Customer Reviews

Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion

5 star:		(100)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Simply put: this game is incredible. I've played RPGs for years, but I've never had a more seamless experience than I've had playing this game.

First, the training mission. I didn't even realize it was a training mission because the events happening around me were directly related to the overall plot of the game. The only notion I had that the game was actually training me was the occasional on-screen message to press this or that button, but those messages didn't appear until I really wanted to do the action they taught me.

Second, the graphics. This world is gorgeous. I've found mysef just wandering through fields looking at the sights because of the level of detail and beauty -- the EFFORT -- that was put into the game. The sun rises and sets, the clouds pass by overhead, birds and animals react to my presence. It's a joy just taking it all in.

Finally, however, the gameplay. This game is fun. I can advance in whatever skill set I want simply based on whatever I use. If I want to become skilled at using a bow, then I just use the bow all the time, and I get better at it. If I want to be a powerful mage, I just keep casting magic, and I'll get better at it. The NPCs lead their own lives, talking and wandering around whether I interact with them or not. I can just stand around in a pub and listen in on the conversations around me, and I'll learn so much about what's going on in the realm.

This game raises RPGs to a whole new level -- a level that, as an old-school D&D player, I've been waiting to experience within a computer game for years.

I bought Oblivion when it was first released. I played it for a couple of days and put it up until just last month. I decided to play it again and I am hooked. I just didn't give it much time to catch my interest but I can honestly say that I am sorry I didn't. This is the deepest game I have ever played. I have 35 hours into it and it is going on strong. I had read that there is about 400 hours of gameplay if you play all the side quests, and if you have Live, there is a good deal of downloadable content to add even more game time. I can honestly say that this is one game that warrants buying the game guide to help you through. The graphics are simply beautiful. I can see why this took over 5 years to create. There is such a variety of landscapes to see. You will travel through the forests, through ruins, town and villages. You will go underground in caverns, catacombs and tunnels. You will fight everything from bandits, thugs, warriors to ghosts, skeletons, trolls, vampires and a variety of wildlife such as bears, wolves, lions. You can go on many side quests and enter guilds. You also travel to Oblivion, which is like traveling to hell. I am only touching the surface here. There is simply too much to try to describe here in this summary. You have to put thought into everything you do but not so much that it drags the game down with too much responsibility. I still have a long ways to go before I complete the game but just what I have done has been a lot of fun. It is probably the closest game I have ever played that can pull me to that world, much like reading a good book and getting yourself lost in it. There is really too much game here for a rental. It may honestly take many months to beat this game. Enjoy it and remember that the further you get into the game, the more fun it becomes. Enjoy.

I found this game to be very immersive and the graphics were amazing. I have been playing it slowly over the last 6 months and was enjoying it. However, the hours and hours of gameplay have a limit, due to the fatal animation bug. This has become known as the abomb bug. If you are the type of person that wants to experience all the areas of the game, complete all the quests and build your character stats up over time you will probably run into this bug. It occurs at about 200 hrs of game play on the PC and about 400 hours of game play on the xbox 360. It is similar to a memory leak and will result in not being able to open doors or lower bridges. Also, the magic graphcis and animation will become corrupted and you will not be able to proceed in the game. Bethesda is well aware of the problem but keeps it very low profile and has not come up up a patch for the problem, since most people will play the main quest and not put in that amount of hours. There is no work around for this bug on the xbox 360 therefore it is a game ending bug. The gaming community has come up with a work around on the PC but Bethesda has not come up with an official patch over the past year, which is reprehensible on their part. In addition, I do not see it even being discussed in official reviews of the game, which is reprehensible on the all the reviewers parts.

I bought this game about a year ago and I just finished the main quest about three days ago. Simply put, this may be one of the best, if not the absolute best, role playing games I have ever played.

There is so much to see and do in this game that I just don't have the space to write it all out here. Besides the main quest, you can join guilds, help out the citizens in the towns and cities with favors, scour the land for a cure to vampirism, steal for the poor, kill an entire village... and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Endless amounts of treasure, weapons, items and monsters to dispose of make this game an experience in its own right.

This game really succeeds in creating mood and atmosphere. Whether travelling across an open field or exploring a dark dungeon underneath the city, the graphics and surround sound will help put you right in the middle of the moment. For example, the world of Oblivion is a world where portals to another dimension and the creatures coming out of them threaten the lives of its inhabitants and of all existence. Whenever you come across one of these Oblivion gates, the music slowly becomes more menacing and the skies slowly begin to turn red with thunder and lightning crashing overhead. If you really let yourself get taken in by this game, just the sight of one of these gates will send a little chill down your spine.

If there are any problems I have with the game, it's that the loading can get a little annoying at times. Sometimes it'll load quickly and sometimes it'll go quite slow. There are plenty of load times in this game and I noticed on some spare occasions that the game crashed on me in the middle of a load. Thankfully, the game autosaves quite frequently, so in the case of a game crash, you won't really be getting screwed by losing hours and hours of playtime.

