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==Further reading==
==Further reading==
{{Wikipedia-Books|The Elder Scrolls series|position=right}}
{{Wikipedia-Books|The Elder Scrolls series|position=right}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web|url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/765/765380p1.html |title=Sean Bean Gagging for Oblivion |first=Rob |last=Burman |publisher=[[IGN|IGN UK]] |date=2007-02-16 |accessdate=2007-08-03}}
*{{cite web|url=http://ps3.ign.com/articles/765/765380p1.html |title=Sean Bean Gagging for Oblivion |first=Rob |last=Burman |publisher=[[IGN|IGN UK]] |date=2007-02-16 |accessdate=2007-08-03}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12424 |title=Bethesda Confirms Oblivion Expansion For Xbox Live Distribution |first=Simon |last=Carless |publisher=[[Gamasutra]] |date=2007-01-18 |accessdate=2007-06-26}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12424 |title=Bethesda Confirms Oblivion Expansion For Xbox Live Distribution |first=Simon |last=Carless |publisher=[[Gamasutra]] |date=2007-01-18 |accessdate=2007-06-26}}
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*{{cite web|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/09/bethesda-mum-about-oblivion-expansion/ |title=Bethesda mum about Oblivion expansion |publisher=Joystiq |date=2007-01-09 |first=James |last=Ransom-Wiley |accessdate=2007-07-09}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/09/bethesda-mum-about-oblivion-expansion/ |title=Bethesda mum about Oblivion expansion |publisher=Joystiq |date=2007-01-09 |first=James |last=Ransom-Wiley |accessdate=2007-07-09}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/09/no-official-oblivion-expansions-planned/ |title=No official Oblivion expansions planned |publisher=Joystiq |date=2006-08-09 |first=Alan |last=Rose |accessdate=2007-07-09}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/09/no-official-oblivion-expansions-planned/ |title=No official Oblivion expansions planned |publisher=Joystiq |date=2006-08-09 |first=Alan |last=Rose |accessdate=2007-07-09}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 14:19, 5 August 2011

Against a plain face of aged and scratched marble, the title of the game is embossed in metallic font. At the center of the frame, in the same style as the title, is an uneven runic trilith with a dot in its middle. Icons representing the developer, publisher, and content rating are placed along the bottom of the frame.
Developer(s)Bethesda Game Studios
4J Studios (PlayStation 3 port)
Publisher(s)2K Games
Bethesda Softworks
Designer(s)Todd Howard
(executive producer)
Ken Rolston
(lead designer)
Artist(s)Matthew Carofano
Composer(s)Jeremy Soule
SeriesThe Elder Scrolls
EngineGamebryo
Havok (Physics)
SpeedTree (Foliage)
Platform(s)Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
ReleaseWindows, Xbox 360
PlayStation 3
Genre(s)First person, action role-playing, sandbox
Mode(s)Single player (first-person and third-person view)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (often referred to as as Oblivion) is a single-player role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks and the Take-Two Interactive subsidiary 2K Games. It is the fourth installment in The Elder Scrolls action fantasy video game series, following The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Oblivion was released March 20, 2006, for Windows PCs and the Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 release was shipped March 20, 2007, in North America[2] and on April 27 in Europe.[3] After a number of smaller content releases, a major expansion pack—Shivering Isles—was released. The Game of the Year Edition became available for PC on September 10, 2007, and it was released on Steam on June 16, 2009.[4]

Oblivion's main story revolves around the player character's efforts to thwart a fanatical cult that plans to open the gates to a realm called Oblivion.[5] The game continues the open-world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the player to travel anywhere in the game world at any time and to ignore or postpone the main storyline indefinitely. Developers opted for tighter pacing and greater plot focus than in past titles.[6]

Development for Oblivion began in 2002, directly after the release of Morrowind.[7] In order to achieve their goals of designing "cutting-edge graphics" and creating a more believable environment, Bethesda made use of an improved Havok physics engine; high dynamic range lighting; procedural content generation tools that allowed developers to quickly create detailed terrains; and the Radiant AI system, which allows non-player characters (NPCs) to make choices and engage in behaviors more complex than in past titles. The game was developed with fully voiced dialogue[8]—a first for the series—and features the music of BAFTA-award-winning composer Jeremy Soule.[9]

