Preview Oblivion hands-on preview at GameSpot

Vault Dweller · Feb 25, 2006

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

<a href=http://www.gamespot.com>GameSpot</a> has posted a <a href=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/theelderscrollsivoblivion/news.html?sid=6144923>hands-on Oblivion preview</a>, featuring statements like "Now NPCs have a bit more personality to them, and you can usually ask them for the latest rumors". Gotta love the GS people.
 
 
<blockquote>So, Oblivion's melee combat actually seems to resemble that of an action game with first-person combat, like The Chronicles of Riddick or Condemned, in that you'll be able to scoot forwards and backwards and immediately block incoming attacks.
 
 
That's right, blocking is now manually controlled, rather than randomly triggered by your character's skill level.
 
 
Apparently, Oblivion no longer uses an abstracted "to-hit" model based on your character's skills, so you won't have the frustrating problem of stabbing your sword right through an enemy's face, yet having that swing register as a "miss."</blockquote>The conclusion of all that goodness is...
 
 
<blockquote>So Oblivion looks like it's on track to deliver even more of the role-playing action that the series is known for. That will undoubtedly please fans, but this is also a game that should appeal to role-playing fans in general.</blockquote>???
 
 
 
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPG Dot</A>

Gnidrologist · Feb 25, 2006

Makes me wonder if previewer has palyed a single rpg in he's life.. ever. No, not played, even heard what kind of beast that is.
It would be equivalent to say in some fps game preview that ''now you don't have to carry a gun and shoot everything that moves, but instead you will now have to play pinpong dressed as an easter bunny... so it delivers even more fps action than ever before''.

Drakron · Feb 25, 2006

Likely ... no.

The major sites have been removing staff members that have some hot of having balls, in GS case the last one was their Jade Empire review.

Those sites are more about keeping the user base happy that informed.

agris · Feb 25, 2006

That has got to be one of the shittiest, trite hands on reviews I've ever seen. I've read papers trying to match English1101 assignment bulletpoints that had more 'information'. That review is a blowjob compared to the 'Gamers with Jobs' hands on. Gamespot sucks.

Pegultagol · Feb 25, 2006

Jason Ocampo usually reviews first person shooters, which leads me to wonder whether the GS just handed him this assignment to write something that will find some audience among action game aficionados. I guess it does a fairly decent job summarizing what I already know about the game, wish the site also had a video preview walkthrough type of feature though.

SanguinePenguin · Feb 25, 2006

Jason Ocampo almost always sounds like he never played the game in his reviews/previews. Part of the reason is that he is such a PC fanboy he gives a lot of "free points" to a title just for having a PC version. For example, he's completely oblivious to all the problems in Battlefield 2 and yet claims to play it all the time. Also, he gave FEAR a 9.0 despite being short and repetitive while it's counterpart, Condemned, was lambasted for those reasons by another reviewer.

Zinc · Feb 25, 2006

Drakron said:
Likely ... no.

The major sites have been removing staff members that have some hot of having balls, in GS case the last one was their Jade Empire review.

Those sites are more about keeping the user base happy that informed.

Greg Kasavin did the Jade Empire review and, as far as I know, he still works for GS.

Kasavin is the only reviewer I trust at GS, I hope he is the one who writes the Oblivion review.

Andyman Messiah · Feb 25, 2006

While showing a screenshot of Bethesda's take on The Sims 2 character creation, where you toggle details like "fins, eyes, cheeks and age", Jason writes:

Character creation is an incredibly detailed process.

"Incredibly detailed" for who, exactly? I don't want to meet those people. They'd scare me.

Edit: Finished reading it. It looks like we have a Morrowind 2 for sale soon.

Greatatlantic · Feb 26, 2006

Zinc said:
Greg Kasavin did the Jade Empire review and, as far as I know, he still works for GS.

Kasavin is the only reviewer I trust at GS, I hope he is the one who writes the Oblivion review.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/neverwin ... eview.html

Greg Kasavin said:
To set the record straight, Neverwinter Nights basically contains four different elements: the campaign, the toolset, the DM client, and the multiplayer mode. The first of these is the brunt of the game, and it's by all means a lengthy, highly entertaining D&D campaign. It's comparable with and in many ways superior to BioWare's previous RPGs--or any other top-notch RPG to date for that matter. If Neverwinter Nights offered nothing other than this campaign, it would still be one of the best RPGs to come out in years. If you're looking to buy Neverwinter Nights for a traditional role-playing experience, then this highly replayable 60-to-80-hour campaign, with its great story and countless optional side quests, won't disappoint you, despite having a few minor problems.

Sure you want to swear by Kasavin? Anyways, Ocampo is the PC editor and does a good portion of the PC reviews. Personally, I think the problem with a lot of these "professional" reviewers is they don't have time to actually play the games they review. Hence, you get reviews that read like a publishers bullet points, and thats because they probably are.

LlamaGod · Feb 26, 2006

highly replayable 60-to-80-hour campaign, with its great story and countless optional side quests, won't disappoint you, despite having a few minor problems.

aaaahahaha

Temoid · Feb 26, 2006

Not to derail, but several people on #rpgcodex also thought that NWN is brilliant, so it's not that rare of an opinion.

Greatatlantic · Feb 26, 2006

Temoid said:
Not to derail, but several people on #rpgcodex also thought that NWN is brilliant, so it's not that rare of an opinion.

If by several people you mean Volourn, I'd believe it. However, the Codex opinion of Neverwinter Nights is trash, at least the official campaign. Some might like some of the mods or the dungeon master mode, but no one is going to defend the OC here... except Volourn.