One issue many people have with ps3 rpg games is that some of them are too short, causing inability to completely create a deep character. The guys at Bethesda do not have to worry about this complaint, because this is certainly not the case with Oblivion.The gimmick of creating a deep character becomes obvious right at the beginning of the game, where you can choose the race and a 'starsign', which are both just a set of perks, which can create a very unique character. Later on the game lets you completely modify the appearance of a character, enabling you to make your character very unique. In previous Elder Scrolls games, you immediately had to choose the class of character you wish to create. Because it is not clear to first-timers to the Elder Scrolls which style they prefer, Bethesda decided to lets you get accustomed to rougly all types of weapons (melee, ranged and magic) before letting you choose between the many classes. From the Warrior (which only uses melee and heavy armor) to the Mage (which only uses magic) to the Thief (whiich focusses on stealth and ranged combat) and everything in between. If you want to make your character even more unique, you can create your own class. This however requires some knowledge of the Elder Scrolls games. One negative issue is that your race and starsign heavily influence your strenghts and weaknesses, almost forcing you to depend on your previous, possible ill-considered, choice of race and starsign.
Since the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind combat has not changed much, actually it's basically the same. Ranged combat works well, although the hit chance of your arrows changes with your archery skill, and is not dependent much on how skilled you personally are with the game. Especially if you haven't focussed on archery in the beginning of the game, this can be a bit frustrating, especially since arrows cost money to buy. Luckily you can pick all arrows you missed up from the ground, and loot some arrows which are stuck in your enemy. Melee works well, but can become a bit repetitive. Fighting mostly consists of either hitting, dodging (going back a bit), and hitting again or hitting and blocking. Magic is the most complex fighting style, because you can use multiple spells after each other to optimise damage. This complexity makes it the most fun fighting style, but not as powerful in the beginning of the game since many spells become available only
later in the game. You can have a fun time with all fighting styles in the game, although Melee with heavy weapons such as claymores can become a bit overpowered later in the game, causing you to one-hit-kill everyone in the game.
The map of one of the earlier Elder Scrolls games was literally the size of great britain, but ever since the size of the map has been decreasing, which is strangely a good thing. The Oblivion map is roughly 7 square miles (11 square kilometers), which may not seem like much, but is plenty. Impressive is the amount of detail that is put into every area in Oblivion. This and the fact that you can walk the entire outdoor map without loading screens makes a very enjoyable exploring game. Only cities, dungeons houses require loading screens, which are cleverly hided by the game remembering the area you last visited and instanly loading it when you enter it again. The only critisism about the size and detail is that not many people seem to live in the cities. The number is about 70 people with each their own daily routine per city, which may seem like a lot, but still makes the city feel a bit empty. Most of them have missions though, still generating more than 100 hours of gameplay.
The game is from 2006, but still lives up to the standards of this time. The price isn't very high because it's a bit older and the sequel is coming out soon! Look here for the latest price.
Pros
- Immersive, complex gameplay
- Large, filled landmass
- Easy to "get the hang of"
- High replay value
- Balanced playing styles
Cons
– Sometimes feels empty
– Melee is a bit boring
– Has some bugs
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