Oblivion was well received and won a number of industry and publication awards. The game had shipped 1.7 million copies by April 10, 2006,[10] and sold over three million copies by January 18, 2007.[11] The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition, a package including both Shivering Isles and the official plug-in Knights of the Nine, was released in Autumn 2007 for Windows PCs, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3.[12][13] The fifth Elder Scrolls game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is to be released November 11, 2011.[14] Also a 5th anniversary edition of Oblivion has been announced and will be released in North America on July 12 2011. Versions for other regions have been confirmed, although details on their release is yet to be released. [15]

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of The Elder Scrolls series

Oblivion incorporates open-ended (or "sandbox") gameplay. The main quest can be postponed or ignored for as long as the player wishes to explore the expansive game world, follow side-quests, interact with NPCs, slay monsters and develop their character. The player is free to go anywhere in the realm of Cyrodiil at any time while playing the game, even after completing the main quest. The game never ends, and the player may build up the character indefinitely. The fast-travel system used in Arena and Daggerfall makes a return in Oblivion. When the player visits a location, it appears as an icon on the game world map. From then on, the player can travel to this location instantly, though the in-game time is adjusted to reflect the length of the journey. However, the player cannot initiate fast-travel if they are in combat or inside a location. The game regards the player to be in combat when a hostile creature or NPC is near the player, regardless of whether or not the player is aware of the creature or vice-versa.[16]

Character development is a primary element of Oblivion. At the beginning of the game, the player selects one of many human or anthropomorphic races, each of which has different natural abilities and customizes their character's appearance.[17] A perpetual objective for players is to improve their character's skills, which are numerical representations of their ability in certain areas. Seven skills are selected early in the game as major skills. Each time the player improves their major skills by a total of ten points, they level up; this provides the opportunity to improve their attributes. Attributes are more broad character qualities, such as "strength" and "willpower", with minor skills within the qualities, such as "blade" or "destruction". The game rewards the player with "perks" when the player reaches either 25, 50, 75 or 100 points in a single skill. The game's 21 skills fall evenly under the categories of melee, magic, and stealth. Melee skills are used almost exclusively for combat and incorporate armor and heavy weapons like blades, axes, maces, and hammers. Magic skills rely on the use of spells to alter the physical world, to affect the minds of others, to injure and debilitate enemies, to summon monsters to help fight, and to heal wounds. Stealth skills allow the player to crack locks, haggle for goods, use speech to manipulate people, and apply cunning in combat (through the use of a bow or in the way of a sneak attack).[18] The spells, weapons, and other tools such as lockpicks that a player needs to employ and enhance these skills can be purchased in shops, stolen from NPCs, or found as loot on the bodies of foes or in dungeons.

A man standing next to a tabbed menu, in which the clothes he wears have been selected
The inventory interface, where the player garbs, armors, and equips their character

Oblivion is played in either a first- or third-person view. The player may also change the difficulty at any time from the pause menu. At all times the player is required to monitor their heads-up display, which provides information about the character's health, magicka, and fatigue. Health is depleted primarily through combat and can be restored by spells, potions, or resting; the loss of all health results in death. Magicka allows for and is depleted by the use of spells; it is rejuvenated naturally over time, but it can be restored in similar ways to health. The character's effectiveness in combat and general efficiency are functions of fatigue.[18] In the wilderness and during quests, the player is pitted against a variety of enemies, including standard fantasy monsters (e.g., imps, goblins, ogres) and animals (e.g., bears, lions, wolves). Enemies become stronger and weapons and armor more effective as the player levels up. This game mechanic, level-scaling, was incorporated to maintain a constant and moderate aspect of difficulty. However, level-scaling, combined with the leveling system has received criticism, as it has the potential to unbalance the game; characters with major skills that increase on an involuntary basis, such as athletics (by running) or armor (by being hit in combat) can find they level too quickly, making the enemies proportionately harder than intended. Oblivion's predecessor, Morrowind, also had a level-scaling system on creatures but kept legendary items (e.g., Umbra and Lord's Mail) static; that is, attainable by any character of any level.[19]

