The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year - Platinum (PS3)

This is easily one of the best games I have ever played. I wouldn't normally touch this sort of game with a partically long pole, but decided to give it a chance. It gets the balance between action and role-playing just right. Once you get your head around the slightly complexed leveling up system (best learnt by jumping into the game and working it out as you go along, It'll all suddenly seem so clear)you'll be hooked. Unlike World Of Warcraft it doesn't take 50 hours to get to the point when you finally feel upto taking on that deadly mudcrab. There is a remarkable amount of quests and side quests & the Game of The Year Edition includes the Shivering Isles expansion which has around 15 hours worth of extra gameplay. Overall I must have spent upto 200 hrs playing this game and there's still stuff I haven't seen yet. Also the different characters you can create genuinely give a completely different way of playing the game. If you play through the game as a warrior say, then the next time as a stealthy assassin the game has a completely different feel to it. As you've probably guessed this isn't the sort of game you rent for the weekend. Prepare to have your life hijacked!
P.S. This game includes no beards. Well only one... but that's ok. He's a mad god. He's allowed.

There is simply no other game available for the PS3 which equals the enormous breadth of content, scope and freedom offered by The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year edition. It will take you literally hundreds of hours to complete every quest and to discover and explore every location. Character creation is excellent. There are ten different races and even more classes to choose from. You can create your own class if you so wish. The game world is enormous and beautifully realised. There are flower-filled meadows, snow-capped mountains, eerie caves, bustling towns and villages, crumbling ruins, ancient haunted underground cities, infested swamps and of course the hellish demonic world of Oblivion waiting to be explored.

Freedom is the name of the game in Oblivion. The moment you emerge from the dungeons into the beautiful world of Cyrodiil you're free to do as you please. You can completely ignore the main quest if you want and simply explore the world, picking up the odd side quest whenever you feel like it. The quests themselves are fun and varied. There are also guilds to join, homes to buy and furnish, items to discover and trade, monsters to be slain.

It might sound corny but there are some genuinely special moments to be had in this game. The combination of the award-winning ethereal soundtrack, and the gentle breeze moving through the long grass as you watch the sunset makes for gaming heaven. Of course, a game as large as this will inevitably have some flaws. A fairly small number of voice actors were used, which can spoil the immersion a little bit. You'll also encounter the odd random glitch, but nothing game-breaking. The vampire glitch as mentioned in other reviews ONLY occurs if you are a vampire AND you are completing the long optional quest to cure your vampirism. All that happens is you remain a vampire. You can continue to play the game as normal.

You will not get a better value game for the PS3. It will keep you occupied for a very long time, as there are so many ways to play it and you will constantly be discovering things you missed out on previously. Go on, enter the world of Cyrodiil and begin your adventure. You won't want to come back.

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Edit, March 2013: Graphically the game has aged a bit, in particular the character models and some aspects of the landscape, eg. snow-capped mountains, all of which have been improved substantially in Skyrim. However, this remains one of the best games I have ever played.

I dont like first person games. I bought this game not knowing it was, and initially discovered it when I started playing. But, soon enough I realized with a click of a button you can change between 1st person and seeing yourself. After I while, I realized the first person is essential in combat.
And what a fascinating game this is. Its absolutely huge and there is literally thousands and thousands of things to do. Sometimes just marveling at the superb graphics and notice how they weather changes during times of the day. Collect plants to create your own potions. Slay all manner of monstrosities. Be good, or be bad (though if you are bad dont expect any blessings form the temple of the nine!)The quests are so interesting with lots of twists and turns. How the people chat and say hello when you walk past. Those reviewers complaining about game bugs. How you became infected as a vampire in the first place, is all your own fault. In the game booklet is says to heal yourself, or drink a healing potion when you become infected with hemophilia (or something of the like). If you dont and three days pass, you will become a vampire yourself. After battles check your status effects in the magic tab and drink cure disease potions, or heal yourself if you have the spell. I have been playing for 4 months now and am level 26. It never get boring and there is so much to do. I have not started to play any of the other games (night of the nine and shivering isles) which is part of this game.
I can easily say this is one of the best games I have played in my life. Its stupendous value for money also. Beats Bioshock by far!
Have fun!!! There's no way not to!