Sat 27 Aug 2011
Playstation
The elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Review
This is a huge release and is a worthy addition to what has been a series unsurpassed in scope and scale and realism. As with previous Elder Scrolls games there are a ton of quests in this game which means hours upon countless hours of gameplay. Like its predecessors who helped pioneer the free roaming RPG concept, Elder Scrolls 4 delivers once again a game where there are no boundaries, you can go where you want, do what you want and complete the game how you want, there are a plethora of paths you can take to completing this game, this makes the game almost infinitely replayable.
The world of Elder Scrolls is massive, certainly one of the biggest out there, in this latest addition of Elders Scrolls the developers have included checkpoints in which key objectives are located so you can access the menu and immediately transport yourself to location saving you the time of have to travel to a particular location by foot. This was a previous problem in previous Elder Scrolls games, because of the sheer magnitude of the game and the countless cities and town, it could take hours to walk from one location to the next, so now locations in the game are immediately accessible. Of course this doesn’t take away from the adventure/exploration aspect of Elder Scrolls which remain a staple of the franchise, it just make it a little bit easier to return to objective locations.
The combat system has been revamped and feels much better and more believable than previous Elder Scrolls games however I did find it could have been better. When you attack an enemy it doesn’t always feel like you’re hitting them and it takes a little bit to get used to the aiming system, occasionally there’s is confusion with who you are attacking, in one instance I there was a guard situated near to an enemy and I thought I was aiming at the enemy when in fact I hit the guard proving him to attack me. So the combat system could still use some work. I did find it the game becomes a bit redundant, despite the vastness of the Elder Scrolls world, the architecture is very consistent throughout the game is generally much of the same, also the enemies are very similar throughout the game, they’re not particularly diversified regardless of what stage at the game you are at, however the story, the characters and sheer colossal magnitude of the world is more than enough to keep you engaged.
As with all Elder Scrolls games the graphics yet again look great, the textures look great, the lighting is perfect, the weapons are extremely well detailed, the framerate is for the most part very steady and translates quite well on the PS3. However you will likely notice drops in framerate out when exploring vast of the environments or when you’re in large areas where the PS3 has a lot of detail to process because the Oblivion is so meticulously detailed and so large scale the PS3 does struggle a bit crafted. If you’re walking long distances you will also be met with brief loading times.
The sound is also spot on, the theme songs are very well suited to that classic RPG, medieval atmosphere in which Elder Scroll situates you, the character voices are very strong and there’s plenty of variety in the voice acting. I didn’t notice many character voices repeated twice. What I first noticed about this game is how realistic Elders Scroll 4 is in comparison to previous Elder Scrolls game. The cities and towns really come to life in this one, the NPC’s don’t just stand around doing nothing all day as if they’re only there to accomadate you are provide you with information. The cities and towns actually feel like they’re alive and continue on without you, that is the spotlight doesn’t feel like its always on your character. The characters in this game engae in random conversations, go through daily routines, it really effectively communicates the authenticity of the towns and the cities.
Rating: 87%- an excellent follow up to Elder Scroll III
Pros:
Excellent graphics and visuals
Towns and cities actually feel alive in this one
Sound and themes are well suited to the epic feel of game
Cons:
Has frequent framerate drops on the PS3 especially in large scale environment
Combat mechanics could use some work
The world of Elder Scrolls is massive, certainly one of the biggest out there, in this latest addition of Elders Scrolls the developers have included checkpoints in which key objectives are located so you can access the menu and immediately transport yourself to location saving you the time of have to travel to a particular location by foot. This was a previous problem in previous Elder Scrolls games, because of the sheer magnitude of the game and the countless cities and town, it could take hours to walk from one location to the next, so now locations in the game are immediately accessible. Of course this doesn’t take away from the adventure/exploration aspect of Elder Scrolls which remain a staple of the franchise, it just make it a little bit easier to return to objective locations.
The combat system has been revamped and feels much better and more believable than previous Elder Scrolls games however I did find it could have been better. When you attack an enemy it doesn’t always feel like you’re hitting them and it takes a little bit to get used to the aiming system, occasionally there’s is confusion with who you are attacking, in one instance I there was a guard situated near to an enemy and I thought I was aiming at the enemy when in fact I hit the guard proving him to attack me. So the combat system could still use some work. I did find it the game becomes a bit redundant, despite the vastness of the Elder Scrolls world, the architecture is very consistent throughout the game is generally much of the same, also the enemies are very similar throughout the game, they’re not particularly diversified regardless of what stage at the game you are at, however the story, the characters and sheer colossal magnitude of the world is more than enough to keep you engaged.
As with all Elder Scrolls games the graphics yet again look great, the textures look great, the lighting is perfect, the weapons are extremely well detailed, the framerate is for the most part very steady and translates quite well on the PS3. However you will likely notice drops in framerate out when exploring vast of the environments or when you’re in large areas where the PS3 has a lot of detail to process because the Oblivion is so meticulously detailed and so large scale the PS3 does struggle a bit crafted. If you’re walking long distances you will also be met with brief loading times.
The sound is also spot on, the theme songs are very well suited to that classic RPG, medieval atmosphere in which Elder Scroll situates you, the character voices are very strong and there’s plenty of variety in the voice acting. I didn’t notice many character voices repeated twice. What I first noticed about this game is how realistic Elders Scroll 4 is in comparison to previous Elder Scrolls game. The cities and towns really come to life in this one, the NPC’s don’t just stand around doing nothing all day as if they’re only there to accomadate you are provide you with information. The cities and towns actually feel like they’re alive and continue on without you, that is the spotlight doesn’t feel like its always on your character. The characters in this game engae in random conversations, go through daily routines, it really effectively communicates the authenticity of the towns and the cities.
Rating: 87%- an excellent follow up to Elder Scroll III
Pros:
Excellent graphics and visuals
Towns and cities actually feel alive in this one
Sound and themes are well suited to the epic feel of game
Cons:
Has frequent framerate drops on the PS3 especially in large scale environment
Combat mechanics could use some work
