One way to spend a week... or two.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was Game of the year in 2006, three years later it is still a must buy for all xbox 360 owners and RPG lovers alike. What makes this game so superb, is that it does so many things well, from the massive open-world, spectacular visuals, awesome controls, and the engrossing story that you can't help but see to the very end, this game will keep you hooked for a minimum of 30-40 hours.
The epic story starts with a monologue from the Emperor of Cyrodill, Uriel Septim, in his monologue he talks about the opening of the "jaws" of Oblivion which is basically hell in the Elder Scrolls universe. After the cutscene and monologue you go to a screen where you start to create your character's appearance and race. Now there are several different races to choose from, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and special skills and powers which gets the player making some rpg-esque decisions right out of the gate. After you finish creating your character you find yourself in a prison cell, recieving slanderous comments from the prisoner in the cell across from you. After the prisoner stops talking, the emperor and his gaurd come into view at your cell door, you soon learn that there are assasins about trying to kill the emperor and that there is a secret passage the goes right through your cell. I know what your thinking, "why is my character in prison?", well I am here to tell you that you will never learn the reason why. Now back to the game, the gaurds open the secret door and you follow them through kinda a tutorial dungeon that teaches you the controls and prompts you to choose the star you were born under which determines a unique special power you get or unique condition or handicap. Towards the end of the dungeon you a recieve a quest from the emperor that ultimately starts the story, after that you choose your class, which is probably THE most important character creation decision you will make, because it determine which seven skills will be your major skills, these major skills are important because your major skills will be higher than your minor skills and because of Oblivion's unique leveling system you will only increase your level by increasing your major skills. There are a bunch preset classes to choose from which are either focused on fighting, magic, or stealth. If you don't like any of the preset classes then you can choose to create your own class and choose your own set of major skils. At the end of the dungeon you are asked if you want to change your race, star, or class so if you made a decision that you want to change then you can. After you are all set with your character you exit the dungeon and start your own adventure.
After you finish the tutorial you can do whatever you want. If you want to continue with the story, go for it.. If you're not into the story, don't fret because the game never pressures you into continuing the story. If you instead want to fight enemies then you can head over to the arena and be a combatant or join the fighters guild. You like magic? then join the mages guild. Is character a total badass? then be an assasin in the dark brotherhood. If you have a case of kleptomania you can join the theives guild and fence your stolen items because merchants won't buy them. If you like owning property then you have the option buy a house in each major town. For those who just like finding wicked cool items then Oblivion has got you covered because there are daedric artifacts to earn and a sh*tload of dungeons waiting to be looted.
With all the great features in this game there are but a few things in the game i was not too fond of, such as the leveling system, because every time you wish to gain a level you must stop what you are doing and find a bed to sleep in. There also some minor glitches that easily overlooked. The gameplay and framerate will slow when the game is loading the landscape but that is expected with how absolutely massive the game world is. Now i am not sure if this is just with my copy of the game but if you play the game for an extended amount of time, it sometimes freeze completely and you have to restart your system.
This game is truly how an RPG should be and in the future should be the minimum standard at which all Role Playing Games should meet.
