The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3846 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,010 out of 3846
  2. Mixed: 542 out of 3846
  3. Negative: 294 out of 3846
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  1. BasS.
    Jun 6, 2006
    4
    This game dont deserve all marks,it s so boring and his predecessor is really better than this.
  2. AdamC
    Sep 6, 2009
    4
    I wanted really, really badly to like this game. It's absolutely beautiful (if you can run it that way, of course), and it's got some nice IDEAS as far as leveling goes. It's great that the NPCs have conversations with each other, it's great that there are theoretically consequences to your actions, it's wonderful that there are so many places to explore and I wanted really, really badly to like this game. It's absolutely beautiful (if you can run it that way, of course), and it's got some nice IDEAS as far as leveling goes. It's great that the NPCs have conversations with each other, it's great that there are theoretically consequences to your actions, it's wonderful that there are so many places to explore and quest, and the twitch combat is a breath of fresh air for those of us who really don't like watching our characters swing once every five seconds based on a dice roll. Unfortunately, none of these things are well-executed. Leveling based on the skills you use is intuitive and engaging and even if it's not a brand new idea, should have been a really wonderful way to feel like your character was getting stronger. Yet Oblivion has probably the worst leveling system I've ever experienced. Each skill is connected to an attribute. When you level up a skill, you gain a bonus to its connected attribute when you level. That means that to get the max (or close to) bonus for each level, you're going to have to grind away at minor skills (otherwise you'll level too quickly and won't receive a bonus). And if you choose just to play your character without trying to achieve bonuses, then monsters -- which level at the same time as you -- will ultimately surpass you in power. It also means a level one character is potentially the strongest character you can ever create. There's not much incentive to level. Of course if you don't level at all, you won't be able to use any new weapons or armor, because those begin dropping based on your level. And yeah, the highwaymen uses the same kind of armor as that bandit warlord at the end of the dungeon. The storyline begins with wonderful urgency, but as soon as the tutorial is over, you can basically ignore it completely. There are Oblivion Gates opening everywhere, but you could just leave them for like 2 years if you want, go do other things. The invasion will wait until you're good and ready to confront it. I'm all for open-ended and ambiguous, but removing structure entirely means that I really never felt engaged with the world I was playing in. One more problem is with the game's "Radiant AI." It's awesome that they leave their houses and go about town and do various things, but if they're going to have conversations...well...the voice acting for the most part is bad, but most of the conversations sound like Public Service Announcements anywa. "How are things with you?" "The [armor shop] in town makes great armor." "Bye." Spellmaking is a great idea, but there are only about four different spell animations, and although there are an IMMENSE number of spells (because you can make your own), there really aren't very many effects, which means you're basically casting the same four or five spells the entire game long. This isn't so different from other games, but it seems like the system here was setup to be so much more interesting than it turned out to be. Making up your own class is great, especially because if you want to play a warrior, you can't pick any of the preset ones due to the aforementioned leveling system. So essentially there's only one class I'll ever pick: custom. The game is absolutely huge and tried to do so much, but, at least for me, failed to really engage me in any meaningful way. This was a really great engine for an Role-playing game, I just wish there'd been a roleplaying game to play.… Expand
  3. erichopmann
    Dec 15, 2006
    4
    Although it´s a good game it gets boring after a while. I´ve played it until lvl 16 and i think it´s always the same. play gothic or dark messiah
  4. Tobias
    Aug 31, 2007
    4
    As a game, Oblivion did allright. It's a good game for a person who has never played a RPG before. I was entertained for the first two weeks. After that, everything changed. I realised that I had just completed everything in the game. I was dissapointed, there's very little to do in oblivion, and everything there is is repetive, sure many of the quest are actually quite nice, As a game, Oblivion did allright. It's a good game for a person who has never played a RPG before. I was entertained for the first two weeks. After that, everything changed. I realised that I had just completed everything in the game. I was dissapointed, there's very little to do in oblivion, and everything there is is repetive, sure many of the quest are actually quite nice, but there's no many bad saides about it. The level scaling ruins everything, the design is very boring, there are very few guilds. You can actually completel the Mages guild without casting a single spell and the final boss is a character much loved my the Elder Scrolls community, and lore-wise extremely powerfull. just stap him with your spear and be done with it, oh wait, you can't since spears arn't in either. The lack of weapons dissapoint me. As a game, it's acceptable. As an elder scrolls game, it's a total disaster. If you're looking for an elder scrolls rpg, A real elder scrolls game, buy Morrowind witch delivers much much more. The game sucks, hopefully Bethesda will use the money to hire a better crew so they can make a better TES: V. 4/10… Expand
  5. Pantheon
    Sep 16, 2007
    4
    If you have played Morrowind - this is a huge disappointment - plays like a first person shooter not an RPG. There is no need to engage your brain playing thsi game - Beth took all intellectual challenge out and left only combat.