I haven't even mentioned all the downloadable extras that you can get from Xbox Live, especially the just released expansion pack, "Shivering Isles", which I have just started playing and promises well over 30+ hours of game time. Add this to the 200+ hours you can get out of Oblivion by itself and that's a lot of time you'll be spending with this fascinating adventure. That's the great thing about this game. Even when you think you're done with it, there's still much more to do.

If you are in any way a fan of RPGs, this one is well worth it.

My husband convinced me to start playing games in the hopes that I would play other games with him. Instead, I got so immersed in Oblivion (and so set in my ways) that no other game seems fun! This is my first game since playing Space Invaders on Atari, and I have to say, it is amazingly fun. I see lots of comments about graphics, and they are beautiful, but the best part of this game is the sheer freedom to explore. Even opening barrels and picking up ingredients from plants is so cool.

I'm on my third character, and have played from the warrior, mage and mixed perspective, and it's all awesome. As your strengths increase, the strengths of your enemies increase as well. The one issue I have with this is that run-of-the-mill goblins take more effort to kill than Xivilai (very high-level Daedra); I find this unrealistic. As far as your character goes, the sky's the limit. You can play a completely good character, a completely evil character, or employ characteristics of both sides. The creation tool where you get to choose everything from the shape of the nose to the shade of lipstick is creatively satisfying.

I have played the Shivering Isles expansion, and find it just as fun and fascinating as the main game. I downloaded this expansion, as well as Mehrunes's Razor, Knights of the Nine and the Orrery from Xbox live, and am very happy with each purchase. As I am a beginner, each new game adds hours of play time.

I play on Xbox 360 and am impressed not only with the beautiful graphics, ease of play and first-person action, but also the speed with which the game loads and saves throughout. The only problem I've encountered is that the game freezes for no apparent reason every once in a while - so I save a lot!!

I recommend this game highly for any beginner. Aside from the very beginning where you're faced with exiting the royal sewers, there is no constraint or pressure, and no time-sensitive quests until you level up a bit. You're completely free to wander through all the towns (excluding Kvatch), plundering barrels and crates, picking ingredients from plants, talking to townsfolk and increasing mercantile skills (and sneak and security, too, if you've a mind to shoplift). To increase your fighting skills, hang out on the waterfront all around the imperial city and fight mudcrabs.

Bottom line, I have played for hours, created three characters, and have not run out of things to do or finished every quest. Whether you're a serious gamer (like my husband) or a beginner with little to no hand-eye coordination (like me), you will more than likely find in Oblivion exactly what you're looking for in a game.

I'd give this game more stars if I could. I rented this one to see what all the hype is about, and actually *had* to return it so I could start sleeping again. Its that immersive. The environment is HUGE. There are literally thousands of places to visit and things to do. If you wanted to just wander around picking flowers and hunting sunsets, you could actually do exactly that. Weather changes, the sun rises and sets, people carry out lives... you get the real sense that there's a world moving around you while you go about the business of killing bad guys, learning to pick locks, and finding newer and better treasures and weapons. Quests are useful and well-managed within the interface. NPC all live their own lives - in one case I tried robbing a store... the next day I actually overheard a conversation between two NPC talking about how the store was robbed!!! Seriously!

* Bethesda pulled an excellent trick with this game - if you'd like, you can just play and the game learns and adapts to you. (Original character specialty is tailored to the way *you* play the tutorial. Levels happen in the background, and based on how you play. Etc.) If you want to get into the mechanics of leveling up, skills development, etc you certainly can, and its *extremely* deep and well thought-out.
* Technically, as someone who's never played this type of game before I found that everything was easy to understand. That's saying something.
* Easy interface, well-laid out and accessible.
* Character creation and development system is rediculously deep while still being intuitive.
* Immersive, living enviroment - weather, 24 hour days, NPCs with actual lives, habits, and personalities
* Graphics are crisp and clean
* Lots to do - you'll never be bored by this game. You can fast-travel across the map in the time of a loading screen, or you can walk/ride from point A to point B and see everything in between. (And there's a lot to see.)

Very well done. Get this game, but only if you have the willpower to resist it. Otherwise, kiss your life goodbye for a while...

Oblivion is a true gaming achievement, not just for the developers, but for the gamers. Bethesda places you inside a virtual, fantasy world and let's you do whatever you want. It's freedom in the truest sense of gaming.

The size of this game is astonishing. There is literally miles of scenery, cities, dungeons, lakes, rivers, hills, roads, and so on to explore, ranging from snowy peaks to dank swamps. It's your choice whether to procede on the official storyline or go on your own. Similarly, it is your choice whether to tackle the (seemingly) limitless quests, or simply go exploring on your own. You can join guilds, make your own spells, enchant your own armor/weapons, fight in the area; the amount of sheer stuff to do is almost overwhelming.

Besides the freedom to do whatever you want, you can also create your own character with an in-depth system skill sets, physical features, and abilities. Want to be a roguish lizard-like creature who sneaks in the shadows and silently assassinates people? You can do that. Want to be a tankish Orc who simply smashes the brains of anything in his path? You can do that. Want to be an elf with highly destructive magical powers? Yep, you can do that too.

