Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls
Because I know little to nothing about game mechanics and I haven't yet completed the game, this will be more of a summary then a review but hey, it'll be tremendous fun won't it. You bet!
Well, probably not.
The game is set in the fictional world of Cyrodiil, consisting of about a dozen small towns separated by a vast countryside. As well as the towns many shops and houses which you can access at will. The countryside hubworld also has plenty of caves and old buildings to explore in which the players curiosity will often be rewarded with bonus items and hidden treasures. It would take at least 6 hours of playtime just to identify all the landmarks on the map and who knows how many more to explore them in full. It all looks lovely too,for a game released 4 years ago the games graphics haven't aged badly at all.
Aside from the first hour of playtime in which it is compulsory to play through the opening to the games main quest line, the player is free to do whatever they want from then on. Whether they want to join the various guilds, run menial errands for the townsfolk or simply explore Cyrodiil, is left entirely up to the players discretion. I've personally put in about 15 hours of playtime and I've barely touched the main quest line.
The game also boasts a levelling up system. How the players character levels up depends on which of the ten species he chose to play as at the start of the game. For example. If the player chooses the Imperial, his character will level up based on your use of combat and speechcraft whereas if they pick a Wood Elf, the levelling up would depend on your use of your bow and magic. The player can also customize their character, from their gender to the size of their head there is a wealth of customization options on offer. Unfortunately this means the player will be forced to fight the temptation of making their character look like a character from Tod Browning's Freaks rather then the saviour of a civilization.
Case in point.
And that's pretty tameThe combat is also incredibly varied and although the player can get by with just a sword and a shield this would limit the combat to a monotonous hack and slash format. The player is given the chance to mix things up by utilizing magic spells and potions to temporarily enhance there weapons and character statistics depending on the situation. For instance, if you are fighting one of Cyrodills inexplicably homicidal mud crabs you may choose to temporarily up your resistance to disease or give your weapon an electrical kick ( According to RPG law you are always vulnerable to electricity if you live in the water. Even if you are not in water at the time).
The game is also host to hundreds of characters, however, this is not necessarily a good thing. Even though the developers filled the game with so many different characters, they apparently thought casting just 7 actors would be more then enough. Although the actors try there best to add individuality to their performances with inconsistent accents and varying tempo & pitch, all the characters pretty much sound identical. Even with the presence of Sean Bean & Captain Jean Luc Picard himself, Patrick Stewart the game is devoid of any memorable characters. Well. I quite enjoy spending time with Ongar the Weary who greets me with 'I'm tired, I sure could go for a nap' every time I see him, probably on account of him never actually going to bed.
Even though some of the side quests require the player to shift between hero and villain, there is no moral consequence and I was left (And still am) emotionally detached from the game, the aforementioned character problems only make matters worse, as does the horrifically stilted and nonsensical dialogue. The main questline is also the least interesting part of the game and to be honest I couldn't care less whether Brother Martin reclaims the throne or not.
Now, I've already mentioned that I'm no expert on game mechanics but I will say that the team combat scenarios are incredibly flawed. You'll watch in awe as your team mates run haphazardly into the line of fire and swing wildly at the air and you'd better make sure your TV is insured when they casually walk in front of your sword mid swing, because you'll throw the controller at the screen out of sheer frustration. What's worse is that if your team mates happen to BE The Imperial Guard and this happens, you'll find yourself going to jail.
Much like the police in the GTA series, The Imperial Guard act as your foil in the event that you go crazy and start killing the townsfolk or get caught stealing.If you do they'll offer you the chance to go to jail, pay a fine or resist arrest. Both paying the fine and going to jail come at a cost for the player, whereas resisting arrest for the most trivial of crimes will see approximately four hundred of Cyrodiil's finest attempting to hack you to pieces all the while psychotically screaming 'WHY. WON'T. YOU. DIE!'. Personally, I feel being run out of town for accidentally picking up a pair of garden shears a bit excessive, but that's the law.
The sheer size of the game means the game is victim to frequent loading screens, most noteably when you are roaming the country side or entering a city for the first time. I also found the back and forth nature of some of the quests to be tiresome.
With this being said, Oblivion is by no means a bad game. It's just a very flawed one. It's always fun and the sheer amount of independence and customization on offer here is amazing. It may not have the emotional impact of Bioshock or the Legend of Zelda series, but it's still involving and there are some genuine touches of brilliance(A surreal mission where you journey into someones dream is a personal favorite) to make you forgive its occasional shortcomings and it'll keep you busy for a long time.
It's a shame that because of the 'flaws'you're not enjoying this as much.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I found with Oblivion was that it really is up to you how you play it. Therefor it becomes bespoke to the player, as you can choose just how much of the main quest you'd like to be involved in and because the rest of the game doesn't rely on the main quest to move you forward you can end up picking and choosing what (side)quests you'd like to do next. This in itself could be why you feel "emotionally detached " from the game as it's down to the player how heavily involved they want to be. The player is left to chart their own course through the game, creating their own story which is vastly more rewarding than most games, which strike along a linear path, due to the fact it's personal to each and every player.
The more time you invest in it's world, the more deeply involved you become, coming to understand 'Cyrodills' politics, lore, geography and history. These slowly draw you in and make you care about the world as a whole, reviewing/summarising this after only 15 hours seems a little premature, like reviewing Everest from base camp.
You also have to take in to consideration that when this was released it was the first 'open world' RPG to really give the character a physical presence within the game (rather than just a walking statistic) with combat focused on your actual skill and not just your character's abilities/equipment.
In terms of it's technical short comings, a game of this size and depth, made by a relatively small developer with a modest budget was always going to suffer at some degree. The fact that these can be ignored whereas in other titles flaws such as these would be 'game breaking' is testament to it's strength as an over-all package.
The game achieved massive commercial success bringing what is essentially a traditional hardcore RPG to a mainstream audience and to players who may not have experienced this sort of game (Me). Had Josh have invited me to play D&D I would have laughed at being that 'geeky' however here I am 127 hours later.
You seemed to have missed the point of this game and are analysing it from the wrong perspective, in the words of Cyrodill's finest, "Don't talk such rot"
P.S, maybe the Mudcrabs just fucking hate you.
Despite the non linear structure of the game you still end up in the same place. Sure you can take a different road, but you'll always end up in the same destination.
ReplyDeleteBasically, your actions have no consequence. Whether you embark on a quest to rescue a mans children or save a city full of people, it's all irrelevant in the long run. Because once your quest is completed you resume being the annonymous stranger you were at the start, with the key characters in that quest no longer even recognising you.
As for lore, politics and history. It's far from immersive. Although I admire the effort, the books are dull as dishwater and contain nothing a bored English student couldn't come up with. Of course, you can also question the people. But once again, the tiresome voice acting just makes it a chore to listen to.
I like to be heavily involved in every game I play, so why couldn't I get involved in this one?
Because the people of Cyrodiil are so damn boring and colourless, that in turn the world becomes just that.
Sure, the people of Cyrodiil stop to talk to each other on the street, but these aren't conversations we're hearing, just random lines of dialogue. One character will say something and the other will say something that has no relevance in response.
You see Cyrodiils people have no purpose in life other then to walk the streets aimlessly. Every day. Forever. It's a world devoid of any kind of intimacy.
Again. I like the game. I like it a lot, but it's just not as involving as I'd like.