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. Necrotaur
    Nov 11, 2012
    7
    When Oblivion first came out, I, and pretty much every other gamer out there, was blown away by the improvements in TES graphics and physics. I must have spent hours watching the guy shoot that bucket with an arrow. Oblivion was THE game to test your PCs capability on. Apart from that, though, the only thing it really improved on over Morrowind was the combat - you could now activelyWhen Oblivion first came out, I, and pretty much every other gamer out there, was blown away by the improvements in TES graphics and physics. I must have spent hours watching the guy shoot that bucket with an arrow. Oblivion was THE game to test your PCs capability on. Apart from that, though, the only thing it really improved on over Morrowind was the combat - you could now actively swing and block instead of having to wait for the stars to align. Questing more or less remained the same, but the setting and certain aspects of the leveling process were huge steps backward. For one, the unique, jungle environment that Cyrodiil originally had was traded in for Generic European Fantasy World #64. Levelled loot and enemies were also a huge problem. The higher level you got, the tougher (read: bullet sponge-y) your enemies got - a case could be made that the game is easier to complete the lower level you are. Radiant AI was also not what it was cracked up to be. Still, Oblivion is a decent RPG and worth a look if you enjoy TES series or RPGs in general.… Expand
  2. tangency
    Jun 11, 2012
    7
    Oblivion is a great place to start in Elder Scrolls if you are newer to RPGs or if you want a more laid-back approach. I only gave it a seven because of how much potential it threw away. If you are a fan to the Elder Scrolls series, you know what I am talking about. The graphical changes also kind of annoyed me. I am not one of the people who thinks graphics is the most important in gamingOblivion is a great place to start in Elder Scrolls if you are newer to RPGs or if you want a more laid-back approach. I only gave it a seven because of how much potential it threw away. If you are a fan to the Elder Scrolls series, you know what I am talking about. The graphical changes also kind of annoyed me. I am not one of the people who thinks graphics is the most important in gaming (I still play Mario for the NES) but I think when you go through a drastic change from what they used to be, it kind of ruins a lot. It's like when you change an actor for the same character in a movie. The graphics became cartoony, which made it harder for me to immerse myself into the game. It's a pretty good game in the beginning, and the questline isn't too short. It is annoying to level, however, because of the Major Skill restriction. There aren't minor and miscellaneous skills that you can pull a little bit of level experience off of, like in Morrowind, and you can't pull level experience from every skill, like in Skyrim. The questing system isn't very rounded, either, and some of the questlines can really piss you off because of their restrictions. Like others before me, I would say that it had great bones but started going the wrong way. It lacks relative long term value unless you try every race and every class (but then you are just repeating everything). There are also a lot fewer side-quests to Oblivion than the other Elder Scrolls games.
    Another CON that I have is the fact that they ripped out a lot of good stuff, like Dwemer. Ayleid ruins are nowhere near the same as Dwemer ruins, and there aren't any artifacts based around them.
    Onto the PROS:
    The game is good to be immersed in or just to play as long as you can get by the cons.
    There is actually fast traveling.
    It isn't too easy or too hard to beat and creatures are all leveled with you to some extent (they will replace rats with wolves, and wolves with hogs and bears and trolls and such).
    There is quite a few things to go through and explore even though there aren't as many as the other games.

    All in all, Oblivion is a more laid-back RPG system that is great to play if you haven't played the other Elder Scrolls installments (kinda the same with Skyrim players who are new to the Elder Scrolls universe, I hate them with the burning passion of a thousand lemmings!, although it would help if you played Morrowind before Skyrim and possibly even Oblivion).
    And if you haven't played the other games you won't get the suckerpunch to the kidneys showing that Oblivion is a hell of a difference.    … Expand
  3. Dremord
    Aug 16, 2012
    7
    The main storyline wasn't the best for me, but the side quests had me playing until I've finished them all. Great graphics (if you ignore the humanoid characters). Not as great as Morrowind or Skyrim, though for obvious reasons.
  4. gracjanski
    Apr 28, 2018
    7
    This game has so many mistakes. I wouldnt play it without mods: The level up system is so stupid, if you want to play it somehow effectively: the attribute condition is important and to raise it, you need to use 3 skills: armour, heavy armour and block...as a mage? In addition you need to take care, which skills you use to control the bonuses you get at level up. It is killing a lot ofThis game has so many mistakes. I wouldnt play it without mods: The level up system is so stupid, if you want to play it somehow effectively: the attribute condition is important and to raise it, you need to use 3 skills: armour, heavy armour and block...as a mage? In addition you need to take care, which skills you use to control the bonuses you get at level up. It is killing a lot of fun, but there is a mod that changes the XP system. There is another point with the key word leveling...everyone knows and only few understand that stupid system, where every mob is leveling with the character, so it means you re fighting with lvl 5 against a skeleton and it is a hard fight, later on you are lvl 40 and you will have another hard fight against a skeleton -> LOL. Maybe Bethesda is simply to lazy to implement a better system.
    Technically this game is a nightmare: still so many bugs, although it is so old. It is so obvious, that Bethesda / Zenimax simply dont care about it and know, that users will work for them. In addition this game works so bad with new computers, it is like they convert it from console to PC and dont care about the possibilities with PCs. !"%$%$"§&/()&$§" I needed so much time and needed to install the mods for this game so often, it was frustrating. And yes, dont play this game without mods.
    Controling and Interface...download mods ! so frustrating without.
    Sound: Yes, there are few voice actors, yes they are even changing with the same NPC (wtf?) and what I dislike, they have such a strong american accent. I cant hear it anymore. Music is very good great.