A major focus during Oblivion's development was to make the gameplay simpler and more balanced than it had been in Morrowind, particularly with respect to combat.[20][21] The skill system is similar to Morrowind's, but in Oblivion there are fewer skills. The medium armor, unarmored, and spear skills are removed altogether, the short blade and long blade skills are condensed into a single blade skill, and the axe skill is merged with the blunt skill. Mastery levels, which give skill-specific bonuses when the player reaches milestone levels, were introduced in Oblivion. The combat system was revamped, with the addition of power attacks (endowed to the player with the attainment of mastery levels) and the removal of the separate styles of melee attacks present in Morrowind. Ranged attacks were changed so that hits are based on the player's firing skill rather than the character's numerical skill level. Spears, throwing weapons, and crossbows were removed in favor of the bow;[6] the choice came from a desire to "get the feel of ranged weapons as close to perfect as possible"[22] as the Havok physics engine allowed. Morrowind's passive block skill became an active gameplay mechanic in Oblivion: activated by a button press, it causes enemies to recoil and be left open for a follow-up attack.[23] Enchantment as a skill by which items are imbued with special powers was not carried over from Morrowind to Oblivion; items are instead enchanted through plot-specific processes or enchantment in the Mages Guild. The ability to "forget" (discard) spells was also not included.[24] Most of these changes were received well. GameSpot commended the strengths of the game in each area, finding the game's melee combat "faster and smoother" than Morrowind's, the stealth combat "at least as satisfying" as the melee combat, and the magic combat diverse and uncomplicated.[25]

Plot

In terms of plot, Oblivion is not a direct sequel to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind or any other game,[20] though references place the plot several years after the events of Morrowind. Oblivion is set in Cyrodiil, a province of Tamriel, the continent on which all the games in the series have taken place. The plot begins with the arrival of Emperor Uriel Septim VII (voiced by Patrick Stewart), accompanied by a trio of Imperial bodyguards known as "the Blades" at the Imperial City prison. They are fleeing from the assassins of the Mythic Dawn, a Daedric cult, who just recently murdered the Emperor's three sons. The emperor and the Blades head to the sewer that leads out of the city, using a secret entrance that by chance is located in the cell occupied by the player. The player follows the party into a series of catacombs. There, the group is attacked by the Mythic Dawn, who are staved off by the Blades. Meanwhile, Uriel Septim entrusts the player with the Amulet of Kings, an ancient artifact traditionally worn by the Septim emperors of Tamriel, and orders the player to take it to a man known as Jauffre. Immediately after the emperor gives the amulet to the player, an assassin ambushes and kills the emperor before being defeated. The sole surviving guard, Baurus, explains that Jauffre is the grandmaster of the Blades and can be found at Weynon Priory. The player then proceeds to the open world of Cyrodiil.[5]

It is soon revealed that the lack of an heir for Uriel Septim has broken an old covenant—the seal for the barrier to the realm of Oblivion. Multiple gates to Oblivion open, and an invasion of Tamriel begins by magical creatures known as the Daedra. Jauffre informs the player that the only way to close the gates permanently is to find someone of the royal bloodline to retake the throne and relight the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One in the Imperial City. Fortunately, there is still an heir to the Septim throne: a previously unknown son named Martin (voiced by Sean Bean), who resides in the city of Kvatch as a priest. Upon arriving at Kvatch, the player is met by a fleeing refugee, who explains that the Daedra have destroyed the city and killed many of its inhabitants. The leader of the Kvatch Guard, Savlian Matius, says he saw Martin escape into the Chapel of Akatosh along with a few others, but Matius cannot get into the city, as the Oblivion Gate is obstructing the main city gate. After venturing into the Planes of Oblivion and closing the gate, the player assists Savlian Matius in a counterattack against the Daedra within the city walls. With the area secured, the player enters the Kvatch chapel and persuades Martin to come to Weynon Priory.[5]

Upon returning, the player finds that Weynon Priory is under attack by some Mythic Dawn Cult members and discovers the Amulet of Kings has been stolen. Jauffre orders the player to escort him and Martin to Cloud Ruler Temple, the stronghold of the Blades. Martin is there recognized as the emperor and is given command of the Blades, while the player is sent off in search of the amulet and asked to join the Order of the Blades by Jauffre, as the player has proven to be a great protector of the Empire. After gathering information with the help of Baurus in the Imperial City, the player is tasked with infiltrating the secret meeting place of the Mythic Dawn. When the player manages to infiltrate the inner circle of the Mythic Dawn inside the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon, their leader, Mankar Camoran (voiced by Terence Stamp), escapes to his paradise through a portal, taking the Amulet of Kings with him. The player takes Mankar Camoran's book (the Mysterium Xarxes), which has the power to open a portal to the paradise, before escaping the Shrine of Mehrunes Dagon. Martin deduces that the only way to recover the amulet is to create a portal to the Paradise and kill Mankar Camoran. A "collect-the-pieces" quest begins, as the player seeks out three key artifacts necessary to recreate the portal. The three artifacts are a Daedric artifact (any Daedric artifact rewarded for completing Daedric quests), the armor of Tiber Septim (a holy relic of the first Septim emperor), and a Great Welkynd Stone (a large stone of Ayleid origin; the Ayleids were the first race to inhabit Tamriel).[5]

