Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11132 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Take 2
• Released on: 2006-03-24
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Platform: Windows XP

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a nutshell:
One of the most respected Western role-playing games of all time is back with huge improvements in graphics and accessibility, including a completely real-time combat system and the largest, most detailed game world ever seen. Phew.

The lowdown:
Although previous Elder Scrolls games have enjoyed something of a like it or loathe it reputation, this latest sequel has the means to appeal to everyone thanks to one simple improvement: its incredible new graphics. Unlike many role-playing games it is viewed from a first person perspective, with a game world portrayed in a staggering amount of detail, and realistic psychics and characters that genuinely seem to be going on about their own separate lives. The game’s real appeal though lies in the huge freedom: play it exactly how you want.

Most exciting moment:
Using the new combat engine to fight off dozens of enemies, then stealing one of their mounts and riding off into the sunset.

Since you ask:
Emperor Uriel Septim VII is voiced by Star Trek and X-Men luminary Patrick Stewart, but all the characters in the game have full spoken voiceovers instead of just onscreen text. This is the next generation, you know.

The bottom line:
One of the most realistic and accessible role-playing games ever made.
Harrison Dent

Manufacturer's Description
After the mysterious and untimely death of the Emperor, the throne of Tamriel lies empty. With the Empire ready to crumble, the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land-laying waste to everything in their path. To turn the tide of darkness, you must find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.

Customer Reviews

A masterpiece in some regards, a disaster in others (few)
This is (or maybe I should say it could have been) a superb game if it wasn't for one utterly unwelcome decision on behalf of the developer crew which is killing the immersion and fun factors for many people playing this game (visit the official forum for making a personal observation). The game, the whole world (with a few minuscule exceptions) scales up or down along with you, the people, the monsters, the loot.

What does this mean you say? Well - when you are a level 1 character you will meet nothing but weak monsters and even the strong ones you do meet will be scaled down to you so you can kill them easily. The stronger you get the stronger they will get as well, or simply be replaced by stronger ones. You will never meet anything substantially stronger or weaker than you in general, thus making leveling up somewhat pointless. Since the game scales exclusively based on your character level (and not on his stats) the game thus forces you to make a combat-focused character because otherwise your combat skills will start lagging behind the scaled up world and you will be unable to complete quests. Purposeful training after you realise such a mistake in that case is pointless because for every level you gain the world will gain one too.

Loot in the game is scaled too - no matter how hard that chest was to open you will find loot "suitable" for your level only - never something extraordinary, i.e - at level one even the hardest chest to pick will produce you with a carrot, a diapers and a few gold coins. So much for the desire for exploration - even on the other end of the world every dungeon will produce the same, random and "suitable" loot.

To make things more ridiculous after a certain level every petty bandit along the roads will scale up to the point that they will wear armor worth of thousands coins just to ask you for a mere "100, or else", which is as unrealistic and game-immersion braking as it gets.

As it is the game is a superbly looking Dungeon Siege II look-alike with a strong focus on combat and a good story, but people looking for a true RPG like environment with an immersive, realistic world and who love to play non-combat characters such as thieves or merchants should stay away until a patch is released to fix this nonsense.

People that like combat focused hack-n-slash games in general, possess a powerful enough PC and want a good story will be served well with this game. You're warned :)

At last! Oblivion has arrived.
I pre-ordered this much hyped game in January and waited in anticipation for the 24th of March to arrive.
And, true to form, Amazon delivered it on the exact day of release, always nice.
Installed within 10 minutes and up and running in 15, this game looked awesome from the start, with great voice acting (which include Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame and Sean Bean from amongst other things Lord of the Rings) and atmospheric graphics it promised much, and delivered more than I expected.

Obviously I had to tweak the graphics settings so the game ran at optimum performance still with great graphics, but that took all of 5 minutes and I was immersed in a beautiful fantasy world where anything is possible, you can choose your own path, become a thief, a mighty warrior or powerful mage amongst innumerable other options. I wont go into too much detail, but the quests pull on your emotions, they are funny, sad, ingenious and wickedly cruel (especially for the dark brotherhood). If you enjoy Morrowind, World of Warcraft (different genre I know) and even older titles like Dungeon Master or Legends of Valour then this is a must buy. I must say there are a few bugs and glitches, but you can guarantee that Bethesda will quickly release patches to correct the small errors, and they don't really detract any of the enjoyment from the game.

All in all this game is awesome, it will keep you busy for a long, long time and push your PC to the limits.
Highly recommended.

Fantastic!
Simply put, one of the best games that I've played in over a year!

Some of the best points are as follows:

The graphics .. on the highest settings, they're breathtaking, but require a massively powerful computer if you want to get decent FPS .. my spec meets the "recommended" standard on the box, but still had FPS issues on medium graphics settings during large battles and after extended periods of play .. (memory leakage occurs after a few hours) ..

The physics engine .. how objects within the game-world react to your actions .. it's very realistic and fun to play with .. highpoints were jumping up on tables and scattering cups/plates all over the place, shooting a bow and arrow into an enemies heart and watching as he collapses over a low railing and falls off a balcony with the arrow still impaled in his chest, or casting a paralysis spell at someone and laughing as they go rigid and fall on their face.

The only minor disappointments I have with this aspect of the game are that fragile-looking items that you hit never shatter/break, and that it's not possible to place items exactly where you want them, making decorating your new home impossible.

Combat AI is equally great .. enemies dodge when you shoot at them with arrows/bows, block and counterattack when you swing at them in melee .. casters/archers run around like headless chickens trying to keep you at range.

It can be very frustrating to try and chase down one of the latter enemies while swinging a slow weapon, but it does bring added realism to the situation as you feel their desperation to stay away from the nasty hero and his huge claymore sword.

Quests and hidden locations are all over the place .. there's a great deal of content to keep you occupied and the gameworld is, as other reviewers have pointed out, massive .. travel times are mitigated with the option to "fast travel" between locations that you have already visited (the game clock advances appropriately during this, but to the gamer's perspective, you reach your destination instantly), and horses that increase manual travel speeds significantly.

Character Customization is varied .. plenty of options for tailoring your avatar just as you want them, and the freedom to customise your characters class to suit your own playstyle .. skill advancement in certain aspects can be painfully slow though, and there are limits to the amount of training that you can buy per level.

The ability to own and decorate houses is a nice touch, providing containers to store your excess equipment .. (and given the stringent weight restrictions that your character can carry, you will more than likely have considerable excess) .. it's just a shame that you can't place items exactly where you want them inside the house .. hopefully a mod/expansion will rectify this.

Other fun aspects, (without giving much away), the ability to become a Vampire, join guilds/societies geared for Vampire-Hunters, Assassins, Thieves, Mages, Fighters, more .. each with their own quest lines and rewards .. and the best part is, you can join all of them at the same time, if you're careful!

I'm a tough gamer to please .. I have very high standards .. this will be the first game that I've ever awarded 5 stars, and I do so without the slightest reservation.

All in all, it's a game that I expect to still be playing for some time to come .. and with the prospect of expansions and mods, I couldn't be happier! ..