  6. Xslsn
    Feb 16, 2009
    4
    I really wanted to like this game, so it's a shame that it is so flawed that I found it unbearable to finish it. - The level system is widely been criticized and rightfully so. Not only does it kill the fun to have the bad guys level up with you, but it completely destroys the feeling of immersion that is so vital to all adventure games and RPGs. - The voice acting is nothing short I really wanted to like this game, so it's a shame that it is so flawed that I found it unbearable to finish it. - The level system is widely been criticized and rightfully so. Not only does it kill the fun to have the bad guys level up with you, but it completely destroys the feeling of immersion that is so vital to all adventure games and RPGs. - The voice acting is nothing short of a farce. The laughable decision to have 5 people record all the lines is only the start, but these 5 people doesn't even remotely try to resemble different people and you feel like you are talking to the same person over and over and over again. Absolutely horrible. - The game feel so repetitive that it feels more like work than a game. Not my idea of a good time… Expand
  7. JustinS.
    Nov 8, 2007
    4
    Dull, dull, dull. The game starts out as beautiful and immersive, but then you realize how cardboard everyone is, even with the so-called "radiant AI." AI can't give them personalities. Only a good writer could do that, and there are no good writers here, as evidenced by the extremely linear fetch-quests, including the main storyline. Not an RPG game for true role-players. Skip this Dull, dull, dull. The game starts out as beautiful and immersive, but then you realize how cardboard everyone is, even with the so-called "radiant AI." AI can't give them personalities. Only a good writer could do that, and there are no good writers here, as evidenced by the extremely linear fetch-quests, including the main storyline. Not an RPG game for true role-players. Skip this snore-a-thon.… Expand
  8. AnonymousMC
    Sep 15, 2007
    4
    Mediocre graphics for such a new game. Boring and predictable story line. Repetitive gameplay. Uninspired quests, mostly of the "fetch" and "kill" sort. Bad script writing, except for a very few risquee (but irrelevant) line. Fundamentally flawed character leveling mechanics. The background music wasn't so bad. The main thing I liked about this game was its world size, but evenMediocre graphics for such a new game. Boring and predictable story line. Repetitive gameplay. Uninspired quests, mostly of the "fetch" and "kill" sort. Bad script writing, except for a very few risquee (but irrelevant) line. Fundamentally flawed character leveling mechanics. The background music wasn't so bad. The main thing I liked about this game was its world size, but even that didn't hold my interest. Once I owned a couple of houses, not even the main quest was enough to keep me playing.… Expand
  9. JonathanR
    Jun 18, 2009
    4
    I'm confused again and again as to why this game is held to such vaulted heights. The biggest flaw are the economics of leveling. It's nearly impossible to raise a skill (or it's ridiculously simple, take your pick), which means you are either underdeveloped on stats or overdeveloped on an uncompetitive basis with the mobs that level alongside you. Magic is my favorite I'm confused again and again as to why this game is held to such vaulted heights. The biggest flaw are the economics of leveling. It's nearly impossible to raise a skill (or it's ridiculously simple, take your pick), which means you are either underdeveloped on stats or overdeveloped on an uncompetitive basis with the mobs that level alongside you. Magic is my favorite class, and without mods the magic system is so unrealistic as to be unusable.… Expand
  10. TimE
    Jul 22, 2009
    4
    The game is huge, but it does not give the proper avenues for allowing you to explore it completely, such as dull quests and the tedious searching for these quests. The game felt very clunky; like when trying to pick up something, I was constantly slowed down from carrying too much. Auto-loot even picks up your enemies 10-ton rusty iron breastplates. Combat was decent and simple, but was The game is huge, but it does not give the proper avenues for allowing you to explore it completely, such as dull quests and the tedious searching for these quests. The game felt very clunky; like when trying to pick up something, I was constantly slowed down from carrying too much. Auto-loot even picks up your enemies 10-ton rusty iron breastplates. Combat was decent and simple, but was also clunky, it felt just like an FPS with a knife. The story was linear, and all the side quests were very "unimportant" and time consuming. With all the hype that this game has got, I believe even with outdated games such as Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate had a much better 'soul" than this game because I was not able to immerse myself into this world. I was not able to bring myself to finish this game completely, after 8 hours, I was too bored to continue.… Expand
  11. Conscience
    Mar 9, 2011
    4
    This game looks great, the world is vast and the world is open-ended and interactive. Lots of great potential, with a complex and technically impressive interactive world. The only problem is that there are no appealing characters to interact with and no emotional connection with the game. They made something awesome, but without much of a soul.

