Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Revealed News

Bethesda Softworks today blew open details along with the first screenshots from the hugely anticipated next chapter in the Elder Scrolls series, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Currently in development for the PC with Playstation3 and Xbox2 versions touted, Oblivion is set in Tamrielâ??s capital province of Cyrodiil, and sees the player tasked with finding the heir to the Emperorâ??s throne after he was killed by an unknown assassin. Without an Emperor governing Tamriel, the gates to Oblivion are literally thrown open, spewing forth all manner of demons to invade Cyrodiil and attack its people and towns. Itâ??s up to you to find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.

Amongst the many improvements currently being made is the debut of a groundbreaking new AI system, dubbed â??Radiant AIâ?. This allows NPCâ??s to make their own choices depending on the world around them; theyâ??ll decide where to eat or who to talk to and what theyâ??ll say, theyâ??ll sleep, go to church, and even steal items, all based upon their individual characteristics.

Bethesda is certainly breaking the boundaries in other areas, with full facial animations and lip-synching promised alongside full-speech for all dialogue, which should only go to heighten the sense of believability within the game world.

"Since starting this project two years ago, our goal has been to create the quintessential RPG of the next generation," said Todd Howard, executive producer of The Elder Scrolls® series. "We looked back at what we had done with the series, and then looked ahead to what the future of video games could be, and we think this is it."

Howard commented, "Our games have always been about great depth and variety in creating any kind of character you want and going out and doing whatever you want." He added, "With Oblivion, we're taking the idea of a virtual fantasy world as far as it will go."

In a revealing insight into the game, Howard went on to confirm via a diary update that thrown items and crossbows have been deleted from the game. Instead the team have focussed exclusively on bow and arrows, to the point where you can truly feel the string draw, arrows arc properly, bounce realistically and stick deep into the right materials. Players can easily distinguish the quivers on the back of an arrow, whilst weâ??re promised â??tonsâ? different bow and arrow types â?“ as Howard himself states â??weâ??re trading several types of ranged combat done in an average way, and getting bows down in a grand way.â?

When talking about the scale of the game, Howard enthuses that no Elder-Scrolls game will be small, in response to comments that a smaller game might create a â??more focussedâ? experience; claiming:

Now, we do change scale in each game, because certain things you do cause the game to flow differently. Even though Morrowind is about 0.0001% the landmass of Daggerfall, the way you play it makes it feel even richer. Oblivion's landmass is larger than Morrowind's, but you can fast travel around much easier. It still has Morrowind's feel of open exploration, but Arena's feel of ease of travel and, well, it's more fun.

Finally Howard claims that Oblivion will have less quests and NPCâ??s as Morrowind as a result of focussing the experience, but thankfully the game will still have too many to count and is still measured in the â??hundreds of play hoursâ?. With the promise that Bethesda are removing the â??fillerâ? content and concentrating on quests and NPCâ??s that are dynamic. Alive and more engaging than anything weâ??ve seen previously, weâ??re sure that Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will continue to break boundaries in the RPG genre.

Weâ??ll have more on Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion soon.