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This game is, to be blunt, amazing. It is the first title I've put in my 360 and thought... "now this is next gen. Hell, this is next gen's next gen."

The full world graphics are awesome. I've seen some complaints about load times, but I haven't had any issues. I know Oblivion detects if your 360 has a HD and uses it to cache, so my guess is that these complaints are coming from folks without 360 hard drives.

I don't know where to begin with this. I wanted to try something a little different, there are about 10 races to choose from (including orc!). I chose Wood Elf and wanted to create something like a D&D ranger. You know, a little magic, a little combat, a little archery, a little stealth, so I could experience everything. Sure enough there was a class very close to this. In fact, you can invent your own class. Right from the beginning the game makes it very clear that folks will react differently based on your race. You start in a jail, and a cell mate teased me about how tough it must be for a wood elf to be trapped in walls of stone. ?Soon the walls of stone will drive you mad, and the guards will cut your throat to stop the scream?n. Oh look, here they come now??

Note: Unlike its predecessor, Morrowind, Oblilvion is entirely voice acted. Much more immersive than the constant reading in older school RPG?s. What makes this even more amazing is that even when two guards, for example, say the exact same thing, they are different voice actors and sound different. I?ve no idea how they found room for all this on one DVD. And Patrick Stewart, as the ?Emperor? is AWESOME. Very ?engaging?. (sorry, I couldn?t resist).

I liked the idea of using stealth a lot, but I didn't want to be a classic vid-game ?bad guy? thief, just sneaking and stealing stuff. I was curious if I could somehow use stealth and be a good guy. Would the game offer any mini-quests where this would be helpful?

Early on, I discovered that stealth in combat is excellent. Stealth works VERY much the way it was pioneered in other games like ?Thief? and ?Splinter Cell?. Light indicator and all that. In addition, surprise attacks from stealth do extra damage. So sneaking in the shadows and shooting a goblin in the back is very rewarding. Tip: Carrying a torch really screws up stealth (duh), so selecting a race with night vision would be very handy if yer into the stealth thing. Wood Elves in Oblivion do not have this, so that will be a spell I try to acquire at my earliest opportunity.

After escaping from the sewers (which is described in every review of the game, so I won't bore you with that) I decided instead of proceeding directly with the quest my character would want to go to the nearest town for rest, news, and equipment. I happened to come out of the sewers at night, and was amazed by the view even after dark. As I looked up at the sky at the stars, I noticed them suddenly start to fade?sure enough a flash of lightning and thunder later, it was raining. The lighting effects were amazing. When it flashed, yuoAs I made my way to town (I could fast travel, but I wanted to look about) two deer bounded by. Thinking I was hungry, I tried my bow, but found they were hard to hit leaping about, so I used my racial wood elf ability ?talk with creatures? to lure one close and kill it. Venison steaks?yum.

Once I made it to town I found an inn and got a room to sleep until dawn. Again, the interaction with people in the game is very well done. There is a persuasion mini-game you can play with just about anyone to get them to like you better. If folks like you better, it is easier to barter and get other info from them. This is similar to the ?persuasion? concept used in KotOR, however it is implemented much differently and I think it is better executed. There is a skill, ?Speechcraft? that helps you with this, and some classes, such as knights, start with an advantage here. It?s a cool mechanic, as it makes you feel that skills other than combat are important.

Well, I figured I?d do some shopping after awaking in the morning. After being blown away by the sunrise and watching shadows move across the huge statues in the Imperial city, I made the rounds to the various stores. My original plan was to equip up and then hit the road to the main quest. However, in my second shop I got along very well, after some persuasion, with the owner. She proceeded to tell me a story of how the merchant?s guild was being under cut by a new store in town that was selling items much too cheaply. The new guy wouldn?t join the guild. Would I mind helping here prove he was moving stolen goods?

My first reaction was ?well, I?m trying to play a good guy, so I?d help.? My second reaction was ?holly crap? as I was worried there wouldn?t be any stealth based ?good guy? type missions. But sure enough, this was going to take some sneaking. After visiting the offending merchant and speaking with him by day, I decided I was getting no where. I?d have to case the joint at night, follow him, and see where he goes.

The main quest would have to wait another day.

It was at this point I?d realized I?d been playing the game for 5 hours, and had just barely begun to experience all it had to offer. This was going to be like a great book, one I wouldn?t be able to put down for months.

