The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Collector's Edition (DVD)

By now, you have heard the hype surrounding Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. I am here to tell you that the hype is real. The game is fantastic. The graphics are unreal-they really took them to the next level. The play mechanics are straight forward for the average PC RPG fan, but there is enough depth to make any hard core gamer happy! I think the designers hit a perfect balance for any type of fan.

As computer owners, we are constantly reminded that it is expensive to upgrade hardware. Every once and a while, a game comes out that justifies those expenses. I think this is the game that should make people upgrade. And, if you do it now, you won't have to worry about upgrading for the next generation of games. My computer is plenty powerful enough to run it (Alienware Area-51 5500 with 1Gig Ram, ATI x850 256megs Ram, S-ATA 80 gig HD, Viewsonic VX924 Monitor).

However, if my computer was too slow, I know I would upgrade in order to play this game, it is that good. Even after a few hours of playing, I am confident in saying that this game is fantastic! Any money you spend on your computer will be well worth it!

The beginning level acts as a tutorial. Instead of being ordered how to do things, the game starts open ended (a clue that the entire game will be this open ended as well). It gives suggestions on things, such as how to use the bow and how to cast spells. But if you choose to not be an archer or a magician, you can still proceed. You customize your character at different points based on how you were playing. I think that is an original design for character creation, as opposed to creating a character from scratch before ever playing the game.

I have walked through several large cities, talked to citizens, obtained quests, finished quests, bartered at the shops, changed my equipment, leveled-up some skills, used swords, hammers, bows, magic, etc.-that was all in the first few hours. I am taking my time walking through the game. Yes, the graphics are that good, and you may want to take the time to admire the world that you are walking through. Personally, I sometimes rush through games and forget to look around at the world. This game makes you want to look around, to see what is around the corner, to explore the areas and see what is next.

Oblivion is going to be huge! I have read that the main quest is about 25 hours. If you explore the entire island, and attempt the side quests, the game is hundreds and hundreds of hours. I still know people playing Morrowind-I expect Oblivion to last as long, if not longer.

Yes, my computer is setup for games and the gaming experience. So far, Oblivion has proved to be a worthwhile experience. Even for those computers with lower setting should still enjoy this game-the designers made sure that the game was just more than graphics. How it looks should not stop you from buying this game-it is the game experience you should come for. The fact that it is possibly the best computer RPG ever should make you want to play it no matter what.

The bottom line is: combat is fun, and I look forward to unlocking skills that let me target with my bow, roll out of the way of combat, and summon creatures to help me fight. The game play is deep and accessible. There are more items, weapons, magic combinations, character types, NPCs, quests etc. than you know what to do with! The graphics are outstanding. The voice acting is some of the best in any game. The game wants you, the player, to be involved. You play however you want and whoever you want to be.

And truthfully, the game is just fun. What more can you ask for in a computer game?
Note: The Collectors Edition is the same game, but this box comes with a collector's coin and a book that give you detailed background of the world of Oblivion, incuding characters, places, and story.

UPDATE: Someone wrote earlier (in other reviews) that you can only play in 1st person. This is not true. Use the mouse wheel to scoll back and you can set the distance you want to view your character in 3rd person. Also, you can hot key 8 items (both on the PC and XBox 360) with keys 1-8. I wish there were more, but it seems to be a strategy type thing set by the designers. What is important to you? Well, you get 8 things to hot key. The keys F1-F4 call up your charater page, inventory, spells, and map/journal. This should make inventory management a snap. Hopefully, those who are making comments about these things either read their manauls or try things out before making it a negative complaint about the game.

I started a new character already and I am enjoying the game so much more with this custome Battle Mage! This game is great because it encourages experimentation and exploration. Enjoy!

This game is amazing. It delivers on all levels for me and is a leap ahead from Morrowind. I could go into detail about the graphics or A.I. but by now most of us have seen videos exemplifying these things, the real beauty in Oblivion comes with behind the scenes improvements. The biggest of these for me is real time physics. Now when I crush somebody sideways with my mace they lift off the ground and follow the arc of my blow, and proceed to land in the appropriate way a real body would. Any item that is equipped in their hand does not drop with the body and becomes its own item following the force of the blow as well but on its own. The first time I hurled a fireball past its intended target it slammed into a table cluttered with stuff and everything flew. As for the problems alluded to by others about button mapping issues there are plenty of hotkeys and quick menu buttons so it is really a non-issue. Also I want to say that I love the collector's edition if for nothing more than the pocket guide to the empire. However I love flavor text and was one of those guys who spent more time reading his magic cards than playing with them. All in all great game by my count and I would encourage others to give it a try.

Pros:
Awesome Character creation: Very detailed. A bit cumbersome, but you can pretty much make your character look however you want.