    What is good? Yes, The Elder Scrolls again, this means: a free free free world :) A lot of discoveries, hidden content, very good immersion. Like in Morrowind and Fallout 3, Bethesda is simply the master in it.
    NPCs have finally a life, in Morrowind they ve been a bit static. In the woods you see NPCs hunting animals, mobs fighting and so on. Bethesda learned from a little weakness in Morrowind and put life in the world.
    I like the story and the quests, the beginning is very nice. But on the other side the quests could have more possibilities and ways to solve, especially the dialogs are so linear. Look at Neverwinter Nights or Baldurs Gate.

    Overall: 10 points? 9 points? never, this game humiliates us players. 8 is a maximum. If you survive the pain of modding the game, it gets 10/10.    … Expand
  5. BigDegs29
    Nov 12, 2014
    7
    This is my least favorite Elder Scrolls game. I find it somewhat boring and repetitive, with no significant improvements to the series.

    It's a good game, but its got nothing on Skyrim, and frankly I enjoyed Morrowwind more.
  6. PurpPeopleEater
    Nov 20, 2018
    7
    This score is a bit of an aggregate.
    In its vanilla form, I'd give Oblivion a 5/10. However, once you add in mods that revamp the console-ported UI, address the atrocious level scaling issues, remove the constant hand holding popup messages, and deal with the hideous potato heads... the game becomes rather good, and deserves something like an 8.5/10.
    Even though the main quest is...    This score is a bit of an aggregate.
    In its vanilla form, I'd give Oblivion a 5/10. However, once you add in mods that revamp the console-ported UI, address the atrocious level scaling issues, remove the constant hand holding popup messages, and deal with the hideous potato heads... the game becomes rather good, and deserves something like an 8.5/10.
    Even though the main quest is... lacking... it probably has the best faction and miscellaneous quests in the series, and with some good visual mods, exploring the countryside is a beautiful experience. Moreover, once you've managed to explore everything the base game has to offer... Shivering Isles is probably the best expansion I've ever seen in the series, and beyond that, there are numerous excellent quest mods.

    In sum, I like the 'modern, modded version' of Oblivion MUCH more than the vanilla version that was released in 2006, and I'd happily recommend it to anyone, with the caveat that it needs mods to truly shine.    … Expand
  7. SvaD
    Jul 9, 2023
    7
    1. I kinda love the whole Tolkien-ish aesthetic of Oblivion, and it was in fact one of the first RPG ever for me.

    2. Melee combat is fine (but could be better, if not that freaking amount of enemy HP on high levels), the same goes for magic (not actually played with it that much, just some more common stuff like Destruction and Restoration) and bows (great damage, when playing as a    1. I kinda love the whole Tolkien-ish aesthetic of Oblivion, and it was in fact one of the first RPG ever for me.

    2. Melee combat is fine (but could be better, if not that freaking amount of enemy HP on high levels), the same goes for magic (not actually played with it that much, just some more common stuff like Destruction and Restoration) and bows (great damage, when playing as a sneaky boy AKA thief), overall - not that bad, especially after the Morrowind combat. And I LOVE, how faster and more responsive it is in comparison with the Skyrim combat.

    3. Main quest is just boring, not really that stupid, but more... repetitive. But the side quests and guilds on the other hand are G R E A T, the best in the series IMO. Shivering Isles DLC is a fresh air, it contrasts from the main game really well and gives you the whole new, bizarre world to engage yourself in. Never touched the second one major DLC, Knights of the Nine, have no idea if it's a good or a bad one.

