Review Computer Games disappointed with Oblivion

[Kraken]

Having everything level up as you do is just laziness. Instead of actually having to balance the areas and think things through, Bethesda just took the easy way out.

 

[Shagnak]

Yep, the levelling thing is totally fucked.

I went into Oblivion via the gate at Kvatch when I was 2nd level.
It was ridiculously easy.

It left me wondering how on earth the mighty demonic forces from beyond the gate could raize the city to the ground when a total n00b like my character could just walk into Oblivion and lay waste to all and sundry. Ridiculous.

 

[Micmu]

Yes. And they also wear DAEDRIC ARMOR

You're shitting me?

I am not. When you hit level 20 (with a fighter, this is very fast), daedric armor pieces start appearing as regular loot and on NPCs.

 

[Rhombus]

So much for the epicness of it. In Morrowind you atleast had to kill daedras and other such high lvl monsters, and they might have dropped a piece if you were lucky... I never found a whole set in one game... appearantly now everyone and their mother has them when you're above lvl 20.

 

[Twinfalls]

This is a fiasco.

 

[Nutcracker]

Yep, the levelling thing is totally fucked.

I went into Oblivion via the gate at Kvatch when I was 2nd level.
It was ridiculously easy.

It left me wondering how on earth the mighty demonic forces from beyond the gate could raize the city to the ground when a total n00b like my character could just walk into Oblivion and lay waste to all and sundry. Ridiculous.

So let me get this straight - Level 2 n00b walks into Oblivion ,starts pwnz0ring daedra left right and centre. It begs the question why they needed you (the hero) when Captain Picard could have just grabbed any old joe off the street and handed him a sword..."Make it so". Or more to the point, any half-assed soldier, let alone the entire army of Tamriel.

Conclusion: the game is a steaming pile of shit.

 

[kris]

Seems like I have to close the gates before I am to powerful to succed... uuh wait...

 

[Rhombus]

You will have to be lvl 2 though to be able to complete the main quest..

 

[fizzelopeguss]

It left me wondering how on earth the mighty demonic forces from beyond the gate could raize the city to the ground when a total n00b like my character could just walk into Oblivion and lay waste to all and sundry. Ridiculous.

Yup, The forces oblivion sent out in my game (at lvl 4) were "stunted scamps", i nearly pissed myself laughing when the guard came running up with the "omigod! 2 strong 4 us!!1" dialogue.

DAEDRIC ARMOR - which was a super secret armor for explorers in previous TES games.

there was only 2 sets of the stuff in morrowind right?

 

[Gwendo]

Finally someone with the balls to not go along the marketing machine of Bethesda.

Bethesda is all about hyping, marketing and bluff.

I had already mentioned that in this forum, about Morrowind, which everyone jumped on me. But I guess Oblivion just confirmed that I was right.

 

[Micmu]

Yup, The forces oblivion sent out in my game (at lvl 4) were "stunted scamps", i nearly pissed myself laughing when the guard came running up with the "omigod! 2 strong 4 us!!1" dialogue.

I pissed myself laughing when I noticed that those nasty looking Dremoras (which supposed to be elite daedric warriors in previous TES games) go down much easier than little Scamps and Clannfears.

there was only 2 sets of the stuff in morrowind right?

Yep. And now you can go in practically every dungeon and find this stuff. Which is all RNG - much more than in MW - rare, high grade equipment was never randomized (except for weapons & shields on dremoras/golden saints). This means you can reload and re-enter the dungeon and you find an ebony or even daedric cuirass in a random chest instead of an iron one, for example.

 

[Claw]

I went into Oblivion via the gate at Kvatch when I was 2nd level.
It was ridiculously easy.

Yet many people complain it was too hard. I would like to see someone who had trouble with a lvl10+ character try again with a character going straight for this gate, just to see how the claims that the different experiences are a result of varying player skill hold up.

 

[Vault Dweller]

It's OK. Is it good because you like the "low" score or you honestly feel this is a well-written review? It hits the mark on some points and completely misses others altogether, along with the score not representing the text at all.

It's good because it doesn't ignore the glaring issues, thus giving the readers a better idea what the game is like. The score is fucked, but hey, nothing is perfect.

 

[Twinfalls]

The official TES boards are going ballistic over the levelling thing.

Is this true? Do wolves actually disappear entirely (or mostly) from the world once you reach a certain level, to be replaced by bears?

And are there no bears at all until you are a certain level?


Yes, that's EXACTLY how it works..for a while it's kind of mixed but then wolves die out for some reason and are replaced entirely. Same happens with the rats..at the lowest levels there are only rats, then wolves start replacing them..and later bears get replaced by lions at even higher levels. Clearly Bethesda didn't study biological evolution as much as they studied soil erosion..

What you dont seem to be realizing is that this game is exacly the same as morrowind at those high levels if you build strong characters... only unlike morrowind you cant even have a decently balanced game world in the low levels.

