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I did become the realm's Chief Mage (and the titles earns me no respect from the scholar mages) and the grand master at the Fighters league, got myself 350,000 gold coins in my pocket, 2 comfortable houses and 2 nice offices, completed close to 100 quests, slaughtered 2000 creatures and hundreds of humans, murdered 4 or 5 and all but one by mistake (friendly fire), didn't even come close to the Thieves guild and, foolishly, made it impossible for me to ever join the Dark Brotherhood (these are the assassins). Or you can do them all and become all, in sequence or make progress in all paths more or less simultaneously while moonlighting as a gladiator as well and, if still bored, how about helping a lady take care of the rats in her basement (that's NOT what you think) or some drunk guy at the inn get rid of the Trolls that took over his daddy's country estate. - I did, willingly, push buttons that caused a few careless adventurers to go insane and I watched as they were becoming so. - and I killed so many fearsome monsters, I lost count myself but the game does keep a count so it's easy to know. On the 'not so good' side, the game does slow down when you are fighting 4-5 monsters at the same time or when there are other things that keep the machine busy while you are fighting the baddies - like a fire burning. Well.
I could easily find out how many jokes I told, how many potions I made, how many horses I've stolen (one), how many hours I slept or how many books I read. What do you think. there's TWO worlds, thanks to the Shivering Isles extension. The world of Cyrodill is not exactly continent-size, maybe some 20-30 miles in any direction from downtown Imperial City but. Also, I've never been a vampire and didn't yet start my career as a professional gladiator. While there is no wind other than a constant, gentle breeze, you do get rain/thunderstorms, fog, snow (no blizzards though, because there's not much wind). Oh and, I forgot, there's a world to save or. You don't slip and fall on ice but the sound of your steps is different whether you walk on the road, on grass, on snow or on ice.
I humiliated a lovely princess - or was it a duchess. After more than 2 months of almost daily playing, I am maybe 75-80% into the main quest, half a way through the Knights of the Nine, only started the Shivering Isles adventures. Cities, settlements, camps, estates, roadside inns, ruins, caves, dungeons, mines, shrines. The other thing that saddens me is that I don't believe the good people at Bethesda are working on the next chapter yet.
I do hope that, as soon as they are done with Fallout-3, they are going to get busy with another adventure in Cyrodill or thereabouts. The landscape is made up of plains, hard-to-climb mountains, rivers, swamps, waterfalls, seas. Oblivion is EXACTLY how I imagined an RPG should be like back in the 80's, while playing Ultimas on Commodore 64s and Atari STs. You can travel on foot or you can ride a horse. In fact, the game keeps track of so many things. Oblivion has weather. The guards will chase you and throw you in jail if you do illegal things but, if they like you enough, maybe they will look the other way sometimes. I did massacre the peaceful dwellers of a small village but I did that under the influence of some drugs that made them look to me like bloody Orcs - that was the price to pay for infiltrating and destroying the source of that scourge.
what a world this is. You can raise to the top of your profession, as a fighter, as a mage, as a thief or as an assassin or you can assemble your own little gang of dreamy crusaders so that you can fight evil and recover the relics of a legendary knight. Powerful gods or humble people will ask you do 'little things' for them and, if you can make them happy, they will reward you according to their abilities. Oh, and while briefly in the land of Dementia - or was it Mania. wait. You can fight your way into fame and fortune while doing good or you can sneak into other people's houses or pickpocket the unsuspecting. This game is so huge, I can't see how you could really 'finish' it. Loading/saving times are a bit too long but, while this is happening, you do get to read some randomly selected good advice on the screen.
Maybe the developers spent all their voice actor money on Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean. Oh, wait- the others are pretty much just find the lair, find the merchant that has the stuff for the lair, then hand over massive amounts of your hard earned gold. While the places you find are interesting, and have some neat and unique stuff in them, the format of these quests gets repetitive fast. Optional side-quests are everywhere.It is impossible to talk about Oblivion without talking about what has changed from the previous game Morrowind. But in the overall scheme of things, these are minor complaints.
Oblivion also feels shorter then Morrowind, and more focused. Oblivion is a graphical powerhouse, on par with Gears of War, Halo 3, or any game on any console. Like all the Elder Scrolls games the developers have focused on creating a wholly believable world for the player to explore- and on the next-gen consoles that world has become freakin' gorgeous. This is just an observation, not an indictment. I mean, you're still doing unique things- like fighting undead pirates to take over their underground lair.
