2007 July « the geek sandbox

I have just “completed” Oblivion, and I love the game so much I just have to review it. It may be a little late, considering it was released in early 2006 for PC (although several expansions have since been released, the latest one not too long ago), but judging by the bustling forum community, where posts are updated by the minutes, I can see the game is still really popular.

Review:

When I said I “completed” Oblivion, I really mean I “completed” the main quests section, which is like maybe 5% of the whole game. In fact I’m still going to keep playing, as there are still so much to explore.

The setting in Oblivion is much like any other RPG; planes of “oblivion” have appeared in various parts of the world, opening up gateways for the evil creatures to enter, threatening the whole world, and it’s up to the player (a mysterious prisoner who just got released at the request of a recently assassinated emperor) to save it. Of course that is just the gist. The storyline actually involves spooky daedra (some evil deity) worship, an illegitimate heir to the throne, a cult bent on destroying the current empire, and in all it’s enough stuff to keep the main quest intriguing.

Of course players of Morrowind (and earlier TES series for that matter) will know that one thing that makes TES series stand out is its incredible sand-box open-ended playstyle. You can do anything you want, visit any city, talk to anyone, do any quest, and whatever you do will reflect the game’s progress. In Morrowind, this open-endedness may have been taken a tad too far that players (including myself) can somehow lose focus of the game. In Oblivion, this has been vastly improved. While the player can still do *anything* he likes, there is a main quest involving sealing the planes of Oblivion, that seems serious enough to keep the player’s attention.

Gameplay:

Much of the game is not new to anyone. You choose your own race, select your birthsign (different signs grant different benefits), and then finally select your class. YOu can choose from a range of predesigned classes, or you can custom your own class, which I did.

The thing that makes Oblivion unique, is that different choice of classes will REALLY lead to a different experience.

My friend, who is currently playing Oblivion as well, chose the route of a magic-casting thief, while I decided to be fighter who specializes in close-ranged combat. Hence I would say our game experience overlap not more than 20%. Firstly, he does not play the main quest at all, unlike me, but is actively involved in guild activities. Secondly, because I am not a primary magic caster (I only cast simple spells like Flare and Minor Healing), I will miss out on several aspects of gameplay, as we approach quests differently.

And yes, you can choose not play the main quests at all, but still enjoy the full Oblivion experience. There are plenty of things to do apart from saving the world. You can be a man of justice and take down any bandits and rogue mages who threaten the security of the citizens, or you can break into the houses of the rich to help the beggars, or you can swear allegiance to the Dark Brotherhood, and kill anyone who stands in your way. You can join a vampire hunting guild and wipe out all the vampire dens for monetary rewards, or you can be a vampire yourself after being bitten by one, and enjoy stat boosts while avoiding the sun which can hurt you rather badly. You can spend your free time in between quests exploring the wilderness for precious herbs, or simply clearing stray caves and dungeons to train your combat skills.

Side Quests:

Of course, much of the game involves killing and fighting, but the variety of quests is big enough to make you want to do everything that is available in the game. See a cheap house in Anvil? Buy it, and realise the catch is that it is haunted. An heirloom is stolen in a castle? Investigate, talk to people and hunt for evidence. A renowned artist mysteriously disappeared in his studio? Examine one of his paintings and be sucked into the picture itself. Hungry for honour and prestige? Join the fighters guild and help them with their missions. Thirst for bloodlust? Take part in the gladiator’s arena challenge and slowly rise up the ranks, provided you do not get killed. These are just a few of the stuff I have done, and there is just so much more.

Other Improvements:

The AI is also a little bit better. No longer will they stand or walk around the same area, 24/7. They eat, they sleep, they go to work and they visit their friends in other towns. (This can be irritating if you want to look for them and realise they’re out of town.) They gossip with fellow townsmen, and different townsfolk talk to you in different ways, because each of them like you diferently.

Of course, like the previous TES (and Baldurs Gate / NWN series), whatever you do, you are subjected to moral judgment. You can’t break into a house with a guard looking, you can’t steal (the shopkeeper will go nuts), and you can’t murder, unless you are in the Dark Brotherhood or you are rich enough to pay a fine or risk going to jail and lose some skill points.

One new feature in oblivion is the “fast travel”. It was featured in TES 1 and 2, but taken out in Morrowind and replaced by some public form of transport. Players have a choice to manually walk from one place to the other, or simply click on the fast travel option and reach there in a matter of seconds (in real-time). Of course, exploring has its own benefits. It retains the RPG mood, it trains your Athletics skill, and 90% of the small towns, farms, abandoned mines, forts, caves, dungeons and the like do not show up on the map until you discover it on your own. So exploring is not so bad after all, since you can find rare herbs and discover new places to go.

Graphics / Sounds:

The vast available stuff to do aside, graphics wise Oblivion does not lose out. I can vouch for that, for the first 15 minutes in the game (before I switched to low effects to prolong the life of my miserable 7300 LE The wilderness is really quite impressive. You see different plants along the way, and even some wildlife, some of them aggressive. Although, I have to admit I’d prefer those bird’s eye view graphics, like Neverwinter nights and Age of Empires to this.

The sound effects are also great. I personally get spooked when I venture into places inhabited by ghosts and wraiths. And the sound of metal clashing and war cries during those huge battle scenes, on top of the appropriate battle soundtrack, makes you feel like you’re in the battlefield itself.

Gripes:

Enough of the pros, now come the cons. Oblivion is not without flaws – in fact it has several. The most glaring flaw of the game is its leveling system. The views on this system is somewhat divided amongst players. Those who like it appreciate the intricate complexities of it, those who don’t (like me) hate it because it takes the spirit of Role Playing out of the game.

