The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

2007/12/11

Gigantic. That's the only way to describe Oblivion. A beautiful, spacious world, where day changes into night in an atmospheric sunset. Nine cities, all with their own architecture, unique character traits, pubs, shops and lots of quests, providing for long-term motivation. Treasures, weapons, armour and textbooks, scattered over the whole world in dark caves, wooden chests and eerie ruins, are waiting to be found. Take an unforgettable journey with warriors you've created yourself in the minutest detail.

You'll have to learn as you go along. In fact, you'll have a lot to learn. It'll take several hours of fun for you to understand all the possibilities and options and know how to use them. Not that you need a hundred hours to find your way around to a certain extent, but you'll definitely need time to get used to it, particularly if you haven't played any of the previous games from the Elder Scrolls series. To start with, it's a huge challenge because of the immense size of the game. It's entirely up to you whether you decide to cover distances on foot, on horseback or using the fast travel option. However, almost every movement and action has an effect on the values and attributes of your warrior.

While you are running through open meadows and valleys, the names of countless plants light up in your field of vision, which you can then pick and mix into various different potions. Running gives you attribute points that have an effect on your athleticism — soon you'll be running faster and will have more stamina. If you hop around in the area for a while, you'll become a proper acrobat, jumping down into deep precipices without batting an eyelid, or later even jumping over the surface of lakes. If you meet a bear, a wolf or even a troll, each blow of the sword or axe and each strong punch has an effect on your sword fighting, blunt weapon or fist fighting skills. This is also the case in the various conversations with NPCs, the use of magic or when you break locks. No matter what you do, how you do it or where you do it, it all has an effect on your values, the behaviour of the citizens and city guards, and last but not least, on the course of the game.

It's up to you to decide how and when you want to start which quest. The main quest takes a few hours, but only makes up a fraction of the whole game. As the 'Game of the Year Edition' also includes the two add-ons 'Knights of the Nine' and the 'Shivering Isles', anyone looking for exciting adventures or tasks is pretty much guaranteed a good time. In 'Knights of the Nine', you go on a kind of grail mission and acquire a magnificent, unique suit of armour. 'Shivering Isles' is played in its own fairly crazy dimension, where collectors have a particularly great time due to new types of weapons, plants and objects.

Oblivion has no locked doors. You can go practically anywhere, penetrate into a dungeon on the edge of a path at any time or even creep into areas you don't really have access to. Whether as part of a quest, or simply because you're feeling mischievous, you can break into the houses of affluent businessmen, preferably when the guards aren't looking. Your hoarding instinct will be stirred up and soon you'll be breaking into every house, just to get hold of a peculiarity like a telekinetic rod, a rare wine, precious stones or even a bit of cash. But watch your back! If the city guard is alerted or catches you, you'll be put behind bars or made to pay a fine, or you'll have to make a run for it. If you decide on the latter, from now on you'll be living underground and shouldn't be seen in public unless you want to get caught.

If you've had enough of running away, you will be beaten up and stabbed. The fighting system is inciting and has tactical components. If you have a shield, you can use it with the right timing to block blows. In this case, the ego perspective is to be recommended, as the fights are more exciting and better to handle in this mode. If you've gained enough experience, you'll learn new techniques. Push your enemies back with the shield or let them have it so forcefully that they inevitably drop their guard. The incredible number of spells are harder to use, as they only work if your targeting is precise — you have to catch the enemy at the crucial moment.

With the necessary talent, you can later repair, modify or upgrade your weapons yourself. You can also create your own spells. Give your freshly revamped blade or your new, lethal spell an auspicious name and plunge into the next horde of goblins, to indulge in your work. It doesn't have to be goblins — there are also locust-like giant insects, minotaurs, bandits, mountain lions etc. etc. etc. In particular the portals to the demonic levels of Oblivion, which are connected to the main quest, invite you to fight evil demonic rulers and spiders or elementary beings between lava flows, charred stone and giant towers in sinister surroundings.

Oblivion raised the benchmark for future role-plays, in terms of the graphics too. You'll be amazed by the atmospheric change from day to night, the unrestricted distant views, the different weather conditions and the convincing flora and fauna across the board. Plants and branches of trees wave gently in the breeze, the surroundings are reflected in the surface of lakes, spells light up your enemies or flame briefly. The melodies that accompany you on a long ride, during combat or when you're going through an oppressive dungeon always match your the current position and situation. At times you'll hear catchy and pleasant sounds, and at others the music is driving, gripping and nerve-wracking.