Youve probably heard nothing but great things about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the Xbox 360, about how grandiose it is, how addictive it is and how it can suck you in and make you feel like youre a part of its world.
I couldnt disagree more. (--gayness starts--)
To me, Oblivion is on par with The Sims, only Oblvion has more fighting. Though some of the arguments those Sims get into can get pretty heated.
Oblivion, if youve been hiding under a rock on Pluto for the last year, is the latest in the Elder Scrolls series, and the followup to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The Elder Scrolls series is known for putting you in a world that is massive and completely open-ended, resulting in play time that could very possibly reach the triple digits in hours played.
Unfortunately, its for this very reason that Oblivion is such a poor game its just too overwhelming. Dont believe for a second that this game is accessible to the beginner RPG player. Im not what you would consider a hardcore role-playing gamer but I still love a good RPG. Fable impressed me to no end and I actually think that that was one of the strongest games for the original Xbox. Fable itself is open-ended, but theres still some semblance of order in it, with a beginning middle and end somewhat laid out for you. It successfully tells a story.
Oblivion, on the other hand, is just way too muddled. Yes there is a main quest available for you to complete but the real reason most people buy this game is because of all the other stuff you can do. You could read page after page after page after page from books you find in towns and castles, hearing the stories of an endless amount of people and never even scratch the surface of whats going on within Oblivion and the cities scattered throughout it. Other players told me that I definitely didnt have to read any of these books in the game and in fact, they never did. So my question is why include so many of them?
In addition, there are countless abilities, spells, potions, foods, etc, etc, etc, that you can learn to make, mix, match and use throughout the game. Pretty much anything you can pick up (and you can pick up a lot of stuff) can be mixed to make new potions, but if you want to remember what everything is, youll have to name each new thing individually.
And this is considered fun??
Again, friends who played the game told me you dont have to do this and they never did. So again why include this in the game if its never going to be used? Why allow bones and cups to be picked up at will when they seemingly serve no purpose? A colleague told me its so that if you want to, you can decorate your house with these things if you ever do acquire a home
but people rarely do that, according to him.
One more time whats the point, then, in having it in the game??!
Yes, I know there are some people out there who will do this, but the majority will not. No one I know has done this and none plan on it.
Now of course, its okay for a game to be open-ended really it is. In fact, that seems to be one of the big complaints of gamers nowadays. They feel too locked in; Ive said it before myself. But theres a certain point where a game becomes a chore. I dont want to have to spend 20 minutes just finding a shop to sell items (--not our fault if your not good--) (because I was constantly overencumbered with many items), only to realize that I have to somehow convince a person to trade with me (--err...no--).
There are plenty other annoyances as well here. If you want to equip certain weapons and/or spells to the D-pad, youre free to do so, but this is a complaint I have from other games, especially first person shooters. Am I the only one who finds it difficult to move my thumb from the left analog stick (which you use to move), down to the D-pad, meaning you successfully have to stop moving completely if you want to change a weapon or spell? What if youre in the middle of a battle and cant afford to stop for even a second? You could use your right hand to activate the D-pad but its still very, very awkward. (--he's right on this one--)
Load times arent awful, but there are times when a new section of the map is loading up when the game will simply freeze for a few seconds. You could be right in the middle of a fight with an enemy but youll be forced to wait in limbo as the screen loads up. This completely takes away from the experience of the game. (--HELL YA COMPLETELY! DONT BUY THIS GAME THEY ARE LOADING AREAS!!! ! ! ! ! !)
Of course there are a few things going for Oblivion. Theres no arguing that it looks absolutely stunning, from the realistic faces on every character to the gorgeous scenery everywhere you turn. It could be day or night, inside a castle or on the middle of a farm; each environment is as enthralling as the next.
The orchestral music that play often is also fantastic. It isnt played to death and it isnt overpowering, which is especially good since youll be listening to a lot of people talking throughout the game and its just not the same when you have to read captions.
I also liked that I could jump from town to town with the simple press of a button if I had already visited it previously.
But back to the complaints (--wow he really hated it, such a n00b). Sure, a six or eight hour game may not be very much nowadays, but why would anyone want to play something for 60 or 80 hours or more? And as much as some people enjoy this game, how many of them do play a single-player game like Oblivion for that long? (--people who don't only play games to review them as quickly as they can--)
I know Im not in the majority here with my opinion but then, I also didnt like critically-acclaimed games like Halo or Halo 2 that much, nor did I fawn over GTA: San Andreas. To me, its more hype than anything. (--now I understand why this review is so biased)
I cant suggest just renting the game, because that would be just stupid. What Ill say is this: if youre not happy with your life, you could always play Oblivion. Even in the video game world, its hip to be cool. (--I never red a gaming review ending with such a shitty commentary. It's astonishing. I'm speechless--)