Level System

Firstly, the monsters level up as you level up – hence you may not feel more powerful after all. This, however, is necessary because the game is so open-ended it does not know where you are going next. But this creates a huge problem. The leveling system is so complex, it took me well over an hour to read and understand fully. Let’s just say, if you do not plan your major skills properly, you will end up worse after leveling, and this problem accumulates as you level up, and before you know it you have difficulty surviving in even the most generic caves in the game, because, unlike traditional RPGs, you don’t level by gaining enough experience. You level by gaining enough major skill points. For example, there are players who choose Alchemy as one of their major disciplines, and level up based on their repeated potion concoction attempts (yes, you can use herbs and ingredients to make different potions, in an endless number of ways), and find that they are languishing behind in combat and offensive magic skills.

And to make things more complicated, there is some attribute bonus thing. In fact, an efficient way to level involves NOT training your major skills until you have trained enough of your minor skills. Which does not make sense at all! And careful planning may even require the use of microsoft excel. Of course, if you find the game too difficult, there is always a difficulty slider that can be changed anytime.

Repetitive Maps

Secondly, is the somewhat similar layouts of caves, dungeons, and, most irritatingly, the planes of Oblivion. There are 16 planes of Oblivion to seal in the whole game, although you only need to seal 2 to complete the game. Each plane offers a very valuable stone which can enchant a weapon, so naturally we will want to visit all the planes. I managed to seal 11 planes before I give up. The planes of oblivion are so similar, the minor, supposedly “unique” puzzle present in each plane do not make it more appealing. The same goes to caves and dungeons, which suffer from having the same design, and again, different map layouts and the minor mazes do NOT make it more fun. C’mon, a slight change in texture or monsters would have made all the difference! Luckily, the different cities each have their own style, so you can actually identify which city you are in, just by looking at the architectural designs.

Computer AI

A final, minor gripe, is the computer AI. This problem is present also in the GTA games which I recently played. While I am not a “solo kia”, I have to fight battles alone in games like these. The computer helpers are more of a hindrance, really. They can walk right in between the enemy and I, supposedly to help us attack, but in the end I spent much of my time trying NOT to hit my aides, lest they get pissed and attack me instead. Oh, and most of them die rather easily too. Also, the conversations between the NPCs can afford to be better crafted.

Furthermore, I encoutnered several “bipolar” NPCs. Now this is really funny. How should I explain? Let’s say I completed a quest while in an NPCs house. His immediate reply to me is “You can share the hospitality of my home. I am really grateful that you saved my life.” 5 seconds later, he is screaming for the guards as he thinks I am trespassing.

In another occasion, I broke into the house of a shopkeeper, and this woke him up. He screamed at me “Get out! You shouldn’t be here at all!” but clicking on the dialogue activation key, he immediately said “Shall I interest you in some of my finest wares? The cheapest in town, I assure ya!”

Other examples of bipolar NPCs.

You can see a town guard killing a robber or criminal, and walks away for a while, before running back to the body and squat down to feel it. Then he shouts “The body’s still warm. We’ve got a murderer on the loose!” and proceeds to pester everyone who is around for clues.

You can confront a person and ask him about a person named Thoromir and he will respond “Thoromir? I don’t know any Thoromir! Stop disturbing me!” One second later, he shouts “Hi, Thoromir!” to the person right behind you, prompting Thoromir to hiss “Be quiet! You don’t want other people to hear you right?” And then, you can stand right in between them while they are having this “secret conversation”, and they do not seem alarmed by your presence at all.

It’s hilarious but the AI can definitely improve.

Conclusion

All these, however, do not negate the wonderful-ness of Oblivion, and it’s really worth playing for any RPG fans. Just to prove my point, Oblivion has received outstanding reviews everywhere, and is awarded numerous “game of the year” and “editors choice”. It is not ranked Top 20 best PC games of all time (by Metacritic) for nothing. It is really way up there.

4 Responses »

Yesterday had dinner with a *huge* bunch of prev med and ex-prev med guys at Sakura. I was the only guy from my batch present over there, and having not seen like half of the people before, I was initially uncomfortable. Then, a couple of the new guys who have never seen me before, called me by my name. Turns out that the super unflattering photograph of me which was stuck in my cubicle has not been removed yet. Lol… I’ve ORD-ed for more than 1 year, and my face is still in the occ health lab. What’s this?! Anyway I asked them to take it down and shred it away.

The dinner was a good idea to catch up with people we haven’t spoken for ages. I guess I’m glad I got invited, flattered even. Just some stuff I discovered:

1) Many of us are studying chemistry / biology related stuff

2) Many of us are studying in NUS. So it means we’ll see one another quite often, hopefully.

3) Prev med has changed a lot. Now, extras are given out like fliers, and my boss is no longer in prev med.

4) David still hasn’t gotten a tattoo. (So it’s still just me.)

After which, the rest went for chatting session at Starbucks but I decided to go home because I am not from their batch anyway, and I wanted to go home and play my Oblivion lol.

In all, it was an evening well spent.

3 Responses »

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the geek sandbox

Caught the "latest blockbuster" today. Thursday, Jul 26 2007

School is Starting LOH!!! Thursday, Jul 26 2007

Oblivion Thursday, Jul 26 2007

Dinner @ Sakura Wednesday, Jul 25 2007

An Urban Legend.. Came True. Wednesday, Jul 25 2007

Harry Potter and the End of Story Sunday, Jul 22 2007

I Just Gotta Post This Link! Tuesday, Jul 17 2007

Note to Self. Friday, Jul 13 2007

Every Time I Breathe Monday, Jul 9 2007

Behold the worst game ever created. Sunday, Jul 8 2007

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