Beautiful Graphics: I play on a 1505 notebook w/ a 1.66GHz duo core processor, 1gig ram, and a 256mb ATI mobility radeon x1400 card. I can run the game at 20-60 fps, depending on what I have enabled. The graphics look very nice w/ 2x HDR or Bloom & 25-50% distance rendering. As a side note, 10fps is playable, 25fps is quite smooth. If you have a high, low end card, you should be able to run it fine, with good graphics.

Great real life physics simulation: Blood spatters, logs roll, arrows bounce. You can pick items up, move em around, or just knock em over.

Cool Items: Unlike Morrowind, with its largely fiction based items, Oblivion has things like apples, potatoes, mutton, paintbrushes, gold, etc. They are much more realistic - especially the ingredients (aka - food).

Great Faction System: This time around, the factions are a bit more realistic. For instance, instead of the Theives guild being merely about odd jobs, its a place where you can sell your fenced goods and pick up some trainig. Specific 'jobs' are still available, but their not handed out like candy, as in Morrowind. You need to independently thieve for a while and sell a set amount of fenced goods in order to get them.

Good fame rating system: You'll have a seperate fame and infamy rating. Good deeds make fame higher, bad hightens infamy - realistic.

The Lusty Argonian Maid: Remember good o'l Uncle Crassius from Morrowind and his tale of the Lifts-Her-Tail? The story continues.... :)

Cons:
Mini Games: Whoever created the lockpicking and ESPECIALLY the persuasion mini 'game' should be taken out to a daedric ruin and repeadetedly floged, shot, and fed to the wolves. Seriously, the mini 'games' are more of a headache then anything. To persuade someone, you must tell the person a joke, admire them, coerce them, and boast (can't just choose one) in the correct order. Then you have to do it again, and maybe again, and maybe again in order to raise disposition. Very annoying and unrealistic.

Console like Interface: Yes, as I'm sure you've heard before, the interface is just what you would expect on a console, not a pc. You have to click through a number of tabs to get what you need. You will get used to it, but it is still annoying, especially since your buying the game for PC, not 360.

Really hard to find training NPCs: Because the NPCs have free will, they tend to move around, making it very hard to find them, especially the trainers. Also, the whole training system is really confusing.

Selling Items: Instead of just being able to click all the items you want to sell or buy, haggle for the bulk price, and seal the deal, you now have to go through every single item. Click. "Are you sure you want to sell X for X?" "Yes"...Next Item...do it again. Really makes selling much more tedious. Also, you can only haggle for what you generally buy/sell goods for. So, when you click the seller, you have to set a 'haggle' level, and that is that for EVERY transaction with him/her until you change it. (Another annoying derivative of Bethesda creating the game with 360 in mind, I'm sure).

Hard to distinguish races: Sure, you can tell an Orc from an Argonian and an Elf from a Human...but can you distinguish a Breton from an Imperial or a Nord...Maybe, but its difficult, as there aren't any really distictive facial feature for the various human/elf races.

Lack of dialog options: Dialog options are MUCH more general. For instance, asking someone about "Imperial City" will get you responses that have nothing to do with the Imperial City, merely some random goings-on. Its all very odd.

Either Or
Fast Travel: This feature allows you to click on any major city and be instantly zapped there. Once you've found a settlement or other 'hidden' area, you can fast travel there as well. Yes, its easier...but...its easier. It kinda takes away from the RPG elements of the game.

Map: If you played Morrowind, you'll remeber the map that 'colored in' the areas you'd visited...thats not in Oblivion. Personally, I liked that feature, much better than this one.

Not open ended enough: As someone who loves RPing, I loved how Morrowind just kinda dropped you in the game and let you fend for yourself. Oblivion really kinda holds your hand throughout the game. Between fast travel, arrows that show you exactly where to go in quests and the gigantic, centralized cities, you get more of a strategy game sense than RPG.

Good or Evil only: I haven't played through the main quest yet, but just in how it starts, its pretty difficult to be a neutral character. You can be a good person and go about your mission. You can be evil and say to hell with that. But, its a strugle to role play a neutral character.

Collectors Edition Note:
Definatly buy the collectors edition if you have the extra $$. It comes with a great bonus features DVD, a very well made coin, an awesome case, a cool pocket guide to the emperor (lots of good lore stuff), and a very nice map. I've seen both the standard and the CE. The standard comes with a sub-par might-as-well-through-it-away map and a paper sleeve instead of a case *shudder*

Overall, its a very good game - you won't be dissapointed. The side quests are immersive, the character you create personal and very much your own. Its not Morrowind, some things in that were better than Oblivion, others worse. But still, the game was made for console - not PC - which is sure to annoy the PC gamer. Furthermore, theres more 'game' than 'role playing' in this RPG.

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