The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360) Impressions

Recently I've been feeling the desire to play through a solid RPG, and my thoughts kept going back to The Elder Scrolls. I picked up The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition for my Xbox late in the winter of '06, and while I found it engrossing at first, it was ultimately unfocused and a title I simply could not get through. After progressing about two thirds of the way through the main Quest with my Imperial Knight, I decided to sell it. While I was disappointed with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition's shortcomings, I did have a good time while it lasted.

With the RPG yearning upon me, I did a little research and last Friday I picked up The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for my Xbox 360. So far, the game is amazing.

The majority of my criticisms with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition have been addressed: Quest sorting, Full spoken dialogue, Fast travel, etc. The game's interface is more polished and streamlined, combat is more complex and engaging, and the world is simply beautiful to explore.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is set in the capital province of Cyrodil, and sees you released from the Imperial Prison by the Emperor (Patrick Stewart) himself to help find his last surviving son, Martin (Sean Bean). Of course, in traditional The Elder Scrolls fashion, you can spend as much or as little time as you want on the main Quest and do pretty much whatever you bloody well please.

I chose to play as a Male Dark Elf Scout, and at first I was focusing a good bit on the main Quest. Along the way I acquired a horse, and it was really cool to go galloping off in the country side. While I've done several side Quests as well, the most interesting two Quests I've done so far, one for the main Quest and one a side, have involved the town of Kvatch.

Daedra (demons) are opening up portals from Oblivion (Hell) and are invading Cyrodil. Unfortunately, they opened several small portals in Kvatch and over ran it, then closed those and opened one massive one right at the town's main gate, preventing anyone from going in.

I had to assist many of the surviving town guards in sealing the Oblivion gate and then securing the city. The entire affair took me a few hours, and was a great mix of combat, dialogue, and exploration. The game world itself is beautiful, and the destroyed ruins of Kvatch, along with the refugee camp near the ruins, are all wonderfully created.

The environments are the best outdoor environments I've seen in a game bar none, even Gears of War. While Gears of War has excellent dark and gritty city environments, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion features vast sprawling landscapes with such detail as I've never seen before. Simply look at and walk through a field of grass near a lake and mountains, and you'll understand what I mean.

Character models look good for the most part, except when you need to look at their faces up close, which happens often being a conversation driven RPG. At this close range, most character faces look like they were made of clay, however they are capable of animating a wide range of facial expressions.

All in all, I think I've spent around 15 hours exploring and Questing in Cyrodil, and there's just so much more to see and do.

Once I finally get through the game, which will probably be in a long while, I'll post as in-depth of a review as I'll be able to write. It will probably be very extensive, and yet greatly limited given the scope of the game, its world, and its history.