Oblivion - including The Shivering Isles

Anyone playing this? Opinions on it?

Game of the Year if you ask me or just about 90% of people playing it. Take Morrowind, remove all the stuff that wasn't so good or was tedius, step up the graphics, sound, voice acting, storyline and side quests, and you have Oblivion. If you're even considering this game, don't hesitate to pick it up.

A couple of things to mention is I'm playing the PC version. Also, I never got to far with Morrowind because the travel times, among other things, slowed the game down way too much for me.

I haven't gotten to far yet in the game. I'll try to check back here to try and answer any specific questions if you may have any.

I'll pick up the 360 version at lunch. Stay tuned

I have played a certain MMO since 98 and this will be my first single player RPG. Should be interesting.

my only RPG-type games has been KOTR and City of Heroes, though i've seen my friends play a little bit of WOW and DDO. is this game like a single player version of WOW?

Based on what I have read, it's a single player version of WoW except that:

The graphics are stunning. Leagues above what I have seen in any MMO.

The NPCs are actually smart. Using tactics against you that you would not find in the MMO du jour. I watched a vid cap of a guy getting bow kited by an NPC out in the wilds. And another of a bar fight that broke out in a tavern while the player stood and watched...

Similar to certain MMOs in that you have the freedom to go wherever and do whatever you like, but the story and world is much more interactive in Oblivion than any MMO. I'm a WoW addict, but a single player version of WoW would be boring, they really are 2 different animals. I'd almost call Oblvion an Adventure/RPG/FPS hybrid.

OK, I picked this up. Played a bit last night. Couple observations. The NPC / Player models are ugly. That is really my only complaint so far. Other then that the visuals are truly stunning.

Made it out of the sewers and headed over to the retired 'blade' guy who sent me to the town that has been overrun by the evil that spawns from the portals.

I head into the remaining portal to close it up and meet one of the guards in there. I tell him to follow me and we start heading over to try to find the other survivors. At that point we both get slaughtered by fire tossing NPCs. They make very short work of us in fact.

Any tips for this part of the game?

wow, i just checked some online reviews, and it's getting 9's and 10's. pretty impressive. gamespot gave it a 9.6

It's absolutely stunning, EricW. Best game I have played in a LONG time. Damn thing sucked me in for about 6 hours last night.

It has definately sucked me in as well. It's the first thing able to pull me away from WoW for hours on end, quite an accomplishment.

I agree with the ugly NPCs comment. I had trouble making my own character look good, there's too many options for customizing looks for me. But, if you have the talent and patience, I have seen screenshots of some really incredible characters. I haven't seen it myself yet, but apparently my buddy made a near perfect replica of his own face, but on a Dunmer, that looked good enough to make his 5 year old run screaming out of the computer room

As far as tips for that part of the game, I have none yet. I've been taking it so slow I'm not even on the main quest line yet beyond the initial contact at the priory. I've been having too much fun working on some side quest stuff and just traveling around taking it all in.

I'm equally impressed at how this looks and runs on my system, which by today's standards is midrange (A64 3200+/1gig/X800XT). With just a bit of graphics and ini tweaking, I'm able to play the game looking like this...

Click for the 1600x1200 version.

The tip I got about the main quest line was "Wait until you are higher level".

If you want to have a bit of fun, do the arena stuff in the main city. It's a real hoot. Make sure you do the quest for the orc in the arena training area first though.

Actually, I started doing the main quest right away and it's been fairly easy so far. Although I'm currently level 17, I played the main quest sporadically, in between various side quests, and just exploring the countryside. But it wasn't hard, even at first, playing as a level one warrior.

But therein lies the rub. As I said, I'm a warrior, and this guy has ungodly strong attributes. The guy's a tank, and was a tank even at low levels. But if you play as a mage, or a character not necessarily as strong, you may find it a bit harder in the beginning. I've found everyone has a different experience with this brilliant game, due to the way they play, but also due to the type of character they've created.

Another thing to keep in mind, though, is that enemies level up along with you. So even if you wait to do the main quest as a higher level character, the enemies will also have leveled up along with you. So waiting might not be the answer. Although, many people like to save the main quest until last, and I can certainly respect that.

Man, the character models in this game sure border on "fugly."

I try to keep my avatar looking the same in every RPG I play, and this is the first time she's been a short-haired, dark-eyed, Goth-esque brunette, rather than the voluptuous, blue-eyed, ponytailed hot blonde she's been in Morrowind, both Dungeon Sieges, Diablo 2, and Guild Wars (although EVERYONE looks like a glamorous movie star in that MMORPG). She's also a stealthy assassin in leather armor, rather than the heavily-armored "tank" I usually role-play in these games. Nothing makes her happier than picking off distant unsuspecting monsters with her trusty bow.

