A game that is worth trading your life in with 100+ hours of play. A thoroughly long review but well worth the read.
Graphics:
Using only 30% of the 360's graphical powers, Oblivion had created a massive world that nearly double the size of GTA:SA's map. The trees are stunningly beautiful to look at and there have never been this much foilage in any console game ever. Though there are minor graphical issues that you will notice from the drawbacks and pop ins. For example if you were riding the fastest horse all of Cyrodill, you'll be running into loading time that you'll have to stop for every one second. Luckily you can cache the hard drive. The water effect is great but it lacked the reflections of the player itself. It seems though that throughout the game you practically have no reflections whatsoever. When played on HD-TV most players will see no difference between the Standard-TV which is a good thing for many people that can't afford an HD-TV. Characters among the game are so greatly detailed that it nearly puts the Doom 3 engine to shame. The clothing, the weapons, horses, grasses, trees, rocks, enemies, faces, and shields are so detailed that you'll be wondering that if it's really is real. The fact that Oblivion is using only 30% of the 360's power and it is delivering this kind of graphics... then we are only scratching the surface among this console gem.
Sound:
There couldn't be a better soundtrack for this game with it's dramatic orchestratic music to a thundering run-for-your-life music. But mostly you'll only get 5 songs through the duration of the game which will become a tad bit annoying and tedious. Though there should've been more but it makes the game more dramatic and I'm happy that they didn't put any Rock or Rap music in there to lure in the Teens of the 90's. The voice acting is great but you'll notice on the the male voicing can sound a little... overdone and cheesy. For example when I ran into a Dark Elf in Bruma he had this voice that sounded like God himself is talking to me and it sounded so stupid that this was a skinny old bald guy talking with a thunderous voice. Lynda Carter the star of the 70's TV show "Wonder Woman" did exceptionally well on her part of the femal voicing along with the legendary Patrick Stewart as you all Trekkies know him from Star Trek as Piccard as he voices Emperor Ureil Septim. The fact that your character has no voice though you'll hear them scream, groan, and moan. The sound effects are great with a perfect sound of clanging from the sound of swords colliding with a shield and the sound of enemies when they give a battle-cry. I hadn't tried this game yet on the Surrond Sound yet but I'll give you no doubt that it will be fun to play it on there.
Gameplay:
With literally over 100 hours of gameplay logged in to this date since it first came out I can give an accurate review for the people that are little sceptic towards RPG games. The game starts out with creating a player then finding yourself locked in the prison for no apparent reason. There you will meet the emperor and you'll make your escape from there. The game will hold your hand for about 30 minutes. During your escape you'll be upgrading your created character with more attributes and stats. The game will give you a recommended ability based on how you play. If you go in the room charging then they'll suggest for you to use the Warrior class and so on if you understand. Immediatly after you escape, the game will let go of your hand and lead you for a while but after your first mission... thats it... your on your own. Though the quest mission is fairly short but well worth playing through. Your character basically levels up on how you play the game, if your the warrior then you need to beat enemies by using pure brute strength, if your the magician then you need to defeat enemies by magic and marksman by beating them with long ranged weapons like a bow and arrow. Though there is one tiny little catch on how you level up is the fact that your enemies levels up with you. That way it will keep the game more challenging and interesting so that way you won't cheat your way to level 40 and blast through the majority of the game without breaking a sweat. A controversial system but it is great for many hardcore gamers that are mostly on the Xbox 360 community. There are a variety of side-missions for you to pick up with the Arena where you will take on the role of gladiator, there will be investigating missions where you'll test your Sherlock Holmes skills, and Guild missions. Speaking of Guilds, there are 5 different guilds. There is the Fighter's Guild where you get missions based on fighting with weapons, the Mages Guild where you'll mostly do some investigating, the Thieves guild where you'll commit heists and petty thievry and finally there is the Dark Brotherhood where you are the assassin. There are more side missions to mention like the Quest to cure your Vampirism (yes you can become a vampire). There are numerous caves, dungeons and forts for you to raid for treasures and powerful weapons that will definately keep you occupied for a year.
Overall:
A game that will be extremely valuable in the near future despite some graphical issues and repetives songs this game is defenitely the game to get when you buy the 360. Do not pass this up if your a first person fan or an Role Playing fan.