    I was soon bored with the game. Find a    This game looks great, the world is vast and the world is open-ended and interactive. Lots of great potential, with a complex and technically impressive interactive world. The only problem is that there are no appealing characters to interact with and no emotional connection with the game. They made something awesome, but without much of a soul.

    I was soon bored with the game. Find a new place off in the wilderness? Defeat the evil that lurks within? Nobody cares.

    Summary: a game with a lot of potential, but not much substance.    … Expand
  12. Mad_Diplomat
    Apr 16, 2011
    4
    This is one of those games that seem great at first. But the more you play it, the less you like it. Once the flash wears away, you start to realize that at it's core the game is broken. Without an engaging story and good gameplay mechanics there can be no lasting appeal for me.
  13. zupergozer
    Aug 24, 2011
    4
    the game seems to thing that quantity is better then quality, it has few really fun things to do and a LOT of repeating boring quests and the game has only 13 voice actors. the storytelling is terrible, the story could have been good but the story stopped being interesting after i murdered every member of the mythic dawn. the map is huge but all the space is wasted, you have a few dungeonsthe game seems to thing that quantity is better then quality, it has few really fun things to do and a LOT of repeating boring quests and the game has only 13 voice actors. the storytelling is terrible, the story could have been good but the story stopped being interesting after i murdered every member of the mythic dawn. the map is huge but all the space is wasted, you have a few dungeons around but they are boring and there is no point to go in there except for a couple of quests. in summary this game is wasted potential… Expand
  14. DAOuser
    Sep 24, 2013
    4
    Resulta aburrido, y el sistema de combate es una pesadez. Lo jugué hasta la mitad más o menos (por lo que pude saber) y luego lo borré para siempre de mi sistema. No lo considero bueno como rpg.
  15. GreenMenace
    Oct 13, 2022
    4
    In hindsight, Oblivion suffers from being sandwiched between two great games. On one hand, you have the newer, flashier Skyrim. On the other, you have its predecessor, Morrowind, which is a masterpiece. I did not make it far in Oblivion because it introduced a few mechanics I wasn’t fond of (namely, introducing how everyone knows whether something is stolen or not). Characters level likeIn hindsight, Oblivion suffers from being sandwiched between two great games. On one hand, you have the newer, flashier Skyrim. On the other, you have its predecessor, Morrowind, which is a masterpiece. I did not make it far in Oblivion because it introduced a few mechanics I wasn’t fond of (namely, introducing how everyone knows whether something is stolen or not). Characters level like they do in Morrowind, and the game looks a lot like Morrowind. But when you hear people talking about the Elder Scrolls, this entry gets glazed over.… Expand
  16. JakubTyszko
    Feb 14, 2021
    4
    The game looks very interesting but as soon as you play you get disappointed over and over until you die inside.
  17. Skevinger
    Mar 23, 2021
    4
    Why is this the all-time-reference for a RPG? I like the setting, the world and the soundtrack, but the level-scaling ruins it for me. So if I'm to week to fight a wolf and want to get better, I level up. But suddenly the wolves are now "Timberwolves" and are stronger. That happens with every enemy-type. But if choose alchemy and some other stuff I never use as my main skills, I canWhy is this the all-time-reference for a RPG? I like the setting, the world and the soundtrack, but the level-scaling ruins it for me. So if I'm to week to fight a wolf and want to get better, I level up. But suddenly the wolves are now "Timberwolves" and are stronger. That happens with every enemy-type. But if choose alchemy and some other stuff I never use as my main skills, I can improve my fighting skills without leveling up. So if I stay level 1 the game gets easier and easier.

