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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

aka: TES4

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

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Discussion

Subject User Date
Odd inclusion in game groups. Indra was here (20777) 2009-09-08 10:42:42
The Real Barenziah Unicorn Lynx (181287) 2008-10-08 14:55:28
Glowing faces? Daniel Saner (3424) 2007-12-28 17:25:32
Perspective DreinIX (10598) 2007-12-26 13:14:06
Term overrated gets a new meaning Donatello (463) 2007-05-26 01:26:39

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

Related Games

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Released 2002 on Windows, Xbox, 2018 on Xbox One
The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon
Released 2003 on Windows
The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal
Released 2002 on Windows
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Released 2006 on J2ME
BioShock & The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Bundle
Released 2009 on Windows, Xbox 360
Magic Scroll Tactics
Released 2018 on Windows, Nintendo Switch, 2020 on PlayStation 4
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - The Orrery
Released 2006 on Windows, Xbox 360
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Mehrunes' Razor
Released 2006 on Windows, Xbox 360
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Collector's Edition)
Released 2006 on Windows, Xbox 360

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  • MobyGames ID: 21735

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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, Yearman, lord of daedra, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack.

Game added March 22nd, 2006. Last modified March 24th, 2023.