Why Settle For The Real World When You Have This? - Oblivion

This new generation of gaming really hasn't been much different from the last; none of the Xbox 360 launch titles were the sort of game that couldn't be done on the Xbox or PS2, aside from the improved high-definition graphics and presentation. Many games have been very good, even great – but not the kind of games that define a new console, with the exception of perhaps Fight Night 3. Enter Oblivion. The 4th game in the Elder Scrolls series is sort of a primer on what the next generation will likely be about – huge games that take advantage of the horsepower of a next-gen console and create huge worlds that seem limitless and far beyond what previous hardware could handle. It's the showcase game for the next generation of gaming and one designed to be both accessible to new players but demanding enough for those experts who explore every little nook and cranny of an Elder Scrolls world. The amount of TLC put into Oblivion by Bethesda Software is evident from the first time you gain control of your character; this is a pretty special game that couldn't come at a better time for the Xbox 360; just as consoles are finally making their way into stores at a decent clip. This is the sort of game to get lost in – and not just that, it's the sort of game that validates the $400 console investment.

Before the world of Elder Scrolls IV is opened to you, a character must be created. Sure there's something odd about creating a character you won't really even see because playing this game in the 3rd person defeats the entire purpose of a first-person RPG (and truly does feel like an afterthought), but you must. Like the game itself, this is a complicated, lengthy task which allows for tweaking and precision – you might spend your first hour or longer making him or her a perfect hero. Once you do finish off the basics, the quest begins. Emperor Uriel Septim is on the run, knowing he's next in a set of assassinations that's already taken 3 of his sons who would be the heirs to his throne. You are imprisoned, and fate has it that a secret underground passage just so happens to begin in your cell. Today's secret word is convenient. Septim's guards tell you to stay in your cell and not to follow, but of course, you can't do that and end up following. Following a brief tutorial dungeon that further explains what's going on and also fleshes out a few character details, you're set free in the world of Tamriel.

And by set free, I mean set free. Once you hit the mainland, there's no direction you can't take. Oblivion is so wide open that it can be intimidating to even veterans of the sandbox gaming king, GTA. If you wish to follow the main quest, you can do so. Rather just wander the territory and discover caves, tombs, ancient artifacts, and small settlements? That's your prerogative. Want to head into town and tackle non-essential quests or join up with some guilds? Go for it. Short of murdering any vital main quest NPCs, there's nothing you really can't do in Oblivion. That was the draw of Daggerfall, that was the draw of Morrowind, and that's the draw of Oblivion. However, in a very smart step, Bethesda has made strides to make such a huge game accessible to all, thanks to intuitive quest sorting and map markers to point you in the right direction and keep you from getting lost. Many times you're pointed to a destination away from cities, and while you can't fast travel to them (unless you discovered them while wandering around) to save some time, they're pointed out for easy finding. It might be 'dumbing down' the game, but it's not like anything was really sacrificed, and it's easy to just turn off the active quest option and go exploring on your own.

Along with that, the all-important combat has been revamped in the same fashion. The enemy AI scales to you; if you're level 1, they're less dangerous, but as you gain levels, they become tougher, and in many cases the low-level baddies are replaced by more vicious and deadly creatures. Also, through the options screen you can adjust the overall difficulty, ranging from incredibly stupid to extremely tough computer intelligence. It can be scaled on the fly, so if one part is giving you trouble it's easy to fiddle with it and get through, and then readjust it to normal. Like in Morrowind, leveling up is a long and arduous process that requires sub-leveling of numerous core skills and many less important skills in order to reach a new level. Thankfully you really don't have to do anything out of the ordinary – whatever skills you use will level during normal play. If you spend a lot of time using swords, your blade skill increases, if you spend time using magic, a destruction skill will increase, and if you run around the world jumping constantly, it'll make your athletic and acrobatic skill better. There's even stats for how well you barter with merchants and your skill repairing busted weapons and armor. Oblivion actually is the best argument for Microsoft's 'everything revolves around you' notion for the whole 360 thing, as the game truly does bend to the will of whoever has the controller.

While many of these things were present in the previous game, Morrowind was notorious for having some horrific combat mechanics, where most fights revolved around whiffing air and occasionally hitting stuff, or readying complicated magic spells. It just wasn't much fun but it was tolerated because the same rules applied to the enemies. All that's changed in Oblivion. Now, if you land a strike, it will cause damage, though indeed the same can happen to you. Firing spells off is very intuitive, with a simple press of the right bumper along with a mostly easy to use hotkey system designed around the d-pad. It makes the frequent battles fun rather than a chore and not only that, it's fast and fluid without any cumbersome commands. In general most of the fights take place in uninhabited areas, like wilderness or abandoned mines, caves, ruins, and the like; walking the roads to towns is usually a pretty safe affair unless some bandits come after you. Sometimes you might find a wolf or an infamous mud crab floating around too but it's rare.

When you're not fighting, you're questing, and no matter what direction you take in the game, you'll run into hundreds of unique quests. Along with the main quest, there's 6 various quest lines to tackle; 4 guilds, the Arena, and Daedric. To go along with the Fighters, Mage, and Thieves Guild you'd recall from Morrowind, there's a new one – the Dark Brotherhood. If you're the sort who does things in a less noble manner and have a tendency to take the lives of innocents, it's possible the Dark Brotherhood will recruit you for a series of assassination missions; in short, you're a hitman, but you better be a hitman with the ability to pick locks since thievery skills are pretty important if you wish to kill in the shadows (don't fear though, most of these people do deserve what they get). The lockpicking interface is a game in itself, since you have limited lockpicks and the process ranges from easy to brutal. The Arena is a series of battles to the death; by beating everyone there's a reward of becoming Grand Champion and getting a spiffy set of armor that can get you through almost every quest. Finally, the Daedric quests are a more...evil collection of missions that deal with the built-in enemies who live in the realm of Oblivion.