Oblivion is a true gaming accomplishment, but unfortunately it has a few blemishes which prevents it from being truly brilliant.

For starters, the leveling system is flawed. You simply have to pay way too much attention to which skills you're leveling, so you can get the most out of your level up, which really takes away from Oblivion's otherwise excellent immersion factor. What's worse is, if you don't pay attention, your character may end up being too weak to fight off your enemies, since with each new level all the enemies become stronger to balance out the difficulty.

The other strike against the game is combat. For an RPG, it is simply too... simple. As a mage/archer, all you really do is shoot arrows/spells and run away. As a warrior it's the opposite approach, charge in and smash skulls. There's very little strategy here, and the AI is rather bad. It's too easy to take advantage of stupid AI that it's hard to play "fair" with them.

And finally, to wrap up, Oblivion is an explorer's fantasy come to life... through a video game. There is simply so much to see I think it would actually be impossible to see everything. I think if Bethesda wants to challenge themselves they should make a game based entirely on exploration and leave the combat out of it. It would be risky, but I'm sure they could pull it off.

This game is the absolute best game ever made. Better than the halo series, half life series, the final fantasy series and any other so called best games ever mad. This game wins hands down in every catagory. Let me tell you something else first. I have morrowind and that game was an all right game to say the most. The graphics were bad, physics bad, and you could not hit the damn guy with any weapon or magic. I swung 30 times before damage actually took effect on the person. I played it for about 6 hours and then suddenly put this un-user friendly game back on he shelf, never to play it again. Then I get a x-360 and an HD LCD TV. So I picked up Oblivion to see if the game could par better than morrowind. The game is absolutely incredible. for 1, in hd the game is the most beautiful game ever made, the draw distance and textures are superb and the frame rate is solid. The physics engine used in this game is the same engine used in half life 2 and halo , so I knew the physics would be great, and they were. I hit the enemies evry time, actually feeling my sword impact there bodies. The musical score is also superb with no flaws and so is the story. there are hundreds of quest with over 200 hours of gameplay. im now at 20 hours and i cant put the game down. If you have a 60, whether you like rpgs or not, you need this perfect game, which is better than WoW in every possible way. Get this game, you owe it to yourself.

Amazing. I was never the biggest fan of Morrowind, I just couldn't get into it as much. I do own the game but I never got much out of it. When I picked up Oblivion, it was totally different and GREAT. A great RPG game.

The graphics in this game are amazing point blank. If your out in the wilderness, and just look out really far everything is REALLY detailed, the people are detailed, and everything little thing you can think of is. The company really put time into the graphics, so fans of graphics will love this game.

The sound, is really good throughout the game. It sets the tone for everything going on, even though it gets in the way sometimes while talking I have the music turned off so all I hear is what im doing or people. But it has a good tone for the music.

The controls are GREAT. The fighting with swords, bow control everything is good and controlled well. The use of magic is easy, overall the controls are set great and I havent had an issue with it yet.

The fun factors of this game are crazy. Unless you play this game all day everyday, it will take you a WHILE to beat it. There are a bunch of things you can do in this game. Like, raid dungeons, kill bandits, steal items from them and so on. You can just roam the whole Cyrodill and find hidden places. There is a "main quest" in the game, which is the main storyline. It has a great concept, but is kinda short 2 me, but thats ONLY the main quest. There are so many other quests out there its crazy. There is a Dark Brotherhood group you can join (my personal favorite), Theives Guild (which has great benefits), Fighters Guild (good for building fame), Mages Guild (good for magic). Then after finishing all those side quests, you can do miscellaneous quests, like for single people and so on. A lot of them are fun and can benefit you in certain ways.

One thing I found fun was getting your "sneak" level up, by doing this it makes it REALLY easy for you to pickpocket people, and also steal from stores easier. You can do this to get extra GOLD etc, but i'd recommend doing Theives Guild quests before doing so so you can sale them the stolen items (basically the only ones that will buy it from you). Once you get your player to a LEVEL 10, go to the NOCTURNAL SHRINE and to the quest, by finishing this you will get the SKELETON KEY which will allow you do open ANY chest, door, or anything locked without the risk of breaking pick locks :-). Also, the variety of the type of character you can choose is NICE, you can choose from a variety of different races, with different skills and attributes. Right now my person is a Dark Elf (pretty good to start with I think).

Overall, I highly reccomend this game to any RPG fans, and any people that love long games with a high amount of variety!

Peace.

Well what can I say, first person shooter meet roll playing game. This is the first game I played on my Xbox 360 and I am now tainted for life and addicted to this game. Nothing will equal the depth of this game for some time to come. The graphics are beautiful. The ability to do almost anything you can think of or travel there for that matter is something I never experienced on my old PS2. The story line is only part of the game. You are not bound to follow it if you don't want to. It will be there when you are ready. There are a massive number of side quests you can complete and factions to associate your character with and even more to download on Xbox Live. I have been playing about 10 hours a week for the last four months and have reached over level 40. I am still not finished, I am not sure you can finish this game. I you are looking for bang for your buck this is the place. Just listen to my warning... once you start this game there is no turning back!!