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Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Holy smokes Batman! I
think we’ve struck gold with this title! It’s been some time since we
all enjoyed Morrowind to the extent that gamers can and I am pleased to
say that Oblivion picks up that great game and kicks it on it’s side as
we embark upon a fantastic open ended quest in the world of Tamriel.
This is a game that will have you living and
breathing your way through it with such a sweeping storyline that you
just have to take part in. Choosing initially your characters race,
gender and other bits and pieces, you start the adventure off by being
held in prison and then making your way out in a daring prison break.
Somehow along the way you get to escape from the
prison and are then sent on a quest to find the Emperor’s heir (the big
guy is played by Patrick Stewart). This is the main thrust of the story,
find the son and help him defeat the demons of Oblivion that are trying
their best to destroy the world. However you can simply wander around
trying on the locals for size. This is the beauty of Oblivion, you can
just do whatever the heck that you want, make the game as long or short
as you wish. Even if you were going to play the game and follow the
quest, you are looking at an experience that is going to take you about
a day and a half to two full days playtime with no freakin’ rest at
all.
Customisation of character classes evolve during the
course of the game and you will have some help from the title with
premade classes, however I think that most of you will want to explore
just how damn much this game has to offer. Characters experience growth
throughout the game by practising the skills that they have and as a
result become better at what they do.
The world of Tamriel is gorgeous to look at with
fantastic textures and brilliant colours throughout. Consider that the
game is so massive, I was constantly impressed with the overall look of
the title and the things in the gameworld.
One of the things that I loved about the game was
that you can look at the world either through the eyes of your character
or from a third person perspective which makes for some interesting
moments, not to mention great control of the camera. Exploring the world
itself is a hell of an adventure. People move about the town, they have
things to do, errands to run and you can go and listen in on their
conversations and even pick up tidbits that might help you on your
quest. There are little bits and pieces that remind you that this is
just a game but these are few and far between. Essentially feel free to
interact with the locals, they will remember you and the things that you
do for and against them. So if you have decided to role play as Chaotic,
don’t come in all nice the next time and expect them to play with you.
Chances are the town guards will be called!
Fans of Morrowind were of two minds when it came to
travel in the game; you had to travel everywhere in real time and some
folks just wanted to jump into the action points of the game with none
of the fluff inbetween. In Oblivion, this is possible, with the ability
to teleport between cities and other areas of interest. To it’s credit
the game appears to take into consideration your travel time and even
though for you it’s immediate, the amount of time you would have spent
the old way passes. So the feeling of real time adventure remains
persistant.
Making this great game look as good as it deserves
will set you back a fairly decent PC system with nice graphics card and
abundant memory but even if you turn down the features to suit your
system you are still going to get a good looking game. Another good
feature in the game is the difficulty. It’s paced to increase the
difficulty setting as you get more powerful in terms of the foe that you
come up against. If at any stage though, you feel as though the game is
giving you a whipping, there is a sliding scale that you can use to
downsize or up the ante.
This is a must have game folks, and seriously whilst
I enjoy a lot of games as a part of this job, this is a title that if
you had to choose amongst several, you would simply have to chose this
one. In terms of spending your hard earned cash on a game that is as
ultimately rewarding as Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you would be hard
pressed to find a game that looks as good, plays as well and just plays
for as long as this one. I would heartily recommend to everyone not to
teleport to cities and experience the full breathtaking adventure that
Tamriel has to offer. Not only will you find uncharted areas of the game
where treasure and other things to see and do crop up, but it will help
your character gain experience too and be more ready for the big things
in the game.
I heartily recommend this title and just know that
everyone will enjoy the heck out of it. Go Buy NOW.
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