The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review!"

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion cannot be described into one word. But if you had to, then I would say massive. So huge it would take you hours to walk to the other side of the map. This game is an RPG (Role-Playing Game). You make your character from how he looks to what type of character he is from just a sword fighting warrior to some type of "Harry Potter" guy who throws spells all over the place. Or even both if you wish.

Oblivion takes place in a massive world called Tamriel. Like I stated earlier, you can design your character from different classes like warriors, wizards, thieves, anything. You can choose to like like some type of dinosaur, reptile thing. Once you do step out the caves for the first time, I promise you will say something off Wow!!! Especially if you have never played an RPG before.

Your job or main quest is for you to close the gates to the hells of Oblivion. Because treacherous creatures come from them and haunt the massive world of Tamriel. You can do the main quest which takes around 50 hours to complete, but what you hear about the 200+ hours is to the optional quests. Their are numerous amounts. You probably won't find them all without a walkthrough. You can pick of just about anything from the flowers on the ground to the deer that you see running across the field. Then unluckily bandits come around and try to kill you, or ask for your money to give to them. Of course you are not going to do that, so let them have it with the spells, swords, or anything you have including the things that God gave you. Your fists.

Their are hundreds of people with names and if you kill them, then they are dead and will remain forever there where you killed them. But you should talk to everyone you come across to maybe get some side quests. They range from collecting ingredients to assassinating people. But you do have the choice to be a good guy or the evil, bad guy. However, what ever you choose, the local town members will react to you on what you are. For example, if you are a bad guy, then most likely the town's people will say rude things to you. If you are a good guy, then the town's people will say nice and good things to you.

Fighting in Oblivion is exciting and very fast paced. However their are downsides to fighting. First the good. The AI is good and make sure no two battles will EVER feel the same. Some times you will fight one thing or person or some times you will fight multiple. You can use a bow and arrow, sword, or just use your spells. Like most RPGs once you kill someone, you get to loot the body. That is what makes the RPGs fun by getting money and other things to just make yourself a better character to hopefully reach the full level 50. The downside of the fighting is that sometimes when you are fighting with your sword, you don't really feel like you are hitting the person. No blood marks or anything, you just see that he is dying, so that is a bit odd, but; however, it is a good game.

How you get better is using that skill. For instance, if you want to be better at swords, then use the sword and over time you gain skill points. And after so many points it says sleep and you then get the add attribute points such as strength, luck, intelligence, etc. When you level up so do the bad guys, so you never get that feeling of every fight being easy until at least you have almost maxed out your character.

Now onto the graphics which are amazing, especially on the Playstation 3 system. The graphics on this console is better than the Xbox 360 and the PC. Also the Playstation Version contains the expansion of Knights of the Nine which the Xbox 360 and the PC don't have. The game has another expansion as well called the Shivering Isles. The Playstation 3's load times are tremendously shorter as well. You can ride horses as well to get you places faster or you can auto-skip to places you have already been to or found. You will see beautiful landscape ranging from high top mountain peaks to just lushes, beautiful jungles. You can find ancient ruins everywhere to swimming in beautiful, detailed water. There are numerous cities in this game that will all be loved but the biggest and most beautiful is Imperial City.

The soundtrack of Oblivion is one of those songs you might download on your MP3 player. They have numerous voice dialogue. I mean their is a lot of dialogue but a lot of the voices are the same. You will find this out fast just playing the game. I promise it is a downside to the game.

Overall this is a good game and should not be missed. But some might not like lengthy games. This game can take you months to complete it. So go get it. The great storyline to just trying to be a power house character is a long journey. And once you max out your character, you can be the big daddy on campus and walk around just owning everything in sight and will probably have thousands of dollars to buy what you want. You can buy a house in every town, and some come in ways you may not want them. I won't let out any spoilers but just go get it know.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/12/09

Game Release: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (US, 03/20/07)