In the few cases where she's been detected lurking in the shadows, it's especially hilarious hearing attacking NPC's death threats cut short by an arrow through the throat.

My character's just been walking around and clearing out the caves and forts and ruins she happens upon and accepting the random quests that are asked of her. After 15 actual hours of gameplay since I bought the game a week ago, she's only level 4, but she has closed one of the Oblivion gates in the main quest already. Like I said, she takes it slow, but I love how the main quest can actually creep up on you when you're not even looking to start it.

The little touches are terrific. NPCs across the realm have thanked her for closing one of the Oblivion gates, yet she was so badly treated by the residents of a small village she uncovered that I was screaming at the screen "Don't you know who I am? I closed one of the Oblivion gates! That's right, I've been through HELL for you people, and this is the thanks I get?" (A little poking around showed that there was a LOT more going on than met the eye).

I'm LOVING this game...

I play Theif/ Theif - If you are of a mind to, do the Dark Brotherhood quests. REALLY nicely done.

I finished the main quest last night after approx. 41 hours of play.


Warning Spoiler! Click to show

I've done quite a few side quests, but there are still a ton more to do. My Warrior is getting really strong now, but I'm looking forward to having more adventures, but now as a semi-retired hero. Really loving the game. So much to do! But now I can do them at a leisurely pace, now that a lot of the urgency is gone.

I've been gaming for longer than many of you have been alive and I can say, without reservation, that Oblivion is the finest game that I have ever encountered. I say "encountered" at this point of my life because my reflexes aren't what they once were and my main fascination with games at this time involves the visuals, the action, the sound tracks, the game play, the concepts and the overall execution. On a competitive level, my Grandkids can whip my butt.



That said, I love experiencing these games to see how they draw you in. I marvel at the graphics and generally will accomplish what I want by using walk-thrus rather than spending endless hours figuring everything out. At this point in my life the joy is in making it through the main story and then, if I'm so inclined, to try out some of the side story lines. I was already an adult when PONG came out and experienced all the early text-based adventures and the crude graphics of early computers. Needless to say, when gaming entered the "Myst" era I was drawn into these fantasy worlds.

While I like to experience almost any type of game I never was a big fan of RPGs. I was more interested in First Person Perspective Shooters (Half Life 2 was a personal favorite) and anything that allows one to explore like Myst, et. al. Most RPGs tended to get bogged down (to me) with endless details and were never my cup of tea but I certainly can understand why people with more patience than myself would be drawn to such a genre. For me, RPGs were something I usually chose to ignore.

That is, until Oblivion hit the shelves and smashed all barriers. Bethesda has taken the beauty and sounds of Myst, the first person perspective (if that's your desire)of Half-Life, etc. and the intricacies of RPGs and have come up with an amazing world that is both focused for those of us who like direction and open-ended for those who like to explore almost endlessly. And for the first time in a very long time I don't really see the need to use walkthrus to serve my needs. It is perfect for the older, slightly slower gamer (me) and for the younger and more agile adventurer. If this is the state of gaming today (10 out of 10 as far as I'm concerned) I can't wait to see what games will look like 10 years from now!

I'm currently running the XBOX 360 version of the game on my 1080p 58" HP set, taking advantage of the 5.1 sound track (amazing) to complement the visuals. It is a demo quality experience all around. In fact I like this game so much that I'm going to purchase the PC version for my state of the art Laptop (Dell XPS M170 with NVidia 7800 Ultra graphics, etc. etc.) and output the native 1080p to my 1080p HP monitor for comparison purposes (and to take advantage of the mods currently limited to the PC version.) That way I'll not only be able to enter the world of Oblivion whenever I want, but Oblivion will be able to accompany me in my world as well.

Outstanding!

Great writeup Robert, I agree fully

I'm well beyond what you'd consider an avid gamer... gaming freak by my own description I just can't get enough of this game, and I have barely scratched the surface as far as I can tell. I just spend so much time exploring, noting things I want to go back to check out some day, chatting it up with all the townsfolk I encounter.

The only thing I'm unhappy about right now is that I just ordered up new system components for my PC, and now I don't want to play until I build the new system so I can see this puppy in all it's glory!

I'm already planning my second run through the game, and I fully intend that to be with an Assassin type so I can experience this stuff. I expect it to come out an entirely different game.

Methinks this one will keep many of us busy for a long time to come.

Dave,

Absolutely! This game draws you in like nothing else I've ever experienced. It's reason enough to either get an XBOX 360 or to upgrade one's computer.

Habit forming is an understatement. More like an addiction.

Does anyone around here Remember the ROberta Williams series Kings Quest?? #5 in Paticular drew me in big time.. I will have to check this game out... Thanks for the little review Rafster....

