An amazing game that creates an entire world
User Rating: 9.4 | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion X360
Critics who say that video games can never be art better start checking their alibi's because The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is, at its finest, pure art. This is just not merely a game. This is a world. There are living, breathing people, people who respond to your actions, people who are capable of loving or hating you, people that live. The province of Cyrodill in the world of Tamriel is modeled almost photo-realistically and if its played on a HDTV the game looks like the pine forests outside your dorm room window, minus the trolls and other bandits. However the feature that most impressed me with Oblivion is the story. To me, its a stunning recreation of some of my favorite books. You play as well, you ;a hero in the making locked in jail for an unamed crime. The emperor is about to die and you are the only one capable of finding his secret heir after a chain of assinations wipe out his entire line. And from there, the game is a rollercoaster. I initally passed on the hundreds of side quests and the huge storyline of the four guilds for the main quests and came away well rewarded. I also loved the combat in Oblivion. For me, third person RPG's have always (with the exception of KOTOR) dissolved into boring, static tactical games. Not so with Oblivion. Playing from the first person perspective, a genuine first person perspective, gives the game a FPS feel and decidely grittier and more actiony gameplay. Also with the huge array of weapons at your disposal it makes for plenty of great situations. In addition to fantastic graphics, a great arching story, and fun diversified combat the next biggest feature is the sheer hugeness and freedom of the gameworld. The entire province is acessible from the get-go as are all of the towns. One can literally do what ever suits their whim, be it becoming an assassin, a thief (hands down the best occupation!) or even a vampire. I estimate that there is approximately 400+ hours of gameplay out there. Another underrated feature of the game is the sound. To me its a dead ringer of the musical triumph of the Lord of the Rings, a score that perfectly sets the mood for a fantasy universe. However, what sold me entirely on this game is the convincing attitude of the NPC's. I mean these guys do what you do: They can eat, drink, sleep, party, mourn, talk (Which is a damn impressive feature on its own) and even fight. Amazing
Oblivion does have some flaws however. One being that monsters are automatically scaled to your level which severly detracts from the feeling of accomplishment. Its a **** to be beaten by the same bandit that whooped you at level 1 as it is at 60. Also, I found a few of the NPC's got stuck in doorways or on cliffs but this problem is very rare. Very. So the bottom line? If you own an XBox 360, like RPG's or have ever read the works in the vein of George RR Martin and Christopher Paolini you owe it to yourself to get this game. Even if you have to steal it. Enough said. Good night. 
