A remarkable journey (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC))

Member Name: existtoinspire

Product:	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)
Date:	15/09/07 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: graphics, sounds, story, quests, character

Disadvantages: occasional crashes, high requirements

Oblivion is the best Role Playing game I have ever played. I considered it as just another game in the beginning, it was something more than that. I finished the game and played it even after finishing the game with a total of about 200 hours and more than 2000 save games. With the official plug-in Knights of the Nine and official expansion of the game Shivering Isles make the huge game even bigger. The Game of the year edition has been released including all these, but even without the expansion, Oblivion is a very big world.

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Microsoft Windows XP/2000
512 MB of System RAM
2.0 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
8x DVD-ROM Drive
4.6 GB free Hard Disk Space
DirectX 9.0c (included in the CD/DVD)
128 MB Direct 3D Compatible Video card
DirectX 9.0 compatible driver
DirectX 8.1 Compatible Sound Card
Keyboard and Mouse

A LONG WAY INTO THE OBLIVION
The game begins with the player lying in the prison. But the player is lucky this time because the Emperor Uriel Septim VII is escaping from an attack by a group of assassins called the Mythic Dawn, and the secret passage to escape from the castle is in the player's cell. The emperor decides to take the prisoner with him, may be thinking that he can aid them in some way. They travel together through an underground tunnel through the sewers. But despite the best efforts from the soldiers as well as the player, the emperor fails to survive an ambush during the journey.

The Emperor had given the player the Amulet of Kings and had told him to take it to a man named Jauffre. Later it is revealed that the Emperor had an illegitimate son named Martin Septim, and the player has to find him. But there are already a number of Oblivion gates opened through out the empire connecting hell and the empire. The player can choose to close all these gates by going through them and collect a sigil stone which lies in the centre, or just go by the main quest where the player can finally close the main gate and all other gates with it. Meanwhile completing the side quests can be helpful in many ways.

The Shivering Isles expansion adds another main quest and a number of side quests. We will get informed about a strange door being opened and as we find and go through it, we enter the Realm of Madness where have to stop a phenoemenon known as the Greymarch which happens once a while and destroys the whole place. The whole place looks entirely different and gives you a new feel. Meanwhile Knights of the Nine only adds a faction and a few missions associated with this faction, until we are to slay a powerful sorcerer Umaril in both physical and spiritual world.

A GREAT EXPERIENCE
Oblivion has got some amazing graphics. All the characters look great and player character look as good as you have worked on it at the beginning of the game. The weather changes and the environment, especially the water is another great part of the game. All these effects are more evident in the Shivering Isles. The voice acting of the characters including the opponents are also too good. The music and the sounds from the surroundings are very much effective during the game. As this is an RPG, the dialogues are a major part of the game.

When the game starts, you get to design your character. You will select your race now, but the class and birthsign are to be selected later during the game. The selection of race affects the way you play the game, as different races have different abilities like Nords having resistance to cold, Argonians being able to breath underwater and britons having increased magika. Just like the usual RPG games, there are attributes like strength, intelligence, speed etc, which can increased as you increase in level as a result of increasing your major skills. These major skills vary according to the class, and there will be also a few minor skills.

All these happen as a result of gaining experience by going through the game, as these skills include athletics which can be increased by walking, running or swimming while acrobatics by jumping. Meanwhile, most of the skills are improved by fighting itself. The way you kill the opponents is also significant as it affects the progress too. Defeating the enemies won't be too hard if you have some above average weapons and armour along with a proper knowledge about the spells and also use them effectively enough. Some regeneration spells as well as armour will help the cause.

BETHESDA MAKES IT ALMOST PERFECT
The game's replayability factor is higher because of the large number of factions in this game. The best of them would be the Arena itself, where you can fight a number of opponents to reach the final battle and then beat the champion to become the new Grand Champion of the arena. There are also the Thieves Guild, Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild, each giving some missions to prove your worth to reach the higher stages of the guild. There are also some others like the Dark Brotherhood involving some of the bloodiest missions in the game. This faction hs got some of the best storylines in the game. There are also some shrines of deadric princes who can give you some new quests if you can give you the right offering.

The world of Oblivion is just too mesmerising. You can just fight some opponents around those oblivion gates or those creatures of the jungle, or just wander around the beautiful landscape discovering new places. Some of the places look too good that we may just want to take a screenshot instead of playing. If you have a good graphics card, you will enjoy the game, avoid the occasional crashes though. There will also be lots of user-made add-ons avaliable in the internet, which can bring interesting new elements.

THANKS FOR READING THE REVIEW :-)

Summary: One of the biggest games with lots of options