Exactly!
Lets take Umbra for you know know what that is.
In MW the orc holding umbra was one mean mofo...kicked my ass because i wasnt high enough level to challenge him. Which is good, because after i leveled up some i came back and managed(barely) to slay him and clame umbra for myself.
Without spoiling, i can say that if you find her when your low level, you will be able to kick her butt around the floor while you laugh at her for being just as strong as your level 1 char, eventhough she is supposed to be a great fighter(has to be to even have umbra).
In my book that doesnt go for fun.
Why redo something which worked perfectly in the previous games? why not just improve the old leveling system?
Yes why not indeed...

 

[Kraken]

Clearly Bethesda didn't study biological evolution as much as they studied soil erosion..

Pure gold.

 

[Twinfalls]

I also liked this thread title - Daedras are noobs

 

[fizzelopeguss]

Thieving

I've been reading that it's rather pointless to be a thief, breaking into shops etc to steal items, because said items will always be what's 'appropriate' to a person of your level, and you'll get similar items by fighting bandits, which you'll have to do at some point anyway.

Is this the case? If so, what's the point in risking breaking into somewhere and stealing?

Roleplaying. This is a roleplaying game, you know, not some strange construction for overachievers.

So you like to roleplay a thief who pointlessly breaks into places with nothing valuable to steal? Do you roleplay a retard?

 

[xemous]

i have great taste in games

 

[Bossman]

I remember seeing a poll on the TES forums where players were asked whether or not they would have bought the game had they known about the infamous level scaling system (remember, it's not mentioned in the manual or in any preview materials)... 34% said no. Sad

It's good because it doesn't ignore the glaring issues, thus giving the readers a better idea what the game is like. The score is fucked, but hey, nothing is perfect.

Well, I fucked the score so that it would perfectly scale with your expectations for the game, Bethesda taught me that one :D

Later edit: The Gamer's Prayer.

 

[Brother None]

Heh. Imagine if they had made it multiplayer.

A multiplayer game in which everyone's power scales to the strongest player.

Oh, the glory!

 

[Bossman]

Sounds kinda like communism, doesn't it? :D

 

[Brother None]

Sounds kinda like communism, doesn't it? :D

Yes, it does. I have a question for you, though:

"A nice feature in Oblivion is the fast-travel system, with which you can instantly move from one location to the other, if you’ve already visited it once personally that is."

Why is this mentioned in every review a "feature" worth mentioning? Fallout 1, now 8 years old, had the exact same bloody thing. Is the only reason we're so happy with it because we no longer have to go through the horror that was travelling in Morrowind?

I also agree with the notion that your grading and your review do not "click". Realise that a lot of people barely read reviews and give a lot of value to the numbers on them. Many players just check lists of reviews and maybe read a few random ones and all they'll see in yours is the 8.4, a good grade in all.

Of course, it is scaled to the rest, in comparison to the infinity of 100%s out there 8.4 is indeed a harsh grade.

 

[Bossman]

I have a question for you, though:

"A nice feature in Oblivion is the fast-travel system, with which you can instantly move from one location to the other, if you’ve already visited it once personally that is."

Why is this mentioned in every review a "feature" worth mentioning? Fallout 1, now 8 years old, had the exact same bloody thing. Is the only reason we're so happy with it because we no longer have to go through the horror that was travelling in Morrowind?

Well, yeah, that's pretty much it

I also agree with the notion that your grading and your review do not "click". Realise that a lot of people barely read reviews and give a lot of value to the numbers on them. Many players just check lists of reviews and maybe read a few random ones and all they'll see in yours is the 8.4, a good grade in all.

Of course, it is scaled to the rest, in comparison to the infinity of 100%s out there 8.4 is indeed a harsh grade.

Well, if it was up to me, it would have gotten a lot less, somewhere around 70-75, but that would have reflected the value of the game just for myself. And since I'm not alone in this world, that didn't quite cut it. I opted for a slightly higher score, which shows that the game is decent, but writing the review so that you also got to know the fact that it also has flaws, which you might or might not observe or care about for that matter.

 

[Brother None]

Well, if it was up to me, it would have gotten a lot less, somewhere around 70-75, but that would have reflected the value of the game just for myself. And since I'm not alone in this world, that didn't quite cut it. I opted for a slightly higher score, which shows that the game is decent, but writing the review so that you also got to know the fact that it also has flaws, which you might or might not observe or care about for that matter.

Yes, fair enough. I suppose to review was written as a "guide to flaws you might encounter" rather than a well-balanced view, then, though. I haven't counted them, but I believe there are at least twice more paragraphs in there hacking away at Oblivion's flaws than there are pointing out the good things.

 

[Bossman]

Well, me and the guy from Gamespy are the only ones who have "awarded" Oblivion a score under 90, and as such are not featured in the review list on the Elder Scrolls homepage. Gee, isn't that shocking?

 

[Tintin]

Gamespy isn't on their either? They did both give fairly good scores. Though I don't think many companies would purposely link to a place which bashes them....use your own judgement with that...

 

[Bossman]

Well, you have to consider the fact that the first thing your read when opening the website is:

Oblivion Reviews Aplenty

"Stunning". "Phenomenal". "Outstanding". "Incredible". These are some of the words being used to describe our award-winning RPG. Want to read what everyone else is saying about Oblivion?

Check out the full list of new reviews and awards.

Guess that list isn't so full after all.