The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Roleplaying as it is supposed to be

If you ask a random person, “What is the best roleplaying game you know?”, nearly everyone will say World of Warcraft. But WoW is quite a poor roleplaying game! Just what is a real roleplaying game? A game in which you play out a role, usually a role of choice, and enter a world. Now, in a real roleplaying game, the most important factor is choice. you should have a choice for everything you want to do. Do you have that in WoW? If you’re a rogue, can you choose to just sneak past all mobs, and kill the boss using a highly poisened dagger? No, you are forced to follow a very linear gameplay. One mini-boss after the next.

If someone wants you to retrieve a ring from a cavern flooded with goblins, what would you do? In wow, you would kill off every little goblin that’s in your way, and then pull the ring from a chest or mud. Or maybe loot it off the corpse of some kind of elite mob. In Oblivion, you choose your way. Maybe you want to use magic and stealth to sneak passed all the mobs, or maybe you want to kill them off with high-powered balls of fire! Or maybe you’ll put on your heavy armor, grab your enchanted warhammer, and crack some skulls. And maybe you won’t kill the elite at all, but just pickpocket him from the stealth! OR maybe you’ll hit him with an enchanted bow so you paralyze him, then summon some monster, and cast some spells on the smaller mobs to fight for you! Or, maybe you’ll even just kill the quest giver from the very start, and take the quest reward without actually doing anything in the first place!

Oblivion offers many different playstyles. you could become an adventurer, seeking out caves for valuable ancient artifacts. or you could become a highly skilled mage, and become the head of the mages guild. Or maybe you prefer sneaking into houses at night, stealing their precious belongings (note: you don’t want to get caught here, cause the guards will send you to jail). Or maybe you’ll become a vampire, and cause havoc throughout the world of Cyrodiil. Or maybe you’ll become a wealthy noble merchant, buying low, selling high. Or maybe you’ll become a skilled assasin, working for the Dark Brotherhood, sneaking into houses to slay their owners, enjoying the smell of fear, and the taste of blood. Or maybe you’ll become the grand champion of the imperial arena, casting fear into the harts of your opponents, and bringing joy and adrenaline to the spectating citizens of the imperial city! The possibilities are nearly endless!

Personally, I prefer being sneaky. My sexy female imperial, head of the thieves guild, and listener of the Dark Brotherhood, is extremely skilled in the art of alchemy; creating valuable potions to get rich, or usefull potions to become nearly invincible, or even create deadly poisons to kill my enemies with a single slash.

I dare claim that Oblivion is the best roleplaying game out there. But there is one thing that everyone misses, especially with all the MMORPG-hypes: online functionality.
There is no mode, no modification, no option, not even a chance or possibility to go online with this game. Which is something that most of the Oblivion players regret. Though I must say that it would ruin my entire trust in the world of Oblivion, if some kid was going to “own” me with some “h4xor” skills. Which means that he got himself some rediculously overpowered armor and weapons, pump himself up with perfected potions and poisons, and shield himself behind stealth and magic shields.
Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned it’s extremely complex lighting! Truely, once you play this game, your entire concept of a “beautiful game” will be altered.

So, my final conclusion: I highly recommend Oblivion to anyone looking for a good RPG, but who can live with the fact that he can’t “own” other players with his “l33t” skills.

Article by P-Luke