With all three retrieved, Martin reveals that a final ingredient is needed: a Great Sigil Stone from a Great Gate similar to the one that devastated Kvatch. Martin and Jauffre hatch a plan that involves allowing the city of Bruma to be attacked by the Daedra so that a great gate can be opened. The player then must venture into the gate and obtain the great sigil stone. On the battlefield before Bruma, Martin gives a moving speech before charging the Daedra. Many men are lost but a great gate is finally opened. Within, the player obtains the great sigil stone and closes the great gate.[5]

A portal is created at Cloud Ruler Temple and the player is sent to Mankar Camoran's paradise. After bypassing a host of monsters and obstacles, the player confronts Camoran in his throne room and slays him and his family. When the player takes the Amulet of Kings from Camoran's neck, the paradise evaporates. The player returns the Amulet of Kings to Martin Septim, and the Blades travel to the Imperial City to relight the Dragonfires and end the Daedric invasion. There the Daedra begin a desperate final assault and overrun the Imperial City Temple District. The player and several others fight their way to the Temple of the One and find that a 200-foot (61 m)-tall being is wreaking havoc in the city, revealed to be the Daedric Prince of Destruction Mehrunes Dagon himself. The player and Martin fight their way into the Temple of the One, where Martin shatters the Amulet of Kings to merge himself with the spirit of Akatosh, the Dragon-God of Time, and become his avatar. After an epic fight, the Avatar casts Dagon back into Oblivion before turning to stone. Martin disappears, the gates of Oblivion are shut forever, the Amulet of Kings is destroyed, and the throne of the Empire again lies empty. In a final monologue, Martin Septim describes the events in an optimistic light and states that the future of Tamriel is now in the player's hands. High Chancellor Ocato of the Elder Council proclaims the player Champion of Cyrodiil and gives him a suit of Imperial Dragon Armor which is normally worn only by the Emperor himself, but as he states, "You've earned no less".[5]

Development

Official system requirements
Minimum Recommended
Microsoft Windows
Operating system Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7[26]
CPU Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or equivalent processor[26]
Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz or equivalent processor[26]
Memory 512 MB RAM[26]
1 GB RAM[26]
Free space 4,6 GB of free hard drive space[26]
-
Graphics hardware 128 MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver[26]
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA 6800 series or better graphics card[26]
Sound hardware DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card[26]
100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card[26]
Network Broadband required for downloads[26]
Main article: Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Work began on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion shortly after the release of Morrowind in 2002.[7] By mid-September 2004, Oblivion had been officially announced, and its title released.[27][7][28] The game was developed by the United States software company Bethesda Softworks. Ken Rolston, who was also Morrowind's lead designer, oversaw a development team of 268.[29] The PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game were co-published by 2K Games and Bethesda.[30] Bethesda had aimed for a late 2005 publication so that the game could be an Xbox 360 launch title.[31] The official release date for the PC and Xbox 360 versions was originally November 22, 2005, but developmental delays pushed it back to March 21, 2006.[32] The PlayStation 3 version of the game (ported by 2K Studios) was released on March 20, 2007, in North America[33] and on April 27, 2007, in Europe.[34] This version included graphical improvements that had been made since the PC and Xbox 360 release, and the PS3 version was subsequently praised for its enhanced visual appeal.[35][36]

During Oblivion's development, Bethesda concentrated on creating a system with a more realistic storyline, more believable characters, and more meaningful quests than had been done in the past. The game features improved artificial intelligence from the Bethesda proprietary Radiant AI software,[37] and enhanced physics with the Havok physics engine.[38][39] The graphics are impressive for its time, taking advantage of advanced lighting and shader routines like high dynamic range rendering (HDR) and specular mapping.[23][38] Bethesda developed and implemented procedural content creation tools in the building of Oblivion's terrain, leading to the expedited creation of landscapes that are more complex and realistic than in past titles.[40][41]

