatures that lie within.

with seemingly unlimited choices, and a completely beautifil world to explore, this game will keep anyone busy for a very long time. (200+ hours i have heard) this is on of the greatest games ever made, it’s that simple. whether you own a 360, PS3, or a high end PC, this game should not go overlooked by anyone.

Rating

Personally this huge game filled with medeival batlles and epic stories i personaly think this is an untouchable great game a must buy for people who rate rpg on there favorites list right next fighting and adventure because theres all of that in but no guns obviosly great sword and bow and arrow play

Rating

I think this is the most enjoyable game I have played, so far, for the PS3. I’m the type of person that loves RPG games that don’t rush you to do anything and I’m a fan of medieval games. This was the perfect game for me. It took me months to finally go to the MAIN mission of Obilvion, and even now I keep getting off track. You can ‘build’ a ‘life’ there, explore the world and join different factions. You can be good or bad, own your own horses (which I loved) and buy houses. The graphics are pretty good (compared to how games are improving now, it may be considered a little behind but it is an ‘older’ game). I wish they would come out with another one! There aren’t enough games for the PS3 like this. Great game.

Rating

Oblivion is EXACTLY how I imagined an RPG should be like back in the 80′s, while playing Ultimas on Commodore 64s and Atari STs.

Oblivion has weather. While there is no wind other than a constant, gentle breeze, you do get rain/thunderstorms, fog, snow (no blizzards though, because there’s not much wind). You don’t slip and fall on ice but the sound of your steps is different whether you walk on the road, on grass, on snow or on ice.

The world of Cyrodill is not exactly continent-size, maybe some 20-30 miles in any direction from downtown Imperial City but… what a world this is. Cities, settlements, camps, estates, roadside inns, ruins, caves, dungeons, mines, shrines. The landscape is made up of plains, hard-to-climb mountains, rivers, swamps, waterfalls, seas. You can travel on foot or you can ride a horse. You can fight your way into fame and fortune while doing good or you can sneak into other people’s houses or pickpocket the unsuspecting. The guards will chase you and throw you in jail if you do illegal things but, if they like you enough, maybe they will look the other way sometimes. Powerful gods or humble people will ask you do ‘little things’ for them and, if you can make them happy, they will reward you according to their abilities. You can raise to the top of your profession, as a fighter, as a mage, as a thief or as an assassin or you can assemble your own little gang of dreamy crusaders so that you can fight evil and recover the relics of a legendary knight. Or you can do them all and become all, in sequence or make progress in all paths more or less simultaneously while moonlighting as a gladiator as well and, if still bored, how about helping a lady take care of the rats in her basement (that’s NOT what you think) or some drunk guy at the inn get rid of the Trolls that took over his daddy’s country estate? Oh and, I forgot, there’s a world to save or… wait… there’s TWO worlds, thanks to the Shivering Isles extension.

This game is so huge, I can’t see how you could really ‘finish’ it. After more than 2 months of almost daily playing, I am maybe 75-80% into the main quest, half a way through the Knights of the Nine, only started the Shivering Isles adventures. I did become the realm’s Chief Mage (and the titles earns me no respect from the scholar mages) and the grand master at the Fighters league, got myself 350,000 gold coins in my pocket, 2 comfortable houses and 2 nice offices, completed close to 100 quests, slaughtered 2000 creatures and hundreds of humans, murdered 4 or 5 and all but one by mistake (friendly fire), didn’t even come close to the Thieves guild and, foolishly, made it impossible for me to ever join the Dark Brotherhood (these are the assassins). Also, I’ve never been a vampire and didn’t yet start my career as a professional gladiator. I did massacre the peaceful dwellers of a small village but I did that under the influence of some drugs that made them look to me like bloody Orcs – that was the price to pay for infiltrating and destroying the source of that scourge. Oh, and while briefly in the land of Dementia – or was it Mania? – I did, willingly, push buttons that caused a few careless adventurers to go insane and I watched as they were becoming so. I humiliated a lovely princess – or was it a duchess? – and I killed so many fearsome monsters, I lost count myself but the game does keep a count so it’s easy to know. In fact, the game keeps track of so many things… I could easily find out how many jokes I told, how many potions I made, how many horses I’ve stolen (one), how many hours I slept or how many books I read.

Well…? What do you think?

On the ‘not so good’ side, the game does slow down when you are fighting 4-5 monsters at the same time or when there are other things that keep the machine busy while you are fighting the baddies – like a fire burning. Loading/saving times are a bit too long but, while this is happening, you do get to read some randomly selected good advice on the screen.

The other thing that saddens me is that I don’t believe the good people at Bethesda are working on the next chapter yet. I do hope that, as soon as they are done with Fallout-3, they are going to get busy with another adventure in Cyrodill or thereabouts.

Rating

The graphics in this game are amazing for the xbox 360. There are many different detailed environments and the scenery is vast and beautiful. The game is different for everyone that plays it. There are so many options and every choice changes the gameplay in some way. I have been playing since December and still love the game. I have not stolen anything or killed anyone. I like to think of my character as being “good.” I have finished the main quest and have advanced in the mages guild and fighters guild, I even own a few houses. I will soon start the game over with a new character that will be “bad” and I will make different choices, join different guilds, and will steal and kill to get ahead.

I have been playing for 8 months and I still like the game. Hopefully there will be another great Elder Scrolls game by the time I get bored with it. I also have never had it freeze and the loading time is not long at all. The worst thing that has happened is that I am addicted and it takes up alot of my time. If you like RPGs then you should LOVE this game.

Rating

A lot of the people here have already stated how good this game is. I would agree. This is the best RPG I have ever seen. It is huge, customizeable, and easy to play. There are some graphic problems, but they are small and don’t take anything away from this game. Everything about this game is great, if not perfect.

That leads to the only problem I have with this game. It is almost impossible to stop playing it. I have logged almost 200 hours of playing time. 200 hours where I could have been doing something productive, but instead I was killing ogres and vampires. But that only means that I got my money’s worth. $60 a game isn’t cheap, but this one is well worth it. Plus there are a ton of downloads on xbox live that add to the game. I wouldn’t bother with the strategy guides though, as there are plenty of internet resources to help you with any problems. If you enjoy RPG’s or even kind of like them, you really need to get this. If you don’t like them, I think you still might enjoy this game. It is that good.

Rating

This game is excellent. I received it as a christmas gift from my lovely wife. The games graphics and physics engine are incredible. I loved Morrowind, and played it for around 400 hours. This game blows it away. If you are a fan of this genre, it is a must have. I have only logged a few hours on it at this point, but from what I’ve done so far I can’t wait to delve deeper into it. Even my wife commented on the graphics as she watched me playing it. My son, who is seven, commented that he can’t wait to play it. All in all I highly recommend it to anyone who has the time to play….

Rating

Don’t waste your precious life-force worrying about SecuROM (yes, it’s evil. Everyone knows this). Just buy the the non-GOTY version and enjoy it.

Oblivion is one of the best RPGs ever. There is nothing else to say really. After all these years the graphics are still gorgeous, the gameplay is still fun.

It has it’s drawbacks, but it’s been a standard in my collection since it came out.