MacDork :)

Ok, so as a complete n00b to the Elder Scrolls series, I was completely meh about the impending launch of Oblivion. As the day approached, I watched some of the videos IGN posted on their site, and most of them were of the “Here’s me walking aroundâ€? variety. Having played it for roughly 4.5 hours, I have to say that I’m glad I bought the thing. It’s really gotten into my head, and I’m pretty sure I’m hooked (though it’s too early in the morning for me to be certain).

In this post, I’ll discuss my pre-purchase concerns and talk about why I love the game in my next posting.

First off, my reservations were based upon the fact that the character animations were all really ’95. Having fallen for GRAW, I’ve come to expect (among other things) a high level of realism and immersion from my console games. The way the characters move in GRAW, you actually feel like you’re looking at a person running. When you move the character on-screen, it takes a slight second for them to change direction — they don’t immediately face the direction you point them in. In Oblivion, however, watching characters animate is like stepping back into PS1-style gaming.

Not every animation is lame, but take the example of raising a glass; in Oblivion, the arms move from dead at the character’s side to full-speed arm-raising. Realistically, you should see an accelerated movement. It may seem like a minor gripe, but considering how long the game’s been in development, and that there are tons of games that’ve gotten it right, it sticks out to me.

Next, my other reservation was the whole first-person fantasy gaming point of view. First person seems to work really well for FPS games — having a gun sitting out in front of me makes sense. For whatever reason, when there’s a sword and an arm in front of me, it just bothers me. It just takes me back to the days of King’s Field for the original PlayStation. While I really, really liked King’s Field back in the day (1996), I was pretty much done w/ that whole first-person rpg fascination, and wasn’t really hyped about doing it again — particularly when the npcs animated the same as they did in King’s Field.

Along the same lines, battle in first person is really kind of … iffy. It’s not completely broken, but wtf? Zelda on the N64 created the target lock — why don’t I have that here? Prior to buying the game, I watched a few battle sequences where I noticed that NPCs completely dodge attacks and disappear off-screen. In WoW, if someone tries to circle strafe, I can easily see which direction they’ve gone. In Oblivion, I tend to lose track of them — most likely, to be fair, because I have a shield up and am trying to block their attacks. Still — why can’t I lock on to a target? Jeebus.

Right, so having bitched and moaned: I love this game. Those were my concerns PRIOR to buying it. Yes, I’m a sucker for packaging, so yes — I even bought the collector’s edition. The bonus material included in the collector’s edition is a decent paper map, a brass-type coin of significant heft w/ some guy’s head on it, a booklet w/ tons of backstory that I haven’t read, a “Making of/History ofâ€? DVD and special packaging.

My concerns w/ animation and combat are still valid points — they do diminish the game *a little*, but the game’s so engrossing that I’ll save my positives for the next post.