The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
by Bethesda
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List Price: Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Customer Review: The strangest kind of disappointment
Summary: 3 Stars
Sometimes I feel there is 2 types of gamers: the ones that finish the game and experience all it has to experience before they can rightly say how they feel about it and then there's those who after awhile get the idea planted in their head of "I'm not going to be able to handle 25 more hours of this". Games like Assassin's Creed had some very bad gameplay choices and incredibly repetitive structures but I still beat it mainly because one part of my brain thought "it's tolerable" but in the case of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, after a few hours in, I thought there was no way I'm going to be able to handle any more of this and there's still 100 hours or more apparently and I have to tell you, I just couldn't handle any more.
Story: Instead of topics about existence and spiritual matters as seen in a lot of Japanese RPG's, Western RPG's tend to be about England in the Middle Ages with characters fighting demons and goblins from an evil realm, Emperors and heirs to thrones and the collecting of mystical artifacts. And that's Oblivion in a nutshell: the Emperor gives you a world-saving quest involving his previously-unknown heir and the realm of Oblivion and the dark forces that go on there. I think that's part of the reason why I couldn't really get into the story as it's too familiar and too close resembles other RPG's.
Graphics: I mentioned this in another review but it definately applies to Oblivion as graphics can be divided in 2 categories: the aesthetic and the performance. Oblivion as far as its look is quite gorgeous and there's many picturesque locales and sceneries that look quite striking (although there's not much variety in them either). On the other hand, despite the 5 gig install which isn't Bioshock/Devil May Cry 4-like where it does it at the beginning and does it through the gameplay itself, it still has texture pop-in where trees just magically appear, framerate dips and even pauses within the game and glitches. One time I wanted to ride my horse but apparently I was in the wrong spot as my character just walked against his side, forcing me to jump away and reposition my character.
Sound/Music: First I'll do the music as it's quite fantastic. Renaissance-esque music with flutes, violins, pianos and more triumphant themes show up and I just loved having the music on and listening to it which especially works well as your travelling the countryside. However, the voice acting is iffy as you'll literally run into people from different ends of the land with the same voice. One mission I had to save a village because its citizens were invisible. Going to a nearby fort and locating a man that gave me the item required to help out, imagine the confusion when the man who sent me on the quest in the first place had the same voice as the guy who gave me the item. Either they're part of a inaccessible cloning experiment or the voice actors didn't even have the common sense to change voices for new characters. At least Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean are here to make things better.
Gameplay: Games like the Grand Theft Auto series or an RPG like Final Fantasy reward players for doing quests off the beaten path. In GTA, it's driving a certain number of taxi missions, police car, ambulances, fire trucks, locating hidden packages and the like. Final Fantasy ranges from card games to ultimate weapons or fetch quests. Oblivion is similar as the main love many have for this game is the large amount of stuff you can do. From levelling your character's stats and equipment to taking on various quests from people to item collecting, it's fair to say if you're a completionist well this game will keep you busy. I, however, like to finish the main quest with the occasional optional stuff (Gold Chocobos let's say) but I didn't even bother taking on most of them and wanted to finish the main quest, which is sad cause there wasn't really a driving motivational reason to beat the game other than saying I "beat it".
The oft-maligned levelling system of Oblivion rightly gets it scorn as you don't progress by EXP to conquer your foes necessarily but rather repeatedly using one skill. Want to be a better swordsman? Cut down lots of enemies. A better sniper? Use your bow. Better your shield and armor? Get hit. Not only does this feel rather strange but it also makes it easier to work your way around the enemies who level up with you. Key is to better your stats so that a level 20 run-of-the-mill demon won't clobber you like your inexperienced level 1 self. I don't know about you but I prefer the traditional system of taking on multiple enemies so I can kick a level boss all over a room by the flick of my finger and not have the jerk bust my balls because I don't use my shield more often.
At a certain point, you have to stop trying to force a game and just take it for what it is. Unlike other games I initially didn't care for, only to keep playing because something kept bringing me in, the more time I thought about playing Oblivion more, the more thoughts of tediousness and general lack of motivation I had for completing the game. Sometimes bad games don't deserve such hatred but on occasion even the heavyweights aren't always for everyone.
Customer Review: Awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
Highly addictive...beautiful graphics and music...the story, quests and items are very true to RPG...It combines some of the best elements of the games that I recall playing in the past like Origins Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate and most recently Guild Wars...Highly recommended for those who recall and remember the D&D games from childhood....the only drawback is that there is not enough time in a day for play as much as I want...especially with family and my busy lifeCustomer Review: The game is great if you have the time
Summary: 5 Stars
long game. good balance between action and exploration. it can be easy or hard depending on how you play it.Customer Review: Almost Briliant
Summary: 4 Stars
Nice graphics, good plot and lots of subquests for every level. I played Morrowind on the PC and this is definitely a step up.
I would have liked more intelligence from NPCs, and more variety in combat.
But, on the whole, IMHO a great RPG suitable for first timers and experienced players.
Customer Review: You can't go wrong, best bang for your buck
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this game a couple months ago, and I'm still enjoying it now. It has seemingly endless gameplay and depth. The world is vast and detailed, and is just amazing to look at, especially in 720p HD. I've never been a big fan of RPGs, but this game is definitely special because of its depth. The main quest is very enjoyable, but only makes up a small portion of the game. There are many side missions to complete, I myself am no where near finished with them. Most games side missions just feel like a last minute add on, but in this game they also tell good stories and are very fun to play through. For thirty bucks, you get around 200 hours of gameplay, with plenty of replay value if you ever finish it the first time that is. 5 stars.