The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

• Platform: PC, Xbox 360
• Published by: 2K Games
• Developed by: Bethesda Softworks
• Release Date: March 2006
• Genre: RPG
• Multiplayer: No
• Online: No

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Preview

-- February 24, 2006 by: Chris Remo

"It's a big fantasy sandbox. It's a big huge open-ended world where we create all of these stories and characters and plotlines going on and then let you create whatever kind of character you want to be in that world, and jump in and really figure out what your role is going to be. We really try and define as much as possible what's going on, but not define who you are in the world."

That's the world of The Elder Scrolls in a nutshell, from the mouth of Bethesda Softworks' Pete Hines. "It's up to you to decide how much of the main quest you want to do," he continued. "Do you want to become a thief or an assassin, or both? Do you want to live this dual life of being an up and up mage but at the same time you're a member of the Dark Brotherhood and you're assassinating people for money? It's entirely up to you how you want to play in that world." I recently got a chance to play for several hours in that world, as well as chat it up with Pete to see how the highly anticipated The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360, PC) is shaping up. Oblivion is of course one of the most anticipated titles of the year for both PC and Xbox 360. It's following up on the success of the third game in the series, Morrowind, which introduced The Elder Scrolls and its world of Tamriel to a console for the first time and greatly expanded the series' player base. That gives Oblivion a lot to live up to, especially as it's also arriving fairly early in the lifespan of the Xbox 360 and is expected to be one of the system's premiere showcases.

One of the big reasons for the heavy anticipation facing the game is its visual achievement. The game looks very impressive. In games, it can be difficult to pursue a "realistic" visual style that still manages to come off as unique and evocative. Oblivion pulls it off quite well. The game is lush and detailed, and though it includes just about every modern graphical trick under the sun, one doesn't get the impression that anything was stuck in there simply to be able to add another tech term to a feature list. Really, in a game like this, that might get to be a bit much. Oblivion's world is so huge that a lack of graphical restraint would quickly become overbearing. As Hines notes, the world is some sixteen square miles in area; for reference, that's about the size of Manhattan. It's very, very big. The game is obviously graphically advanced, but not so showy that effects wear out their welcome. For example, there's HDR lighting, so you''ll some nice bloom and overexposure in certain bright areas, but you're not wandering out in a blown-out uber-high-contrast world.

Oblivion begins with an opening cutscene and narration by Emperor Uriel Septim, played with great gusto by Patrick Stewart; the emperor explains that the end of his life is drawing near. Much of the game's plot revolves around the hellish demonic realm of Oblivion, and gates to Oblivion have been opening throughout the world. During the narration, the player is presented with visions of the forces of Oblivion spilling over into Tamriel, evocative of some of the scenes of Mordor from the Lord of the Rings films. The perspective soon changes to a breathtaking bird's eye view of the game's Imperial City and surrounding areas, accompanied by an understated score of piano, winds, and strings. For those of you who keep up with the game music scene, composer Jeremy Soule is back for Oblivion after working on Morrowind.

You'll then find yourself creating a character, which is a fairly straightforward affair. The available races are Imperials, the "standard" human race; Khajiit, nimble catlike humanoids who can see in the dark; the Nord, a tough and industrious race; Orcs, which are, you know, Orcs; Redguard, dark-skinned naturally talented warriors; Wood Elves, aka Bosmer, competent scouts and archers; Argonians, lizardlike creatures with the ability to breathe underwater; Bretons, humans with a natural resistance to magic; Dark Elves, aka Dunmer, able to summon an ancestral ghost for aid; and High Elves, aka Altmer, masters of the arcane arts. You'll then choose your visual attributes such as hair, eyes, complexion, and so on. There are a variety of hair styles and colors, as well as a "length" slider. This allowed me to choose a curly hair style and end up with an afro, so I approve. There's also a slider for age, which adds more wrinkles and sags as you turn it up.

The game itself begins in prison, with an annoying inmate in another cell firing off a barrage of insults. As an example of one way the experience of the game differs from player to player, I first created a Redguard and had to suffer taunts about having no seas to sail or weapons to use. When I created an Imperial character later, my whole race was derided for being worthless, and I in particular deserve mockery for being imprisoned by my own kinsmen. If you play a female character, on the other hand, he's likely to hit on you. This is something that persists throughout the game; characters will speak to you differently depending on your race and gender. Anyway, whatever that guy says, he can't say it for long because soon enough the emperor himself comes to the cell with several Blades, his personal bodyguards. It turns out your very cell is in fact the location of a secret escape route, and the emperor for some reason needs to escape. Upon seeing your face, he recognizes you from a series of recurring dreams he's been having, and suffice it to say, you find yourself escaping as well.

The system of caves and passages under the prison essentially serves as both the "tutorial" for the game's mechanics as well as the rest of the character creation tool. You'll learn how to fight, cast spells, pick locks, harvest plants, perform basic alchemy, and so on. You also choose your birthsign from a list of thirteen possible choices; this will grant you a particular bonus ability or stat depending on which you choose; for example, you can choose a base increase to Strength, or you might choose the ability to become invisible for a certain period of time once per day. Finally, you must choose your character's class from a list of twenty-one, or even create your own. An NPC will suggest one based on how you've handled the situations so far; for reasons utterly beyond me, I came off as "a very experienced Bard."

When asked if that approach to gradual character creation was part of a deliberate attempt to make the game more accessible, Hines answered that greater accessibility wasn't so much a deliberate goal as a natural side effect of improving and refining how the game works. "Whenever you set out to do a new game, there are a number of things you're trying to achieve," he explained. "There are an awful lot of things we were trying to improve and do better, and inherently whenever you do something better and make it more fun you're opening yourself to a wider audience. It's not just a 'Hey, let's make this game accessible for people who have never played games before,' but if you do things that are smart and you make smart decisions, then by default it makes it easier for those people to pick up and play. It does reduce the learning curve." That's definitely important in Oblivion. Morrowind was already known as being overwhelming for some people and Oblivion layers on more and more, so a certain amount of easing the player into the world goes a long way.

Turn the page to learn about the combat system and the rest of the world!

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