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OBLIVION XBOX 360 REVIEW |
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Four years
after the release of Morrowind on the PC and
Xbox, Bethesda follows it up with the long
awaited sequel, Oblivion. The game keeps most of
its predecessors open-ended feeling and throws
in a much smoother combat system, but at the
cost of watering down the excellent interface.
At the start of the game, you wake up in prison
and meet the Emperor, Uriel Septim the VII
(voiced by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame).
During this time, you also create your character
using a strong lineup of tools to create the
desired physical attributes. Shortly after, you
are briefly hired to help the Blades (the
Emperor’s private guard of sorts) defend Uriel.
Unfortunately, he has been assassinated, and his
heir doesn't even know that he is Uriel’s only
living son. So your main goal is to find this
heir and so he can be crowned emperor, and save
the land of Tamriel from Oblivion, where its
gates will stay open an emperor is crowned.
A field that Oblivion excels spectacularly in is
the feel of the gameplay. It controls just like
any standard shooter, and fighting is just as
simple. Combat allows you to cast magic, swing a
sword, fire bows, and block with a shield.
Unlike Morrowind, however, the combat system has
been refined enough so that dice rolls no longer
determine if you hit or not. Fighting relies on
physics; if you visually see your sword hit an
opponent in the leg, it will hit them in the leg
and they will react accordingly. This is a major
change from Morrowind and makes the game more
interactive and strategic, as you make sure your
next swing of the sword doesn’t miss so as to
give your opponent an opening to unleash a Power
Attack (holding the attack button for more than
2 seconds) or blow you away with a Fireball
(casting magic is done by tapping C). |
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PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 9.5 OUT OF 10 |
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There is
also Fatigue, another important factor in
battle. Much frustration stemmed from this in
Morrowind as running in that game depleted your
Fatigue bar, and Oblivion now uses Fatigue to
change the tide of battle dramatically instead
of annoyingly disabling your combat ability.
Blocking or attacking with low fatigue gives
your adversaries a gigantic opening and
advantage, similar to real-life boxing. If
you’re walking around and decide to stray away
from the main quest at any time, you can. Even
during quests, you can just plop yourself right
into a cave and kill every skeleton inside. You
also have the freedom to do anything in the
game, such as pick up all the bones you have
found and throw them into a pond. If you wanted
to, you could summon a few scamps and make them
attack city guards, or you could break into a
store or home during the night and steal
personal items, then sell those things to the
right people.
Obviously, the game is not without its flaws,
specifically its console-focused interface. For
starters, the HUD in PC games usually resize
according to the screen resolution. Oblivion
lacks that feature. So, you'll see bad textures
on the edge of the screen, and items
inaccessible in your views. Also, the inventory
is more of a menu than a box showing icons of
what you have. This means you have to scroll
down quite a ways to see what's in your
inventory. Another downside to watch our for is
the lack of damage indicators. The battle music
plays when an enemy has spotted you, but that
doesn’t mean you will know where they are, and
when they attack you, you will NOT know what hit
you or where you were hit from. It’s very
frustrating.
From a graphical standpoint, the game is
impressive and very realistic looking. It could
pass as the most realistic forest simulator that
runs well at this time. Oblivion makes full use
of the HDR lighting effects, but only if you
have a system powerful enough that can process
it. The game has a full night-day system, and an
incredibly detailed weather structures. It’s so
vivid that you can feel every group of leaves
sways left and right according to the wind while
it's raining.. Not trailing behind the graphics
is the audio. Oblivion supports surround sound
systems, and adjusts accordingly. The sound
effects are nicely depicted, and the voiceover
work is lifelike and not boring like so many
other titles of this type. The music is well
scored and is done by Jeremy Soule of Guild Wars
and Dungeon Siege II fame. Oblivion is a gem,
despite its overlookable flaws. It’s a game
shooter and RPG fans alike will fall in love
with. |
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