Game world

The camera is stationed at far end of a long lake inlet, facing inwards. In the near foreground the camera can see tall grass, some deciduous trees, the lake's rocky coast, and a flooded and decaying temple. A tall spire rises from the center of a walled city far in the distance, casting a clear reflection on the lake. The cliff-sides of the mountain range behind the city are indistinct, and fade into the dawn light. The highlights of the morning sky are blown, and tendrils of skylight feather objects in the foreground.
An in-game screenshot showing Oblivion's user interface, HDR lighting and long draw distance, improvements made as part of a goal to create cutting-edge graphics

While designing Oblivion's landscape and architecture, developers worked from personal travel photographs, nature books, texture images, and reference photographs.[23] Procedural content generation tools used in production allowed for the creation of realistic environments at much faster rates than was the case with Morrowind.[40] Erosion algorithms incorporated in the landscape generation tools allowed for the creation of craggy terrain quickly and easily, replacing Morrowind's artificially smoothed-over terrain.[40] In accordance with a shift of graphical focus from water to flora, the Bethesda development team enlisted a number of technologies to aid in the production of large and diverse forests. One such was Interactive Data Visualization, Inc.'s SpeedTree package, which allowed a single programmer to generate a complete and detailed tree model in a matter of minutes through the adjustment of preset values. Designers used bloom effects to give the game an ethereal look—a design element that was used in a number of games from the same period, including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (originally released November 19, 2006).[41]

The game also levels the player's enemies as the player levels up, sometimes spawning harder-to-defeat enemies. For example, if a player clears out a dungeon at level one, the enemies would be skeletons. If the player returns at around level 20 or above, the skeletons would be replaced by liches. The enemies' weapons are also leveled along with the treasure the player can find in chests and on enemies' bodies.

Although Oblivion does not have deformable terrain, it has dynamic weather and time, shifting between snow, rain, fog, and sunny and overcast skies, along with the darkening red sky near Oblivion portals. The game features more multi-level environments (e.g. a four-story building) and a more varied topology than previous games.[21] Oblivion's view distance is far greater than its predecessor's, extending player sightlines to the horizon and giving views of distant towns and mountain ranges. According to a Microsoft press release, Oblivion's game world is approximately 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in size.[42] Wilderness quests, ruins, and dungeons were added to fill surplus space.[40] Content in the dungeons was more densely packed, with an increase in the frequency of creature encounters, quest-related NPCs, and puzzles.[40] The populations represented in Oblivion, however, do not match the "thousands upon thousands" described in previous in-game literature. The development team decided to set the NPC populations at a level that would play well, rather than one that would match game lore, since the presence of a large number of NPCs on screen would have caused the game to slow down.[43]

In response to the criticism that NPC behavior had been too simplistic in Morrowind, Bethesda developed the Radiant AI system for Oblivion.[44] NPCs were designed to make choices, rather than complete scripted routines, to achieve predetermined goals. The manner in which goals such as eating, sleeping, reading, and speaking to others are fulfilled is dependent upon the environment, the choices of other NPCs, and programmed personality values. For example, an NPC whose goal it is to find food may eventually resort to stealing from others, if they are given the opportunity and if it is in their character.[45] These development mechanics allowed Bethesda to "give the game a more organic feel"[46] and to create NPCs who could engage in complex activity—such as travelling from town to town every few days or going to church on a certain day—without the chance of execution error.

Oblivion (unlike previous games in the series) presents few loading screens as the player travels through the game world: only when moving from interior to exterior environments or when fast traveling does the game pause to load.[47] The game world is cordoned off at its edges by an invisible wall. In most places, the development team built this limit around a physical barrier, like a mountain. Wherever this was not possible, the screen displays a message stating "You cannot go that way, turn back." However, the team still built in viewable landscape several miles in.

Additional content

Further information: [[:Downloadable content for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]
A horse stands lengthwise, showing sweeping feathers of yellow-colored armor across the buttock, mane, and chest atop an undercoat of diamond-patterned mail.
The "Horse Armor" content package was deemed meager by gamers.

