"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" was launched in March to eager fans around the globe. With its stunning environments and rich content, Oblivion has quickly become the hottest title on XBox 360 and one of the best-selling games on PC, according to the NPD Group Inc.
In a recent announcement, Maryland-based Bethesda Softworks LLC boasted that since its release, Oblivion has sold more than 1.7 million units. This has been accomplished in less than one month on store shelves.
Oblivion’s achievement also adds to the long list of winning role-playing games (RPG) exclusive to XBox, showing that Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) seems to be ahead of the curve as the genre has steadily risen in popularity.
In a recent posting on San Diego-based Sony Computer Entertainment America’s Web site, freelance author Matt Lachlan discussed “Why RPGs are fast becoming an unstoppable force in today’s gaming market.”
Unfortunately for Microsoft’s chief competitor, Sony’s Playstation has not seen a recent RPG title that has garnered as much attention nor sold as quickly.
So what’s the secret to Oblivion’s success?
With a mixture of deep content and stunningly beautiful landscapes, Bethesda has created a rich gaming experience for players. This is the same winning combination fans of the Elder Scroll series have come to expect. New players, however, may find themselves overwhelmed at first. For as dazzling and well-made as it is, there’s a bit of a learning curve involved with the game.
Fortunately, unlike Oblivion’s forerunner “Morrorwind,” players are not simply dropped on a dock and let loose to have at it. Oblivion has a brief tutorial that sets up the story as well as explains some aspects of game play. That being said, Oblivion could have done a bit more hand-holding to help out new players. While the game does show the basics, there is a lot that players are left to figure out on their own. Adding in some simple tool tips would have gone a long way to solve this problem. Instead, players are forced to read a manual to discern what certain cryptic icons mean.
One of the major letdowns in this game series has always been the user interface (UI). Unfortunately, Oblivion has not made any improvements in this area. The UI in Oblivion is awkward -- especially so in the PC version. While not necessarily game breaking, it does somewhat detract from what is an otherwise impressive game.
Despite these flaws, Oblivion still remains a credit to the genre and well worth the accolades it has received, especially regarding the amount of content this game has to offer. Each quest has complete voiceover work, and it has been stated by Bethesda that there is more than 50 hours of dialogue in the game.
In addition to the superb voice acting, Oblivion also features music from Jeremy Soule, the award-winning composer of such games as “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic,” “Guild Wars” and “Neverwinter Nights.” Soule’s music really lends itself well to the overall immersion of the game.
Bethesda is also trying something radically different with this game. As if the amount of content that shipped was not enough, for around $1.99 each, players can download additional material via XBox live or the Web. In addition to new quests, these “official plug-ins” also offer players, new areas to explore as well as different ways to customize the experience --such as the first plug-in, which gave players the ability to add armor to their horses.
No matter if you’re a fan of the series or just an aficionado of the genre, I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of the "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" available now on XBox 360 and PC.
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