    And, in the first glance, my score should be at least 8 or higher, HOWEVER!
    - Those BORING, COPYPASTED dungeons are A LARGE AND SMELLING ROCK OF GARBAGE. I HATE those lazy made caves with useless loot and no personality whatsoever, HATE those Oblivion gates with the same 6-7 worlds, HATE forts and even HATE (but not that hard, maybe) those ayleid ruins.
    - You can feel, that the world is mostly generated. Outside of miserable dungeons there is nothing to do here - just beat some stupid bandits with monsters, look at different biomes and just use fast travel to save yourself some time.
    - Levelling. Oh. My. God. It is just broken and contrintuitive, even grindish in some places.

    When the RPG with open WORLD, where most of the time you are fighting, doing some quests and clearing DUNGEONS fails with some of the key elements of the genre - this is definitely a core game design problem. On the other hand, side quests and SI DLC are well made - you just have to make it through objective flaws of the gameplay to make fun of this part of Oblivion.    … Expand
  8. Denis94
    Jun 16, 2022
    7
    Después de casi 70 horas puedo decir que terminé Oblivion con un final épico y a la altura del título, de entrada el juego es tosco y más hoy en día, la interfaz es primitiva y hace falta bastante paciencia con el juego en general, sus bugs y crasheos son orden del día y no todo el mundo quiere pasar por esa tortura (por otro lado entendible).

    Pero vamos directos al grano, es buen juego    Después de casi 70 horas puedo decir que terminé Oblivion con un final épico y a la altura del título, de entrada el juego es tosco y más hoy en día, la interfaz es primitiva y hace falta bastante paciencia con el juego en general, sus bugs y crasheos son orden del día y no todo el mundo quiere pasar por esa tortura (por otro lado entendible).

    Pero vamos directos al grano, es buen juego la cuarta entrega de Elder Scrolls? la respuesta corta es un SI rotundo, la larga por otra parte sería que fue en su día un título bueno, hoy en día su quinta entrega es bastante más superior y aunque en ciertos apartados puedan asemejarse lo cierto y por mucho que duela Oblivion se queda muy atrás hoy en día.

    Por otro lado tiene cosas muy buenas como el diseño de los gremios que los sabe explotar muy bien y los hace importantes y toda una aventura en muchos casos, las expansiones cumple una mejor que la otra o por lo menos a mí la historia de Pelinal me pareció más bonita que la de Shivering Isles.

