The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

aka: TES4
Moby ID: 21735
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

A lowly prisoner has been cast into the depths of the dungeon in the Imperial capital of the province Cyrodiil. The fate of this prisoner suddenly changed when Emperor Uriel Septim descended into the prison with his guards, fleeing from unknown assassins who have already slaughtered his children. But even an emperor cannot escape his destiny. Before the last assassin delivered the lethal strike, the old emperor entrusted the prisoner with the Amulet of Kings and asked him to find his illegitimate son, the last of the Septim bloodline. The Septims and the Amulet are the last barrier between the continent Tamriel and the dark dimension of Oblivion, and the delicate balance is threatened by the Daedra Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, the prisoner being Tamriel's only hope.

Oblivion is the fourth title in Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series. The game sticks to the style of its predecessors featuring action-based combat, first-person and third-person views, and vast free-roaming environments. The player's chosen race and class determine the abilities the protagonist has in the beginning. The game allows the player to develop multiple types of characters without being limited to a specific role.

The advancement system, as was the case in previous games, is based on skill usage. When the player repeatedly uses one of the skills, it improves. NPCs offer training (for a price) to help in advancing to the next stage. In time the protagonist can become an Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, and Master and gain certain bonuses for the skill. The skills of the foes are "leveled" to be approximately equal to or slightly above those of the main character.

There are numerous side quests that help the hero advance his or her abilities as well as gain fame. The player is free to roam the world without a particular goal, exploring towns, forts, caves, mines, and old temple ruins. Visiting shrines scattered around Tamriel grants the protagonist specialized skills, some permanent and some temporary.

Weapons and armor wear out with use and need to be repaired either with the help of special non-playable characters or by using an appropriately trained Armorer skill. Enhanced items (weapons, armor, clothing, rings, amulets) abound in the game for protection, resistance, reflection, and special activities like walking on water, exploring underwater, becoming invisible, or lightening the load. It is possible to open the gates to the Oblivion realm to grab their sigil stones, which can be used to make enhanced items. Higher-level mages can create their own spells and enchant weapons, armor, and clothing using filled soul gems in addition to sigil stones.

As opposed to Morrowind, mana points gradually regenerate over time, without the need to rest to replenish them. Active blocking has been added to melee combat. The game features full voice acting for all the NPCs. Dialogues typically contain fewer topics than in Morrowind, but more responses unique to different characters. In addition, the so-called "radiant AI" system makes characters follow their own schedules, engage in various activities, or talk to each other regardless of the player's input. The game features fast traveling, allowing the player to instantly visit Cyrodiil's major cities or previously explored areas.

Spellings

  • 上古卷轴IV:忘却之地 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 上古捲軸4:遺忘之都 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

285 People (239 developers, 46 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 93% (based on 174 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 285 ratings with 13 reviews)

While not as epic as Daggerfall, Oblivion improves upon Morrowind and is yet another ambitious and fun RPG from Bethesda.

The Good
I see a pattern in the elder scrolls series, while I know some people will disagree, I felt the series got its start on the wrong foot. I just didn't care for Arena, the first game in the series even if the ambition of the project got some respect from me. Then Daggerfall came, and provided one of the most epic RPG experiences of all time, garnering my game of the year and quite possibly my favourite CRPG next to Fallout. While there were a couple good spinoffs, such as Battlespire and Redguard, it would be a long 6 years before we were given a true sequel. While I know some people feel different, Morrowind was a disappointment. To me, it lacked what made Daggerfall epic and I just couldn't get into the game. Yet when I started noticing the pattern of "Bad, Good, Bad, Good" I knew that the next entry had to be great.

I was right. When Oblivion came, I was treated to another incredible Elder Scrolls game. While it may not have been as awesome as Daggerfall, and it was definitely smaller than Morrowind and Daggerfall, but it was still an ambitious, beautiful, and incredible game. The first thing one notices when entering Oblivion are the graphics. The game came out 4 years ago and it still looks wonderful. The world in Oblivion is a paradise, and there are various locations that look and feel different. Many towns and places to explore. Exploring an Elder Scrolls game is always a treat, and Oblivion provides plenty of surprises for explorers.

The music is beautiful too, wonderfully composed and always fitting the mood and tone. The sound effects are decent, and it is nice to have full voice acting this time around, which means that if someone is giving a long, 3 minute speech it no longer requires you to read a novella to know what they are saying. There are some problems with the voices though, which I will list below.

The gameplay is definitely Elder Scrolls, you play from a first person perspective and you get various weapons of your choice and you can cast spells, pick various races, traits, and skills. The role playing system has been improved in some areas as well, such as the fact that you now learn skills not by picking them, but by doing them - much like in real life. Walking the wilderness, hiking, jumping will increase your agility and speed, simply swinging a hammer in battle, hit or miss, will slowly build your knowledge of blunt weapons. It is an intuitive and unique way to learn skills and helps the immersion.