    Also: The faces. Aside from the argonian and khajiit faces everyone looks ugly because of the weird game engine. And when the camera zooms in at the beginnig of a dialogue and the NPC smiles at me, I suddenly want to punch his face. Even Morrowind or other older games have better faces.

    If those factors don't matter to you, you get a world with a lot to do.    … Expand
  18. Gazownik
    Jun 8, 2022
    4
    As much as I love Elder Scroll games, this one was a terrible experience for me - played for around 10 hours > got pissed > uninstalled it.
  19. BakaD.
    Jun 22, 2007
    3
    Oblivion is Morrowind with hundreds of bugs fixed. The game also graphically declines, it has loads of the 'good stuff' but it doesn't use it properly leaving environments lackluster and dull. There are a few parts that have an epic 'appeal' but thats only due to the use of lighting. Now I played Morrowind and although the 'level by usage' idea is Oblivion is Morrowind with hundreds of bugs fixed. The game also graphically declines, it has loads of the 'good stuff' but it doesn't use it properly leaving environments lackluster and dull. There are a few parts that have an epic 'appeal' but thats only due to the use of lighting. Now I played Morrowind and although the 'level by usage' idea is innovative... it is very broken. Removing the skill leveling part fixes many problems (Either 5 5 5 level or get screwed. Then there's the problem with spells/magical things in the game. Not only do all things magical share the same animations, but all magical abilities transpher down to alchemy and enchanting... essentally making "gear farming" worthless, or even being a mage since alchemy effects are often more powerful than what you can cast. The game has a very limited selection of voices... most annoying is when I hear barius' voice. Now I don't care if a few civies share the same voice... but don't EVER use the same voice as a main story thingy. There are a few other problems (voices not matching with characters for one) with voices, but there are more pressing issues... like the limited interaction with the environment. use of physics without any USE of them. (Like dropping crates on enemies) infact, physics serves no use except to be there. Vampirism is one of the best things, but I really dislike the way it's done. Having to drink blood just to keep from 'changing' when wandering about, not beingable to sulk in dark corners durring daytime (infact, shade has no effect on health loss) The end result is Oblivion is what Morrowind 'should' have been... but not fully fixed. It's fun... for a while... till you realize that there's nothing else compelling you besides the nagging aspect of the storyline.… Expand
  20. AnonymousMC
    Jul 2, 2007
    3
    Truly a bad joke of a game. I don't think I can stand another "So, yeah - the current plot hook is [X], so you have to go to the next completely generic [cave/ruin/oblivion gate] [Y], [kill the foozles/retrieve the item [Z]/both]" quest - an this little template has basically described 75% of the quest content of Oblivion. If only the combat system was any good... Well, it's notTruly a bad joke of a game. I don't think I can stand another "So, yeah - the current plot hook is [X], so you have to go to the next completely generic [cave/ruin/oblivion gate] [Y], [kill the foozles/retrieve the item [Z]/both]" quest - an this little template has basically described 75% of the quest content of Oblivion. If only the combat system was any good... Well, it's not - think about your typical FPS, and remove all the fun and the challenge (even if, for some strange reason, you are losing you can always gulp on an unlimited number of healing potions - six every time you open your inventory, with closing and opening of it taking less than a second of game time, since the game pauses on inventory screen). Also, don't kid yourself that it's a good RPG, 'cause it has stats. They don't matter. In fact, the best thing you can do if you want to munchkinize your character is give him the exact opposite of the skills you want to use - that way you will still advance fairly quickly, but not in level. Why is this good? Well, thanks to the oh so brilliant level scaling, the world's monsters will stay in "noob mode", while you are getting more and more powerful. The downside of this is that the scaled random loot will be pretty pathetic, but given how easy it is to outclass the scaled monsters in damage dealt/damage received even with steel equipment, this doesn't matter very much.