    En definitiva un juego que sigue cumpliendo pero la inestabilidad del tiempo le pasa demasiada factura aún así sigue siendo historia de los videojuegos.    … Expand
  9. Yaav13
    Apr 7, 2022
    7
    My truthful honorable incorruptible conclusive rating of this considered game: 7.
  10. Hyperfailure
    Nov 27, 2022
    7
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  11. Lezzly
    May 31, 2023
    7
    Przyjemna do przeżycia historia oraz sympatyczne postacie pozwalające nam poznać ten (nie zawsze) spokojny świat. Miejscami nieco powtarzalna mechanika misji, aczkolwiek na czas w jaki przyszło mi przejść tę grę czuję, że bawiłem się od początku do końca wyśmienicie.
  12. JohnR
    Jun 9, 2008
    6
    Like its predecessor "Morrowind" Oblivion is deeply flawed in a whole host ways and absolutely brilliant in a few. The game world itself is stunning to look at, truly huge (though perhaps not as huge as Morrowind's) and full of imaginative locations. It's such a pity that, just as is the case with Morrowind, it's populated by perhaps the dullest NPCs in computer gaming Like its predecessor "Morrowind" Oblivion is deeply flawed in a whole host ways and absolutely brilliant in a few. The game world itself is stunning to look at, truly huge (though perhaps not as huge as Morrowind's) and full of imaginative locations. It's such a pity that, just as is the case with Morrowind, it's populated by perhaps the dullest NPCs in computer gaming history. It seems that "speaking to people" in Tamriel consists in selecting from the same unbearably dull list of questions no matter whom you're addressing. It's honestly no more fun than navigating the telephone menu options when trying to find out your bank balance - and in fact that's what it reminds me of. I can't believe Bethesda didn't address this woeful shortcoming after Morrowind was panned for it. Bethesda simply have no idea how to give any personality or individuality to their NPCs and could learn a thing or two from all-round better games such as Baldur's Gate and Planescape : Torment in this respect. But even if this problem were resolved there's also the unbelievably generic location types : e.g every Oblivion Gate is the same, every Aeleid Ruin or Fort is virtually the same. Locations in general are as generic as are the NPCs : when you've seen one Aeleid Ruin, Oblivion Gate etc., you've seen them all. This isn't where the shortcomings end : what, for instance, is the point in my hacking my way through to the deepest reaches of a large dungeon only to find a best haul of a mere 250 gold pieces, a silver dagger and a couple of potatoes in the seventeenth barrel I (wearily by now) search, when I've already got 25000 gold pieces, much better weapons and all the food and herbs I could want ? I could also go on about the "improved" but still absolutely awful interface, the laughable voice-acting etc. but it wouldn't be fair. Oblivion is, strangely, quite enjoyable in some ways, mostly for the visual splendor of the distant landscapes ; but quests are in general dull, repetitive and unrewarding and the best thing you can do in this game - and what a game it COULD have been - is pick flowers and gape at the scenery. Disappointing and overhyped. Bethesda are developing Fallout 3 : RIP the Fallout series.… Expand
  13. AnonymousMC
    Feb 10, 2007
    6
    WAY too much hype. The main storyline is terrible, very linear and also short, the main quests are too repetitive. There is hardly any nice stuff to get and not nearly enough armor to choose from. The autoadjustment of levels does more bad than good. The graphics need a lot of hardware power, the setting is too common for my tastes and everything looks too similar. What remains isWAY too much hype. The main storyline is terrible, very linear and also short, the main quests are too repetitive. There is hardly any nice stuff to get and not nearly enough armor to choose from. The autoadjustment of levels does more bad than good. The graphics need a lot of hardware power, the setting is too common for my tastes and everything looks too similar. What remains is exploring the world, many nice sidequests and good combat. But if both story and setting are simply boring as hell, what's the point?… Expand
  14. ErraticCommunist
    Sep 3, 2007
    6
    Oblivion is a game that tries to hide all of its faults under the surface. It actually gained such fame only because of success of its predecessor. The leveling system, the Radiant AI, the copy/pasted locations, unoptimized engine, STILL lots of bugs, frequent crashes, mediocre PC port, unplayable classes (esp. those that have, for example, Speechcraft as their primary attribute), plus Oblivion is a game that tries to hide all of its faults under the surface. It actually gained such fame only because of success of its predecessor. The leveling system, the Radiant AI, the copy/pasted locations, unoptimized engine, STILL lots of bugs, frequent crashes, mediocre PC port, unplayable classes (esp. those that have, for example, Speechcraft as their primary attribute), plus this game demands old video card sacrifices to run properly. And it tries to hide all these flaws under pretty graphics. If TES V goes the same way, it'll be deathbashed the moment it's released. The next game after the failure gets the punches. And yet though flaws are horrible, Oblivion is still a fun game to play. There is pretty neat gameplay, but it would've been much better if not for the tons of flaws hindering it.… Expand
  15. TheChosenOne
    Jan 15, 2010
    6
    Lets get one thing straight; Oblivion has clearly been dumbed down for the consoles, and IS easily inferior in every way but graphics to its predeccessors. The plot is simple, dull, repetetive and stinks of a certain well-known film Franchise down to the voice actors, most of the loot is randomised(so stupid its hard to believe), most NPC's have 5 dialog options at best, and the Lets get one thing straight; Oblivion has clearly been dumbed down for the consoles, and IS easily inferior in every way but graphics to its predeccessors. The plot is simple, dull, repetetive and stinks of a certain well-known film Franchise down to the voice actors, most of the loot is randomised(so stupid its hard to believe), most NPC's have 5 dialog options at best, and the combat has been reduced to the depth of a Turded Salt Ayre. The most annoying thing though by far, is the content thats been removed. An RPG without Spears? Come on Bethesda, theres no excuse, its pathetic. Another brilliant series down the drain because of console gamers inert brains. Great.… Expand
  16. MattiM.
    May 18, 2007
    6
    CS:S Rocks.
  17. AndrewC
    Feb 28, 2010
    6
    A tragically flawed game, saved only by a lovingly obsessive modding community. The real tragedy of Oblivion is not it's instability, the stupid main quest, the non-existent AI, the horrendously flawed leveling system, the annoying voice acting, the merely adequate combat system or even the ugly interface. It's none of these. Its that if you take the effort to download about 10 A tragically flawed game, saved only by a lovingly obsessive modding community. The real tragedy of Oblivion is not it's instability, the stupid main quest, the non-existent AI, the horrendously flawed leveling system, the annoying voice acting, the merely adequate combat system or even the ugly interface. It's none of these. Its that if you take the effort to download about 10 Gigabytes of 3rd party mods, from bug fixes, to complete overhauls that totally change almost every system in the game, you can see what this game could have been if Bethesda had just taken the effort. Then you understand why so many, me included love this game.… Expand
  18. MarioB.
    May 5, 2006
    6
    I loved Morrowind. And the only things that sucked in Morrowind are improved here, but... It just doesn't feel like an rpg, I enjoy places that I cannot enter becouse I'm weak, ie. I can enter it, but I don't stand a chance, and then, a few levels later, I kick ass... You can NOT experience that in Oblivion, the game adapts itself according to your level, so, there's I loved Morrowind. And the only things that sucked in Morrowind are improved here, but... It just doesn't feel like an rpg, I enjoy places that I cannot enter becouse I'm weak, ie. I can enter it, but I don't stand a chance, and then, a few levels later, I kick ass... You can NOT experience that in Oblivion, the game adapts itself according to your level, so, there's not any challenge, my friend finished the game (main quest) at level 5.... Disaster, this is NOT a rpg experience… Expand
  19. JohnI.
    Jun 4, 2006
    6
    It only deserves a 10 if you have the highest PC and video card system in the world. I have more than min. specs but can hardly run it. Do not trust the specs bethesda gives! My Morrowind looks almost as good and is a lot better game despite no speech or "radiant AI". The swamp area feels like a swamp area and the wildenerness feels like a wilderness. Not so Oblivion, even if Morrowind It only deserves a 10 if you have the highest PC and video card system in the world. I have more than min. specs but can hardly run it. Do not trust the specs bethesda gives! My Morrowind looks almost as good and is a lot better game despite no speech or "radiant AI". The swamp area feels like a swamp area and the wildenerness feels like a wilderness. Not so Oblivion, even if Morrowind doesn't look as good. More proof that graphics isn't everything!… Expand
  20. AnonymousMC
    Aug 23, 2006
    6
    Considering how hyped this game has been, it would have to be the best game ever made (and 20 times as good as the second best) not to be incredibly overrated.