The game is very easy to pick up and play, even those who shy away from RPGs or have no prior knowledge of the series can pop Oblivion in and get straight into the action and have fun. While there are some negative side effects of this, which I will list below, it means that Oblivion has something for everyone even casual gamers.

Freedom is another large aspect, your character can be a peace loving alchemist that makes and sells unique potions, or he/she can be a dark mage that has a nasty habit of melting your face if you stare at him wrong, and so many other possibilities. Most quests have choices to make and they can be done in your own time or style. As large as the game world is, the amount of quests is even bigger. There are enough quests that it could take a player a year just to see half of them, and as always, new quests and objects are found through the reward of exploration. You can join guilds, too. My favourite was the mysterious dark brotherhood, who make you an assassin. There is a quest for the Dark Brotherhood where you must kill a bunch of guests in a house as they search for a fake treasure, and you must mingle and slowly pick them off, you don't get your bonus unless you kill them silently and unseen, which raises panic in the group. Its like being the killer in your very own murder mystery, and its a helluva lot of fun. The Dark Brotherhood also gets rep because they can make you a vampire, and vampires rock.

The titular world of Oblivion is also a very memorable part of the game, coming across as a marriage between Hell and Mordor. Lots of freakish demons, mazes, and strange things await you in Oblivion, and each time you enter a gate its sure to give you a spooky feeling and a fight for your life.

The Bad
Although the game can immerse you at times, there are many bugs and problems that can sometimes break immersion. Animations are poor, characters literally freezing to talk and stiffly staring at you. Its somewhat creepy. Speechcraft is also a lame element, as it always has been, and makes little sense and simply isn't fun, on the contrary its a nuisance but the game forces you to use it a lot if you wish to get your desired result.

The voice acting is also often poor, while there are moments that the voice acting is decent, you will run into tons of people who have no interest in what is going on and just speak their lines in a dull manner, and you will also run into tons of people who all sound the same.

Scaled leveling doesn't work here, although it worked in Fallout 3 due to the small monster roster as well as other elements, in Oblivion scaled leveling is an annoying feature, and it'll take you ages before the action truly heats up and the best of the monsters appear. Leveling up is also somewhat confusing in Oblivion, you have no idea how much experience you have and you will level up at random, long intervals and sometimes you won't even know it, its also annoying that when you level up, you cannot tweak your skills until you go to sleep.

The graphics, while great, can get repetitive. The land isn't nearly as varied as previous Elder Scrolls games, maybe excluding Arena, and as lush and pretty as the greenery is you will want to see more and very few areas truly deviate from that look and many places you stumble upon, excluding ruins/caves/etc. that are run by humans have little to differentiate from other such places and feel incomplete.



The Bottom Line
Overall, Oblivion is yet another vast, gorgeous and ambitious game from Bethesda. Its easy to pick up and play even for those who don't like RPGs or don't play them that often, such as myself, and it improves on Morrowind in gameplay and has a buttload of content which will last you a long time, giving you tons of bang for your buck. Its not as good as Daggerfall, but it is easily the second best game in the series.

Windows · by Kaddy B. (777) · 2009

Stunning

The Good
First of all, the graphics are breathtaking. Superb lighting effects, great 3D models, impressive textures. Second of all, the voice acting is just right, transporting you in the virtual world of Tamriel. The next game of the Elder Scrolls series keeps the races and classes from the previous versions, and adds great features such as horseback riding (present in Daggerfall, but removed from Morrowind) and an active cross-hair showing the health of the NPC (or monster), the possible actions with the NPC, and if it's OK to use an object or not (it turns red when you look at an object that's the property of an other NPC). The new combat system is just great, with the option of manually blocking an attack, and being able to cast a spell even if you have weapons / shields equipped. The story (with it's flaws) is perfectly integrated in the world of Tamriel and there's loads of books and scrolls that add to the Elder Scrolls lore.

The Bad
The bad things... The leveling system is a great idea, but it still allows you to turn your character into a "jack-of-all-trades". I mean there's actually no problem for your orcish character to sneak around pickpocketing people and braking into the NPC's houses, or to become a heavy armored, axe wielding wood elf. The requirements for this game are rather high, meaning that you need a high end system to play it. (Kind of restrictive, huh?) The story: You were a prisoner back in Morrowind. Come on, can't you guys come up with another setting for the start of the game?

The Bottom Line
This is like the ultimate single player RPG. If you enjoyed the previous Elder Scrolls titles, you should play this game. As for all of the game's problems, they'll surely be solved by the massive Elder Scrolls community through mods, just like the previous title, Morrowind.

