Despite being fatally flawed, Oblivion still somehow manages to be an excellent RPG.
The question is: does Oblivion live up to its legacy? The short answer is yes.
Oblivion takes some of the issues that Morrowind had and scorches them with the light of next-gen beauty. Oblivion is a gorgeous game. The sights, the sounds, the characters and the monsters are all well-detailed and wonderfully animated. There's still quests to be done and tombs to be explored everywhere. The world feels almost alive... everything can be moved, taken or fought if you are so inclined. It's the sort of open-ended game that RPG players dream about. Avoid the main plotline and you could easily clock 100 or more hours in side quests, errands and dungeons. First-person combat is as nuts as ever... greatly improved with new animations and better graphics.
So, Oblivion took the great game that was Morrowind, with a new story and a great improvement over the rather drab scenery and animations and made an absolutely stellar game, right? Well... yes... kinda...
As absorbing and wonderful as Oblivion is, very soon the glaring issues of her underlying gameplay mechanics will become apparent. You see, Oblivion has committed what I consider to be the cardinal sin of level-based RPG gaming: scaled encounters. What does this mean? Well, it means that whenever you encounter another person or creature in the game, that creature's level is set relative to your own. When you step out of the door at level 1, your opponents will be weak and sporting basic gear. The guard inside the town gate will be a real challenge to take down, as he is much better trained than you. Come and visit these same places at level 30, and all of a sudden those bandits will be sporting massive demonic armor, imps and rats will be replaced by ferocious demons, and that guard will STILL be much better trained than you. The same thing goes for shops and treasure chests. Loot a dungeon chest at level 1, get two gold pieces. Loot it later, find the sword of demon-busting majesty. Every shop in town will have the most powerful magic weapons, when before they could barely keep daggers and clubs in stock.
No doubt this tactic was implemented because of Oblivion's world design. Oblivion seems a much smaller world than Morrowind. Though Morrowind also scaled encounters somewhat, it wasn't nearly as severe. The world was huge, so they protected players by keeping the biggest threats far away from where you started. Oblivion is smaller and has fast travel... any place is accessible at the touch of a button. It's nice when you're in a hurry to finish quests, but it necessitated a change that brings the game to its knees.
"So, that doesn't sound so bad" you're thinking. Well, its not, but it definitely impacts how you play the game. You see, you level up by increasing your selected skills. You increase your skills by actually practicing them in the game... fight things and your blade and armor skills will rise. Cast spells and your magic skills will rise. However, as you level up, so do the monsters. If you do not plan ahead, level up too quickly, or do not level up your hit points and combat skills, the game will get harder. Enemies will begin to outclass you. Ironically, this can actually penalize you for picking skills you plan on using... you'll level up too fast! As the game wears on, things will start to get rediculous. Bandits will still feel the need to mug you, even though they're wearing gear totaling 50,000 gold in value. Shops will altogether cease to carry basic items. As your character grows, so does the world. It kindof deflates the joy of leveling up and growing a powerful character. Some people say that the game is actually EASIER to beat when you are level 1 than level 40.
In the end, I didn't let it ruin the game for me. It's still a wonderfully absorbing and complex game, and I could definitely recommend to almost anyone. It has a wonderful story and exciting fantasy gameplay, all wrapped in an extremely beautiful and detailed world.
The Verdict:
This game is almost required playing for RPG fans, but I would recommend this game to anyone... it's simply one of the best next-gen experiences to be had right now.
If you have a PC capable of running it, I would suggest buying Oblivion for PC instead. There have been several mods and patches released that correct some of the game's underlying mechanics. I played the PS3 choice, which is probably the best of the console versions, due to shorter load times and the Knights of Nine expansion content.
You might also consider waiting for the Game of the Year edition to come out, as it will be the same price but include even more content.
+Amazingly deep world, so much to interact with
+Good story
+Beautiful graphics and decent sound effects
+Nearly endless supply of things to do/explore
-Game world is smaller than previous iterations
-Game mechanics are simplified slightly from Morrowind
-Scaled encounters/treasure ruin the incentive to level up
-Scaled encounters/treasure destroys consistency
-Slightly less freedom than in previous games