Starting in April 2006, Bethesda released small packages of additional downloadable content for the game from their website and over the Xbox Live Marketplace for $1–3. The first update came as a set of specialized armor for Oblivion's ridable horses. It was released on April 3, 2006, and costs 200 Microsoft Points, equivalent to $2.50[48] or £1.50;[49] the corresponding PC release cost $1.99.[50] Although gamers generally displayed enthusiasm for the concept of micropayments for downloadable in-game content,[48][51] many expressed their dissatisfaction at the price they had to pay for the relatively minor horse-armor package on the Internet and elsewhere.[48] Hines assured the press that Bethesda was not going to respond rashly to customer criticism.[51] New releases continued into late 2006, at lower price points and more substantial content, leading to a better reception in the gaming press.[52] Other small DLC packs include a set of houses themed after the games factions, a new dungeon, and new spells.Oblivion's final content pack was released October 15, 2007.[53]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine is an official plug-in for Oblivion released on November 21, 2006. Downloadable on the Xbox Live marketplace for the Xbox 360 and available for retail purchase for PC users, the expansion content was included in the original version of the PlayStation 3 version.[54] The plug-in was developed, published, and released in North America by Bethesda Softworks; in Europe, the game was co-published with Ubisoft.[55] The plot of Knights of the Nine centers on the rise of the sorcerer-king Umaril and the player's quest to defeat him with the aid of the lost crusader's relics.[56] Although it made little change to the basic mechanics of Oblivion, it was judged by reviewers to be a brief but polished addition to the game's main plot.[57]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles,[58] was released on March 27, 2007, for Windows and Xbox 360. The expansion offers more than 30 hours of new adventuring, and features new quests, voice acting, monsters, spells, armor, and expanded freeform gameplay plus a new land "that [players] can watch change according to [their] vital life-or-death decisions".[59][60] Shivering Isles takes place in the realm of madness ruled over by the Daedric prince Sheogorath.[11] The player is tasked by Sheogorath with saving the realm from an approaching cataclysm known as the Greymarch.

At E3 2007, it was announced that the Game of the Year Edition for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion would be released in September, 2007. The Game of the Year Edition includes the original game as well as the Shivering Isles and Knights of The Nine content packs, but not the other downloadable content.[61] In North America, the game was released on September 10, 2007, for the Xbox 360 and PC,[62] and on October 16, 2007, for the PS3;[63] in Europe, it was released on September 21, 2007, for the Xbox 360 and PC, and on October 8, 2007, for the PS3; and in Australia, it was released on September 28, 2007, for the Xbox 360 and PC, and on December 13, 2007, for the PS3.[62]

On the Internet, there exist many third-party modifications (or mods) for the Windows version. Made with The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, these mods change many aspects of the game (including the visuals, gameplay, and user interface) and add original content such as new races, explorable game areas, armor, companions and weapons.[64]

Audio

Oblivion features the voices of Patrick Stewart, Lynda Carter, Sean Bean, Terence Stamp, Ralph Cosham, and Wes Johnson.[65] The voice acting received mixed reviews in the gaming press. While many publications praised it as excellent,[25][66][67] others found fault with its repetitiveness.[68][69] The issue has been blamed on the small number of voice actors and the blandness of the dialogue itself.[70] Lead Designer Ken Rolston found the plan to fully voice the game "less flexible, less apt for user projection of his own tone, more constrained for branching, and more trouble for production and "disk real estate" than Morrowind's partially recorded dialogue. Rolston tempered his criticism with the suggestion that voice acting "can be a powerful expressive tool" and can contribute significantly to the charm and ambience of the game. "I prefer Morrowind's partially recorded dialogue, for many reasons. But I'm told that fully-voiced dialogue is what the kids want."[8]

Soundtrack

Oblivion's score was composed by series mainstay Jeremy Soule, a video game composer whose past scores had earned him a BAFTA award in the "Game Music Category" and two nominations for an AIAS award for "Original Music Composition". Soule had worked with Bethesda and Todd Howard back during the creation of Morrowind, and, in a press release announcing his return for Oblivion, Soule repeated the words he had said during Morrowind's press release: "The stunning, epic quality of The Elder Scrolls series is particularly compatible with the grand, orchestral style of music I enjoy composing the most."[71] As in his compositions for Morrowind, Soule chose to create a soft and minimalist score so as not to wear out users' ears.[72]