Yes, of course, Steve. Roberta Williams' great creations for the fledgling Sierra company at the time were great adventures. They were state of the art for their day (late 80's, early 90's) and Oblivion is a natural outgrowth of that and many, many other fine predecessors. Those of us who experienced the King's Quest series are drooling over Oblivion.

Thanks for reminding me of those games. If you were a King's Quest fan you must try Oblivion, Steve. Trust me on this one.

Heard great things about this one. Then I saw it in action. Wow! Amazing graphics, and what looks to be a lot of juicy single-player depth. I'd be afraid to sink my teeth into this one... I'd hardly get any sleep. This is just the sort of game the XBox 360 needs to attract the non-"military wargame" crowd.

Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder ...

I think Q 5 was the first graphical adventure that really convinced me that it just might be ok to put down the pen & paper once in a while and hole up with a computer for an RPG fix. What a top notch game that was.

Put me on the list of Kings Quest series fans that are loving Oblivion. And if you're a fan of some of the older stuff, check out the link above. It's a site called Abandonia, a great resource for all the oldies but goodies.

My new hardware arrived yesterday, and I'm taking my time with a clean install. Already one night without Oblivion and I may be seeing signs of the DT's!

High-res Mystery house was my first adventure. The Wizard and the Princess followed that. I was hooked.

Oblivion is the first game to suck me in like the old adventure games in many years.

I too am floored with Oblivian. The details are extraordinary. This is the king of adventure games.

You'll like it. If you are looking to get a game, this is a good one to get. I have enjoyed it quite a bit for as little as I have played it.

i finally got this last night after hearing so much talk on this thread only a few hours into it though. i wouldn't say the graphics blew me away (that honour goes to Ghost Recon AW) but they're good. in terms of gameplay, it's not so much like a single player version of a MMORPG, but rather like Jade Empire or Star Wars KOTOR but much, much bigger and open-ended.

I finally got the PC version of Oblivion yesterday so I can compare it with the 360 version. Both versions are excellent and each has its strong points.

To me the graphics on the PC look a little better (when cranked up to maximum resolution on a high end PC) and I like some of the controls a bit better (specifically some of the shortcuts you can take with point and click). But some of the other PC controls are a bit kludgy to me (like Removing stuff from inventory requiring a SHIFT + keystroke instead of the single button on the 360.) However, I like the single numerical keystrokes to add items instantly on the PC, so its a wash.

I haven't yet fed native 1080p from my PC to my 1080p TV monitor (HP MD5880n) and since there are family obligations this holiday weekend I probably won't get to this until next week. But I'm loving the ability to have Oblivion on the XBOX 360 and also having Oblivion on my high end laptop for "on the go."

It's not my intention to give a blow-by-blow comparison review of all the similarities and differences between the two versions since that would cut into my game time.



Suffice it to say, you get the true Oblivion experience with either version. In summary - the 360 version is more convenient as a finished product and the PC version has the ability to add lots of mods and be more open-ended and malleable. (XBOX Live might add some of these features to the 360 version later on). And, of course, you get those marvelous tool kits with the PC version for the creative ones out there.

Two thumbs up for both. I guess that would be...

Re: Oblivion

Hey RAF,

I just started Oblivion.... Got out of that dark Dungeon... So how do I use a sword that I found?? Or a Torch??

Also , I would love to download King's Quest V... Where could I get that??

Re: Oblivion

Steve,

You go into your inventory (Tab key and then move around the sub menus until you find your equipment) and then click on the item you want to equip yourself with. That's for the PC version. For the XBOX 360 version you get to the inventory via the "B" (red) button and then move around with the triggers and the joysticks until you finds what you want. Then you select the item with the "A" (green) button.

At the start of the game the first few "quests" are, like many games, training missions where you learn how all this is done. And, of course, you can always bring up the menu and go to the OPTIONS screens and look at the CONTROLS to see what's what.

I'm playing both versions (PC and XBOX 360) of Oblivion and loving both. After a few minutes it's so intuitive that I don't even think of the controls.

You can also go to a lot of different sites (I usually go to Gamespot.com) to get their strategy guides where they discuss controls and a lot of other stuff. Here's a link to the guide.

Which version are you playing? How do you like the graphics? They are astounding on my high-end PC and, of course on my XBOX 360 with HD output scaled up to 1080p on my HP MD5880n.

Gotta go. Time to close another Oblivion gate!

Oops. I almost forgot to answer the King's Quest V question. Someone posted a link a while back (I think) but I can't find it. I, too, would be interested in finding KQV once more (I looked through my old CDs and could only find KQVII.)

Maybe a member out there can chime in with a source??

Thanks.

Re: Oblivion

things i didn't know until 30hrs into the game :

-using the d-pad to switch items (like toggling see-in-the-dark helmet's and normal helmets, torches)
-using the left bumper button to pickup/drop stuff (kinda like half-life)