The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360)

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Description

A lowly prisoner has been cast into the depths of the dungeon in the Imperial capital of the province Cyrodiil. The fate of this prisoner suddenly changed when the Emperor Uriel Septim descended into the prison with his guards, fleeing from unknown assassins who have already slaughtered his children. But even an emperor cannot escape his destiny. Before the last assassin delivered the lethal strike, the old emperor entrusted the prisoner with the Amulet of Kings and asked him to find his illegitimate son, the last of the Septim bloodline. The Septims and the Amulet are the last barrier between the continent Tamriel and the dark dimension of Oblivion, and the delicate balance is threatened by the Daedra Prince of Destruction, Mehrunes Dagon, the prisoner being Tamriel's only hope.

Oblivion is the fourth title in Bethesda's Elder Scrolls series. The game sticks to the style of its predecessors featuring action-based combat, first-person and third-person views, and vast free-roaming environments. The player's chosen race and class determine the abilities the protagonist has in the beginning. The game allows the player to develop multiple types of characters without being limited to a specific role.

The advancement system, as was the case in previous games, is based on skill usage. When the player repeatedly use one of the skills, it improves. NPCs offer training (for a price) to help in advancing to the next stage. In time the protagonist can become an Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert and Master and gain certain bonuses for the skill. The skills of the foes are "levelled" to be approximately equal to or slightly above those of the main character.

There are numerous side quests which help the hero advance his or her abilities as well as gain fame. The player is free to roam the world without a particular goal, exploring towns, forts, caves, mines, and old temple ruins. Visiting shrines scattered around Tamriel grants the protagonist specialized skills, some permanent and some temporary.

Weapons and armor wear out with use and need to be repaired either with the help of special non-playable characters or by using an appropriately trained Armorer skill. Enhanced items (weapons, armor, clothing, rings, amulets) abound in the game for protection, resistance, reflection and special activities like walking on water, exploring underwater, becoming invisible or lightening the load. It is possible to open the gates to the Oblivion realm to grab their sigil stones, which can be used to make enhanced items. Higher-level mages can create their own spells, and enchant weapons, armor and clothing using filled soul gems in addition to sigil stones.

As opposed to Morrowind, mana points gradually regenerate over time, without the need to rest to replenish them. Active blocking has been added to melee combat. The game features full voice acting for all the NPCs. Dialogues typically contain less topics than in Morrowind, but more responses unique to different characters. In addition, the so-called "radiant AI" system makes characters follow their own schedules, engage in various activities or talk to each other regardless of the player's input. The game features fast traveling, allowing the player to instantly visit Cyrodiil's major cities or previously explored areas.

Screenshots

Alternate Titles

• "上古捲軸4：遺忘之都" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
• "上古卷轴IV：忘却之地" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
• "TES4" -- Common abbreviation

Part of the Following Groups

• Animals: Cats
• Elder Scrolls series
• Gameplay feature: Alchemy
• Gameplay feature: Character development - Repetition
• Gameplay feature: Fishing
• Gameplay feature: Journal
• Gameplay feature: Lock picking
• Games made into books
• Middleware: FaceFX
• Middleware: Gamebryo/Lightspeed/NetImmerse
• Middleware: SpeedTree
• Oblivion series
• Physics Engine: Havok
• PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits releases
• Technology: amBX
• Technology: FaceGen

User Reviews

Clear your calendar...	John Marquart (3)
Great game for the xbox 360... just don't "over" play it ( 6-10 hours are fine ... just don't go overboard)	Todd Bello (32)
Greatest game on the consoles	lord of daedra (63)
You will play for hours. Say goodbye to the girl.	Lord Dayin (11)

The Press Says

Thunderbolt Games	Apr 19, 2006	10 out of 10	100
Yahoo! Games	Mar 23, 2006		100
GameZone	Apr 03, 2006	9.7 out of 10	97
XboxZone (Australia)	Mar 04, 2007	9.5 out of 10	95
Planet Xbox 360	Apr 12, 2006	9.5 out of 10	95
IGN	Mar 24, 2006	9.3 out of 10	93
Gamigo	Apr 10, 2006	9.1 out of 10	91
GamesAreFun.com (GAF)	Nov 02, 2006	9 out of 10	90
RPGFan	Apr 15, 2006	90 out of 100	90
GamePro (US)	Mar 24, 2006		90

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Odd inclusion in game groups.	8	hydra9 (3851) Sep 08, 2009
The Real Barenziah	13	Indra is here (19702) Oct 08, 2008
Glowing faces?	3	Daniel Saner (2473) Dec 28, 2007
Perspective	10	St. Martyne (3562) Dec 26, 2007
Term overrated gets a new meaning	20	אולג 小奥 (169687) May 26, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cancelled PSP version

A PSP version was in development and planned for release in the Spring of 2007, but it was eventually cancelled with no official word.