    It's a good game in a lot of ways. There is a ton of opportunity to play the game in different ways. The range of characters you can develop feels almost limitless and the span of the world is huge. I have three main    Considering how hyped this game has been, it would have to be the best game ever made (and 20 times as good as the second best) not to be incredibly overrated.

    It's a good game in a lot of ways. There is a ton of opportunity to play the game in different ways. The range of characters you can develop feels almost limitless and the span of the world is huge.

    I have three main beefs: instability, quest fragility, and NPC lameness. Instability doesn't affect everyone, but it affects people across a wide range of computing power. On the PC it crashes at minimal settings even with reccommended hardware. It crashes overclockers and non-overclockers, patched and unpatched versions alike. It's even been known to crash the console! nothing ruins a high immersion game like frequent crashes.

    Quest fragility is another problem. A lot of quests can be broken if you do things slightly out of order. It's not all that common, but this isn't some half-assed budget game like KOTOR II. It's oblivion. Things should just sort of work. On a related note, the way horses work sucks.

    The NPCs are my last complaint. Their facial expressions are totally wrong all the time. When people are flipped out, their eyes are supposed to get bigger, not smaller. This is not rocket science. All that work went into making faces life-like and varried, but the expressions are creepily unnatural. How is it that the most touted RPG of all time has NPCs that look so much worse than the ones in HL2 - a first person shooter?!

