I've got to say that I am extremely impressed with this video game, and that's not something that happens often. When Baldur's Gate came out I bought in and played through quite a ways, but became bored. Diablo? Same story. I tried Neverwinter Nights and thought there was something good there, but it didn't hold my attention long either. Then there was City of Heroes: the potential for social interaction intrigued me. Ultimately, it was nothing more than a joint shoot 'em up game and there was very little social interaction. Same thing with the Matrix Online game.

I thought I'd give Oblivion a try after a guy at work talked it up big. Though thee isn't any multiplayer functionality, I am hooked. The graphics are sick, the character building is intuitive, and open on multiple levels, and it fakes a nice social aspect. I know the game has been out for a while. And I'm behind the times, as it were, but I highly recommend it.

I for one agree. Although I don't have it myself, I've tried it several times on my brother's computer. The battles are great, the graphics are great, the horse bit is great. I can't really think of anything bad to report about it.

Except the stupidity of one of the advisaries. This only happened once, mind you. I was at the top of one of those towers on the other side of one of those Oblivion gates or what you call them. I was low on health and had to face two of those Daedra sorcerers. All I could think of was 'damn, I'm gonna get my butt kicked'. But of course, one of those sorcerers decided to move straight for me, which meant that he walked off his platform and met his end at the floor below. I managed to kill off the other one without much trouble, but I always refer to the first one as the stupid one.

But like I said, it only happened once. I think they fixed it with one of the patches though, so don't count on being as lucky.

...but overall, the adversaries have been fairly bright. I've yet to have one walk himself over an edge, but I'll he terrain to my advantage, and in that respect I've knocked a few less fortunate creatures from the battlements, cliffs, and bridges. I've also used their own traps against them, drawn them out to a position where I can gain the higher ground advantage with my bow, and brought foes that were really giving me a hard time out into the view of Imperial Guardsmen who help vanquish them. That's one of the things I really like about the game, is that you can use realtime strategy in your gameplay.

Actually, the title is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The previous installment was Morrowind.

I tried Morrowind out a few years back but was royally disappointed. The story, the NPCs, and the dialogue completely lacked any kind of "spark"; the game had nothing to make it interesting. In essence, it felt like an offline MMORPG. Now, I've tried several MMORPGS and they all sucked, so I guess you can deduce how I felt about Morrowind.

Baldur's Gate I and II, however (together with Fallout 1 and 2), were brilliant games—state-of-the-art, if you will. In my opinion, they are the perfect conversion of tabletop RPGs to the digital realm: they retain all the fun of traditional D&D but adapt perfectly to the format to offer a new kind of experience.

For those of you who have played both Morrowind and Oblivion as well as the Baldur's Gate series: Given my opinions above, do you think I would be disappointed with Oblivion, or has it changed enough that I should give it a try?

Dude. I Love the Game.


Quite addictive. Easts up weeks of my time.



WOOO FOR RAMPAGING ABOUT THE WILDERNESS IN MY UNDERWEAR!

I have a hard time with names. Apparently that includes game names. I've played Fallout (loved it) and both Baldur's Gates. I'd take Oblivion over any of those, any day.

My kids sit and watch me play like it was television.

I own Morrowind (III), and I have found it enjoyable if somewhat boring. That world is very strange and the graphics make everyone and everything look very ugly, I think, but I like the idea that you can basically go anywhere and do anything with far more choices.

I have also returned to playing Fable: The Lost Chapters, and have found some good there although it is often linear in its development. It has a rich atmosphere, but I think the idea of not being able to "World Save" on a quest is rather inconvenient as I usually can be interrupted during a session. Also, it's lack of selecting your own character is somewhat a drawback and you have to basically go where the game wants you to, unlike Morrowind.

I own JAWS: Unleashed, and have a good time causing destruction everywhere. It gets so crazy that I can't help but laughing out loud all the things I can do (like throwing people out of the water and catching them and chomping them). It's monotonous and silly, I mean, how can a shark pick up a Nazi torpedo and fling it at an oil rig?

My favorite XBOX games still would be the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Series. I have played those damnthings over and over again and can practically cite dialogue. Although, I really enjoy Kreia's Sith teachings.

That is something I noticed. It's impossible to have a decent looking face in Oblivion.


Although the linear and short Fable is interesting just for killing an entire town except the women and then being some sort of mega pimp.


KOTOR indeed rocks.


My 2 cents...or somethign to that effect

I've had no problems manipulating the character's to look good.

Are you serious?


I just end up being an orc so I can pass off looking ugly. I've had one decent looking human character and that was generated by the random function. How do you do it?

I just play with each of the individual features until I get a character that looks good. I've screwed it up once in character generation and ended up with a gray neck. Unfortunately, that was the character that I've gotten the furthest on.

I can recall my attempts at making an even skin town making my character purple.


Interesting function, I've never seen a purple human before though.

I have played The Elder Scrolls and I did find it fairly enjoyable. The only thing is, though, that once I completed the main story arc I found the game incredibly dull and haven't played it since.

In contrast the Baldur's Gate series, the old Planescape:Torment game and the KOTR game I've played through more than once. The reason is two-fold. Firstly I think the writing and the story in Oblivion IV isn't up to the same standard as the other games I've mentioned. In Planescape:Torment and the original KOTR the whole narrative was constructed around brilliant plot twists that very few would second guess.

Even more significant than the story, however, are the NPCs. I like rpgs where you have a party, and you have interaction among members of that group. Failing that I like genuinely interesting NPCs that you can grow to like or love. I never found either to be the case in Oblivion IV. You end up wandering around by yourself, interacting with fairly wooden characters, and that's about it.

There are things that Oblivion IV does very well. The combat system is great, and you do have the freedom to do whetever you wish. It's just not one of the games I'd consider to be one of my all-time favourites.

I enjoy Elder Scrolls, but they get old fast for me. BalDur's Gate is getting yet another run-through as we speak, but it's Torment that wins.

Best. RPG. Ever.

Well, I got Mass Effect for Xmas.


Now that is awesome.