Best RPG ever made, hands down
USER BEWARE! The PC version is almost impossible to run, but the 360 runs this game PERFECTLY! The game lags very infrequently and the graphics are stunning and precisely rendered. Here are the highlights (no spoilers)
1) Graphics: you have to see to believe, nothing compares that has been programmed so far, especially in terms of realistic environments. From creepy dungeons to rainy dark nights to the most stunning and brilliant sunsets, you will have to make sure that you don't get too attached and actually visit the REAL outdoors from time to time, because you will swear that you are already there.
2) Interface: unlike the Morrowind Xbox version, the 360 Oblivion has a great interface that allows for an incredible depth of interaction without sacrificing the simplicity of the controller. After figuring out the buttons, you will never sit there wondering, hrmm, what button was that again? Everything is natural, and the controls are surpirsingly smooth, especially for a console. It would seem to me that designers finally figured out exactly how to program a FP point of view into a console for a perfectly smooth and playable interface
3) Storyline: another improvement over Morrowind (amazing in and of itself) is that the story is incredibly rich and detailed, and you really do want to keep going with it. Morrowind's lure was good ole' exploring, and so often it was easy to totally forget that you actually had a story to follow, since it was often more fun to go fight for the guilds or just go find caves and ruins and kill whatever was in them. Although exploration is equally, if not more, fun as it was in ES3, now there is a great(er) story to boot, one that will keep you at the edge of your seat. The badguys are wicked evil in this, and the Daedra are way, way more evil than in ES3, they are much more the vision of demonic plague than was captured prior.
4) Travel: Hinged along with the story line is the new addition of easy and simple traveling. Although it was more realistic to have to find a mage to teleport you or a siltstrider to carry you long distances, now you can "long distance travel" at the touch of a button. SImply go to the long range map, and move the cursor over a location you have already visited or one that has been plotted on your map for you, and click on it. VOILA! You go there, its basically a medieval auto-pilot for adventurers who are on a time-budget (such as yours truly). This way, while it is still fun and exciting to trampse around the countryside looking for fights and plunder, you can also just go where you need to go in the click of a button, thereby making the game much more manageable timewise.
5) All those little things that they designed so well! Everything flows smoothly and naturally, and except for a few small flaws (such as water dripping through outdoor ceilings when it rains, or the fact that the coin count of vendors doesn't change even when you trade with them...) they have pretty much everything figured out. Also, all the little things now have fun, new interfaces (such as lock picking, haggling, and persuading) which add depth to the game, even when it wasn't necessary!
6) Skills: A wonderful addition to the skills is the level changes. As you progress you don't just get quanitfiably better at that particular skill, there are also skill level changes that are marked at certain numbers (Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, etc) and as you attain new skill ranks you also gain new abilities. Believe me, these abilities really make a difference (eg. armorer ranks allow you to use hammers longer, as well as in later ranks you can repair magical items as well; melee abilities are added with rank, allowing for power attacks; mercantile ranks give new bonueses and allow for a variety of enhanced powers, such as being able to trade any item to anyone! etc...). This was an awesome insight by the developers, because it allows the player to feel like they are really progressing, not just on paper but in real circumstances. It also means that a master of blade is not just more likely to hit a novice of blade, but that master can truly dance circles around the novice. This, yet again, adds a new level of depth and character to an already rich and rewarding system.
7) Depth, depth, depth! Every single face in the whole game is different, no two NPCs are exactly alike in appearance, and while their voices are the same (can't blame the designers for that, only so much space on a disc for goodness sake!) the facial differences really matter. You feel like you are speaking to real people and not just cookie cutter puppets. You will notice after playing for a while that you get to trust certain vendors over others, and you will recognize them, its creepy in one way but oh so magical all the same. More than any other game that I have ever played, ES4 Oblivion feels like a real world, a world that you step in to every time you pick up that little white controller.
If you own one game for the X360, this should be it. There is no more rewarding game on the market to date that can rival the depth and character offered by this title.
Everything above is only a small taste of the wonder and beauty of Oblvion, it really is a masterpiece of entertainment and art.