Not the game we hoped for; but there is some fun to be had if you search for it...
Sound - It is alright for the game. I wouldn't classify the sfx of the game to be the revolution that we expected; but it doesn't do the game any injustice either...
Difficulty - Right, this is were I feel let down... WHY did they feel the need to make the world level with you? Why? It makes no sense at all... I appluad their attempts to break away from traditional RPG's but this feature just doesn't work. It makes you as a player feel completely pointless. On the one hand, Elder scrolls games are meant to be more about exploration than the main story but there is just no point exploring and lvling up. You don't find better equipment until you level but because the world is leveling as well; there is no point. This is the main thing that has irritated me to the bone i'm afraid...
Gameplay - Better than previously. A very nice selection of classes and races available which all add up to a different experience, You can be a warrior with excellent healing spells if you decire or an archer that relies on summons or support. So because of the nice variety; the gameplay can hold up well, though it does start to get a little stale towards the end. You can also do several side events such as property owning to name one. These all help to vary up the experience.
NPC's - Okay, they are a little lacking in the brain department to be honest; and very few seem to exist. I realise that with Oblivion; they attempted to make every one real and this would take some time but they should have fine-tuned a few of them and added a goo 50 -100 more to the world. I would have been willing to wait if it made the game look and feel as real as it is supposed to.
There also isn't enough random monsters in the wilderness and not a great deal of variety of enemies either. Not that this particilarly hinders the game... Just means that if you want to fight; you have to find a cave/castle/mine... or a town if you are feeling sadistic.
Closing Comments - I was probably one of the people most excited about this game... I watched those videos of the forest several times and was amazed at the physics and how the game seemed to look real... but I found that I just haven't been gripped to it... I have never been emersed into the world like I was with morrowind. The combat is a million times better than morrowind; but the game really isn't. If morrowind had the graphical presentation, physics and combat system of oblivion - then we would have had a perfect Elder's game...
This isn't a bad game... It just lacks something that other top rpg's have. It might be my inability to overcome the fact that the world levels with you. As mentioned; it makes me as a player feel pointless to the experience... You could choose all the skills you wish to use as your minor ones; then go through the game as lvl one and still be able to defeat the oblivion gates; so truly why adventure and level up?
For me personally; The tempo of the game is just off ever so slightly - but it ruins the otherwise rich experience oblivion attempts to offer...