The good, the bad, and the ugly on Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC.
1) Graphics - Without question Oblivion offers gamers a beautiful gaming environment. The high-point of the Oblivion visual experience comes from more than just its character models or spell effects but also from its detail in the natural surroundings. You will not find better looking grass, trees, rocks, flowers, and such in any other game that's in production to date. The cities have incredibly deep looking textures and the lighting and shadows are simply elite. If you are looking for an incredibly detailed and beautiful gaming world look no further than Oblivion.
2) Performance - From a system performance mindset Oblivion is in elite status here. Only a few other games have offered such amazing graphics while not sucking dry every bit of resources you have. I built my system with a Gigabyte K8N mobo nForce & 939 compatibilities, 2 nvidia 7600gt's, an amd 3800+, and a wd raptor hard drive (best ever!), 2gigs memory, and running Oblivion on max everything causes zero slowdown and a smooth consistent rate of fps. Running this game on my old box p4, ati x800 agp, gig ram, the game still runs very well even on high. You will need a decent machine to get your money's worth from this game but you will not need a high-end box. A P4 with an nvidia 6600+ will be fine.
3) Map - Once again Elder Scrolls delivers to us a giant world filled with enough places to visit and explore to last a gamer 50+ hours of adventure. You get a variety of places to visit such as small forts, villages, big cities, and odds and ends along the way.
4) Character creation - Oblivion offers the RPG gamer a wide selection of character builds to choose from or create. You choose your class, race and what "sign" you were born under. You also have the chance to alter your choice shortly after you begin in case you have changed your mind. You will be hard pressed to find a character build that's not available here.
5) Quests - As usual Elder Scrolls gives you an incredible amount of side quests to distract you from the not-so-long main quest. They do a great job at finding a way to get you off the track of the main quest.
6) Combat - As I played this game I began to realize they have improved their combat system in Oblivion to the point I'd call it a good thing. The AI isn't very good but the action balances it out. With the variety of character builds in this game an experienced gamer will quickly develop his or her styles against particular classes. It's pretty fun.
7) Cheats - Yes, Oblivion offers you many cheat codes you can use and they can be quite fun and add a lot to the game. I don't suggest using God mode much since the game really isn't that difficult. But, it does allow for you to see how mental the AI can be by picking fights with those you should not.
The bad:
1) Character development - Oblivion has done what many RPGs are doing and that's making a slight attempt at creating the illusion that you are in fact evolving your character's personality through a cause/effect system as you progress in the game. Unlike the greatness at this we saw in KoTOR Oblivion falls well short of being a success in this category. The choices you make in the game only seem to have immediate and very abrasive consequences to your actions be it good or bad.
2) Character models - It's hard to believe that a game that has spent so much time, effort, and money into making the visuals look as real as possible that Bethesda forgot to make the NPCs as realistic. Instead the character models are seriously creepy. Characters will turn and stare at you when you walk into a room which is cool but, as a result of the games seriously poor pathing, when these npcs get stuck against each other or behind an object like a desk they all stare at you...and stare at you, their heads move as you move, they smile, they stare, it's the creepiest thing in gaming since I played F.E.A.R. Now these models "look" fine but they act like they're all drunk, high, or seriously mentally handicapped.
3) Population - I'd hate to live in this part of the world. I am beginning to think I know why all the characters seem like they're a little odd and creepy. When you walk into a city even the largest of all cities you will run into only a handful of people. The game offers so real sense of being in a city. If you're on a farm you're lucky to run into one person. If you are in the capital city you might see 20 NPCs. With a population this small in numbers I image everyone is directly related to everyone else. This would explain the creepiness! It's hard to imagine the threat of Oblivion since all the times you are on the other side of the gates you only encounter a hand full of the eeeevil bad guys.
4) Voice work - With the amount of effort Bethesda put into this game they could have rounded up a few dozen more people to do voice work. You will hear the same voices over and over again. Part of identifying NPCs should be their voice or at least it should be a small part of it. But, now that I think about it, we've established that everyone in Oblivion seems to be a first cousin of everyone else so this is making more sense. I'm beginning to see a hidden theme from Bethesda. Perhaps they are incredibly brilliant or twisted!
5) Audio - The soundtrack in Bethesda is average and that's being generous. The sound effects are ok but there's nothing in this games audio presentation that stands out in a positive way. I am very disappointed by their lack of variety in the voice actors. Yes "P-Stew" (Patrick Stewart) as I call him does a great job and so do a few of the others but there are only a few period!
The ugly:
1) Pathing - The pathing in Oblivion is not acceptable for a game released in 2006. The NPCs get stuck far too often, left running in place against walls, objects, or even other NPCs. I've seen NPC's bunching up all one after another walking against each other in place like wound up toy robots. Oh, and of course, they all STARE at you in a creepy "Hi! Watch me continuously walk in place pressed against this other NPC's backside while I stare and smile at you!"
2) AI - The AI is not the great feature we were led to believe it was. Yes the game's overall (forest) Ai is excellent with each character seemingly having a time table it adheres to but the individual NPCs (the trees) are so flawed that it makes it very difficult to see the forest through the trees. Doubt me do you? Then do the following. Go someplace with several people like the bowls of the Arena. Take a stab at the Blademaster and watch him chase you. Run next to the old lady, the female fighter, the Grand champion, get them all chasing you and watch what happens. One will eventually get in the way and be stabbed by another. Suddenly the entire mob that wanted you dead is ignoring you and killing each other. Then the guards come inside! And they enter the fray. It's hilarious to execute but I find it hard to believe this is the AI Bethesda had in mind. But, then again, this would fall in line nicely with the idea that they are all each others siblings, cousins, and mates all at the same time as we have been proving here.
Overall:
Well, I have seriously mixed thoughts and feelings on Oblivion. You get the story content and volume that you are expecting from the Elder Scrolls series along with incredible visuals and artwork. But the AI is so clumsy and doesn't seem to ever flow smoothly that those positives can get lost easily. The point or ultimate goal of any single player RPG is to get the gamer to forget the world around them and immerse themselves in a fantasy world. The problem with Oblivion is that while the game looks real it doesn't feel real. From too many characters having the same exact voices, to the creepy way the character models move and act, and the incredible lack of volume in the amount of people you see in this game a gamer will find it hard to stay focused and wrapped up in the fantasy. However the graphics and story content are enough to make this game worth a purchase.