The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: A Player's Review

First off, let me say, wow. Let me repeat it: wow, wow, wow. Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for PC and XBOX 360 is simply amazing, from the breath-stopping graphics to the spot-on voice acting to the amazingly complex and involved quests. From the moment you put the disc in your DVD drive, Oblivion grips you, pulls you in, and takes you over. This is a game you'll think about in the shower, on your drive to work, while you're dreaming. It's just that good.

To start, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion begins just as the other games in the Elder Scrolls (TES) series have started, with your character in prison for crimes unknown. Right away you can tell this game is something special; you're presented with ten different races to choose from for your character, and then given the ability to customize your character's face far beyond what is typical for the average role-playing game. An intricate slider system allows you to tweak everything about the character, from eyebrow size, to nostril width, to cheekbone height, to chin length. Not only is the process of creating your character's face so intricate it will almost assure that your character is unique from everyone else's in the world, it will show you what you'll be able to expect from the rest of the game: mind-blowing depth and attention to detail.

After you've created your character's face, you're introduced to the Emperor of Tamriel, voiced excellently by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek and X-Men fame, (other voice talents include Lynda Carter, Terence Stamp, and Sean Bean!) It turns out the Emperor's sons have been killed by mysterious assassins, and they are now after the Emperor himself; lucky for you, locked in jail as you are, the Emperor's secret escape route lays through a hidden door in your cell. This begins a mad dash through underground tunnels and caverns, where you'll encounter all sorts of dangers, from goblin shamans to dark assassins. Along the way, you'll go through an excellently-integrated tutorial, teaching you everything you need to know about combat, stealth, and magic in the world of Tamriel. At the end of this starting dungeon, you're set forth on a quest to find the Emperor's lost heir, and put a stop to the horrors of the hellish plane of Oblivion from being visited upon the peaceful province of Cyrodiil.

This is where the game really picks up. After you've stepped outside the dungeon to appreciate the view, (this could take a few moments - it really is fabulous), you're pretty much on you own. You have the freedom to take up the Emperor's charge and track down the heir, or you can go your merry way and experience the world for yourself.

To that end, the possibilities are nearly limitless. You can join the Fighter's Guild and work as a mercenary, or the Mage's Guild, studying the arcane; there's also the Thieve's Guild, though, as the name would imply, it's rather illegal, and even the Dark Brotherhood, a guild of evil-worshiping assassins. Then there's the Arena, where you can test your mettle against some of the finest fighters in all the Empire. You don't have to join a guild, however; you're also free to travel to any of the nine full cities, or to simply explore the countryside, uncovering ancient Elven ruins, abandoned fortresses, necromancer's lairs, and ogre's caves.

This freeform aspect of Oblivion is one of the huge drawing points; you can literally do anything you want. This will provide you with countless hours of gameplay, well over the usual 20-25 hours most single-player role-playing games offer today. If you want to just wander around picking plants, you're more than welcome to; you can also hone your fighting skills on the various wildlife, including boars, mountain lions, and deer.

Adding to the wonders of freeform gameplay are the beauties of Oblivion; Bethesda has done something truly amazing here, with unprecedented levels of detail on just about every object you can imagine. Leaves on trees sway in the wind; grass obscures the ground at your feet; eroded rocks crop up all over the landscape; and water ripples with the rain and disturbance of various objects and characters. Bethesda has also employed the use of Havok physics in Oblivion, meaning you can pick up just about anything, move it any way, and put it anywhere. To truly experience what this means, you need to wait until you're chasing a round mace as it rolls down a hill, or watching a wolf you just shot go tumbling backwards over a cliff.

Another amazing feature of Oblivion is the much-touted Radiant Artificial Intelligence (AI). This ground-breaking system allows every NPC in the game to "live", as it is; that is, each NPC has special and unique goals which it must meet, and goes about its day to day business trying to meet these goals. This means an NPC who must eat will do so when it gets hungry; how it eats is up to it, however. If it's a stealthy NPC, it may steal food from a vendor; a lawful NPC will probably wind up in a tavern or inn eating; some NPCs will even go out to hunt or pick their own food. This means that all NPCs everywhere are living dynamic lives, and you can never be sure just where a particular NPC will be at any time of the day.

Other game features that can be found in Oblivion include the ability to ride horses, own a house in each city, decorate that house, pick up all sorts of random quests throughout the land, and continue to play long after the main quest is over. A well-balanced combat system adds to the game's draws, with tactics necessary to make it through a fight; stealth is also very well developed, with all sorts of fun sneaking opportunities, pickpocketing, and extremely-involved lock-picking. Additionally, Bethesda Softworks has plans to make a number of downloadable content packs available for a small fee to both PC and X-Box 360 users.

Of course, all these amazing, next-generation features come at a price: you need a beast of a system to experience them all. If you're a console gamer, this isn't much of a problem, since the X-Box 360 is already set up to run this game. If you're a PC gamer, on the other hand, you need to be sure your computer is in tip-top shape; the game's requirements are quite steep, and many people who meet the requirements still have problems playing the game. To ensure best performance, you really need a top-of-the-line machine, which can be quite expensive. An upside to using the PC, however, is the free downloadable Oblivion Construction Set, which allows users to create modifications to the game, changing everything from the passage of time to the speed of arrows, and allowing users to create houses, factions, quests, and new spells, among many other things.

A (very) few complaints can be made about Oblivion. One is that the user interface is clearly designed for consoles; it feels clunky and unnatural on the PC. There have already been a number of user-made mods that work to rectify this problem, however, and, after a few hours, which will doubtlessly go by quickly, you should be used to it. Another problem is the dynamic leveling of the world around your character; as you get stronger, so do all the enemies. This can be both a boon and a curse; it means you'll always have a challenge, but never be a god. Fortunately, this has also been modded for the PC version, so, if it doesn't suit your tastes, it can be changed. Additionally, stability has been a problem for a number of users, both on PCs and consoles; an upcoming patch, however, promises to address these issues.

Ultimately, Oblivion is one of the greatest things to happen to RPGs in a long time. The gameplay is fun and involving, the combat system is intuitive and challenging, the quests are interesting and compellingly-written, the graphics are outstanding. While some may have complaints about the user interface or the lack of some features (such as mounted combat, which is not included), these complaints don't detract from the overall feel of the game. Oblivion truly is worth every penny and more, and will provide countless hours of enjoyment for everyone who picks it up.