Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Impressions
So I finally sat down yesterday and spent some serious time playing Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion. Not enough time I think to call what I am writing really a review, as I tend to think that term should be reserved for after I’ve seen at least the majority of the games content variation if not actually having completed the game, but enough that I have some pretty solid first impressions of the gameplay.
To sum it up: Wow. I played Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind on the Xbox, so I knew pretty much what I was getting into and some of the basic way the game system had worked in the past. But the improvements they made with the Xbox 360 version are so very very nice. For starters, the intro / tutorial is a lot more active then it had been in the past, so you are pretty aware of how hard it is to gain skill points and the sort of range of actions you can and can’t do before you even get to the part of it where you choose / build your characters class. Graphically it is very much improved upon with a pretty hefty amount of variation and customization when modifiying your characters face / head. Combat has been simplified a bit, where before you had to change from having your weapons out to attack, or having your ‘hands out’ to cast spells, now simply pulling the right-trigger to attack draws your weapons for you, and the right bumper button casts your designated quick-cast spell regardless of what you might be doing at the time.
The story hook at the beginning makes a bit more sense this time around too, plus it is voice acted by Patrick Stewart. While I haven’t gotten very far into the story yet, it feels like it hangs togethor a little more cohesively then in the past. Ultimately though, the main story of the Elder Scrolls games has never been their selling point, the freedom to wander around and poke your head into dungeons across the map or the side-quest lines of the various guilds or organizations has typically been more fun to me at least.
The difficulty ramps up pretty quick I found, maybe just because of my character build or because I have wandered way far away from where the story starts to check out some of the other towns. Either way, it definately is a good idea to have plenty of save games and to save before you do something that is potentially deadly in-case you need to wander away and practice or get better gear first.
I’ll have a longer and deeper review later, but right now it is just a blast to play and a nice change from the typical ‘on-rails’ console RPG.