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I have waited quite a long time for Oblivion, and I knew it was going to be good, but when I first stepped out of the sewer in the beginning of my journey, it only then began to seep in. I turned, and began walking across a bridge, turned to my right and saw majestic mountains, sparkling water reflecting photo-realistic vegetation, and a beautiful sunset, that you would have sworn was real. I then realized that I could travel to the top of those mountains, which seemed to be dozens of miles in the distance. Then finally realized the game that I had dreamt of for years had finally arrived. Xbox gamers got their first taste of the world of Elder Scrolls with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, in the country of Morrowind. The game was a fantastic achievement in design, but it was widely regarded as a title for the hardcore, and as such while it did very well for itself, probably would have done better for itself had the team made it a bit more accessible. Those problems are taken care of in the world of Oblivion—what took for ages to travel, you can now travel to with a click on a map. A combat system that plays less like a role-playing game, and more like a tactical, in-depth action title. The ability to change the difficulty is an incredible leap. A gradual progression of baddies, and all kinds of stuff to do that will keep you coming from more. In this sense the game is the ultimate role-playing title—it can be as complicated and in-depth, or simple and straightforward as you want. It is up to you as the player.
A warning though, if you read this review and decide to buy the title, it can ruin your life, but in a good way. You will become the character you spend good time crafting, diving into this wonderful world of mystery and intrigue. You feel as if though the world is living, with it’s outstanding AI, incredibly designed environments, in-depth combat system, guilds, factions, races, job types, classes, dungeons, caves, castles, towns, and more. To understand how the game works however, you must understand your quest first off. You find yourself in imprisoned in the Imperial City, capital of the Province of Cyrodiil, when you begin, you are prompted to create your character. You have many different races to choose from including the Argonian, Breton, Dark Elf, High Elf, Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Orc, Redguard, and Wood Elf. I chose to be a Khajiit, editing him so that his fur was white, as they are basically cat people. I picked the Khajiit due to it’s powers of seeing at night, eye of fear magic power, and how fast and cunning they are, but all of the races have their own unique advantages. When editing your character you have many different options when editing their facial structure, hair, body, and so on. Some of the options are specific to a certain race, but you get plenty of editing options no matter what race you choose. So as you are there, rotting in your prison cell, Emperor Uriel Septim happens to walk through with his most trusted bodyguards the blades, only to look upon your face and believe that you are someone special, from his dreams. The emperors voice is played most notably by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek and X-Men fame, and his voice-acting alone gets you straight into the game’s plot. You go off with the king, in a secret passage that just so happens to be in your jail cell. This point on, the game begins to tutor you in the ways of combat, and the basics of equipping, and magic. You actually build yourself up fairly well; defeating rats, and other little monstrers that otherwise may have been a hassle in Morrowind. Also, unlike Morrowind, when you attack you don’t miss.
What’s going on up there?
The combat system is actually very intuitive, and is a great part of the fun in the game. You have the option of seeing the game in first or third person, and this helps as most of the time you want to see everything in your characters eyes as it is a very personal game, and it makes combat all the more intense, but sometimes you need that third-person just so you have a better idea of what is going on around you. You strike with your weapon with the right trigger and with the left you can block. If you have a shield equipped, you can actually block the attacks much better, but you can do it all the same with the weapon in your hand. When you block an attack, it will send your opponent reeling back in some cases, so you can take advantage and get a few swipes in. There are also many different kinds of swipes, depending on the kinds of actions you take. Not all of them are available to you in the beginning either, as you must level up your skills in combat, but you can do a lunging attack, a twirling attack that can shock or unarm your opponent, quick swipes, jump in the air while attacking, and more. You can also use a bow and arrow, after equipping them both. Pressing down the right trigger, you will pull back the bow, and letting go will release. There is a cursor in the center of the screen to guide your shot as well. It works much like a first-person shooter title.
Your weapons and magic are all equipped and governed in a pretty intuitive system. Within the system you will find your weapons, armor, potions, magic, maps, status, and more. In the game you can literally pick up about any items you see from armory, to flowers, to pots and pans. Much of it is junk, and the value is indicated in your menus, and also by looking at the time, but you always want to keep some valuables so that later you may sell it. In that case however, your character can only carry a certain amount of things, as it will weigh them down, so it helps balance out the amount of items you are carrying all at once. At one time you may use a weapon, shield, and magic, but lets say your weapon is weakening, or you would like to switch from your sword to bow. This is where the hotkey system comes in to place. From the menus you can assign magic, items, weapons, and shields to one of eight places to be mapped on the directional pad. Simply by holding down the directional pad you can select one of these items, or if you press in the right direction quickly, you can pull one of them out.
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