 Review By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Bethesda Softworks |
| Publisher: | 2K Games | |
| Genre: | RPG | |
| ESRB: | Teen | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Hard Drive (caching) |
So why did I use the phrase “gut it out?” Simple, by far the game’s biggest flaw is the horrible load times. Everywhere you go, you’ll encounter load times. I’m not just talking about the ones found in Morrowind either (every time you enter a building or new area), but now they’re in the middle of the wilderness. The graphics are so detailed, the world so lush and vibrant, that the game will pause to load up new areas on a fairly regular basis. That includes objects and buildings fairly close to your area as well. For example, if you’re looking at an area where a church exists, from a certain distance you won’t be able to see it at all. Then if you move in closer, chunks of the church will suddenly appear out of nowhere. Naturally, if you’re out in the wilderness this makes it nearly impossible to navigate using landmarks alone, since you can’t see them (even though you can see the exact spot they should be standing) in many cases!
It’s not just limited to buildings however, as the loading even extends to the terrain itself. As you look into the distance, brown and green blobs with a smattering of trees, instead of the actual contour and vegetation of that specific area, represent land not in your immediate vicinity. As you move closer to a specific area, the ground will slowly change to one several different stages of detail and eventually fill in completely. It’s a common technique (drawing things in the distance with much less detail), but it’s still not appealing and definitely jarring whenever your immediate surroundings are so lush. Smaller vegetation not part of the ground itself is even worse, as you’ll literally see entire fields painted a few feet in front of you as you travel through them.
Although I would’ve rather had less detail in exchange for fewer and/or shorter load times, it’s still hard to complain too much when the game looks this good. Oblivion has the best trees and foliage I’ve ever seen in a game, and buildings you come across in the wild are as detailed as any found in the city. Even with the minimal detail far away, the game produces some genuine jaw-dropping moments as you stand atop hills and gaze far off into the distance. When you’re standing still, as the screenshots attest to this is probably the best-looking game of all-time. Not only that, but the ability to fast travel to different locations means you’re forced to walk far less than in Morrowind, meaning the frequent load times don’t come into play nearly as often.
Combat has been improved over Morrowind, but it’s still not perfect. Weapons are used with the right trigger button; press it quickly to perform a quick attack or hold it down for a more powerful blow. As you improve your skill in whatever weapon type you’re using, you’ll gain access to new and more powerful attacks activated by using the trigger along with movement in different directions. You can also block by using the left trigger. Blocking is more effective if you actually have a shield equipped, but even a weapon can be used for less effective blocking. Unlike Morrowind it’s important to time both your attacks and blocks, since an effective block can stagger an opponent and leave them open to your counterattack.
So while there’s now some skill involved, the combat system is still not perfect. Fighting multiple opponents can be tricky, particularly in tight spaces where the camera doesn’t always provide the optimum view. It’s also a little too easy to hit friendly NPCs in battles involving multiple participants, and the game still doesn’t really take into account what area of an enemy’s body you’re hitting. In my experience, a headshot with an arrow counts exactly the same as anywhere else on the body.
Of course, you don’t even have to pick up a sword if you don’t want to. Should you choose to be a mage (or at least have some spellcasting ability), you’ll find casting easy and intuitive via the right bumper. There are dozens of spells to choose from, but to help handle this Bethesda implemented a hotkey system. Various spells, items, and weapons can be assigned to different slots in the ring of slots, which can then be pulled up at any time by using the d-pad. Although you can use it for items and weapons, given the nature of my character I used the hotkey system almost exclusively for spells. Unfortunately the number of slots is fairly limited, so I still found myself repeatedly having to go into the submenus to find the appropriate spell or item I needed. Hopefully, in the next Elder Scrolls title we’ll see a multiple ring system ala Secret of Mana, or at the very least more slots.
Posted: 2006-05-19 19:00:15 PST