The first big change is the map- the player now has Link's magic compass that allows the player to have markers on the map, allowing for more playtime and less trying to figure out where you are. And while many games have graced my disc tray, some good, some bad, some outstanding, I find myself always returning to Tamriel to see what's going on.Oblivion is epic in scope. It is disappointing that there are only about four voices in the game, so you encounter the same voice over and over again. But Shivering Isles is a welcome change- introducing another massive area comparable to Morrowind's expansion Bloodmoon. But two years of downloadable content have filled Oblivion out nicely (including Shivering Isles, an expansion about the size of Bloodmoon) and I still don't think I've seen everything yet.Now, there is no such thing as the perfect game, and Oblivion does have some flaws. Entries are now arranged by quest, and quests are arranged by date, making easier to find the entry you're looking for then the strictly by date system of Morrowind.
After that, you're set loose and on your own time. This time, the player is released because the Emperor is trying to escape assassins by fleeing through an ancient escape route that leads through your cell. Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionI knew that as a reviewer I would have to get around to this some day- but that doesn't make it any easier. After a short dungeon that serves as a tutorial, the Emperor is murdered in front of you- but before dying he asks you to find his last son and save the world. As for the downloadable content, aside from Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, it mainly consists of "money sinks"- basically, you find a place, then you spend thousands of gold pieces to bring the place back to life. Oblivion isn't as much a game for me as it is a drug- it was the reason that I spent $ 500 on my Xbox 360. It took me over a year to beat Morrowind's main quest (with massive side trips into Bloodmoon and Tribunal), I went through Oblivion's in a little over a month.
Stone buildings look realistic, bushes and grass are done with amazing detail, and creatures look amazingly realistic.Oblivion begins, as all Elder Scrolls games do, with the player being released from prison. There are ruins to explore, dungeons to delve, forts to raid, and shrines to both the Deadra lords and the Nine Divines to find. The entire Imperial Province is open to you, and you can literally have a two hour play session, accomplish nothing, and still have a good time. The graphical density and beauty does cause the Xbox to chug or even freeze momentarily. The second welcome change is to the journal. You can go do what the Emperor told you to do, go join a guild, go explore ruins, or just chase after butterflies until you can't find it anymore (I've done this). Combat is much improved, no longer bound by the d20 system, and skills like lock-picking have gotten the same overhaul- now locks are a skill based minigame rather then a pass-fail hidden dice roll. Not exactly riveting stuff.
The controls follow your typical action adventure game: Right Trigger attacks, Left Trigger blocks, Right Bumper is your spells, Y is jump, B opens up your menu etc. There are some faults, but these shouldn't keep you from having a blast.The Good:Some of the best graphics ever seen on the Xbox 360A wide open 'do anything, go anywhere' gameplayHigh level of character customization and level grindingHours upon hours of quests and gameplayVirtually unlimited options. In the context of open-ended 'go anywhere, do anything' games, Oblivion certainly takes the cake. The quests you will embark on in your journey through this amazing world are plentiful, however they all fall under either a 'fetch' quest (go here and get this) or a 'kill' quest (kill x NPC etc). I personally would have enjoyed it more if you could only join one or the other. It would have been nice to get a truly original story line, especially since the game is so huge and you can literally do what you wish.You start off as a basic, generic character and the emphasis on leveling up and honing your skills is very high.
This gets very frustrating, and shows the true flaws in the games' AI.In Oblivion there are many enemies, wild animals and rogue NPCs that you will eventually have to fight, and the combat is very fun. Coupled with the fast travel things start to get very easy and simple, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you want to play.There are a few guilds and factions available to join, from the Thieves guild, the fighters guild, the mages guild and The Dark Brotherhood (assassin guild). For example, the main story line quests will resonate through the world, which NPCs either commenting on your feats or your failures. Plus they are usually the ones who hand out the quests and side quests. There is however one major flaw in the NPCs and enemies that is worth mentioning: Their Artifical Intelligence (AI) is rather shoddy. Be a hero, be a villain and everything in between.Many things to do, many things to see, many things to kill.Some very cool quests at timesThe Bad:Poor AIThe majority of quests are rather simple (kill this, fetch that)The go anywhere, do anything mythos allows you to do everything in one play through - thus killing much of the supposed replay-ability.Much of your actions do not affect the game world.NPC dialogue gets really annoying, and the lack of variety in character voices is all too lame. Trees are wonderfully detailed and rendered, grass and weeds, flowers, rocks, water and wildlife are all wonderfully animated and living.In keeping true to the 'go anywhere, do anything' theme of the game, anything you can see you can exlore.