    The game has LOTS of issues, like uninspired writing and soul destroying blandness and genericness of the towns (and ignoring previous TES lore to boot - wasn't Cyrodill supposed to be tropical jungle?), terrain and monsters, the supposedly great AI that makes the NPCs emergently admire walls (and it's pretty much all it does), the inconsistent voices of NPCs, the linearity (true, you can do a quest for most of the factions (except for those for which it was deemed you cannot - the Blackwood Company comes to mind as the most illogical of those) at any moment, the quest sequences of those factions are completely linear), the "become the head of the guild and be done with it" factor, the lack of conflict between joinable factions (it goes as far as allowing you to be the guildmaster of all) even though the death of the emperor with no known heir would be THE opportunity for power grabs, the "oh so there are Oblivion gates popping all over the place, but since they're not quest related we all ignore them", the inconsistent [Rumors]/"You are the hero of [town name]!"/[Other option]/"Who are you noob?" dialog, and the dumb minigames (I would nominate the persuasion minigame as a winner here)... I was going to finish this comment with "but I think the boring and repetitive are what killed it for me", but really, all those issues did their part in it - and there's STILL more that I don't care to describe. I'd say - avoid this game.    … Expand
  21. SK
    Jul 20, 2007
    3
    Household of four RPG gamers, who had played Morrowind for years. Eagerly snagged Oblivion copies the first week. But....After two months, no one cared to continue. Put aside, with only one person (the stubborn one) finishing the Main Quest. A game that looks great for awhile (hence all the great previews by the magazines) but really doesn't have much depth, just lots of repetition. Household of four RPG gamers, who had played Morrowind for years. Eagerly snagged Oblivion copies the first week. But....After two months, no one cared to continue. Put aside, with only one person (the stubborn one) finishing the Main Quest. A game that looks great for awhile (hence all the great previews by the magazines) but really doesn't have much depth, just lots of repetition. A vapid, showy failure. Perhaps player mods will make something of this. Or the expansion packs. But no one here has loaded the game again.… Expand
  22. EliasO.
    May 19, 2006
    3
    I gave it a 3, it's a good game, but I'm not only intrested in the visuals.. The conversations are very scripted, and in order to make someone happy it's a wierd gambling process, and the main story line was not intresting enough for me to keep playing the game... I recommend buying Arcanum instead, it's probloby left in SOME stores pretty cheap, or you can buy it from I gave it a 3, it's a good game, but I'm not only intrested in the visuals.. The conversations are very scripted, and in order to make someone happy it's a wierd gambling process, and the main story line was not intresting enough for me to keep playing the game... I recommend buying Arcanum instead, it's probloby left in SOME stores pretty cheap, or you can buy it from a internet shop.… Expand
  23. NateS.
    Jun 6, 2007
    3
    Awkward Textures, Boring Gameplay, and Unimaginative Quests make this game terrible (and i'm running on an AW m9700).
  24. Nugget
    Feb 27, 2009
    3
    Anyone who claims this is the best game they ever played is a console only gamer, under 14 years old, or most likely both. Even modded to the maximum its only 'good'. Vanilla its awful and I don't give scores for non-paid modders fixing bethesdas mistakes.
