The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Pros

• Massive RPG world
• Practically unlimited player choice
• Highly moddable game

Cons

• Has aged as most 3D games do

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is an action role-playing game featuring a massive open-world.

The Elder Scrolls is an iconic fantasy setting that’s served as the backdrop for numerous video games, including three modern 3D action RPGs, an MMORPG and a collectible card game. Oblivion is a 3D action RPG and the follow-up to Bethesda’s smash success Morrowind. The game featured a massive game world at launch, and that world was expanded via two expansion packs: Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles.

What sets Oblivion and other games in the ES series apart from other games like them is their open-ended nature. There’s usually a main heroic quest, but you can choose not to follow it or follow it at your leisure. There are numerous side quests and guild quests to enjoy as well as areas to explore, monsters to defeat and secrets to find that aren’t linked to any known quests.

The other thing that sets Oblivion and other ES games apart from other RPGs is the mod community. Bethesda has always embraced modding and even provides creators with a creation kit. Through this kit, the community can overhaul graphics, create new game mechanisms, design original quests, give life to new monsters and NPCs and so on and so forth. Modding alone is why a game like Oblivion is still played as much as it is so many years after its initial release.

Like other RPGs, Oblivion features attributes, skills, hit points and spells. It also has classes in a sense, but these classes are little more than loadouts designed to help new players or let established players roleplay. Creating your PC is up to you. Choose gender, race, face, body style, skills and much more, and then set out not to follow the story but to create your own.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remains a great game. For those revisiting for the first in years or perhaps playing it for the first time period, there are some things to consider. Skyrim improved on and refined the ES model in many ways, and of course, the faces and animations all seem a bit odd nowadays. The good news is that mods are always an option to overcome any aspect you feel is a game-breaker.

Pros

• Massive RPG world
• Practically unlimited player choice
• Highly moddable game

Cons

• Has aged as most 3D games do