This breaks the immersion factor. Virtually every NPC is killable (save for important quest giving NPCs). You will spend a lot of time talking to NPCs, as they hold much info in regards various aspects of the game. However other actions do not. If caught you can either pay a fine, resist arrest or go to jail (where you can literally sit there and live out your sentence or choose to serve your time and get out). All in all, Oblivion is a fantastic game that truly shows off some of the next generation of video gamings best features. This is made easy with the 'fast travel' system (any place you been before you can easily teleport to with the click of a button), however this also breaks the immersion factor. In a change from previous Elder Scrolls games all of the dialogue in the game is spoken by real voice actors, but again this feature falls a little short, as spoken dialogue gets really old, as do the character voices.
I mean, if you are in the Mages guild or the Fighters guild you shouldn't also be allowed to join the Thieves guild since their core values and goals are diametrically opposed.In addition to all of this there are also houses and a castle that you can eventually purchase and fully furnish, giving you safe havens to store your items and places to hang out.Oblivion is a truly next generation game, and the graphics are a testament to that, offering up some of the best looking visuals on the Xbox 360. The level of customization is very high. If you rob a store owner blind (and they do not notice) they will never mention it, almost as if it never happened, and they will continue to stock their store as such. Important places and NPCs are easily found via the compass, which has red and green arrows to mark where you need to go. You can spend your time hunting down various ingredients to create potions, spells, enchanted weapons etc. A store owner should realize that they are constantly being cleaned out, right. In keeping with the 'go anywhere, do anything' mythos, developer Bethesda crafted a totally non-linear game with hundreds of quests, missions and other distrations in additon to a main plot arc.
They somehow have this magic ability to hear and see what you are doing even if they are far away from you. This is where the bulk of the quests and missions come from. This includes mountains, caves, forests, towns, villages, cities.everything. This adds to the overall realism of the game world. Following the whole 'do anything' theme you can literally create any character you desire, from the epic warrior, the powerful mage, the sneaky thief, assassin, wanderer, knight, the sorcerer etc. It was a promise that in my opinion is not possible in the gaming world yet. In keeping with the whole freedom aspect of the game you can join every guild. The final product is far from 'radiant' as not all the NPCs have routines and wants/needs, and the ones that do are very repetitive.
Also if you kill NPCs without being caught, no one will miss their presence, which seems a little weird, don't you think.Another glaring flaw is with the town and city guards. In some instances when you are robbing a house or killing someone they will magically know you are doing this, even if they are nowhere in sight. There are also various books and bookstores scattered about the world, and from these you can learn the history of the game world and learn some skills, recipes and hidden locations as well.Scouring the world in search of treausre is very fun, and it can take you to some really interesting places.Everything has a stat and everything has a skill that you can level up. In addition to being able to be any type of character you desire, you can literally do anything you want. There are so many variations on each type that the options are limitless. While this opens up many options for gamers it breaks the replay value since you can join every guild in one playthrough. As far as the main story arc goes, its your basic generic 'save the world' story.
Even still it is quite fun interacting with the various NPCs and their interesting personalities. And with the two expansion packs available in this 'Game of the Year' edition, the hours of gameplay are extended by at least 20 + more hours or so.One major fault worth mentioning is that, since the game allows you to do anything you should technically alter and affect the game world, however only certain quests and actions do this. You are also given a map and a compass with which to aid you in your adventures, however the developers designed them so that they basically 'hold your hand' the whole time. If so, you will be constantly hunted by town and city guards and any official in the game. Like most action RPG's the more you use a skill the better you get with it, and Oblivion tracks all your stats by the typical RPG means. This is a big problem in my opinion as the quests can get very boring and sometimes tedious. There are hundreds of items and weapons to find, some rare and some not so rare.
And the best part is you can explore it all. Also it breaks the realism of the game world since technically you shouldn't be able to join every guild with the same character. It offers up hundreds of hours of gameplay and will certainly keep you occupied. The same goes for all the magic stats and skills, of which there are plenty to keep you busy. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an epic, wide-open 'go anywhere, do anything' action Role Playing Game (RPG), and probably one of the best RPG's on the Xbox 360.
When you start the game out you get to do quite a bit of character customization including how you want your character to look, what stats you want to start out with, what skills you want to focus on etc. Alternatively you can choose to walk everywhere or buy a horse and take the long route (I prefer this way because it allows you to explore at the same time). As such, even if you do choose one class or character type eventually you can learn the traits and skills of every other class, which pretty much destroys any replay value and kind of breaks the realism of the game. Some NPCs will have you going back and forth across the continent just to talk to some other NPC or to gather some item to bring back to them. This is really nothing new since most video games have lame AI, but in an open ended game like this it really stands out, especially since during development Bethesda promised gamers a truly unique experience called 'Radiant AI' which basically meant that every NPC character would have their own lives with their own daily routines and wants/needs. You can wield any weapon you desire, however depending on your current skill with the weapon you may or may not be good with it. Oblivion is a true next generation experience that will please action fans, adventure and RPG fans with over 100 + hours of gaming.