  25. JacobF
    Jul 26, 2009
    3
    Talk about overhyped, by a long shot. Graphically, it's pretty incredible. But all graphics do is sell a game and keep one from poking their eyes out. Anything to with the actual game content is severely lacking. The story is very bland, and honestly, just isn't very good, (which is funny, because it was praised for that). It feels more like a wild goose chase, whether you have Talk about overhyped, by a long shot. Graphically, it's pretty incredible. But all graphics do is sell a game and keep one from poking their eyes out. Anything to with the actual game content is severely lacking. The story is very bland, and honestly, just isn't very good, (which is funny, because it was praised for that). It feels more like a wild goose chase, whether you have to go find someone, or an item. Granted, there are tons of side quests, ruins, and a vast world to explore, which might redeem the problem with the issue, but it does not redeem the gameplay. The gameplay becomes severely repetitive. After you close the fifty-trillionth Oblivion gate, the game becomes very tedious, and is more like a chore than a fun game. In order to expect to go anywhere with success, you must be a spell caster. The incentive to level up is gone, because they scale the enemies to match your level. Yes, this means when you're level 35, with the best sword the game has to offer, you're still going to die trying to fight off a bandit. Also, you're stuck, for the most part, fighting the same lot of enemies the entire game. A couple bandits or wolves here... A few Mystic Dawn cult members there... A heck of a lot of Daedra everywhere... There is very little diversity in what you fight, unless you specifically go looking for something different to fight. The game partially fails in the sound department. Not to say the sounds were bad, by any means, but they were repetitive, and had a few inconsistencies. They used the same actors, over and over. Heck, the one actor they didn't repeat was killed off in the first half-hour of gameplay, and was the best one in the game (Patrick Stewart)! I mentioned some inconsistencies earlier. The conversations and voices often go against the nature of the character. If you talk to a beggar, and she sounds like an uneducated beggar (as she should) at first, wait. Ask her some stuff, and she'll suddenly sound like a well-educated noble. There wasn't a lot of music, but that doesn't bother me as much, since in games like Oblivion and Morrowind, I prefer something a little quiet, just ambience, if at all. Conclusion Overall, Oblivion is a major disappointment, and fails to live up to the hype and praise it's constantly given. The graphics are nice, so I won't deduct points there. The story is crummy, although there are lots of sidequests and things to explore and do. I'll deduct a point for the story anyway, because it can't fully redeem the poorly executed goose chase that Bethesda tried to pass off as a storyline. The gameplay is incredibly repetitive, and is incredibly difficult unless you're a spellcaster. Deduction of two points here. The leveling system is stupid, and has no incentive because of the scaling, so deduction of three points here. The sounds need a little bit of work, due to the inconsistency between conversations, and the overuse of certain actors, and under usage of others (Patrick Stewart, again). They weren't bad, but definitely not perfect. Point deducted here. The lack of tons of music didn't really bother me, so no points were deducted. In short, don't waste your money on this game. It is a blemish to the entire RPG genre, and a proof to the nearsightedness of the entire game critic industry.… Expand
  26. NeilB
    Aug 29, 2009
    3
    I've never voted on anything, but feel strongly that this game is not worth a grade higher than a three for the simple reason that it feels more like a chore than a game. You spend a tremendous amount of time juggling inventory, repairing weapons, opening locks creating potions and cleaning out bland fortresses and ruins. The monsters/enemies are all the same...fighting a skeleton is I've never voted on anything, but feel strongly that this game is not worth a grade higher than a three for the simple reason that it feels more like a chore than a game. You spend a tremendous amount of time juggling inventory, repairing weapons, opening locks creating potions and cleaning out bland fortresses and ruins. The monsters/enemies are all the same...fighting a skeleton is no different than fighting a bandit or a ghost...and the weapons and spells are also incredibly boring, especially compared with the Baldur's Gate series. Pick a weapon (e.g. sword, axe) add some kind of cold/fire/shock damage to it and that's all. Same for the spells...fire a projectile of heat/cold/shock and that's all (other than heal, which you will use constantly). The game offers an enormous number of spells, weapons, armor and potions, but there is nothing to get you excited or make you feel that the quest was worth it. It's an impressive game for the freedoms it offers, but it is extremely boring, repetitive and worst of all, NOT FUN.… Expand
  27. FranckD
    Jul 21, 2009
    3
    Mediocre. Beautifull but ordinary. Loosy combat system based on finger skill. You jaust have to press forward slash backward, sometime sidestep and bingo you ve gone trought all the game. The main quest is lousy and can be completed at lvl 2. Noone offer challenge due to the stupid system that let any of your ennemies ever your level. At least 50% of the classes are unplayable even going Mediocre. Beautifull but ordinary. Loosy combat system based on finger skill. You jaust have to press forward slash backward, sometime sidestep and bingo you ve gone trought all the game. The main quest is lousy and can be completed at lvl 2. Noone offer challenge due to the stupid system that let any of your ennemies ever your level. At least 50% of the classes are unplayable even going very slowly on combat since 90% of quests require bashing. Hail for the king Morrowind.… Expand
