The Elder Scrolls series has long been a niche franchise, a series mostly known amongst PC gamers in the mid 90’s. The first few entries were decent performers, geared towards a very particular crowd. In 2001, Bethesda Softworks, the founders of the series, attempted to take these long and arduous odysseys through fantasy worlds a tad closer to the mainstream. The result, Morrowind, was a critically praised game in most respects, and became, at least for a short while, one of the few reasons to own an Xbox in those early days of the system’s life. After its success, Bethesda went back to square one, looked at what worked and what didn’t work, and, factoring in the added resources that a hit title gave them, began work on what would become one of the first truly classic experiences of the next generation, Oblivion.
Right from the opening cutscene, a sweeping fly over of the imperial city accompanied by suitably epic score and Patrick Stewart voiceover, Oblivion sinks its teeth in. It seems that Emperor Uriel Septim is under siege by unknown forces, and it just so happens that his escape route from the city leads through your prison cell. By the end of the first hour, the Emperor is dead, and you’re left standing on a river bank, bearing the Emperor’s amulet, and instructions to find his lost heir. From here, the world of Oblivion, the entirety of the province of Cyrodil, is yours to explore. You can set out on the quest given to you by the dying Emperor if you wish, and attempt to thwart a legion of invading demons, or you can simply kick up your heels and start walking. Either way, the world of Oblivion is a huge and daunting place at first, with much to see, and even more to do.
Oblivion’s biggest appeal is in its open ended gameplay. The land of Cyrodil is huge, littered with literally hundreds of ancient ruins and old fortresses to explore, small towns, caves, hidden shrines to forbidden gods, and all manner of surprises. Outside of that there are 7 cities and the immense Imperial City to venture through, each with their own quests to accomplish. Add to that the game’s main storyline, which you can weave in and out of, and various factions that you can join, each with their own selection of quests, and the entirety of the game becomes positively immense. The open-endedness extends even to your character, whose facial appearance is entirely customizable to an insane degree before you start playing. You can choose a character class from many of the fantasy game mainstays, create your own class from scratch, or just switch gears from spell tosser to archer to sword slinger throughout the game with minimal effort. Never does the game coerce or corral you into a particular action, the very well implemented quest journal can act as a guide to keep the inordinate amount of tasks you can come across straight, but you need never follow a set path. The amount of freedom is unparalleled in this sort of game, and the fact that Oblivion still manages to tell such a fantastic story while remaining non-linear is a minor miracle of game design.
As open-ended and free as everything is, the game is equally immersive. The people you run into in towns are well represented, with a detailed and deep artificial intelligence that gives them an agenda, a schedule, and a predisposed disposition to your character, which can be altered through bribery or other means. The environment is littered with all sorts of flora and fauna that may come in handy for crafting potions or making a few coins. Soldiers patrol the major provincial roadways on horseback, and can act as a friend if they happen to be close by when a bandit decides to jump you from the bushes. You may come across conflicts that don’t directly involve you, and you may even cause entire towns to turn on one another and draw swords. It’s amazing really. The game follows a full day/night cycle, and sunrises and sunsets look stunning, you’ll see wind, rain, and snow, stars in the sky, and a blinding noonday sun. The world of Oblivion is a truly realized virtual world that dwarfs anything that has come before it, it feels alive. Yes, you can get lost in Oblivion’s world, it’s more engaging than any online roleplaying game, and it could even pry you away from that nasty World of Warcraft addiction.
Technically, Oblivion excels. Graphically, the game is a jaw dropper. It employs all of the pretty next generation tricks you may have heard about to present a world of intimate detail. The trees and landscape look stunning, weather effects are excellent throughout, and the lighting and special effects are absolutely beautiful. From the moss covered white stone walls of the Imperial City, from one side of the map to the other, Oblivion doesn’t miss a beat. The landscapes change as you move from north to south, going from snowy Alps to dense temperate swamps, and the world in between is lush forest. The water effects are excellent, character animations are generally smooth and well executed, and excellent physics have been applied to everything you can interact with in the game world. You can play the game from either a scalable third person view or first person camera view, I prefer third person, but both are equally playable and look incredible. There are occasional drops in framerate, and the occasional stuttering for load times does occur, but neither detracts at all from the experience. There have been reports of some serious bugs and glitches, which are to be expected in a game of this size, but I haven’t personally encountered anything.
In the sound department, again, Oblivion is top tier material. The score is sweeping and majestic when it needs to be, subdued and peaceful at other times, and always beautiful. Composer Jeremy Soule is developing a worthy reputation in gaming circles for his music, and this is quite simply one of his strongest efforts. Sword swings, grunts, slashes and clangs are all excellent; with a power behind them you don’t often hear. Voice acting is excellent throughout, though many voices do repeat fairly often amongst the non-player characters.
Overall, Oblivion is truly a classic gaming experience. From the technical brilliance to the gorgeous art design. Bethesda have managed to cram anywhere from seventy to a couple of hundred hours of gameplay into the game, gameplay that will change from player to player. It’s not only the very best of the “sand-box” games (a term coined by Grand Theft Auto), but is one of the deepest, most imaginative, and classic gaming experiences ever. It lends itself well to both the “pick up and play” style of gamer, or the 48 hour marathon hardest of the hardcore. A wealth of options, near endless quests, additional content available online (or over xbox live), and true freedom. This is one heck of a package. Bethesda can rightfully take their place amongst the elite, shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Blizzard, Bioware, Id Software, or Bungie. Oblivion is just that good!
Oblivion is rated “T” for teen, but in reality, the subject matter doesn’t lend itself well to the younger set – Oblivion is a game for adults.
