A great immersive game, this is a must buy for any RPG fan.
+ Great graphics. The first time you step out into the world of Tamriel and gaze around the landscape is an awe-inspiring moment. You can see miles into the distance and the HDR lighting really adds to the experience.
+ The longevity of the game is incredible, as even when you've finished the main quest (if you decide to try the main quest at all), there are tons of mini-quests to complete, houses to buy, dungeons to pillage and so forth. It will easily take you months to even begin to see all the game has to offer.
+ Combat has been refined from previous Elder Scrolls games, so that it actually feels like you're clubbing someone round the face, instead of just slashing at thin air as in Morrowind. This is complimented by the great physics on display.
+ Sound is another high point as the music, while in my mind not as good as Morrowind's, is still perfectably reasonable. The voice acting is top-notch however, with talent such as Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean and Terence Stamp lending a hand.
+ Cool customising options. You can choose from 10 races, with a wealth of different customising options to choose from. You can choose to fight a certain way, be it with a sword, bow or magic for example. Plus the huge number of amour and weapons available means that no two players will look alike.
Bad points :
- If you've played any previous Elder Scroll games, you might not be as impressed as someone who hasn't. The area of land you can traverse, the number of quests you can complete, the diversity of towns and people are all lower than those found in Morrowind and Daggerfall.
- If you want to truly enjoy this game you're going to need a high end PC to do it. While you could play the game on a computer which is five years old, the experience won't be mind blowing.
- The persuasion game is poorly implemented. Basically when you talk to someone and you want to make them like you more (so that they might reveal important info), you need to raise their disposition by revolving a disk, with each quarter of the disk relating to what you say to the character, either a joke, a boast, a compliment or coercing them. However the character will like or dislike you if you use certain quarters, so wedges in the disk reveal what quarter will raise the disposition the best. If all that sounded unnecessarily complicated, you do get used to it, but a less obscure method would have been better.
- The control system has been designed with the Xbox 360 in mind, so it is more complicated for PC owners to navigate the inventory screen and try lockpicking. As with the persuasion game however, you do get used to it.
Despite these flaws the Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion is an excellent game and an excellent buy for any PC owner, whether you're a hardcore RPG addict or you've never played a fantasy game in you're life.