Reviewed by Eva Cekanska
I don’t think I would be even slightly overzealous in saying that The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was one of my all time favorite games. I played through it twice, expansion packs included, never managing to actually complete all of the quests. Where I found the spare time to play through a game as massive as Morrowind I’ll never know, but the truth is I felt, and still do, pretty good about potentially “wasting” hours on end on that game. Frankly, I couldn’t wait for Oblivion to come out. I’ve been looking forward to it for five years, and lo and behold, the wait was completely worth it. Oblivion is nothing short of a masterpiece. This already very highly acclaimed and award-winning RPG is pure art. It is the brilliant eye-candy fantasy world that your inner sword-wielding, skull-crushing, dungeon-looting, dragon-slaying… just go out and get a copy, you can thank me later.
But allow me to elaborate, in case you don’t believe me and need some convincing. All theatrics aside, if you so choose to close the browser and run to your nearest video games, provider I will completely understand. As a matter of fact, I encourage running, because once you get playing physical exercise will become but a distant, fading memory.
First of all, Bethesda / 2K Games has made the game look absolutely fantastic. The textures are gorgeous, the monsters realistic, the people and towns magnificent. I was not kidding when I said this game is eye-candy. On your first stroll through the Great Forest you’ll be dazzled by the colorful array of flowers, distinct and swaying blades of grass, trees with handcrafted individual leaves and creatures to go along with that, including a variety of oh-so-handy horses. Even weapons look amazing. Anyone who tried Morrowind will probably remember the flat texture of the Silver Claymore. Well, my friend, that is no longer a problem. Furthermore, the fighting system was also overhauled. No longer do you sit there wondering how it is that you missed, even though you swung your weapon directly at the baddie. No longer will you even wonder why your block leaves something to be desired. Your hits will always land, and your shield will always protect you. Of course your skill with such items will still affect how hurt you get, so blocking is not the magical solution to avoiding death.
Again, your choices in the kind of hero you wish to be are numerous. Magic, weapons or stealth, you decide. There are quests available from all the guild halls, most castles, and of course the ever so helpless citizens of Cyrodill. My words of wisdom here are as follows: read the manual first, pick wisely. Your attributes and birthsign determine the character you will be, so give it some thought before making your final choice.
Now onto the real stuff: storyline, gameplay and the like. This is what we’re all here for, right?
The storyline is outstanding. You are once again an unlikely prisoner who runs into the formidable ruler Uriel Septim, and are set to save the vast empire of Tamriel. Of course you don’t actually have to do that. Conscience aside (people are dying!), you can actually do whatever you want. If you’re feeling very risky, you have the freedom of sneaking right into that imperial palace and looting it. Or, go out there and explore the great forest or the vast mountains in front of you. The dungeons and other such ruins won’t explore themselves, you know. But, if you prefer the safer route, buy a house, settle down, maybe only explore the ruins and planes of Oblivion when feeling adventurous. And if you’re feeling creepy, there is nothing stopping you from simply following the first person you see as they make their daily rounds. The choices are endless! And while the freedom of such a non-linear game may strike confusion into the hearts of many, I find it endearing. Plus, theres something amazing that the fans of Elder Scrolls should know: no cliffriders.
The only real problem I can think of is with performance. Yes, I am sorry to report that there are some issues there. I strongly recommend that you meet the suggested system requirements, because while jaggy heads and the eternal race with the loading landscape are all kinds of fun, its nice for it to be only optional. I personally experienced some crashing too, but it’s not overwhelming.
Unfortunately, another tiny problem remains. While you now have the chance to not select from a series of fairly ugly people for a main character, the clothes are still quite bad. Fancy rags, I would call them. But really, wardrobe issues are my attempt at nitpicking. Oblivion is indeed stunning, to the smallest detail.
Opposing the lush and abundant vegetation, blue skies, pretty unicorns and beautiful flowers, there are dark dungeons, rotting corpses and skeletons that make probably the creepiest sound ever in the history of videogame skeletons. Another creepy detail that is extremely cool is how the sky changes as you approach an Oblivion gate. How does that not set the mood for an ominous task?
The symphonic musical score is wonderfully composed and executed, but the sound effects play a very important role as well.It’s impressive to hear how everything sounds in different areas and how appropriate every sound is to every action. While in a cave you can hear water dripping and everything seems to echo in the distance. Opening a crate will sound like opening a crate, rummaging in a cloth sac will sound exactly like that, a bear sounds exactly like the real thing, looting from a rotten corpse sounds disgusting enough to make you cringe.
The voice acting is well done, except for some awkward accents or intonation (especially this particular efeminate male voice saying “Bye!”), and it counts with the professional acting talents of Patrick Stweart, Sean Bean, terrence Stamp and Lynda Carter.
The system requirements for the PC version are quite demanding, but do seek out the various mods already available for the game. They can enhance your playing experience and as far as I can tell the affects on performance are non existent.
Of course, if you own an Xbox 360, you won’t have to worry about system specs, but be warned, crashes and lock-ups do happen occasionally. There are other small issues as well, such as NPCs going through walls or corpses twitching because they’re on a weird angle, and some strange bug while fighting where nothing fights back.
In sum, this is a beautiful, stunningly complex game providing endless hours of fun (or at least 200). The good people at Bethesda have outdone themselves with Oblivion, as this game meets and exceeds expectations. Frankly, I don’t know how they got it done in just five years.
It doesn’t matter if you love the Elder Scrolls series or are simply an RPG enthusiast, Oblivion is well worth your money. And for an extra $10, there is no reason not to get the collector’s edition, which comes with a leatherbound “Pocket Guide to the Empire” and a real Septim coin from the game world. How about that?
Minimum System Requirements
System: 2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive Space: 4600 MB
Other: Keyboard, Mouse
Recommended System Requirements
System: 3.0 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent
RAM: 1024 MB
Other: ATI X800 series, Nvidia GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card