The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion™, made by Bethesda Softworks LLC, a ZeniMax Media company, is currently out for sale for the PC and Xbox 360. The game has been in development since 2002 and is another leap forward in role-playing with its combination of freeform game play and cutting-edge graphics. Oblivion is the sequel to the best-selling, award-winning role-playing game, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind®.

I’m just going to jump in and tell you a little bit about the game. I found that you can play and complete the main quest at your convenience. This is in tradition with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind®.  You can complete freeform quests, guild quests, or just explore for hours and hours without ever starting the main storyline. One bonus I found while playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion™ is that you can have ten, twenty, or a hundred open quests without ever feeling pressured to complete them. Did I say a hundred? That’s right; The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion™ has so many quests that you will easily be playing the game for over 160 hours. I know because I have played and beat all of the faction quests, main storyline, and several miscellaneous quests. I have yet to finish all of them.

There is a real sense of accomplishment when you fight or forge your way to become the Guild Master of a faction. Unlike The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind®, where your intelligence has to be a certain level to move up in the mages guild, there are no such restrictions in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion™. Plus, if you are willing to pay a little market place points you can download new quests and even armor for your horse.

I know I haven't even talked about the actual game play or what it looks like, so here it comes. It is BEAUTIFUL! The world is amazing. It has sunny days, foggy days, snowy days, and rainy days. You can stand on top of a mountain and look down at the different cities or jump to your death. The NPC's in the world will interact and sometimes fight each other. Just because you are not in one of the towns doesn't mean that the people aren't talking. I've actually listened to guards and pickpockets talk about their jobs. It's rather odd for a pickpocket to tell a guard that he looks like a thief but by god I have seen and heard it.  I have heard some people say that they don't like the combat play in the game. I found it to be rather easy to learn and use.

I hate to do this with such a beautiful game but here is the bad news.  My brother was the first one of us to notice that when it is raining out, the rain will fall through objects.  So, you can be standing outside under an archway and the rain will still be falling on you.  Small detail but they should have had that fixed when you see how wonderful the game looks.  My biggest complaint is that the Oblivion causes the Xbox 360 to lock up.  Nothing pisses you off more then to be exiting a cave from a long dungeon crawl only to have the game lock up.  My advice: save and save often.  I found that one quest needed to be completed backwards in order to actually complete it.  I don’t want to give away what quest it is but you can find it in the Tips & Tricks section of this web page.

The Good
+ Interaction from NPC to NPC
+ Beautiful landscapes, architecture, armor, weapons, NPC’s…Ok, it’s all beautiful
+ Hours and hours of fun and differing game play
+ Quests that will make you laugh and cry hell they will become a part of you
+ Becoming a god and killing all non essential characters in a town

The Bad
- The rain falling through objects
- Waiting for the next game download to come out

The Ugly
- Damn console crashes
- Did I mention console crashes and loosing all of your progress because you forgot to save?

I would go on, but I think it would be best if you just watch this preview. It may take a while to load but it’s worth it.