It's also worth noting that all of the characters in this game have voices, so there's no need to read endless amounts of text. There's still instances where you'll have to select a reply ala Knights of the Old Republic, but the whole process of gaining information isn't as laborious as it is in Morrowind. Also, Bethesda has made great improvements to its methods of persuasion, so in Oblivion, instead of just selecting an option and hoping your "victim" takes the bait, you can read the expressions on their faces, which easily display whether your tactics are having a positive or a negative effect.
I'm also a huge fan of the game's inventory menus, which are easy to navigate and broken down in such a way that it makes finding stuff extremely easy. That's excellent because I'm normally carrying a ton of different items. A character is capable of carrying all sorts of crap, but being a pack rat is what makes the Elder Scrolls game's unique. It's cool being able to carry an entire skeleton, a few pieces of fruit, a broad sword, crab meat, some pearls, a battle axe, and a full wardrobe in one sack. It's possible to become over encumbered and unable to move, but the longer that I play the easier it is to identify what's useful and what isn't.
What's useful are your various spells, and there are a whole bunch to mess around with. Spell casting is just as important in Oblivion as using tangible weapons, and you can do all sorts of things such as heal your character, turn it invisible, or launch fire balls at the enemy. Plus, you'll have the benefit of the particular birth sign you picked for your character. Take, for example, The Lover, which lets you kiss your opponents, the benefit being able to paralyze them for ten seconds. That's quite a useful option.
Regarding its visuals, Oblivion is definitely a technical showpiece for the Xbox 360, as well as a game that I can point to as being "next generation". However, it's not as technically sound as I would like it to be. Because Tamriel's so ridiculously enormous, Bethesda had to sacrifice detail to keep the frame rate stable, so everything that's roughly 100 feet in front of you is fantastically detailed, but the objects in the distance, the mountains especially, look like giant mounds of green with a few trees poking out, and as you approach it, the scenery will "fade in", so it's entirely possible to follow a trail of magic grass to your next location. Fading in is certainly better than popping up, and I'm all for stable frame rates (though Oblivion's frame rate isn't 100% smooth all of the time), but this is still a shame because it does nothing but remind me that I am indeed playing a videogame. It's so damn easy to become completely immersed in this game, until I see the mountain that looks like it was pulled from a first generation Xbox title. That's the moment when I snap back to reality.
One area that is practically flawless is the game's soundtrack. Created by Morrowind composer Jeremy Soule, Oblivion's music is both inspiring as well as cold, adventurous and upbeat as well as hauntingly terrifying. The sooner I own the soundtrack, providing someone actually decides to sell it, the better.
As for complaints, I don't have many. Obviously, if this isn't your type of game then it probably won't entertain you, but that holds true for every videogame ever made. And I guess that it's sort of underwhelming coming upon a village in World of Warcraft that contains over a thousand inhabitants instead of some of the backwater places in Oblivion that are populated by a handful of NPCs, but those are two adventure games that are in entirely different genres. However, the absence of multiplayer upsets me. Oblivion's grand, single player quest is about as filling a gigantic bowl of pasta, but I can't help but think that it would be absolutely incredible to sign into Xbox Live and play the game cooperatively with a few friends. If anything, Bethesda should have plans to develop an Elder Scrolls Online, which would merge console oriented hack and slash gameplay with a massively multiplayer online experience.
About the only thing stopping The Elder Scrolls IV is Microsoft. The company hasn't been able to make enough Xbox 360s to satisfy the American/European demand, but if you are lucky enough to own the machine then I strongly suggest that you purchase Oblivion, and if you happen to see a 360 in a store then this game is worth the console's $400 price tag. It's just that remarkable.
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GameDaily's in-depth impressions of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
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