A few other things I?ve heard you can do, via conversations with NPC?s, or via other Oblivion players:

? If you murder someone, the death cult will visit you while you sleep to offer you a challenge and perhaps membership. But don?t expect to get away with it without some guilt. Another player murdered a man only to run into his wife later asking if he?d seen him.
? You can steal just about anything, but if you are spotted, the guards will arrest you on site. Guards are super tough in this game (think old skool ultima tough) so you?ll either die or go to jail, at least until you WAY up there in level. Jail, however, is where you can start networking with elements of the thieves guild.
? If you kill someone, that?s murder, unless they attack you first. So you want to be sure you don?t swing first.
? You can become a vampire! If you are bitten, you can contract the disease. Unsure if you can be cured, and some races, such as wood elves, are naturally resistant to disease. However if you catch it, you slowly become one. Drinking blood gives you stat boosts, sunlight causes damage, etc.
? Arrows can be recovered from bodies, the ground, and even the ones stuck in you! The combat system is sweet: right trigger swings, left trigger blocks, shoulder button casts spells. After getting hit a couple times I switched to third person to see the damage. Two arrows were stuck in my shield, but one had gone through my wrist holding the shield! One arrow was in my shoulder, and two were in my stomach! Fortunately I had some healing magic. It looks very painful.

All I can say is that if you like RPG?s in any way, this is a must get. And even if you are not a traditional RPG fan, the combat system gives the game much more action. In many ways, Oblivion delivers on the promise that Fable attempted to deliver. A huge world where anything is possible, where NPC?s have their own AI, and you can interact and change the course of events, for good or ill.

I picked up the game today. Here's to hoping my computer can run it.

If it runs slow, save the $400 you'd spend on a new vid card and buy a 360.

It works

Just too busy to play

The game guide is beautiful, if not completely edited.

(except in place of accept? Come on!)

I rolled a spellblade type character. Heavy armor, blade, shield, destruction and restoration magic.

Should be fun. (Had to force myself to quit last night)

I'll have to remember to pick it up.

I wanted this game bad before i saw this, now i want it even more still only a few more days till i get paid and can get one (and the mandatory 360 to play it on). then its just a case of selling my collection of still in the pack LE GW fig's so i can afford my phone bill as well.

you got to the arena fights yet? i read about it in a mag how the crowd reacts to how your're fighting, apprently they don't like it when you hit someone when they're down and start booing you and such.


Personally i'm not sure what type of character to go for, my d&d characters an assassin who specializes in disguise and poisoning people (eveil obviously) is there any type of character class in obliv that "fits"? if not i'm tempted to go for a spellsword myself, magic enhancements and heals with the biggest sword and the spikiest armour i can get

I haven't tried the Arena yet, but I will soon. I'm hanging out in the Imperial City by night following around this punk merchant. So why not become a Gladiator by day?

What's really nasty is during Arena fights, if you lead off with a spell the crowd throws things at you. No joke. I got hit by an apple with my spellsword.

If you want a good Laugh find a skull and use the duplication glitch to fill the room with skulls.  Then for even more entertainment shoot them with a fireball!

@Flamingo - you can custom make your own class in this game, so yeah you can do that.

I'm playing a character straight out of the game guide called a Lifetaker. Primary focus is spellcasting with the skills Destruction, Conjuration, Illusion, Marksman, Sneak, Blade, and Light Armor. So far I've been able to glide through just about everything (keep getting killed when I try to steal a book in a cave full of bad guys, need to get some levels so I can heal decently and have the hit points to take a couple of spells in the back as I beat feet out of there... ).

To be honest, Spellcasting is a much easier skill to buy then to do. The scout is likely the best character in the game to fast level with. Athletics + Acrobatics + Blade + Armourer + Light Armour are all pretty much constantly building skills that are great defaults. You can buiy 5 levels of skill between each level which is much easier to do then casting non-aoe and situational magic. Destruction and Restoration are about the only two paths that get used enough to make them level quickly.

http://live.xbox.com/en-US/profile/Achievements/ViewAchievementDetails.aspx?tid=%09%5d%3acn*i7%05%01

My scout let me complete the game pretty fast.

Are you Kidding me?!! I can take a mage character into a room and in under 2 hours have leveled from 5 to 15! Granted this leaves out Destruction and Restoration for the most part since they are the two that level the slowest, but if you have even the slightest amount of conjuration you can just summon your way through the game until you Destruction is high enough to actually damage something.

Yeah, I was about to say. I have problems getting my Destruction up since it has to have a target, but the only thing that slows down my Illusion and Conjuration skills when I want them to go up is waiting on my magika to recharge.

With a character based around things like Athletics and Acrobatics, how did you deal with the higher level monsters you started to face? I've found with the scaling enemies that power-leveling is more of a hinderance than a help...

KW

I summon a Deadroth to assist me and I then sit back and enjoy the show. I doesnt matter if it dies cause I can always summon another one before they get to me, and they will nearly always go after minions first. I also have heavy armour so I can actually take some hits!