THE GOOD:The Depth of the world.
The Open-endedness of the game
The Graphics
The Storylines' depth, and realism
THE BAD:
The levelling system
The Main quest's lack of length
The repetetivity of the dungeons.
SUMMARY:
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had to be a great game to follow up from it's prequel, Morrowind. And It is.. The graphic detail is sublime, and the map is crafted beautifully. Every inch of Cyrodiil has clearly had a lot of thought go into it, and that's what makes a great game truly an epic. Details.. There are details aplenty in Cyrodiil, the world the game is set in, and the effort Bethesda put into this game has clearly paid off in the final product. Detail, Graphics, Gameplay and the music are all spot on, and create a great game..
The best parts of this game are firstly, the fact that there is no limit to what you may do. If you wish, you needn't ever do a single quest, and you'll still get hundreds of hours playablility out of this game, you could just explore the wilderness that is Cyrodiil and enter, and clear out every dungeon on the map. Be advised though, as this is a massive task, seeing as there are over 150 dungeons/ruins/forts to explore. Coupled with that, the storylines of the quests are brilliantly devised, and cleverly put together to provide a brilliant blend of realism, and depth, putting together a load of intriguing and benefiting side-quests as well as the main quest,which involves your character attempting to stop the arrival of a daedric lord called Mehrunes Dagon in Cyrodiil, the fighter's guild which involves rescuing the fighter's guild from an inter company rivalry with a different band of "Mercenaries" called Blackwood Company, who seem to be taking on any assignment at all, even the ones the fighter's guild won't accept, The Mages' Guild, which involves, firstly going around every town in Cyrodiil to get recommendations to join the guild, and then rescue the mages' guild from the Necromancers, and their newly arrived leader, The Thieves' guild, which involves working for a master thief known only as The Grey Fox, and doing several menial tasks to prove your worth to this secretive society,Then there's The Dark Brotherhood, which involves joining a group of secretive assassins who serve "The Dread Father" Sithis. In this series of quests, you must firstly accept, and accomplish several contacts, then uncover a dark deep secret within the Dark brotherhood, a traitor. And finally there's the imperial arena... In the arena, you must fight against other gladiators in order to increase your rank, and then fight the champion to become the grand champion of the arena.. A prestigious honour throughout every city in Cyrodiil, namely The Imperial City, Cheydinhal, Bruma, Chorrol, Skingrad, Bravil, Anvil, Kvatch, which is destroyed by the daedra of Mehrunes Dagon at the start of the game, and serves as the starting point of the main quest's true adventure, and Leyawiin.
At the beginning of the game, you start as a prisoner in the imperial prison, until the emperor's guards and him come through, seeking to escape, and he recognises you.. You must go through a small tutorial dungeon. At the end of the dungeon, take heed.. Save your game before you exit through the grate at the end of the dungeon, because you can alter your character from there, and therefore don't have to go through the starter dungeon, which can be a great relief. Another point of interest to save is in the Dark Brotherhood quest, Whodunnit. Save before you kill anyone, as this quest is an absolute classic.. Six people trapped in a building, and you have to kill them all without the others knowing.. You can kill them straight off, convince them to attack each other, or run to secluded locations, like the Cellar, or their bedrooms to kill them without being seen. This quest is a typical example of the open-endedness of this game, showing that there are so many ways to get through any puzzle given to you in any situation.
You can also buy houses in Oblivion, one in each city...
The prices are as follows
Imperial City - 2,000
Anvil- 5,000
Bruma- 4,000
Leyawiin- 7,000
Chorrol- 20,000
Skingrad- 25,000
Bravil- 4,000
Cheydinhal- 15,000
The Anvil house is haunted and comes with it's own quest involving removing the century old curse on the old manor.. For each house, you can buy furniture from a given person, except for Anvil, which will fully furnish itself after the quest. The house in Skingrad, Rosethorn Hall, is also equipped with a quest. This involves getting a servant for your house, and following several hidden clues to receive a small stash of jewels and the like.
This game is also equipped with an Xbox live link, meaning you can download new content on the marketplace..
So far this includes...
Frostcrag Spire
This is not a house in the traditional sense: it is the Wizard's Tower from the Frostcrag Spire official plugin. This "house" is particularly well-suited for mage-type characters, but it is also useful for any character that does not want to join the Mages Guild but wants access to custom spells and custom enchantments. To obtain this as a base of operations, you must first and foremost have the plug-in. You must then complete a mini-quest and purchase upgrades as normal.
Dunbarrow Cove
Like Frostcrag Spire, this isn't a house in the traditional sense; this is the pirates' cove from the Dunbarrow Cove official plugin. This "house" is particularly well suited for thief-type characters. To obtain this as a base of operations, you must first and foremost have the plug-in. You must then complete a mini-quest and purchase upgrades.
Good points about this "house" are:
Merchants, trainers, and spell providers (no need to venture out)
Endless supply of income - use it to buy a really nice house... say the one in Skingrad.
The cave contains both Cairn Bolete Cap and Wisp Stalks - useful in making both healing potions as well as damaging poisons. Outside the cave entrance and along the coast nearby are Sacred Lotus, Water Hyacinth, Lady's Mantle, and Aloe Vera plants. All of these are very useful in making those same potions and poisons.
