Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion delivers the best RPG created so far this year.
The gameplay in ES4 (Elder Scrolls 4) is captivating, innovative and loads of fun but I would not call it groundbreaking. Though the game offers a lot of new elements above its predecessor Elder Scrolls 3 it is pretty much based around the same setup. It is clearly a fanbased production, while it also manages to offer a great system to newcomers as well. It has all the right elements to be the best RPG but minor flaws can make it somewhat boring in some parts.
ES4 is a game for the player who likes to abide his time by exploring, questing and experiencing the game as a whole. Instead of getting the highest level as fast as possible and rush through the story itself. The game offers what any RPG player would want out of a RPG, it is in short nearly perfect. It’s a total upgrade of any of the later installments and for the first moments of playing you can’t help yourself but being awed by the greatness of it all. It has tons of quests, world to explore and enemies to fight. It has the great guild system as well as one of the most innovative and rewarding character building I have yet to experience from any other RPG. Running around in this game is an experience every gamer should have at least once to even be considered a true game fan.
That was the candy, and here is my selected few flaws.
Repetitive Nature
As most RPG’s ES4 is no different when it comes to repetitive experiences. Though the game is enjoyable in almost every aspect from fighting, sneaking and investigating the game isn’t as groundbreaking as publicists would lead us to believe. But repetition is something one cannot avoid in a RPG as quests usually tends to end up in the same manner anyways. At least ES4 has a few endings instead of the one single ending every time.
Artificial Intelligence
When someone tells me this games A.I. is pretty much groundbreaking, I am thinking this is going to change the way of life playing a game. But as every other game its not so. Although every single A.I. is scripted to live their lives 24/7 not doing the same thing over and over again over the course of a single day it does not really recognize the player as well as I had hoped. You have the random “Hi there” or you can engage in conversation but it doesn’t really make you feel like a character amongst other characters. I believe a strong AI system is a system that makes you feel you’re playing a hero in the world of common folks and other heroes. Like walking to the mountain of eternal doom and maybe coming across a wizard fighting daemons. Or walking around in a city, and just out of the blue experience the Dark Brotherhood carrying out a contract on one of the common folk. All in all the AI is a slight improvement of what you would see in another RPG but it still feels very static after a while. People engaging in the same conversations with each other over and over not really recognizing what kind of person they are talking to. None of the AI’s have friends or enemies except maybe you, and if A.I. is to be innovative by standards making it groundbreaking it has to be a lot more dynamic than what ES4 offers.
When you can take a game, be a bird and fly over endless of countries and experience a game that can play itself without you really being a part of it. With heroes, villains, wars and common folk, playing out their own lives as you would nearly expect from a human player. Then you can label it groundbreaking and amazing.
The World
The world of ES4 is by far one of the best things about this game. It’s a world you wont mind exploring just to experience the scenery. If something is perfect in this game, it’s the world that it presents you with. From the mountains, forests, dungeons to the cities it’s a sight to behold and you can clearly see the love and attention put into details. The game is almost worth buying just for the world to experience itself.
Graphics & Sound
There is not much to say about the graphics in ES4, it’s basically what you would expect from a next-gen game and then some. I won’t really write about it because it’s simply put “Amazing”. From shadows, the huge open world, the forests and dungeons. Night and day, blur and sharpness. Spell effects and weapons, armor and shields. Its all like it should be, its selected look works with its selected work.
The sound in ES4 is a selection of great music, great voice acting, and great lip syncing, and great ambient and great effects. It sounds like every RPG should sound like. From the ground you walk on, sword you’re wielding or magic you are casting. It’s as nearly perfect as it can be and I can’t see or hear anything that can be changed in this department.
Value / My Tilt / Ending Comments
I am not into writing a massive review, although it could be done if you pick the whole experience and its offerings off piece by piece. My first days and many hours in this game have left me with a total impression of the strongest RPG package you can buy to date. It has everything you want in a RPG and the minor flaws are not so noticeable as to break your total experience. It is fun and entertaining and that is what every game is about. Of course this game as every other game created could be better, but it is hardly much needed to be done to make it so. It keeps true to its fan base, and opens up a whole new experience. It also attracts new people to come visit the world that will captivate you for hours, days, weeks, months or even years. I enjoyed my ES4 experience a lot, and I still am but as many others I tend to overplay my experience and have to leave it alone for a while before I can get back to enjoying its contents. This is a game I will be coming back to a lot, and that in itself is a lot coming from me. As I am extremely picky and get bored extremely fast with “ordinary” fast produced games. This game deserves the praise it has gotten, but as always this is just my own opinions about a game that was almost on the line of perfect but could quite reach the top of ultimate gamming experience of the genre RPG.
Definitly something every gamer needs in his/her collection.