Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition
by Bethesda
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Product Summary
Brand: BethesdaFormat: Playstation
Release Date: 2007-10-16
Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
Model: 12610
Publisher: Bethesda
Product features:
- Live another life in another world, create and play any character you can imagine
- An all-new combat and magic system brings first person role-playing to a new level of intensity
- Groundbreaking AI system gives characters full 24/7 schedules
- New lands to explore in the Shivering Isles expansion
- Challenging new foes, hideous insects, Flesh Atronachs, skeletal Shambles, amphibeous Grummites and more
Video Game Reviews of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition
Customer Review: The love-hate relationship continues...
Summary: 3 Stars
I've always wanted to just dive into the PC RPG experience, but every time I have (usually with the "Ultima" series, but there have been a few others), I've left with a lukewarm feeling. I had hoped that "Oblivion" would finally be the game that got me over the hump. But alas, while "Elder Scrolls IV" is a very fun and engrossing game, it still suffers from many of the pitfalls of its PC predecessors, and also has one more wrinkle to boot. But let's begin with:
The Good:
Story: Non-existent. Now, why is that good? Because the player isn't forced to follow some silly linear quest for the duration of the game. Yes, "Oblivion" has a sort of main focus, but it really can be pushed to the sidelines, sue to the incredible amount of other things to do. I mean, seriously, one can
1) Join a Mage's/Fighter's/Thief's/Assassin's guild
2) Run around as a hero-for-hire
3) Attempt to make money to buy houses and the like
4) Hunt in one of the uncountably infinite number of ruins/forts/caves/mines/dungeons to be found in the game
5) Become a gladiator
etc. etc.
This game is HUGE. And I love it for that.
2) Battle mechanics: I've rarely been a fan of the first person slash game, but "Oblivion" gets it right. Enemies move fast, and while some enemies act remarkably stupidly, others will fight well. You can devise your own style of play as well. Are you one that likes to run into the fray screaming? Do you like to fire off spells or arrows from afar? Do you prefer to stalk your prey and slash in the darkness? Take your pick.
3) Character development: I spent an hour just designing my character's physical appearance. Yet "Oblivion" allows you to also develop their traits, their race, their skills - heck, even their birthsign is a big deal. And the game allows you to expand on their abilities, creating a very personalized character. I myself prefer slinking around in the night, and killing my prey up close. Thus, instead of using one of the many pre-made character classes, I instead created the "skulk". You can do whatever you want. Want to be a reptile that breathes underwater, is an incredibly wizard, and can wield a mace? be my guest. Want to be an elf who fights with a sword? No one's stopping you. Want to be a vampire? You can even do THAT in time.
Sounds great, right? In short, the world of "Oblivion" is huge and varied. You can play for days without ever touching the main quest. Heck, I haven't even bothered with the expansions.
Unfortunately, not all that glitters is gold. Here's the bad:
1) The levelling system: Without a doubt, this has taken the most heat, and it is ALL deserved. Mostly, the reviewers here have complained that whenever you level, so too does the world around you. But really, this doesn't fully explain the trouble here. So, instead, I choose to give an example (apologies: I will expose one small end to a large quest).
While advancing in the mage's guild, I noticed that I hadn't been levelling up. Not a big deal, as my character was an assassin mostly, and so level should matter that much (if a child sneaks up on you and cuts your throat, you're still going to die). However, I was faced with the so-called King of Worms, and lord of all necromancers. He saw me, and there was no way my level 1 character was going to win. Right? Ummm, no - he brandished a dagger, I sported a sword, and the battle lasted a little over 30 seconds. I had vanquished arguably one of the most powerful denizens of the world, and was rewarded greatly.
This in and of itself is really unbelievable, but it gets worse. Afterward, I decided, "What the hey?" and leveled myself to level 10. And as it turns out, I couldn't even beat the guardians of the king, let alone the master himself. That's right - leveling my character actually made me WEAKER in the end.
And that is the rub. "Oblivion" is simply broken. Keep your character at level one, and you will ensure that you clear pretty much any quest in the game. Level your character normally, and expect a real challenge. It's not as bad as some have mentioned, but it certainly makes for a longer and more tedious game, as you must recollect armor, weaponry, etc. This is a MAJOR weakness. It is silly that a level one character can defeat anything thrown at him. It is even sillier that a level 10 character suddenly cannot.
2) Graphics: It's like looking in a funhouse mirror. I despise the creepy figures with which I am accosted in every town. It is obvious that the developers spent a lot of time and effort in designing the most realistic-looking people they could find. It is also apparent that we have a LONG way to go. I would have preferred more canned people to the horrors in the game.
3) Voice acting: Ugh. Painful. There are like 5 voices used for the plethora of characters you will see throughout the game. It is a horror. Moreover, because of one particular skill (speechcraft), you can bet that you'll hear these voices saying the SAME lines, over and over again. How many times I've heard "Blah blah blah - what a bore" from some incredibly lame voice, I can't even count. And the nonsense they blather - you would think that americans would write better conversation. It would seem that they spent their time writing tomes and tomes of useless books rather than spending quality time developing the characterization of the NPCs inhabiting "Oblivion".
4) Glitches: Bad ones. One time, the load screen appeared, and the PS3 simply froze. I actually had to unplug the system to unfreeze it. That's really bad.Clipping issues abound, particularly when swimming in caves, but this is to be expected. Sometimes, weird stuff happens (a soldier walking on air attacked and killed me, because I couldn't guard from his attacks). This is expected somewhat - I've never found a PC game without such glitches, and in the end, mostly nonfatal. However, I don't like anything that freezes up my entire system.
While a couple of the points might be nitpicky, the first is not. The leveling system is an abomination. I can't fault the developers too much for this - they were trying to make a truly non-linear experience, the holy grail of RPGs. But, the leveling system is a complete and total failure. The fact is, there is NO reason that my character should be weaker because he levels. None. And yet, here we are.
Long story short - this is a fine game, and one of the best for the PS3. But it isn't without its major problems. A player might become overwhelmed if he isn't careful with the leveling.
Description of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition PS3All Games
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