Bad points:
A little hard to get to if you're heavily loaded down with gear. The Mark/Recall community mod makes this bearable.
If you are playing a "good" character, or are into role-playing, this mod may not be for you as you end up as the captain of a crew of pirates.
Deepscorn Hollow
Like Frostcrag Spire, this isn't a house in the traditional sense; this comes with the Deepscorn Hollow official plugin, also known as the "Vile Lair". This house is for those that wish to be like the dark brotherhood but do things their own way. The "lair" is in a very hard to reach area of the map in a swampy area. When the upgrades are completed, you have the perfect house for a vampire assassin. You can even send out your goon to "kill in the name of Sithis" for you - obtaining the items of the victim in the lair's chest.
Good points:
Has a built-in cure for vampirism.
Has some interesting (i.e., morbid) "decorations".
Has unique plants that produce poisonous berries for killing people "quietly".
Comes with a nest of poisonous plants for making poisons of various types.
Has a few decent skill books and interesting back-story books when upgrades are completed.
Has a shrine that can be used to cure your illnesses if your infamy is high.
Bad points:
Every time you sent out your "goon", your infamy goes up by a point.
Designed for a evil character, not useful for role-playing a non-vampire/assassin.
Spell Tomes.
These are books that teach you spells that, once downloaded can be found on conjurers all over Cyrodiil. These spells can range from a mere 1pt fireball to a 50pt, 20ft ice spell...
Horse Armor
This download provides armor of two types, Elven and Steel, to equip to your noble steed. Horses can be bought from all cities at these prices....
Paint Horse-500
Black Horse-5,000
White Horse-4,000
Bay Horse-1,000
Chestnut Horse-2,500
The Horse Shadowmere, an unkillable black horse, can be obtained through the dark brotherhood questline.
The Orrery.
This add-on includes a quest that involves scouring the land for bandits in order to gain the parts needed to repair the orrery, which is a device in the Mages' guild basement...
Knights Of The Nine
A fallen King has been unchained from the darkness of Oblivion to seek vengeance upon the Gods who banished him. Only a champion pure of heart can vanquish the evil that has been released upon the land. You must heed the call, reclaim the lost relics of the Divine Crusader, and return the Nine to glory. New dungeons, characters, quests, and mysteries await.
Features:
Begin a New Faction - The Knights of the Nine have long been disbanded. Reclaim their former glory as you traverse the far reaches of Cyrodill across an epic quest line.
Battle New Foes - Encounter Umaril, the ancient Ayleid Sorcerer-King, and his minions, the fearsome Aurorans.
Discover Unique Items - An entirely new armor set and weapons, each with unique powers, are within your graspÂ…if you are worthy.
The enemies of Oblivion are cleverly structured.. Meaning that certain, stronger enemies only appear at higher levels...
These are the lists.
Wild Beast.
1 rat
2 wolf
6 timber wolf
9 black bear
12 mountain lion
16. brown bear
Daedra.
1 stunted scamp
5 scamp
5 clannfear runt
7 flame atronach
11 cannfear
13 frost atronach
14 daedroth
16 spider daedra
17 storm atronach
20 xivilai
Dremora.
1 Dremora churl
6 Dremora caituff
9 Dremora kynval
12 Dremora kynreeve
15 Dremora kynmarcher
19 Dremora markynaz
22 Dremora valkynaz
Goblins.
1 goblin
6 skirmisher
8 berserker
13 shaman
18 warlord
Mythic enemies.
1 imp
6 troll
9 will of the wisp
10 spriggan
12 minotaur
15 land dreugh
16 ogre
18 minotaur lord
Undead.
1 skeleton
1 zombie
1 ghost
6 skeleton guardian
8 headless zombie
9 ancient ghost
10 skeleton hero
12 faded wraith
14 dread zombie
15 skeleton champion
16 wraith
17 nether lich
21 gloom wraith
23 lich
Deadric Quests.
You will also encounter daedric lords' shrines in Cyrodiil, and each one will assign you a quest at a certain level, and will give a unique reward each..
Here are the daedric lords, the required level, and the reward
Azura- 2 - Azura's Star
Boethia- 20 - Goldbrand
Clavicus Vile- 20 - Masque of Clavicus Vile
Hermaeus Mora- 20 and all others done - Oghma Infinium
Hircine- 17 - Saviour's hide
Malacath- 10 - Volendrung
Mephala- 15 - Ebony Blade
*bleep*- 10 - Ring of Khajiiti
Molag Bal- 17- Mace of Molag Bal
Namira- 5 - Ring of Namira
Nocturnal- 10 - Skeleton Key
Peryite- 10 - Spell Breaker
Sanguine- 8 - Sanguine Rose
Sheogorath- 2 - Wabbajack
Vaermina- 5 - Skull of Corruption
Overall, I as a gamer, thoroughly enjoyed Oblivion, and would recommend it to anyone.... However, save often as glitches and bugs are sometimes quite frequent, and can be costly if not saved.
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