Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review

The 2002 release of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind helped to establish the long-standing RPG series amongst a new audience; drawn into the world of Tamriel, its extensive history, a world with its own societies, cultures and religion for players to discover and debate, a game where the player's every action have deliberate consequences. Up until 2002 the series had always been a favourite amongst hardcore RPG fanatics, however that all changed with the release of Morrowind on the Xbox, opening up one of the most hardened RPG titles to an eager console audience.

So it's perhaps unsurprising and somewhat understandable to find Bethesda once again trying to appease this audience, making concessions that are deliberately designed to streamline the experience and ensure its accessibility to Xbox 360 owners. Many of these help to ensure Oblivion picks off at a faster pace then Morrowind did, there's a greater sense of urgency to matters which will certainly be more appealing to a wider audience; however in an attempt to allure a lower common denominator, there is one factor that will likely have Elder Scrolls vets and hardcore RPG fanatics alike baying for Bethesda's blood.

But allow me to back up, despite one central issue Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a magnificent experience, and one that has many memorable moments.

Set in the Imperial providence of Cyrodill, Oblivion's central storyline focuses on the murder of Uriel Septim VII and his natural heirs to the throne. Without a leader Cyrodill is threatened by the assassination, a fear that is magnified by the appearance of Oblivion gates appearing throughout the region resulting in daedra spewing forth from the chaotic realm.

Starting in a traditional manner, Oblivion finds players stuck in a prison cell (after spending countless hours alone on the exhaustive supply of options in the character creation) before miraculously escaping in twist of fate thanks to the Emperors plan to escape from an attack on The Imperial City.

Once finally outside and into the luscious world of Cyrodill with its rolling hills, dense forests and ice-peaked mountains, Oblivion thankfully carries on the Elder Scrolls tradition of providing players with the choice to carry on with the central storyline or forge ahead with their own adventure. Much like Morrowind, Oblivion is up there with the GTA series in providing an open-ended, free-roaming experience that is actually fun to go and do what you want, rather then just implementing the concept to add a few buzz phrases in the game's marketing roll-up. In the era of online and MMOs Bethesda rightfully focuses on creating a rich experience for single-players, one which can be entirely different between a group of players and one which you feel is largely under your control.

One of the major positive changes in comparison to Morrowind is that which has happened to combat. No longer does it feel bland and repetitive, instead there's a much more visceral feeling, with the art of blocking and working an opening to attack feeling far more pronounced then ever before. Being an RPG combat is closely tied to your characters abilities, as such developing skills opens up new techniques such as the ability to perform attacks whilst jumping or dodging manoeuvres based on your characters acrobatics skill. The decision to remove all ranged combat with the exception of bows and arrows does initially feel like a concession on the developers behalf, an attempt to remove some of the scale that may put off newcomers, however in all honesty you're not exactly left wanting by the decision and with the use of Havok calculated projectiles, this area of the game feels substantially improved in comparison to Morrowind's offering.

Tied into this and equally appreciated is the fact that combat and magic are no longer separated by two different stances, resulting in a greater sense of fluidity between the two. Players can now launch a barrage of attacks with a trusty blade and chuck a fireball in between just to mix it up a little, it's also handy when you're on the verge of death and need a quick health recovery.

The history of videogame development must surely have taught game creators one thing - don't hype your game too much. Oblivion's Radiant A.I certainly came close to being something of Peter Molyneux proportions, a feature that couldn't possibly deliver all that Bethesda had promised and one that certainly wouldn't please everybody. When such a feature is magnified to this extent it's going to be put under a greater deal of scrutiny, and whilst it's fair to say Radiant A.I isn't quite the Holy Grail of videogames that some were expecting, there's little doubt it helps to ensure Oblivion has one of the most diverse and believable game worlds imaginable - at this stage at least.

Guiding every character within the game based upon a set of daily routines and taking into account their wants and needs, at the very least Radiant A.I ensures NPC aren't just standing in the same place for the entire duration of the game (though this can sometimes be a problem, in a good way, when you're trying to track somebody down). On a slightly more advanced form NPCs will often stop and talk with each other, alerting eavesdropping players with information and other such vital clues. Throughout the development of Oblivion there's been countless tales of the extent to which Radiant A.I works, and it's testing these boundaries which proves to be such a compelling experience in the game; one such example involved watching everybody hungrily looking for food after stealing everything edible in sight the night before. There are times when you're left asking is it everything Bethesda promised and there's little doubt there's room for improvement; aspects such as going on a murdering spree would be the talk of the town you would have thought, but it seems event based dynamic dialogue is a little way off yet, perhaps by Elder Scrolls X Bethesda???

One area that particularly impresses is the art of conversation. Played out as a little mini-game, which involves playing different responses at the right time, there's a definite skill to this concept which is far more rewarding then just hitting a button a few times. Based upon your speechcraft skill you'll have bonus abilities to move the conversation to your advantage, with the resulting level often opening up additional dialogue subjects and further information. It can get a little repetitive hearing the same responses time and time again, and you do need to play through the game a few rounds just to get a good score, but there is a definite sense of accomplishment to a task that is typically never given any real thought in videogames.