    This is an almost great game and if I hadn't experienced so much instability, I might let the other complaints go. Still maybe we can all stop pretending that this is the best game since Sliced Bread Challenge Ultra (remember that game?) and get real.    … Expand
  21. XX
    Mar 21, 2008
    6
    Though it starts off superbly, it actually commits a RPG cardinal sin which is an extremely poor character level design. In other words, you won't be stronger than your enemy -- they all level at the same time that you are. Still, one could close his eyes on this major flaw if you would still be able to complete your missions -- but that's where the problem lies: your friendly Though it starts off superbly, it actually commits a RPG cardinal sin which is an extremely poor character level design. In other words, you won't be stronger than your enemy -- they all level at the same time that you are. Still, one could close his eyes on this major flaw if you would still be able to complete your missions -- but that's where the problem lies: your friendly NPCs do not level like your enemies, so you won't be able to progress into the story if you do all the side quests before moving on. Can't believe it received 9s and 10s... avoid it.… Expand
  22. TomVt
    Nov 5, 2009
    6
    The beauty of this game does not make up for it's obvious flaws. While it is very fun to pick up once in a while, I never find myself playing through the game. Sure, it's not a linear game in the sense that you must follow a specific path - it is a very open ended game, but far from the open ended gameplay in for example Fallout 2. The scenery is wonderful, and the atmosphere is The beauty of this game does not make up for it's obvious flaws. While it is very fun to pick up once in a while, I never find myself playing through the game. Sure, it's not a linear game in the sense that you must follow a specific path - it is a very open ended game, but far from the open ended gameplay in for example Fallout 2. The scenery is wonderful, and the atmosphere is relaxing. I found myself picking flowers for an hour and making potions to poison my weapons. The close combat can be fun sometimes, but it feels wrong hitting a skeleton several times with a large hammer before it crumbles under it's feet. What I can't really forgive is the "big world" which is Oblivion. You walk into a town, and you overhear people taløking about some really evil demons that invaded a nearby town yesterday. (say, 1 or 2 miles away) The immersion really drops to a point of being hilariously implausible. What? So some demon lord have invaded a town nearby and doesn't move outside a radius of some hundred meters. I just don't get it. And don't forget the "randomized" interactions between npc's. Sometimes it works, but since it's "random" you can hear some pretty strange interactions. No doubt, I will pick it up again, just to sneak around castles and assassinating mayors and stealing their hidden treasures, but no way I'm gonna follow the main story. The pretentious boasting of it's scale coupled with it's serious flaws make it a potential victim for jokes. I recommend trying this game, but don't expect something big. It's a fun little game, nowhere as "big" as others say. The world is NOT big. Say, 25 square kilometres or something. And there are many towns at the size of a pack of farms.… Expand
  23. AeliusS.
    Mar 21, 2006
    6
    A step back. The hype was just that. Doom3 and HL2 were both superior games technically speaking. Many of the hyped aspects are poor. The game cannot scale back like D3. The NPCs talk with each othe in non-sequitors, just like the NPCs in Kingping or Postal2. The voice work often sounds like a mod, complete with differing room verb. Some NPCs even speak using a mix-n-match of voices A step back. The hype was just that. Doom3 and HL2 were both superior games technically speaking. Many of the hyped aspects are poor. The game cannot scale back like D3. The NPCs talk with each othe in non-sequitors, just like the NPCs in Kingping or Postal2. The voice work often sounds like a mod, complete with differing room verb. Some NPCs even speak using a mix-n-match of voices depending on the topic. I am so upset that Bethesda would do this to us. Especially after the dissapointing FPS point and click Call Of Cthulu.… Expand
  24. Toomuchhype
    Nov 10, 2007
    6
    I rented it, then modded it to a six, which means playable, unfortunatley you can't mod the boring storyline, and dialogue. The gameplay out of the box without modding is poor, inferior to Morrowind, not a game for longtime pc rpg fans.
  25. Phlakes
    Aug 15, 2010
    6
    This game is not the best game of all time. In fact, it probably isn't in the top 20. For some reason, even though the game is filled with bugs and terrible design, people just overlook all its problems because the side quests are fun. I would like to list some of the major problems with the game that make it a 6 instead of a 9 or 10.

    1. The main story. This should have been the best part    This game is not the best game of all time. In fact, it probably isn't in the top 20. For some reason, even though the game is filled with bugs and terrible design, people just overlook all its problems because the side quests are fun. I would like to list some of the major problems with the game that make it a 6 instead of a 9 or 10.

    1. The main story. This should have been the best part of the game, and it should have been long and involving. It wasn't. All the story missions felt exactly the same as any side quest, but sometimes involving an Oblivion gate. It was boring and very disappointing, especially for an RPG.

    2. The entire engine. Moving feels like your gliding above the ground, and when you're in the air it feels like you're above the surface of the moon moving yourself with a fan. Picking something up off a table causes all the other objects on it to jump, And when and the ragdoll physics make creatures and people look like broken piñatas.

    3. The animations. When you hit something a 20 pound metal rod, you expect it to feel powerful. The animations make you feel like you're swinging a piece of hollow plastic. Facial expressions unfortunately fall right into the bottom of the uncanny valley, and one of the worst problems, Bethesda was too lazy to put in animations for running diagonally. People also just disappear when entering buildings.

