Oblivion

I’m not normally one to like RPG’s. I mean sure, I’ve certainly played my fair share. Baulders Gate, Paper Mario, Final Fantasy… You name it and I’ve probably played it but for some reason… They bore me. Maybe it’s the constant attacking and killing. The +5 damage and +3 armor and the blah blah blah blah. SNORE! I don’t care! I much prefer a hardcore FPS, rushing to the enemy base while a million bullets soar past me missing me by mere nanometers. It’s the adrenaline I love. Yet for some reason, Oblivion has really appealed to me…

Now let me make something clear first of all. It is a first person game, but that’s not why it interested me. To be perfectly honest it was the graphics, but as always they became just another aspect in this vast and beautifully detailed world. I fell in love, and Cyrodill is where I now reside. 

 

Everything about this game is executed with style. The combat is easily accessible. Left click to swipe your sword, right click to block and C to cast a spell. Compared to the combat on lets say Blizzards World Of Warcraft it’s much easier to get your head around. None of this boring click where you want to attack and wait, Oblivion throws you deep into the action, face to face with your attacker. It’s brilliant and never gets old especially with thousands of enemies to face, a lot of them created using the same customization that you used to make your character. Unfortunately, this leads me to where Oblivion falls flat on it’s face for the first time. I don’t know whether it’s just me but everyone in this world is ugly. Disgustingly so. Distorted features, greasy hair, tanned shoulders and white faces… It’s laughable, which sort of ruins the immersion aspect that the game so desperately tries to offer. 

It almost seems lazy that Bethesda chose to use such horrible character models, especially when the world they live in painstakingly beautiful. This is one of the main reasons why I love Oblivion. Nothing beats a walk through the forests as the sun sets, or climbing a mountain during sunrise and then traveling to the imperial city just because it looks so damn nice. Everything about this game screams “Explore me!”,and my God it certainly doesn’t stop you! It’s possible to complete the game without venturing through the main story, but just by hunting animals, selling their hides and buying property around the various cities. 

Despite it’s minor flaws (Some of which are so minor and/or trivial that I wont even go into them, thats why we have zero punctuation) Oblivion Is a game you wont forget. I promise you that. Now if you excuse me I’m off to restore peace to Cyrodill, save Kavatch from the Oblivion invasion or perhaps just grab a horse and ride down to the imperial city, because lets face it. There’s nothing stopping me from doing anything.