The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Special Edition (Xbox 360)

 

 

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what a game, first got this with my 360, and have never really stopped playing it. currently over 200 hours played and still more thanks to updates on xbox live. The first time i saw the graphics my jaw dropped and it still does... All in all a fantastic way to lose large chunks of your life to a video game. BUY IT!

When I heard that ES4:O was coming out, it was my most anticipated release since Half-Life 2, and it doesn't disappoint. While I don't think Lynda Carter's voice acting is that great, this aspect of the game is otherwise uniformly excellent and star-studded -- a refreshing change from the B-list hell us RPG geeks are often stuck with. And it's all voice acted; apparently over half the disk is dialog. The music is also memorable, yet it doesn't get tedious after many hours of playtime (I passed the 25-hour mark last night). The ambient material in the dungeons is awesome.
I've finished the Thieves Guild quest line, gotten to Conjurer in the Mages Guild, but I've only done a few quests in the main storyline. Unlike most other RPGs, the "side quests" have nearly enough content and narrative continuity to be games in their own right. Each of the main organizations -- the mages, thieves, fighters guild, Dark Brotherhood, et cetera -- has its own drama to unravel, and you're rewarded with some pretty cool loot along the way. There's so much content, in both the cities and the countryside, that I'm astonished that the developers Bethesda were able to put this thing together in a reasonable amount of time.

But it's not all wine and roses. There is a certain quest in the main storyline that simply must be done early on. It appears to be hard-coded for a large amount of NPC (non-player character) assistance, as you'll encounter a much larger amount of monsters than usual. The monsters of Oblivion dynamically progress to match your character level, giving you a challenge no matter where you are in the game world, but your NPC assistance appears to remain static. So quests that require this assistance can be extremely difficult if you wait too long to get to them. Those helpers who were wearing iron or steel armor will still be doing so 20 levels later, whereas the enemy will have some pretty nice gear. It gets ugly. You can also level up with non-combat abilities and get your butt handed to you, since the game appears to only check your character level, not your combat proficiencies, when auto-adjusting. And a spellcaster won't have much in the way of roots or snares, making for a lot of backpedaling during combat.

Also, I find the Invisibility spell to actually be too powerful. Not only does a monster completely lose track of you, but you can even bump into them and push them out of your way. You can cover a ton of ground without getting in a single fight. The spell can last up to 60 seconds with a manageable mana cost, and it can be recast ad infinitum. There's no WoW-style cooldown, or diminishing returns (such as monster resistance). The behavior is flat and its effects total. Once I got this spell, I sailed through the latter half of the Thieves Guild quest line.

But while Oblivion certainly has its quirks, it's still very compelling and engrossing. It's also a ton more stable than I'm used to with Elder Scrolls games. Character creation is a little complex for the ES initiate, and the town guard AI a little physic when I "borrow" something, but I was hooked after going through that first big mission in the main storyline, and I think most RPG gamers will be as well.

The loading times can also be annoying, but this aside it is an absolute must purchase, and I am not really a massive RPG fan either.

It is a very good game,a must buy for anyone.It has hours of playing, hundreds of items and about 16 square miles of map to free roam in and over 4 guilds to become master in and a very good story line. the only problem is its very adictive to most people.

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1.0 out of 5 stars This is so boring.
This game is for nerds. It is just like an animated version of those really old school games. I hated it from the word go and didn't bother playing for more than 20 minutes... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Edwin D. Mason

5.0 out of 5 stars Ok but not what was in the product description
The game came as promised and was in good condition but it was not as mentioned the collectors edition and did not contain a coin. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Jenny

5.0 out of 5 stars Doubtlessly going to be good
On looking at the screenshots this game looks incredible. the graphics are amazing and the gameplay looks incredible. Read more

Published on 26 Feb 2006

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