It’s been a long time since I played an Elder Scrolls game.  The last game I seriously played was Daggerfall, which was one LONG epic game that took me over three years to complete (simply because the game refused to cough up the last trigger quest for the main story).  I did check out Morrowind (Elder Scrolls 3), but I didn’t like it that much because they took out fast travel, a vital element in the game.  When I read up they brought back fast travel in Oblivion, I simply had to check it out!

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            *Editors note* Since I didn’t play Morrowind that much, I may make references in comparisons to Daggerfall.  I also may call this Daggerfall IV. Don’t ask me why, I just do.

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            Unlike Daggerfall, the game focuses on one huge continent of land instead of several lands.  Don’t mistake this though being a ‘short game’. There are many, I repeat MANY locations to visit in which you will be glad fast travel is in there.  However, this is the first Elder Scrolls game I’ve played were you can travel by foot and can get to your location pretty easy & quickly.  The general locations can be fast traveled to instantly, but places you have to find on your own (via quest); you have to walk to that location first before you can fast travel to it.  You can spend many hours alone just exploring the world and its wonders.

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            The storyline in this game is much different to Daggerfall but it’s your typical storyline.  The King sees a vision that he is about to be killed.  A living king is needed to prevent evil from spreading into the world.  The king asks you to undertake the task of locating his lost son and bring him back to claim his heritage before its too late.  It’s your typical storyline but well written.  The game unfolds as you go and the storyline is decent enough to make you want to finish it. 

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            The wonderful thing about Daggerfall IV, is that similar to Daggerfall(II), is you could easily spend about 80-100 hours alone before even touching the main storyline and completing the main game.  There is a lot to see and do in the world of Tamerial.  Every town has mulipule quests you can undertake and some of them are HUGE.  The game also has numerous guilds you can join, which alone can take you awhile to finish.  I did every guild in the game (except the Thieves guild), multiple quests, and after finishing the game’s main storyline; I completed the game in about 78 hours.  Normally, I don’t care for games THIS long as they tend to strech out and become boring.  However, the quests and guild storylines were so well done and rewarding (as well as refreshing), it made every minute enjoyable.  Perhaps the only sad thing was probably that I finished the game and I actually wanted more.  All in all there are about at least 80-120 quests you can undertake.  Unlike the previous game, about 95% of the quests do not have a time limit.  Which is good, if you get bored doing one quest, you can resume a different quest you were on or start a new one.

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            Most RPGs you play will usually require you to do a lot of reading at times (such as listening to NPCS), unlike most RPGs, every piece of dialog in this game is spoken verbally.  With the exception of the main character, you’ll hear similar voice actors playing different roles.  This may sound repeative, but it really isn’t.  As it is, I’m extremely impressed that EVERY piece of dialog is voice casted.  Only certain things aren’t voiced and you have to read them (such as your quest log or books).

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            The combat system overall in this game has been revamped but not changed enough to the point that it may appear broken to some players. Walking as usual is very slow, most of the time I had my character running. Most of the time (depending on your character), you’ll be swinging your weapon trying to defeat enemies.  However, in Daggerfall IV, you have to be more careful in combat.  You can block your foes weapons to catch them off guard, do a full swing (takes more stamina but hurts more), or not hit as much (less stamina used but less damage).  Or you can be a magic user and fling spells, or you can summon stuff to go against your foes. I don’t plan to play this game again (because it was so damn huge), but if you enjoy replay value, Oblivion is right up your ally.  You can play the game again with a different character and the situation is totally new.

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            Similar to that of Daggerfall(II), character leveling up is the same.  Your character levels up based on what you decide what their main skills should be. If you use magic more often, the faster your character will get stronger in that field and level up.  You can use all the skills, but it’s recommended that you stick with the main skills you want your character to have.  What is also cool in this game, unlike the last game, you will see a progress bar how much you need to level up/for a skill to go up.  I like that, very handy.
 

            Last but not least, I recommend the PC version of this title.  There are many mods you can download via the internet that can enhance (or hack) the game and change it in so many ways.  There are even custom player quests you can download too!  If you’re looking for a very long RPG in a first person view style, check out The Elder Scrolls IV: Obilvion.

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Graphics: 1.000/1.000: Wonderful detailed graphics.  For being such a huge game, Billion shows it with a smile.  There are no clipping, odd mishaps, graphical failures, or oddities in this game.  Unlike the previous game that had this issue(and I mean Daggerfall not Morrowind)…. A LOT, Oblivion does not falter.  Some areas are a bit darker maybe than they should, but casting a light spell or using a torch solves this problem.

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Sound: 1.000/1.000:  For a fantasy game, the music is divine.  Combat, towns, the field, and dungeons play great and add a lot to the atmosphere.  Sound effects are well done and the voice acting isn’t cheesy (although it’s funny at times).

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Control:  0.700/1.000:  Response time wise, the controls are crisp perfect. Everything responds exceptionally well.  The confusing part about the controls is that you may find yourself pausing to your menu to access a spell or an ability to use.  You can marco your controls (but only up to 8 macros, this is fine in the beginning but as you progress in the game, you’ll want to wish there's more).  A good example would be if you casted a very powerful spell and your low on magic points.  You’ll switch to your menu to select a lower casting spell to finish off the enemy.  All in all there are about four or five differnet menus to browse through.  It is a bit complex to players who aren’t use to details and may lose interest right away in the game.  To others, it has a bit of a learning curve but once you get it down it serves its purpose well.

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Storyline:  1.000/1.000:  I was tempted to give this a lower score, but if you combine the multiple storylines the game has (not just the main storyline, but also guilds or quests).  It really adds up.  The guilds have a great climax story and I enjoyed them all (espeically the mages guild and dark brotherhood storyline). 

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Gameplay:  0.900/1.000:  Make no mistake; this is one LONG game, which may draw players away from it.  On the plus sides, there is a lot to do in this game.  Getting lost is not usually an issue, as you will always have a map to access.  Maps on the world map and in dungeons are very detailed.  If you get lost on a quest, you can look at your quest log and it can tell you were your at in the story.  Also, you can always make one of your quests an ‘active quest’.  This means, your map (usually marked) will show you were you need to go next. Some quests have an exception to this rule and you’ll need to do some figuring out.  Making a character alone can take up to an hour, depending how you make it.  You can save as many times as you wish in this game, a very handy feature, especially if you screw up badly in the game.  Enemies match your level give or take but as you complete more quests, you’ll find better equipment which won’t make this a huge issue near the end of the game (but even then, enemies do tend to put up a good fight.) Perhaps the only down side feature is that are no random quests.  There are a few random generated dungeons, but no quests.  Each quest is voice acted and preset, which can be a negative. Although, given the amount of the content in this game; you’ll have plenty to deal with.  As I said previously, I recommend the PC version so you can check out all the mods and stuff you can do in the game.  Even if your quest saving the kingdom is finished, there's a lot of extra content to check out!  Additionally, there is an expansion pak to add more flavor to your pizza.

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