The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was released nearly nine years ago, (Raise your hands if you can’t believe it’s been that long.) At the time, the fourth installment of the franchise was seen as groundbreaking, and a promise of the great things to come in the early days of Seventh Generation gaming. They were right. The Seventh Generation of games saw publishers finally start to fully utilize many of the technological and narrative innovations made during the 5th and 6th Gen of games. Bethesda itself brought us Fallout 3 and Skyrim, which were built on what was done with Oblivion.
However, since the release of Skyrim and the genre-defining greatness that is Morrowind, Oblivions predecessor, The Elder Scrolls IV has become somewhat the middle child of the franchise. The shiny and relative newness of Skyrim attracts some fans, while the less forgiving and higher degree of openness of Morrowind draws others. Oblivion is just kind of lost. It has its fans, but not so much as the other two games.
What Works
Pretty much everything, technically speaking. The game itself is great, the voice acting is phenomenal. The visuals are good, if a little dated as an early gen game, but the story is engaging and complex without being convoluted. The Elder Scrolls IV is immersive and beautiful. The gameplay was solid and an improvement over Morrowind’s, despite a few hiccups every now and then.
Oblivion also had one of the best expansions; Shivering Isles. Shivering Isles gave us a new plane to explore, and lots of new monsters to fight, along with new equipment. It also gave us a glimpse into the greater cosmology of the Elder Scrolls universe. One of the more appealing aspects of Shivering Isles is that it has nothing to do with the main game. It is its own separate entity.
Oblivion also had one of the best expansions; Shivering Isles. Shivering Isles gave us a new plane to explore, and lots of new monsters to fight, along with new equipment. It also gave us a glimpse into the greater cosmology of the Elder Scrolls universe. One of the more appealing aspects of Shivering Isles is that it has nothing to do with the main game. It is its own separate entity.
What doesn't Work
The only real problem I had were a few minor technical issues. The game really taxed the Xbox 360, more than Skyrim. There were framerate issues, sometimes my attacks wouldn't go off after pulling the trigger, and there’s nothing like watching the lag of the grass loading as you run around.
Remember the technically speaking part from What Works? Oblivion has a problem that falls under the category of not being able to miss what you don’t know about; a you didn't know what you didn't know sort of situation. Graphical improvements aside, Skyrim had many improvements over Oblivion. The biggest one was the elimination of the class system. It’s nice to be able to build your character on the fly, and experiment with different things. If you made a martial character in Oblivion, and then decided to dabble in magic, you were mechanically penalized since you wouldn't gain a level from upping your magic skills. Your manna level would only go so high since you chose combat over magic at character creation, so some of the better spells would forever be unavailable to you. Another great thing they got rid of was having to carry around a bag of hammers to fix your weapons every few battles. Plus, having to sleep to level up didn't add any depth to the game. None of these things seemed that bad back in 2006, but now they kind of feel lame looking back, and clutter the flow of the game.
The other side of the coin is that it lost much of the realism of consequence that Morrowind had. Morrowind was more free and open, and a player’s actions could have significant repercussions. There were no NPC’s so important that they couldn't be killed, and if some of them died it literally became impossible to finish the game. Bethesda suggested, not required, that you load an earlier save and try again. There were also no locks that were pick proof until the right quest MacGuffin came along. Entire quest lines could go down the toilet because you stole and sold or dropped some random piece of junk vital to the quest twenty levels back. That openness had its benefits though. You could run straight to Ghost Gate when the game starts and obtain some glass armor at level one. Plus, it was just neat to have that extra level of feeling on how much your actions mattered.
Remember the technically speaking part from What Works? Oblivion has a problem that falls under the category of not being able to miss what you don’t know about; a you didn't know what you didn't know sort of situation. Graphical improvements aside, Skyrim had many improvements over Oblivion. The biggest one was the elimination of the class system. It’s nice to be able to build your character on the fly, and experiment with different things. If you made a martial character in Oblivion, and then decided to dabble in magic, you were mechanically penalized since you wouldn't gain a level from upping your magic skills. Your manna level would only go so high since you chose combat over magic at character creation, so some of the better spells would forever be unavailable to you. Another great thing they got rid of was having to carry around a bag of hammers to fix your weapons every few battles. Plus, having to sleep to level up didn't add any depth to the game. None of these things seemed that bad back in 2006, but now they kind of feel lame looking back, and clutter the flow of the game.
The other side of the coin is that it lost much of the realism of consequence that Morrowind had. Morrowind was more free and open, and a player’s actions could have significant repercussions. There were no NPC’s so important that they couldn't be killed, and if some of them died it literally became impossible to finish the game. Bethesda suggested, not required, that you load an earlier save and try again. There were also no locks that were pick proof until the right quest MacGuffin came along. Entire quest lines could go down the toilet because you stole and sold or dropped some random piece of junk vital to the quest twenty levels back. That openness had its benefits though. You could run straight to Ghost Gate when the game starts and obtain some glass armor at level one. Plus, it was just neat to have that extra level of feeling on how much your actions mattered.
Does it Deserve Another Go?
Sure. Why not? It’s still a good game, but it has become somewhat lackluster by comparison in many ways. It really is a middle child of the franchise. It’s not as sweet as the newest baby Skyrim and not as accomplished as its older sibling Morrowind. Oblivion’s accomplishments are overshadowed by both is most regards and has just kind of gone to the wayside. Maybe the next generation’s incarnation of hipsters will decide Oblivion is the greatest Elder Scroll’s game ever, but most people just don’t get it. Oblivion doesn’t have the streamlined and dynamic gameplay and character creation and leveling system of Skyrim. It also doesn’t have that freedom and sense of consequence of Morrowind. What it does have is an epic story and well-voiced NPC’s galore. And while not as graphically impressive compared to newer games, Oblivion does offer some beautiful scenery, like a field on a perfect summer day. Skyrim has its beauty too, but much of it is a stark and unforgiving land and looks it.
by Kell Myers | |