    4. The voice acting. The worst problem here is that there are, according to the Credits.txt file that came with the game, 9 voice actors, not including the unique characters. For a game where every single character can be interacted with, only having 9 voice actors is a massive issue. Not to mention that some characters, especially beggars, switch accents mid-dialogue. They greet you the same drawl as all the other beggars, then after you choose an option, they start talking with the same voice as the guards, and then back again during their next line. Another problem is that every single infinitely-spawning guard has the same voice actor. If they just had one other voice, it would have made a huge difference, but there's only one. Most of the dialogue is terribly generic, too.

    There are very many other problems, such as the uninspired music, the ludicrous frequency of load screens, and the copy-pasted caves and dungeons, but I'll stop here.

    Imagine if any other game had all these problems. It definitely wouldn't get reviews like this. If Mass Effect 3 came out with only 9 voice actors, a short and boring main story, no diagonal running animations, loading screens at every door, floaty controls, and planets like Mass Effect 1, I'm sure users would give it something like a 6. But because Oblivion as so much hype behind it, people automatically give it 10s. Now I still like the game. I've spent about 150 hours on it, but it really isn't as good as people think, and it is definitely not even close to perfect.    … Expand
  26. PithHelmet
    Mar 9, 2011
    6
    Oblivion is a great introduction into the Elder Scrolls. I loved it so much when I first played it. However, after you play Morrowind you realize how much potential Oblivion threw away. Oblivion is an example of the terrible direction the game industry is starting to go into: Games that are worth buying, and are extremely great in the beginning, but lack the long term value that is veryOblivion is a great introduction into the Elder Scrolls. I loved it so much when I first played it. However, after you play Morrowind you realize how much potential Oblivion threw away. Oblivion is an example of the terrible direction the game industry is starting to go into: Games that are worth buying, and are extremely great in the beginning, but lack the long term value that is very key to have to prevent boredom in the future again. When you finish up all the quests (Which are a lot, but still has significantly less compared to Morrowind) there is no point to play anymore. The dungeons feel prefabricated just like Daggerfall and there is nothing really "new" to explore. The vast majority of them are just filled with common monsters and loot that becomes worthless after you get the best armor and weapons (Which can be gotten fairly easily at higher levels). Oblivion is worth the money, but in the long run is no where near as RPG satisfying Morrowind was. That is what we play RPGs for, the satisfaction of completing quests or completing leveling goals or finding special items. Oblivion denies that ability of satisfaction way too early compared to its predecessors. If you are reading these reviews though you are probably considering buying it. In a simple answer, of course. Well worth the money it costs now.… Expand
  27. AuraxMark
    Jan 7, 2011
    6
    Oblivion is not as cut out as it seems to be, none the less, it has highly sophisticated game-play, but that's it.Nearly every aspect in the game seems rushed.1.There are less then 10 voices in the game and beggars change accents mid-dialogue.Usual drawly voice at the start then after clicking on an option, the accent changes to a guard voice.2.Main story too short.Granted, the quest hadOblivion is not as cut out as it seems to be, none the less, it has highly sophisticated game-play, but that's it.Nearly every aspect in the game seems rushed.1.There are less then 10 voices in the game and beggars change accents mid-dialogue.Usual drawly voice at the start then after clicking on an option, the accent changes to a guard voice.2.Main story too short.Granted, the quest had an urgency attached to it that encouraged people to continue with it but the main quest itself is only about 5 hours long on normal difficulty.3. Too many loading screens. Every time you go into a building,a loading screen appears and even to have a mini one like in Dragon Age Origins would be better.And, the loading is about less then 5 seconds so it just gets annoying after a while.4.Dupes.I closed about 20 Oblivion gates in my game and there are only about 4 different wastes or planes of Oblivion.I'm not sure as I don't like dungeons, but I heard that dungeons are the same, dupes.5. Rag-doll physics. When you throw someone off a cliff you expect them to speed down it, not glide down as it seem. It seems,when you die or a NPC or anything dies, the carcass of that thing loses most of the gravitational pull on it. It literally glides down at less then a quarter of the speed it should be going at.Also, when you kill something, the carcass seems to lose all bones in it's body, it literally turns into a rag-doll which is not good. It looks sloppy and un-realistic.6. Leveling system. I have NEVER heard of a leveling system like this before. Advancing levels by advancing skills?That seems theoretical sound,but some quick math, and you see, if you can only gain experience from your main skills until they reach 100, and for every main skill it starts at 25 and you level up every time you gain 10 skill points, you can only level up 52.5 times without cheats and ,which is most stupid of Bethesda, they put the level