Well, I think to get the picture of what to expect from Oblivion it certainly pays to read all the previews and listen to the podcasts out there. The bias of the previewers is averaged then, and you can draw your own conclusions using them as a pretty solid foundation.
What I got from these previews now is that:
I found it interesting that all those previewers had different stories to tell about what they encountered in the gameworld in those four hours. It seems to me that they were chasing off in different directions, and having read what they saw in regards to quests and NPC interaction tells me that you should really be able to have a pretty unique experience when you play the game. So, the freedom that always was part of TES games is still in.
Loading times: Very contradicting reports here. A few found them annoying, a few touched that issue and said that they didn't think it was a problem. A part of the previewers didn't find it worth mentioning. I believe that this issue will be more of a problem on the XBox 360 due to the smaller system memeory.
Graphics: Most of the reviewers found them truly next gen. This is where the game was most hyped, and frankly, I expected more reserved comments on graphics. I think that we still can assume that they are the best so far regarding the series and RPGs in general. Regarding the grass popup - if you have played the SpeedTree demos, this shouldn't come as a surprise. There ARE limits to what GPUs can handle.
The only negative point mentioned in a couple of previews was that distant objects only had low rez textures. Popups: only two previews out of 20 mentioned them, but they seem to be there (but much less than in the pupup-plagued E3 version)
RAI and voice acting: Noone said the voice acting was bad, instead a couple of previewers stated that they were top notch (NGR podcast). What I have learned about NPC behaviour makes me look forward to the game even more - their activities should be credible and making the world less static.
Most people I have talked to who had the chance to play a preview version of the game told me that they think that it will be a beautiful and interesting game, and that they are looking forward to it. I have no reason to believe that they are dumb and don't know what they say
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I hope that when the european press tour starts, I will have the chance to see the game myself. If so, I will report
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. As a summary, I have to say that the previews, at least to me, sounded overwhelmingly positive. The two more sceptical ones - well, for me the one at gamepro is more credible than the one at the wired blog, this guy didn't get his facts straight (like Oblivion being first person only), so I would take it with a grain of salt.
But generally I have noticed that people tend to pick the lines that reassure them in their existing opinion (yeah, I fall victim to this as well, but at least I know it *g*).
I think in one month we all know for sure if we like it or not
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