Game Review: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

A friend at work started talking to me about this game, so I had to try it out. So, I went on Ebay and managed to pick it up for $30 bucks. Even though it is an older game, it is still $60 dollars at Best Buy. So, I thought that thirty was a good deal.


Step into the most richly detailed and vibrant game world ever created. The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion™ is the latest chapter in the epic and highly successful saga from Bethesda Softworks.
Oblivion is the sequel to the best-selling, award-winning role-playing game (RPG) The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind®, named 2002 RPG and Game of the Year for Xbox®. Oblivion is another leap forward in role-playing with its combination of freeform gameplay and cutting-edge graphics. - XBox

I found it a little difficult to change my mind set from my days of D&D rules (yes, I played D&D) to the way Oblivion manages classes, races and experience. Well, there is no experience points, like you would remember from D&D. It is all done by skills and the use of those skills. For example, If you want to increase your strength, you can use hand-to-hand combat or another skill to increase this attribute. Plus, there are bonuses that you can acquire. If you use a minor skill, like hand-to-hand (for my character it is a minor skill) and increase that skill 10 times, you will get a +5 bonus to strength when you level up. Remember, the more strength you have, the more you can carry. Classes don’t really exist. You can favor one skill more than another, but you can be an Archer, Fighter, Mage, Thief, Assassin, Conjurer, illusionist, etc, as long as you increase those skills. There are several races that you can be, each with their own special abilities. There is also birth signs that may give you pluses in your abilities or even a special skill, like invisibility.

The only thing that I do not like about the game is that it scales based on your level. So, if you are 5th level all opponents that you come across are scaled down or up based on your character. I would like to see things a bit more static, like in D&D. There are just some places that you just do go to, otherwise you are going to be handed your head on a platter. This also means that as you get higher in level, a bandit may have leather armor (when you are at a low level) to a bandit with iron platemail and a bad-ass enchanted sword.

There is a main quest, that you can choose to do or not. There are also many many many side quests. The game is totally open ended and you can check anything out, especially in a marketplace store, just don’t get caught.

I am really enjoying the game……

…as an assassin