A couple of hours into the game is enough to realise Oblivion's design is very much in the Elder Scrolls mentality, however in attempting to create an open-ended experience that appeals to all, Bethesda may have inadvertently ended up pleasing newcomers but at the same time frustrating those who've stuck by them through the years. The source of the criticism and contention is the way in which the experience scales to your position within the game. It's easy to see what and why Bethesda have done this; getting killed by Mud Crabs at the start of Morrowind was never much fun and likely to put off all but the most perseverant gamer, it's also important to maintain a challenge across the board despite the open-ended structure. So instead Oblivion bases the opponents and the weapons/armour they have equipped on your level within the game, thus killing goblins at level 1 is quite easy but will still provide a challenge as you progress through the game. The problem however is that in the process this concept virtually destroys two crucial elements of an RPG, in the shape of immersion and reward. The problem doesn't really begin to appear until you've reached level 10, where bandits, who should be killing just to survive, are all of a sudden wearing Ebony armour and wielding other such supposedly "rare" items. The process of wandering into an area at the start of a game and quickly realising it's far too difficult for you seems to be completely removed from the game, equally the concept of coming back to "easy" areas once you've levelled up has been displaced; thus the key RPG area of becoming a hero seems to be sorely lacking. This decision leads to a series of strange situations that break the sense of disbelief running through the game; it's entirely possible to become the Grand Champion of the Arena before you're level 5, whilst we've read reports of one person who completed the main game as a level 1 character, refusing to level up and enjoying the weak challenge presented to him (unfortunately we can't substantiate the claim at present, but it certainly seems plausible). The decision continues to have an impact on such areas as the economy, with "rare" items becoming increasingly commons you progress through the game as enemy characters scale up according to you. Without wanting to sound too clichéd it's a decision that has divided fans, it's a feature that has both strengths and weaknesses, it's one that you're either going to appreciate or hate, but ultimately it shouldn't deter too much from the enjoyment that Oblivion's world presents.

The realm of Cyrodill is a vast place to stage a game, so thankfully Bethesda have seen fit to include horses to ensure travelling the sumptuous stage never becomes a chore. Taking control of a horse doesn't feel entirely right with some areas of their movement and overall control largely unconvincing, but that's not to say they're not appreciated particularly whenever you've forgotten where you last put them. Slightly more contentious and open for debate is the inclusion of fast travelling from the map screen, though thankfully this is one feature you don't have to touch if the concept repulses you. Although travelling around Cyrodill never seems to tire because of its stunning grace, the environment does seem to be a little sparse in comparison to Morrowind. Obviously the many cliff-racer attacks from Morrowind became frustrating, but whether that was better then the largely quiet sections of Oblivion is going to be down to personal taste - it certainly seems an area that Bethesda debated over, with the inclusion of a song from a drunk specifically about the flying foe. Further still the diversity of the environment as a whole doesn't seem to be quite as varied as that in Morrowind, which had the player exploring areas such as marshlands to volcanic areas and harsh winterlands, but when it looks as good as this we find it hard to fault too much.

There's little denying that Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a stunning game to play if you own the right specification or an Xbox 360. With the exception of the occasional frame-rate issue, Oblivion on the Xbox 360 is a pixel-port copy of the PC running at the maximum specification and certainly one of the second-wave of titles joining the likes of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Fight Night Round 3. Walking around and just taking in the sights shouldn't be an enjoyable gaming experience, but for some reason it is in Oblivion; it's just a gorgeous place to set a game. That said there are still quirks in traditional Elder Scrolls sense which lessen the illusion a little. Because of the way in which the huge game world streams in graphics data, low detail textures and models can quirkily change into their high variations just in front of the player which leads to a disconcerting "pop" effect; equally areas are obviously broken down into areas, which leads to strange situations such as panning across a vantage with one half detailed and the other not. Blooming and HDR lighting have been overly used to create a hyper fantasy style to the overall game, whilst the weather effects help to complete an overall accomplished style - just make sure you've got the specification to run Oblivion in its entire glory or alternatively grab hold of an Xbox 360.

There does seem to a series of concessions compared to Morrowind, some of which are understandable, others which are likely to fuel the talk of dumbing down for an Xbox audience. Skills have been heavily worked on with some taken out of the game completely and others heavily reworked, whilst regrettably you can no longer wear armour and clothing at the same time as they're now treated as one. Unlike Morrowind you're not able to "break" the game by killing crucial NPCs, though we suspect this is more inclined to ensure other NPCs don't randomly kill important characters through their new found skills courtesy of Radiant A.I rather then any attempt to restrict a player's freedom.

Finally testing a game of Oblivion's scope must be a nightmare before you've even taking into account the possibilities of Radiant A.I, so it's unsurprising to stumble upon minor glitches throughout your adventure. To date none of these have had a substantial affect on the game, though a glitch in the Arena allows you to access an area that makes it impossible for your opponent to hit you; whilst other such examples saw us picking undead from afar because they wouldn't follow backwards to the entrance of the caves.