There's also dozens of unrelated quests that net you some fancy loot or other helpful items to progress through other missions. If you're a wanderer and talk to many people, chances are you'll have a huge book of quests, all of which can be sorted and made 'active' to point you in the right direction, which helps out the lost and also helps cut time on traveling around. Traveling can be done in 3 ways – by foot, by horse, and by fast travel. The horse is a tricky thing, as you can't just take any horse unless you don't mind getting a bounty for theft. So you buy one and it'll be where you need it at all times, and if you have some Live Marketplace points there's some horse armor that carries a firestorm of controversy. Fast travel is the most economical form of travel, as you just highlight a location and head there automatically, simulating the amount of time it would take you on foot. Aside from the various cities, all the map markers have to be found by walking around; some are placed on your map but can't be selected until you reach the location. So even if it does reduce the travel time, it doesn't let you just hop from place to place without a little exploring.

Because after all, exploring is the name of Oblivion's game. Even if there's no active quest, half the fun is wandering around the world, finding old mines, full of loot and enemies, caves with ancient artifacts, and a whole bunch of abandoned ruins that seem to contain some major secrets about the world of Tamriel. Along the way there's a bunch of inns and taverns, abandoned forts, even civilizations. That's not even mentioning the Oblivion gates that pop up when you're halfway through the main quest; though optional (since they respawn), it's always fun to go through the gate, kill a bunch of creepy Daedra, and close the sucker up and become a local hero. It's pretty easy to see why Oblivion is such a great game; it provides a seemingly endless amount of things to do and enjoy, and Oblivion simply doesn't care if you spend time wandering around harvesting supplies for alchemy (yet another possible pastime) or attack the main quest right away without abandon, and any other combination in between. The game simply bends to your will...but never breaks. It's safe to leave one quest line, and when you return, everything is as is. Not every quest is great, or memorable, and some are really boring, but it's the option to tackle them which carries Oblivion.

On the visual end, Oblivion is stunning; a true showcase of what next-generation graphics should be. The world is truly huge, and it's not just the same sort of terrain everywhere; there's snowy, mountainous land in the north, beautiful oceanic towns and locales, and heavily forested flatlands all over the place. The cities are huge and complete with their own special details to stand it out from the rest. The textures are fantastic and lighting effects are amazing; when it's dark, pull out a torch and see for yourself. Admittedly most of the dungeons are a bit too dark and require a torch every step, but then there's no electricity in this world. Torches aren't infinite and they're also not always abundant which can result in running around in the dark. For the most part the game has zero loading time while you explore, aside from very short pauses in play. If you're fast traveling or waiting, there's a chance a load will come if weather or a change in time of day occurs; from day to night, for instance. Alas sometimes the frame rate gets a little choppy which is a bummer, but usually only when there's rain or a whole bunch of stuff on the screen at once. I'd guess the forthcoming patch will fix all that. Hopefully.

Character designs are pretty good, but with one flaw; there's not a lot of them so many people will look the same unless they're one of the 'talking non-human' sort. Plus their faces are really farked up and in many cases, creepy. One of the dark elf characters in a church almost made me crap my pants, she was such a freakshow. They also stare at you a lot, which creates a need to join the Dark Brotherhood. Stalkers aren't cool. Even your own character has a tendency to look a bit weird when you look at them in the menu, and even worse when you click the right thumbstick to enter 3rd person. It's there you see that 3rd person might just as well be a farce, just like Morrowind – there's really no need for it unless it's a stealth mission and you need to see around a corner by abusing the camera. When in 3rd person you see the funky animations from your character; they slide around rather than walk, run weirdly, and partake in combat the way you or I would – looking silly rather than heroic. Just use the right stick for looking around, and ban 3rd person Oblivion view.

Like the lack of many unique character models, the same thing applies to voice acting. It's good, but so many people play so many different parts, so everyone sounds the same. Case in point, the guy who plays the Arena Blademaster plays like 100 other characters and thus it's like the dude is stalking me incognito. It really hurts the incredible immersion of Oblivion by hearing these people over and over and over and over again. At the least, hire actors with some range and the ability to do different voices. The lone exception is the Emperor Septim, played by Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise. That's Patrick Stewart for those who aren't Trekkies. It's easy to say that yes, there's thousands of NPCs and thus it'd be impossible to have a unique voice for all, but dang, there's gotta be more than this around. Aside from that, the audio is pretty stellar. There's one huge overworld theme that plays a lot, but it changes when an enemy appears, which is the tip that an attack is forthcoming even if there's no enemies in your line of sight. Which happens a lot. There's plenty of tunes for the different towns, dungeons, and the like. It's not quite as repetitive as Morrowind, which had about 3 tracks, but at the same time it's not the same kind of massive production that'd you'd get from Final Fantasy or any other JRPG.

The Last Paragraph
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion pulls off a miracle – it's deep enough for the hardcore ES fan, but designed in a way that even the average player can get into it without too much intimidation, though it can be overwhelming at first until the basics are grasped. Oblivion requires a substantial time investment to get the most out of the game, but yet it's designed where you can play an hour or 2 at a time and make progress through whatever you're working on, whether it's a story quest, a Fighters Guild adventure, a generic fetch quest, gathering seeds and flowers for alchemical purposes...even sitting around in your house and wishing electricity was invented so you could watch Tamriel TV. Oblivion really does offer the ability to see anything, do anything you want...or do nothing at all if that's what you'd prefer. Instead of wondering what you can do in this world, the question is always, what can't you do? And Oblivion does it better than any other game in its genre.