Windows · by tata_lu_stefan_cel_mare (11) · 2006

Greatest game on the consoles

The Good
This is the best RPG I have ever played, and I am an RPG nut. The expanse covered in Oblivion, while not as big as the world in Morrowind, is still quite sizable, and the game developers used the space assigned to them to the maximum. This means that, while there is less land, there is more to do, and more to have fun with. Also, you can spend hours just trying to customize your character and his house - I spent an hour and a half trying to put my armor on display the right way! I used to be a Morrowind fan, but Oblivion definitely puts it to shame, not only expanding character customization, but allowing for a world that completely immerses the gamer. One could sit down and start a game at nine A.M., and the next time they look up, they will see it's night time. A surefire way to enjoy your PC or 360.

The Bad
...? not... like... oblivion???

The only problem was that it froze a few times, and that is not a problem if you save a lot.

The Bottom Line
This game is possibly THE best game I have ever played. It has consumed my life, and will continue to do so until they make an Elder Scrolls V.

Xbox 360 · by lord of daedra (62) · 2007

[ View all 13 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Incorrect group “Gameplay feature: Fishing”? cawa Aug 2, 2023
Odd inclusion in game groups. Indra was here (20756) Sep 8, 2009
The Real Barenziah Unicorn Lynx (181780) Oct 8, 2008
Glowing faces? Daniel Saner (3503) Dec 28, 2007
Perspective DreinIX (10472) Dec 26, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cancelled PSP version

A PSP version was in development and planned for release in the Spring of 2007, but it was eventually cancelled with no official word.

Development

The game has been in development since mid 2002. The long period of development was necessary due to the implementation of a new Radiant AI system and the graphics. A player may encounter while travelling the world of Tamriel: 35.544 shrubs and bushes, 67.730 plants and mushrooms, 94.013 trees and fallen logs, 395,696 rocks and about 1500 NPCs.

DLC

As a part of Xbox Live's Deal of The Week, Bethesda Softworks released all Oblivion downloadable content for half the price in April 2009. For Horse Armor however, the price was doubled, proving that Bethesda didn't take the criticism against their first DLC pricing too seriously.

ESRB

On 05/03/2006, the ESRB re-rated this game from T (Teen) to M (Mature) and added a "Nudity" attribute because of a secret topless skin that is present on the game media and because there is allegedly more blood and gore in the actual game than shown in the video footage that was originally presented to the ESRB for rating.

This is the second Take-Two game that has undergone an ESRB re-rating, the first one being the notorious Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

German version

One book found in the property of a killed necromancer, called "Wälzer des Unlebens" in the German version, contains just bloody drawings of symbols. In the German version, they were replaced a sentence describing the symbols.

References

The 'Shadow over Hackdirt' quest makes several references to one of the most famous novel by HP Lovecraft: The Shadow over Innsmouth. There are references to the 'Deep Ones', the Brethren, a whole town of suspicious people, caverns underneath the earth and so on.

References to the game

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 08/2006.

Title

By highlighting certain letters, it is made clear in the menu menu that it is no coincidence Bethesda chose the title "OblIVion" for the fourth main game in the Elder Scrolls series.

Awards

  • Computer Games Magazine
    • March 2007 - #2 Game of the Year 2006
  • GamePro (Germany)
    • February 01, 2007 - Best Console RPG in 2006 (Readers' Vote)
  • Games for Windows Magazine
    • March 2007 - Game of the Year 2006
  • GameSpy
    • 2006 – #8 Game of the Year
    • 2006 – PC Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
    • 2006 – #2 PC Game of the Year
    • 2006 – #10 Xbox 360 Game of the Year
    • 2006 – PC RPG of the Year
    • 2006 – PC RPG of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
    • 2006 – Xbox 360 RPG of the Year
    • 2006 – PC Mod of the Year (for Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul)
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/2008 - One of the "10 Coolest Levels" (for "A Brush with Death" because it connects simple technical variations with a big passion for stories. )
  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2006 - Ultimate Game of the Year
    • 2006 - PC Game of the Year
    • 2006 - Console Game of the Year
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 02/2007 – Best RPG/Adventure in 2006
    • Issue 03/2007 – Best RPG/Adventure in 2006 (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by EboMike, karttu, Mad Griffith, MDMaster, PCGamer77, piltdown_man and tata_lu_stefan_cel_mare

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Spartan_234.

Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox One added by Sciere. PlayStation 3 added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Sciere, UV, Aubustou, tata_lu_stefan_cel_mare, lord of daedra, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack.

Game added March 22, 2006. Last modified March 7, 2024.