  28. AnonymousMC
    Nov 28, 2007
    3
    Do not believe the hype - Oblivion is an action game, NOT an RPG, and a rather poor one at that. The combat and the quests are boring, the writing is abysmal and the Radiant AI is completely retarded. The main quest will have you going from one corner to another of the world over and over again - you may enjoy the traveling for a while, but I'm sure you'll soon get bored andDo not believe the hype - Oblivion is an action game, NOT an RPG, and a rather poor one at that. The combat and the quests are boring, the writing is abysmal and the Radiant AI is completely retarded. The main quest will have you going from one corner to another of the world over and over again - you may enjoy the traveling for a while, but I'm sure you'll soon get bored and start using the fast travel option (which is also stupid - if the world were interesting enough, there would be no need for it). The side quests are mostly variants of Kill 10 Rats or Stalk a Boring NPC For Hours. I'm giving it a 3 for the pretty forests and modability (which, don't understand me wrong, can't save the game). You may enjoy this for a couple of days if you liked Diablo or Dark Messiah; if you're more of a Fallout/Torment or even Morrowind lover, stay the hell away from Oblivion.… Expand
  29. Malkiel
    Jun 23, 2011
    3
    Having Played Morrowind first and enjoying it a lot, I expected better from Oblivion. The game's killing flaws where 1) enemy scaling with the player making gaining levels pointless, because you do not see any increase in power and 2) lack of levitate (some storyline missions took a half hour longer to reach because I couldn't get up the bloody hill) When a particular bit of storylineHaving Played Morrowind first and enjoying it a lot, I expected better from Oblivion. The game's killing flaws where 1) enemy scaling with the player making gaining levels pointless, because you do not see any increase in power and 2) lack of levitate (some storyline missions took a half hour longer to reach because I couldn't get up the bloody hill) When a particular bit of storyline right by the end got repetitive, I said enough of this and decided I wasn't going back. (buddy playing on xbox at same time said I was ~2 hours from the end)
    Regarding the design choices about leveling: I read a number of things that suggest the true powergamer approach to this game is to stay _at level 1 or 2_ by never sleeping to avoid leveling up... this is not an ideal solution frankly.    … Expand
  30. Cauthon
    Dec 18, 2011
    3
    Oblivion offers a lot of good things on the surface; on the plus side theres a really big world to explore, the story is not linear, all the things we know and love from Morrowind or Fallout.

    Very unfortunately theres a lot of really big bummers especially for people who have been around the genre for a long time. At first glance the levelling system looks great, major skills leading to    Oblivion offers a lot of good things on the surface; on the plus side theres a really big world to explore, the story is not linear, all the things we know and love from Morrowind or Fallout.

    Very unfortunately theres a lot of really big bummers especially for people who have been around the genre for a long time. At first glance the levelling system looks great, major skills leading to increase of levelling in your chosen class? Damnit that´s awesome -> unfortunately they made the system broken in a way that attributes increase way slower for people who actually stick to their class and mainly use their major skills / chose their major skills and attributes according to their class and thusly giving advantages to people who deliberatly make their most important skills minor skills -> yeah way to go game designers: give the power gamers all the cookies and to hell with people who like to chose a character and actually "roleplay" it.
    This could have been easily avoided by just limiting everyones attribute increase while levelling to the same amount. (for people who haven´t played many RPGs so far: it means by chosing a warrior you should definetly not label any of your combat-oriented as major skills...otherwise you will level very quickly and your attributes increase way slower) This already hit me quite hard...but not hard enough to just deinstall ...

    well yeah...it´s not linear...all the very "creative" side-Quests and dungeons are just totally similar and offer no variation.

    Very disappointing. Could have been a really good one.
    Save your money if you liked the depth of Fallout and older games...go buy it if you like to show of really well-designed boosted chars and pretty shiny items achieved by bizarre and boring game-rape.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2006
2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 54 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 54
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 54
  3. Negative: 0 out of 54
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    100
    It’s just so damned big. That’s what you’ll say after playing Oblivion for more than an hour. Or, for that matter, 50 hours.
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  2. Game Over Online
    96
    Oblivion is by far the closest I have come to playing D&D Sunday afternoons with my friends (yes, I did that, though I’m on medication now), all wrapped up in a stunning package with tens of thousands of lines of spoken dialog and good music.
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  3. Quandary
    100
    I honestly have to say that I am in favour of most of the changes and I think Oblivion is an awesome achievement from Bethesda.
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