cap at 225!Why?No-one knows.7. Interface. When you are walking,you feel like you a gliding effortlessly a few centimeters off the ground and when you jump, you feel like a feather caught in the wind. Only when you change to third-person camera, does it feel normal but even the third person camera is not excellent.8. The world. The world is green or white usually, and that's ok, but that's all it is, ok. On a rating of 1 to 10, I would give the world a 4, as it is monotonous except for the snow in the upper regions.9.The people. There is too little settlements that you can actually run into and are useful. They are pretty shallow people in personality as I already mentioned, limited voices. I mean, I once ran into an old lady with the voice of a mature female dark-elf that lives in Chorrol. In conclusion, I would say Oblivion is rushed and un-interesting. The world is a bleak, life-less area with a dull touch to the cities.But there is potential for the game,as I'm hoping Bethesda won't make such a **** game as Oblivion again.And P.S, I would re-think getting The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim as the games are too close together to be any good but I might be wrong and Bethesda might surprise even me with Skyrim.… Expand
  28. roboticsun
    Oct 8, 2011
    6
    Still do not understand why this game is so well received. It may be good for newcomers of this series, but it is neither as massive as daggerfall nor as fun as morrowind. The setting in this game is painfully average. The leveling system is broken unless you use mods to fix it. Quests are quite repetitive and there is not much story associated with those quests, so you end up with doingStill do not understand why this game is so well received. It may be good for newcomers of this series, but it is neither as massive as daggerfall nor as fun as morrowind. The setting in this game is painfully average. The leveling system is broken unless you use mods to fix it. Quests are quite repetitive and there is not much story associated with those quests, so you end up with doing the same things over and over again. The setting for the factions in this game is just terrible comparing to morrowind. In morriwind, you can establish social relations with different factions, and you can be smooth and slick with them to achieve a lot of benefits which is tons of fun. The factions in oblivion are just like a bunch of quest generating machines to extend the game time. Overall it's a good entry to elder scroll series but probably the worst elder scroll game.… Expand
  29. Eddyward
    Mar 11, 2011
    6
    Well, it's nothing compared to Morrowind. The world felt very small in comparison. The quests were very short, with the exception of the mains toryline, which couldn't have been more tedious. Oblivion feels rushed and they really could've brought a lot more things from Morrowind forwards. I was also disappointed to find the Imperial City was actually quite small, and was miniscule comparedWell, it's nothing compared to Morrowind. The world felt very small in comparison. The quests were very short, with the exception of the mains toryline, which couldn't have been more tedious. Oblivion feels rushed and they really could've brought a lot more things from Morrowind forwards. I was also disappointed to find the Imperial City was actually quite small, and was miniscule compared to some of the cities in Morrowind.… Expand
  30. Willybach
    Apr 20, 2011
    6
    Man, I've had a funny relationship with this game over the years. Really really wanted to love it. In fact practically upgraded my PC once just to try to play it as my initial set up could barely get 12 fps with distance drawing off. Downloaded hundreds of mods - all in an attempt to make the most immersive, in-depth fantasy world I possibly could. Ultimately this game is just anMan, I've had a funny relationship with this game over the years. Really really wanted to love it. In fact practically upgraded my PC once just to try to play it as my initial set up could barely get 12 fps with distance drawing off. Downloaded hundreds of mods - all in an attempt to make the most immersive, in-depth fantasy world I possibly could. Ultimately this game is just an unfortunate let down. Even years later after upgrading my PC for a second time, when checking out the game once more, I found myself strangely not enjoying the experience. I mean, I love fantasy, love the idea of an open world. Love RPGs. So why is this game so disappointing? Well, even with pretty good PCs this game will stutter and struggle. The world is very repetitive. Dungeons, extremely so. Combats simplistic. NPCs mostly boring. Plot, okayish. Spells and animations just not good enough. If people like this game, it's almost certainly down to the mods. The community is what made this game in truth. Let's hope they learn from this one (and the modders) and turn out a more polished game for Elder Scrolls V. (And a bigger, more interesting world please). I found myself trying Morrowind because of this game and then strangely hovering in limbo between the two, unable to really get into either - there's Morrowind with it's far more detailed and engaging world, its better systems and story-line - but after Oblivion's combat it's pretty hard fighting in Morrowind. Then after Morrowind it's likewise pretty hard to get into Oblivion's shallow world. Even with the quite outstanding mods out there like OOO, MMM and so many others... nice try, here's hoping someone makes the game I'm waiting for soon ....… 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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