The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Review

The Elder Scrolls series has a long and fruitful gaming history, with the first two series titles, Arena (1994) and Daggerfall (1996), hailed as cult classics. Then all was quiet from the series until 2002 when the flawed gem The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was released. Morrowind abandoned the randomly generated game world seen previously in the series for the massive 30-square kilometer island of Vardenfell. While Morrowind was undoubtedly a classic it was affected by a variety of ailing bugs. Oblivion is the fourth release in the Elder Scrolls series and is looking and hoping to eclipse Morrowind in every way.

The game begins with you locked in the Imperial Palace dungeon; it is dark, dank and there’s a rotten smell in the air. Looking around, you see a body—presumably that of a previous inmate—and, strangely, his bones scatter as you approach them. You walk to the cell’s thick iron bars and stare out at another inmate, who’s certainly far from dead. He taunts you, screaming that you’ll never leave alive. Then muffled voices drift steadily closer from the dungeon stairs. A guard approaches and warns you to keep away from the bars, lest you be killed, and suddenly another figure enters your cell. It is the Emperor and, though obviously weary, he proceeds to tell of his impending doom. The grinding of stone within your cell then reveals a hidden passageway that is both dark and foreboding. And so, with a deep inhalation, you take your first tentative steps on what is to prove a quest of epic proportions.

From the very start of the game, Oblivion lets you do things your way. Indeed, even creating a playable character has become more involving; no longer is it merely a simple choice of faces, now you can sculpt your favored protagonist using the game’s comprehensive character creator. Personally speaking, I liked my chosen ‘Nord’ character’s stats but thought he looked too Neanderthal in appearance. So, by using the character creator I softened his features to better suit my liking. After sneaking my way up to the Emperor I was asked what birth sign I was born beneath, this being relevant because even birth signs can imbue your character with differing strengths and weaknesses.

After battling through the dungeon, you then get to choose your character’s class (classification). Again, this is completely up to you but the computer will recommend a class based on how you played during the first dungeon. After completing the initial dungeon your character is set free in Cyrodiil amid the magnificence that accompanies replacing a murky dungeon with the warm rays of the sun. Once beyond the game’s first dungeon you have the massive land of Cyrodiil to explore and, in Oblivion, adventures and quests are not mandatory so you can take things completely at your own pace. And let it be known now that the divine sight of tall trees gently swaying in the breeze and the grass sprawling away beneath your feet will leave you breathless with gaming joy.

The graphics in Oblivion are quite simply beautiful and they easily make excellent use of the available power within the Xbox 360. It’ll likely take quite a while for the sheer wonder of the graphics to truly sink in; for me it wasn’t until I was riding a horse beside a flowing river and, as I gazed across it, I saw the trees on the opposite bank gloriously reflected in the glass-like water. The character models are also extremely well done, with each character granted lovingly applied detail and fully- animated lip-syncing. The lighting is fantastic too, and reflects off the cracks and scoring of your weaponry, and there are dynamic shadows on every character and object.

Sound in Oblivion is also something to be gawped at, and it reacts flawlessly to echoing influences or by becoming muffled along corridors and through walls, etc. Also, when straying into the wilds and hearing the gentle babbling of a stream and the ceaseless twittering of birds, you do truly feel as though you’ve been transplanted into the game. In encountered towns and cities, NPC characters will actively speak to each other—and you—and this serves to create a genuinely bustling atmosphere throughout Oblivion’s various locations. The one problem is that deaf gamers traversing the dungeons and the wilds may struggle to locate enemies in the darkness without aural assistance. Though, on the other hand, deaf gamers are well catered for in general as all Oblivion’s in-game dialogue is subtitled and your character’s textual journal is easy to access and navigate.

One of the biggest additions to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the much-lauded radiant A.I., where every NPC has their own fully functional life within the game. Initially you may well dismiss instances such as the changing of the city guards and townsfolk busily conversing as pure scripting happenstance, but it’s actually part of their everyday lives. Again, for me personally, the moment of enlightenment arose while trekking around on my trusty steed. A couple of deer bolted before me, and at first I dismissed them as little more than startled animals, then came the whistle of an arrow as it flew past and plunged one of the bolting deer into a stream. It was only then that I saw a huntsman emerge from the trees and begin gathering meat from his prized deer carcasses. In that moment I raised myself from my seat to alert my flatmate—I simply had to tell ‘someone’ what I’d just experienced.

Oblivion takes a very positive approach concerning the equality of playable female characters and includes the option of creating a female character that makes absolutely no difference to either the game narrative or character strength. Many of the characters in the game are female and they’re not only strong but are also able to mash you into a pile of gloop given the opportunity. For example, as I was riding my horse, Brian—I know, I know, but I love my horse—through the countryside and admiring the view, a female Rogue Sorceress attacked us. Let’s just say the moral of this particular story is ‘never underestimate a woman, because she may well throw a fireball at you’.

It’s also pleasing to note that any gaming problems observed in Morrowind have been addressed considerably here in Oblivion. For the most part, Morrowind suffered due to its immense geographical sizing; physically traveling from place to place could be a real nightmare in time consumption. Cyrodiil, while still vast, is noticeably smaller than Vardenfell, and its surface area is much more compact and precise—and gamer friendly. There is also the option to ‘fast travel’, which removes the need for masses of walking and gets you to other locations in a flash (though you’ll miss the scenery!). Character speed in Morrowind was comparable to that of a snail, but in Oblivion movement has been greatly improved, which means that exploring is not nearly so tiresome. The handy addition of useable horses also allows for faster travel through the game world; however, their controls are tough to handle initially. Combat has also been given an injection of pace that leads to more frenzied battles—and blocking is now controlled by the player rather than chance and good fortune.

Oblivion does suffers from a few small issues that tarnish its otherwise shining armor, though nothing too destructive. Draw distances can be very noticeable, with a fair amount of pop-up also being observed. The physics, although extremely detailed, can occasionally cause things to fly about inexplicably. But, other than that, Oblivion is very, very solid.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is THE game RPG fans and 360 owners have been salivating over. The graphics are—at worst—nothing short of beautiful and the sound is absolutely immersive. The radiant A.I. has to be experienced to be believed and injects a degree of realism into the game that will leave countless jaws slackened on the floor. In-game combat has been given some welcome pace, which allows for a much more visceral experience, and the inclusion of strong female characters (both playable and NPC) will please the army of devoted female gamers. Some people may find Oblivion a problem in terms of absorbing the entire game, and its expansive geography and detailed character development may invoke the uncomfortable sensation of running before learning to walk. But, on the whole, Oblivion will leave very few people disappointed and is highly likely to gather up a fair few trophies come awards time.

Review by Nige

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