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'your life will never be the same again'
 Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Publisher: 2K Games
Category: : RPG
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
Might look like: /
Date posted: 1 June 2006
Written By: Matt
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Your long journey begins here!
The much anticipated long awaited Role Playing Game (RPG) for the X-Box 360 has been finally tested to death and I'm totally ready to let you know my magic experience with 2K Games latest RPG masterpiece, "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion".
In case you have been living under a rock for the past year, let me refresh your memory a bit and tell you some information regarding this new title.
'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' or short Oblivion is Bethesda Softworks latest game and its much like their previous hit game "Morrowind" but then 100 times better. It's a Role Playing game but it's not only focused on that aspect.
Much like Fable where the decisions that you make change the entire gameplay, Oblivion is filled with NPC's, guilds, challenges and of course conversations.
Besides that, the game also offers a very huge playground which will take you a few hours just to travel from one end to the other. If you don't get into fighting that is.
So much to do
Bethesda Softworks has learned a lot from their previous RPG game "Morrowind" and "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is almost perfect! It combines the moral decisions from 'Fable' with a bit of stealth from 'Thief' and of course the open-ended world of 'Morrowind'.
In Oblivion there is so much to do! Your quests begins when you have to search for Brother Martin and the gates of Oblivion. A small red arrow on your compass will point your way.
Besides the central storyline, Oblivion offers something that most RPG games fail to do. Giving you so many side guests, outlaw camps, treasure tombs, corrupt guards etc, it's all up to you. You can easily go into a side quest and when complete get back to the main storyline.
The joy in playing that makes Oblivion so special is that playing out of the storyline also will give your guild invites or even NPC's that trying to gain revenge on you!
  
When playing Oblivion there are so many questions to ask. Fortunately many of these will be answered by the characters in the game and conversation success really depends on several factors. For example, the NPC can answer totally different on one of your questions if your weapon is drawn, your race is different, skill, etc etc.
Most NPC's have several different lines to answer so don't expect the same answer very fast.
Besides this, the game also offers a lot of quests to complete and even when you succeed in getting the 1000 gamer points, you still will be back for more.
And Oblivion is just there to give you all this goodness.
Difficulty levels up
The difficulty level of your own character and all of your enemies level up the same way.
Once your character has been rewarded with a level up, the game will match your position with the world of Oblivion and create new enemies and new rewards. Once you for example are upgraded to level 10, go to the same Oblivion gate that you visited when you were on a lower level and you'll notice that other stronger enemies are now present.
'Oblivion' has ambition and this also stretches to character selection as well. Dark Elves, Bretons, Redguards are only some of the characters that you can choose and of course every character has different abilities.
Some will be good at melee attacking, others on stealth, or use their charm to win people over etc. The differences between the classes and choices are really open to the player.
While the original 'Morrowind' tended to favour melee classes over magical classes, Oblivion seems much more balanced and it seems that Bethesda Softworks has done in great job in finding the right balance.
  
Create your own LAW
The only thing that limits your in-game choices in "Oblivion" are the laws of the towns.
However if you use some creativity, you'll find that there are many ways to circumvent these laws to your own needs. Bribe guards through the Thieves Guild, kill them when you are strong enough or just use the invisibility spell so that you can do what you want and still remain hidden to others.
It's also neat to find out that dead bodies are infact dead bodies. They don't disappear over time and once you return to that same spot later on, you'll still find the same dead body. Absolutely fantastic in realism!
Graphics & Sound
"Oblivion" is pure magic. The graphics in the game are superb and this is pretty much what we expected from a next-gen game. Textures, dynamic lighting, character models, etc, it's all so beautiful done. Oblivion is one of the best looking games for the X-Box 360 and after some medium quality launch games, I'm glad that there is finally a game that's worth calling "next generation".
It does chugs occasionally on the frame-rate but overall it does a good job in creating this huge, free-roaming world of Oblivion.
Great music and crisp effects is what Oblivion offers and in true Dolby Digital (5.1) surround it just sounds fantastic! (and sometimes creepy)
Conclusion
With "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" developer Bethesda Softworks has created a true masterpiece.
A true RPG game but still very accessible to everybody, even if you're not into RPG's. Multiple choices, multiple answers and well multiple paths and guests makes this the finest RPG I have ever played.
With over 40 hours just to complete the main story, you'll spend days, weeks, even months before you complete everything in the game.
Oblivion is BIG and right now, this is the finest of all X-Box 360 games!
-Matt
Ratings
Manual:
89 % |
Graphics:
96% |
Music & Sfx:
91% |
GamePlay:
93% |
|
This game scores
 
on our 5-point Rating System
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