The Elder Scrolls 4 - Oblivion is one of the games that you can literally spend months playing. ES4 was developed by Bethesda Studios, the makers of the Elder Scrolls series. Released in March of 2006, it was to be the epic tale of 2006. As it turned out, it became an instant hit with Elder Scrolls lovers, Hardcore Gamers, and even people who were new to the series or gaming.
Story
The story to Oblivion, which is what I will refer to the game as from now on, takes place in the land of Cyrodiil. When the king of Cyrodiil commands you to find his son, you take up the quest, and he is immediately assassinated. You are given the Amulet of Kings and are set to find and give it to the rightful heir to the throne.
Making your Character
You start off by choosing your race. Out of the many different races, only 1 is best for the type of gamer you are. Let's say you wanted to be a hardcore barbarian. You would choose the class that would most fit with that job. Maybe you aren't so gung-ho, run into battle yelling "I want your head!". Perhaps you want to sneak through the shadows, then stab your enemy in the back with an enchanted knife. You would choose the class that would best suit that. It all comes down to what you want to be.
The choice of classes is amazing. With the ability to choose what skills your character specializes in, the possibilities are almost endless. Each choice you make about your character can affect how it does in combat, how fast it runs, or how well you can sneak. Once you pick your race, you are set to pick your character's features. Let me tell you, the possibilities are ENDLESS. You can make the tiniest tweaks to anything you want, you just name it. Jaw, nose, mouth, cheeks, lips, eyes, brow, chin, forehead, ears. If it's on the face and you can name it, it can be changed. You can even change how big the bags are under the eyes of your character, if any at all. You can then change how old the character looks, the style of hair, the length of it, the color! Anything you want! You can have your character have glowing hot-pink hair, or have hair that is so dark and wispy, it looks like shadow itself.
As you venture through the first level of the game, you get to customize your character even more. You get to pick your starsign, which determines what your character will be good at. You can either pick your class from an assortment of pre-made classes, or be daring and create your own. You can choose between abilities for your class like Destruction (Fireballs, Ice Shards etc.), Heavy Armor (A ton of defense), Blade (Makes you better with a sword/axe), and Restoration (The art of healing). Note that these are only a sample of what can be chosen.
Graphics
Once you get out of the sewers (The first level of the game), you literally want to go and cry, it is so beautiful. The sunlight, the trees, the water rippling slowly against the shore, all amazingly beautiful. The graphics are some of the best I have ever seen in a video game. The amount of detail put into Oblivion is only that of what a game design master can do. Each leaf, each blade of grass, each drop on the water, the engine has so much potential, and it uses it to the fullest. The facial expressions are also amazing. When a NPC is happy, their brow rises, the corners of their mouths form a smile, and their eyes open wider. When a NPC is angry at you, their brow furls, their smile becomes a sneer, and their eyes are close to slits. It is all an amazing experience.
....I hope your computer can run it... *Cough*
What?
Nothing, Anyway...
Quests
As you progress through the storyline, you get pulled off into side quests. Hundreds of them. You really can't get bored with a game like Oblivion. You can do things like close Oblivion gates, go through the random dungeons scattered throughout the world, retrieve objects for people, do the chores the army doesn't want to do. The many side quests offer an escape from the main storyline, which is an amazing chain quest leading to a terrific ending, a perfect setup for the numerous expansions available. If you don't want to quest, just explore! There are several randomly placed dungeons throughout the land of Cyrodiil that are just fit to explore.
The main quest involves finding the heir to the slain king of Cyrodiil, then completing quests for him. You must retrieve different items and talk to different people so he can gather materials and give instructions on how to defeat Dagon, the evil lord, and how to close the gates to Oblivion once and for all. It is a chain quest that will leave you waiting for that expansion to arrive.