Development

The game has been in development since mid 2002. The long period of development was necessary due to the implementation of a new Radiant AI system and the graphics. A player may encounter while travelling the world of Tamriel: 35.544 shrubs and bushes, 67.730 plants and mushrooms, 94.013 trees and fallen logs, 395,696 rocks and about 1500 NPCs.

DLC

As a part of Xbox Live's Deal of The Week, Bethesda Softworks released all Oblivion downloadable content for half the price in April 2009. For Horse Armor however, the price was doubled, proving that Bethesda didn't take the criticism against their first DLC pricing too seriously.

ESRB

On 05/03/2006, the ESRB re-rated this game from T (Teen) to M (Mature) and added a "Nudity" attribute because of a secret topless skin that is present on the game media and because there is allegedly more blood and gore in the actual game than shown in the video footage that was originally presented to the ESRB for rating.

This is the second Take-Two game that has undergone an ESRB re-rating, the first one being the notorious Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

German version

One book found in the property of a killed necromancer, called "Wälzer des Unlebens" in the German version, contains just bloody drawings of symbols. In the German version, they were replaced a sentence describing the symbols.

References

The 'Shadow over Hackdirt' quest makes several references to one of the most famous novel by HP Lovecraft: The Shadow over Innsmouth. There are references to the 'Deep Ones', the Brethren, a whole town of suspicious people, caverns underneath the earth and so on.

References to the game

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was parodied in an episode of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. It was published on the DVD of issue 08/2006.

Title

By highlighting certain letters, it is made clear in the menu menu that it is no coincidence Bethesda chose the title "OblIVion" for the fourth main game in the Elder Scrolls series.

Awards

• Computer Games Magazine
  • March 2007 - #2 Game of the Year 2006
• GamePro (Germany)
  • February 01, 2007 - Best Console RPG in 2006 (Readers' Vote)
• Games for Windows Magazine
  • March 2007 - Game of the Year 2006
• GameSpy
  • 2006 – #8 Game of the Year
  • 2006 – PC Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
  • 2006 – #2 PC Game of the Year
  • 2006 – #10 Xbox 360 Game of the Year
  • 2006 – PC RPG of the Year
  • 2006 – PC RPG of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
  • 2006 – Xbox 360 RPG of the Year
  • 2006 – PC Mod of the Year (for Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul)
• GameStar (Germany)
  • Issue 12/2008 - One of the "10 Coolest Levels" (for "A Brush with Death" because it connects simple technical variations with a big passion for stories. )
• Golden Joystick Awards
  • 2006 - Ultimate Game of the Year
  • 2006 - PC Game of the Year
  • 2006 - Console Game of the Year
• PC Powerplay (Germany)
  • Issue 02/2007 – Best RPG/Adventure in 2006
  • Issue 03/2007 – Best RPG/Adventure in 2006 (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by EboMike, karttu, Mad Griffith, MDMaster, PCGamer77, piltdown_man and tata_lu_stefan_cel_mare

Related Web Sites

• Adamantytowa Wieża (Polish site devoted to the Elder Scrolls series.)
• Alex's Oblivion Guide (Solutions and strategies on HonestGamers.com)
• GameFAQs Files (Collection of guides and FAQs contributed by GameFaqs users)
• GamePressure Guide (Another strategy guide for Oblivion)
• Oblivion Hint File (Solution to Oblivion in question and answer format.)
• Oblivion Official Site (at Elderscrolls.com)
• OXM UK's oblivion forum (The UK Official Xbox Magazine Oblivion forum.)
• Planet Elder Scrolls (The biggest collection of Mods, articles, screenshots and discussions related to the Elder Scrolls Series)
• TES4: Oblivion - Portal (Community, forums and news on this Fan site.)
• The Elder Scrolls (Official website for The Elder Scrolls series)
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Source (The resource for all things for Oblivion. Here you can find the TES4 Construction Set.)
• Universal Hint System File (Provides solutions in question and answer format.)
• Washington Post Article (Contains some history about Bethesda and the making of Oblivion.)
• Wikipedia (The Elder Scrolls IV article at Wikipedia)
• Wiwiland (Biggest french community about the Elder Scrolls, especially Oblivion and Morrowind.)
• X360A achievement guide (X360A's achievement guide for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.)