All of the combat is in real-time, which further adds to the fun of Oblivion. Oblivion allows you to live out your fantasies allowing you to do, see and explore everything. With a whole continent at your disposal, a plethora of towns, cities, villages, dungeons, caves, and the expansive wilderness and mountains Oblivion is truly a massive world. Alchemy is also an option which offers up plenty of time wasting quests and options.
In addition to being any character you want, you can even choose to be an outlaw (which will happen if you get caught stealing or killing innocent people). If you so desire you could put off the main story and get lost in the myriad of side quests located in the game; and believe me there are tons of side quests, missions and distractions available to you. You can create your own recipes for these, or you can search the world and find already created recipes; the choice is yours. You can spend hours just wandering the countryside and climbing the mountains if you so choose, and the amazing graphics will stun you the whole time. If you choose you could wander the world collecting various items and weapons, be a world class thief and see how much loot you can gather, be a traveling merchant, you can be an evil character and kill everything in sight. All of the dialogue is spoken, so you don't have to wade through lengthy pages of text each time you talk to an NPC. There is literally hours upon hours of things to do in Oblivion.As most RPG gamers know a good chunk of time is spent interacting with the various townsfolk and non-playable characters (NPCs) scattered about the game world, and Oblivion does not deviate from this formula.
Oblivion pushes the systems hardware to the limit and the result is some stunning graphics. Also, NPCs will randomly talk to each other as well, however their conversations are usually worthless and very repetitive. This can easily be remedied by either practicing with the weapon or paying of training from the various NPCs that offer the training. It seems Bethesda only used 4 or 5 different voice actors for hundreds of NPCs, and it gets really stale to hear the same voice over and over again. All of the enemies are scaled to your current level, so as you level up the creatures and enemies get harder, this can be both a good thing and a bad thing.
A bunch of goblin-like creatures were outside who endlessly pelted me with fireballs and unerringly hit me even in midjump. So i tried to take a couple coins from some guy who was asleep and failed every time (even when i was invisible and standing still) until i stood in front of him and tried. I like rpgs, I like anything medieval, i like being able to customize your character, etc. yep i guess so.
Game of the year. I decided to give up on the mission for now and wander the country side, found one place where it said i couldnt go then hopped halfway down a mountain (sideways) without injury. I hopped up on a wall, hoping to jump behind cover on the other side but it wouldnt allow me to. There were guards outside but they had no intention of helping me. Finally I gave up in disgust. I ran and they chased me.
But even with all that, this game still annoyed me. In any case, as soon as i did it, a guard instantly appeared in the room. A wolf also spotted me along the way and joined the chase (apparently the wolf recognised law enforcement and left them alone). Every monster and animal that sees you (except deer) will attack. I didn't know much about this game but I did know that everyone seemed to love it, drool over it, and worship it. Rats attack, crabs attack, even those vicious fish (Don't worry about the fish, you can shoot or punch them (while underwater) until they die. I couldnt seem to defeat any of them with multiple sword strikes even though they were half my size. So I tried it.
Well, ok worry, they can kill you). ANYWAY, to avoid 8 pages of whining, I'll skip ahead to where i got to the oblivion gate and had to rescue people hidden inside a tower. After the tutorial you get out of prison and start on your way. Next time, I got stuck by some rubble and couldnt get out, and waited for the goblin guys to kill me again. You start with no money but can take whatever you want. Yes it was up to a thief (or agent actually) to rescue all these people who wouldnt even help themselves).
Your choices are then jail or run. I did fine against them and goblins but discovered that every untrained farmer can kick my @## (even if they are unarmed and im armored and with a weapon). all the way to the next city. Is the great flawless oblivion that you people are playing the same as mine.
And dont be put off by complaints of leveling up, it just gets better. I've played every single piece of this game, quest, everything.and what an amazing detailed job these game makers did. This is the best game ever. I was a bit put off when I did read some reviews about this, and found that I love what they did.you get better and more awesome stuff, and characters to battle, and the story lines and quests, graphics and scenery, everything is Fantastic. I have no complaints, only compliments. It really is. It rocks and rolls. I cant wait for the next one.I hope it's soon.
You won't be sorry you bought Oblivion. I cannot wait until they come out with the next one. I have played it for months.and still am making new characters to play gain. I don't play it online, I love it just as is on the xbox. Its amazing.
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