The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Official Strategy Guide: Official Game Guide for PC and Xbox 360 (Prima Official Game Guides) (Paperback)

Also, the book stays open on the page you require when you place it down. Something I find very useful when trying to play and read at the same time.

It is true that the actual walkthrough section of the guide should really be ignored when playing a free roaming game such as Oblivion. Only to be dipped into when you find yourself stuck at certain points or unsure of how to continue.

However, the sections on creating your own character and the tips, stats and info on magic, weapons and skills are all immensely useful and are well worth the price of admission. The guide goes into much more detail then the game concerning Character skills, for example. Having more knowledge about the game helps derive more enjoyment from it.

Also, reading stats from a television screen for long periods of time can be a strain on the eyes. I much prefer to play the game proper (ie. the fighting and exploring), whilst using the book to give me a statistical breakdown of any items I may pick up or magic I may learn.

These sections account for approximately a quarter of the guide. Another quarter accounts for hints, tips and maps. Whilst approx half of the book is dedicated to giving advice on completing the games numerous missions.

The maps are numerous and also very well designed in this guide. But again, I would recommend they should be used only when really needed.

Overall, I would say this guide is not an essential purchase for Oblivion, but it makes a great companion to the game.

Is the book just a giant 'plot spoiler'? Well, like any tool, if it's 'good' or 'bad' all depends on how you use it. If you just read through the whole book, then the game will be completely spoiled for you. But if you look at it "a bit at a time" and only use it cautiously (i.e.: you never look at the Main Quest pages unless you go only to the specific page you need, and then shield upcoming paragraphs with your hands) where you are really stuck somewhere in the game, then it can aid the pleasure of playing the game. Because one of the big drawbacks of playing these kinds of massive games is the hours of useless frustrated activity, running around getting dizzy looking for X or Y when it's actually somewhere else. This very comprehensive guide helps smooth out those frustrating times, and thus makes the game more enjoyable for me.

Overall, the writing and print quality is excellent, for the price. One thing I didn't like was the snide and cynical tone that kept creeping into the writing - the author often implies that "suspending one's disbelief" in a RPG game is a bit silly and purile, and keeps pointing out logical inconsistencies. We don't need to know that, we just want to know how to play the game. The Index could have been much much better. It isn't hard to auto-generate a very good and complete index using software, these days.