A deeply engaging RPG that I could easily call one of my all-time favourite games.
Anyway, I feel that I should start the review off by talking about the gameplay. The combat is satisfying, and the different, more subtle aspects are well implemented. The fighting isn't particularly sophisticated, but it works well. The R1 button (right trigger for 360) is the attack button, the L1 button (left trigger for 360) is the block button, and the R2 button (right bumper on 360) casts spells (both offensive and defensive). You can use melee weapons and bows in combat (and you can hotkey weapons, armour, and spells to directions on the d-pad for quick swapping), and you can use healing spells and attack spells (among others). The physical weapons tend to be more useful than magic for damage, but more advanced attack spells can be quite devastating. There a lot of different weapons, armour types, and spells to play around with, and you can specialize your character in many different ways.
There are a lot of customization options in Oblivion. You can choose what type of combat you excel at, you can choose whether you want to be able to sneak around and steal from people, or you can choose to be great at leaping over obstacles. In the end, you can make the ultimate character, but at the beginning, you get to create your character's appearance and choose your initially boosted stats. There are so many options when customizing your character, that you could spend a good amount of time carefully choosing what your character will be like before actually playing the game. I've always been a huge fan of highly-customizable characters in games, and Oblivion has exceptional customization tools.
The movement in Oblivion is kind of wonky, but it is easy to look past. You basically float along the ground, and it detracts from the experience slightly. A great addition is the Fast Travel option because it allows you to almost instantaneously travel to another far-off location in the massive province of Cyrodiil. The map is truly huge, and there are many caves, Oblivion Gates, forts, shrines, villages etc. scattered around the land, just waiting to be discovered and plundered. You can easily go through the entire main story without finding half of all the locations.
The story of Oblivion is a fairly decent one, but it's the background lore and history of the world that really shines. There is a great mystery to the whole Elder Scrolls world that I want to explore, and it adds immensely to the overall appeal, because I can remain fascinated in the universe for a very long time.
The graphics of Oblivion are decent. Of course, they were great for 2006, but at this point they obviously look a little dated. There aren't many varied locations in the main game world, but in the Shivering Isles expansion part, the two halves of the island (Mania and Dementia) are very different from other areas in the game. They are refreshing to see and interact with, and the different atmosphere is interesting too.
The atmosphere is the part of the game that really enchants me the most. The combination of the music, the feel of the areas, and the lore are the greatest strengths of this stellar game. The gameplay is decent, and the story is good, but the most attractive part of Oblivion is the FEEL that you get when playing it. I CANNOT wait until the fifth game is released, and I can only hope that it's as good (and hopefully better) than The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I give this game a 9.7/10.