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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is truly an incredible game.  The development team wanted to create a brand new world in which you can do anything you like, and they have succeeded by far.  Whether only playing the main storyline for a feel of completion, or going through every sub plot to make the game worth your while, Oblivion should be in any RPG fan’s collection.

Customization is an important concept in the game.  From the start, you choose one of ten races, each with their own special traits and skill bonuses.  After the race is chosen, you can spend quite a while tweaking the features and colors to create a unique character.  As you progress through the opening dungeon, the choice of a birthsign and class will become available, which determines your major skills and abilities.  You are able to take this character for a test drive until you exit the dungeon and have the option of keeping it, or making changes.

Oblivion’s level up system is unique compared to most other RPGs.  Instead of gaining experience points for each kill and leveling up when a certain amount of experience is achieved, you level up based on skill-ups.  For every ten points of your major skills that you skill-up, you will receive a message suggesting that you sleep and meditate on what you’ve learned.  Upon finding a bed and going to sleep, your level will increase, allowing for expansion upon your attributes.  The only downside to this system is that the skill-ups are somewhat random, leaving you with little control or knowledge of when you will level up.

Sound is an interesting aspect of Oblivion, which heightens the gameplay.  The sound effects and voices don’t cause any problems, but it’s the music that is really interesting.  During normal game play you are accompanied by orchestrated music that will turn somewhat intense when confronted by enemies.  This is actually quite helpful, as you sometimes wouldn’t know you are being stalked by an attacker without the assistance of dramatic music.

The controls work very well, as they pull you into the game rather than making you feel like an outsider watching the action.  The camera and movement control is very fluid and easy to use, allowing for focus on the action at hand and the mechanics take little time to get used to.  You can change the camera to third person, but it is normally set in first, giving you the feeling of being right there in the game.  Every time you’re hit, stunned or paralyzed you won’t just see it; you’ll feel it.  

There is one button for attacks and another for use of magic.  This might seem basic but the attack button is sensitive to your input.  Different pushes of this button will lead to different types of attacks, so you can take one swing, attack rapidly or hold it down longer for a power attack.  The magic button will cast one magic spell you currently have selected, which appears at the bottom of the screen; however you won’t have to constantly cast the same spell over and over.  The D-pad serves as eight hotkeys to which you can assign different weapons, armor, spells and items, allowing you to easily switch between these without going into the game menu.  This seems to work out okay, but there are so many articles from each category that many more hotkeys would be nice.  This of course might not be possible with the limited amount of buttons on the 360 controller.

One drawback to Oblivion is the loading time.  While it isn’t a huge hindrance, it can slow down gameplay, turning you off to a quest or fight you may be in the middle of.  When entering a new area, the game has to load it.  Now this is something we are all used to by now but these load times can vary between an acceptable two seconds and a very annoying thirty seconds.  Granted, that doesn’t sound like a lot of time, it can feel so when trying to get through a door to follow someone to finish a quest.  Occasionally the 360 will have slight problems with frame rates and loading new sections of an outdoor area.  Moving across fluid water and grass tend to slow the game down a bit and can be distracting or even frustrating at times.

There is a lot to say about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but if there is only one game you will buy for the XBOX 360, this should be it.  Oblivion is very profound and well developed.  Meant to be another world for you to live in, it goes far beyond your normal RPG.  Although there is a main plot that you are meant to play through, the game can really go on forever.  A large amount of side quests will keep you entertained for a long time, making Oblivion as immense as any MMORPG.