Oblivion! USE RESPONSIBLY! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Thank goodness I was on vacation!
Wednesday, the first day of my vacation, I pick it up. Pop the game in. Suddenly, 210 saves and 80+hours later I'm the leader of both the Thieves guild, and the Dark brotherhood, and I haven't even TOUCHED the main quest. All of the above translates to 1 week of vacation. Gone. Thank god I wasn't responsible for anything but my own health. My wife is too good to me sometimes.
Let's break it down, shall we?
Graphics: Great! Especially for a console! I built my last "uber rig" 3000 plus dollars, and have said "Enough" to this craziness. Xbox360 300-400 dollars, and I had been questioning myself, whether or not this thing would top my comp. Well it has. BE WARNED there are some load times when you cross new areas and I have had buildings POP twice! But in 80 hours it is acceptable. If you have a big TV, try standing a foot away and playing standing up. I have NEVER gotten dizzy playing a game, but this one. WOW.
Sound: Sound track is excellent, a little repetitive, but unless you can have about 20 hours of music I think just about anything would. Good thing I have a hard drive, pop my own music if need be!!! Actual effects are decent, I have jumped a few times with my surround sound, when I was thieving, heard some foot steps behind me. Caught red handed!
Controls: Here is a minor sore point. A few times while fight I had some trouble with controls, it might have been me getting tweaked trying to hit the bastards. other than that it DEFINATELy takes some getting used to. ESPECIALLY for a mouse and keyboard guy.
Gameplay: Come on. Over 200 hours of stuff to do. It's worth the money. Compared to today's games, Thieves Guild Quests 1 Game. Mages Guild 1 Game. Arena 1/2 Game. Dark Brotherhood. 1 game. All that stuff could be games in their own right.
When you get this (not if) you will immerse yourself in this world. Just be sure you're not responsible for children or anything. And ENJOY!