Soule stated that while composing the music he did not imagine any specific characters or events; rather, he wanted it "to comment on the human condition and the beauty of life." In a 2006 interview, he related that this desire came as a result of a car accident that occurred during his composition of the score. He said, "I ended up rolling in my car several times on an interstate while flying headlong into oncoming traffic ... I felt no fear ... I simply just acknowledged to myself that I've had a good life and I would soon have to say goodbye to all of it in a matter of seconds." Soule sustained only minor injuries, but commented that his feeling during the crash—"that life is indeed precious"—remained with him throughout the rest of the composition.[73]

The official soundtrack to Oblivion is sold exclusively via Soule's digital distributor DirectSong. It features 26 tracks spanning 58 minutes.[74]

Reception

Reviews
Publication Score
Famitsu 38/40 (Platinum)[75]
GameSpot 9.3/10 (PC),[76] 9.6/10 (Xbox 360),[77] 9.5/10 (PS3)[78]
GameSpy 4/5[79]
IGN 9.3/10 (PC, Xbox 360),[80][81] 9.2/10 (PS3)[82]
PC Gamer US 95/100[83]
OXM 9.5/10[84]
Aggregates
Compiler Score
Game Rankings 93% (PC: based on 61 reviews),[85]
94% (Xbox 360: based on 101 reviews),[86]
93% (PS3: based on 55 reviews)[87]
Metacritic 94/100 (PC: based on 53 reviews),[88]
94/100 (Xbox 360: based on 90 reviews),[89]
93/100 (PS3: based on 45 reviews)[90]
Awards
Award Publications
Overall
Game of the Year 		G4,[91] Spike TV,[92]
Golden Joystick Awards,[93] Shacknews[94]
PC Game of the Year IGN Readers' Choice,[95]
GameSpy Gamers' Choice,[96]
Gamespot Readers' Choice,[97]
Interactive Achievement Awards,[98]
RPG of the Year 1UP.com,[99] G4,[91]
IGN,[100] IGN Readers' Choice,[100]
GameSpy,[101] GameSpy Gamers' Choice,[102]
GameSpot,[103] Gamespot Readers' Choice[103]
Game Revolution,[104] Interactive Achievement Awards[98]

All of the reviewers' reactions to the English version of Oblivion gathered by Metacritic were classified as positive.[88][89][90] Eurogamer stated that the game "successfully unites some of the best elements of RPG, adventure and action games and fuses them into a relentlessly immersive and intoxicating whole". In Japan, game magazine Famitsu gave the game their "Platinum award". GameSpot called the game "simply one of the best role-playing games ever made."[105] In 2007, PC Gamer magazine rated Oblivion number one on their list of the top 100 games of all time.[106]

1UP.com criticized the conversations between in-game NPCs and the player: "...when an NPC greets you with a custom piece of dialogue (such as a guard's warning) and then reverts to the standard options (like a guard's cheerful directions just after that warning) it's more jarring than the canned dialogue by itself."[107] IGN criticized the disjunction between enemies that leveled according to the player's level and not their combat abilities or NPC allies, but also stated "none of those minor criticisms hold back Oblivion from being a thoroughly enjoyable, user-friendly, gorgeous experience with enough content to keep you returning time and time again".[108]

In addition to the awards won by the game itself, Patrick Stewart's voice work as Uriel Septim won a Spike TV award,[92] and the musical score by composer Jeremy Soule won the inaugural MTV Video Music Award for "Best Original Score" through an international popular vote. The game was nominated for five BAFTAs.[109]

Rating change

Main article: ESRB re-rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

On May 3, 2006, the Entertainment Software Rating Board in North America changed Oblivion's rating from T (Teen 13+) to M (Mature 17+), citing game content not considered in the ESRB review, i.e., "the presence in the PC version of the game of a locked-out art file that, if accessed by using an apparently unauthorized third party tool, allows the user to play the game with topless versions of female characters."[110][111] In response to the new content, the ESRB conducted a new review of Oblivion, showing to its reviewers the content originally submitted by Bethesda along with the newly disclosed content.

The ESRB reported that Bethesda Softworks would promptly notify all retailers of the change, issue stickers for retailers and distributors to affix on the product, display the new rating in all following product shipments and marketing, and create a downloadable patch rendering the topless skin inaccessible.[110] Bethesda complied with the request but disagreed with the ESRB's rationale.[112] Although as a result certain retailers began to check for ID before selling Oblivion,[113] and one California Assemblyman used the event to criticize the ESRB's ability,[114] the events passed by with little notice from the public and gaming journalists.[111] Although the mod was only used in the Windows version, the rating was changed for all systems.

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