The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)

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While The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is available to buy now for the Xbox 360 and PC, the sheer size of the game means that reviewing it in a timely fashion is beyond even our great powers. To tide you over until our review arrives four members of the Pro-G team have given their thoughts on the game so far.

Tom: Biting off more than he can chew

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It's hard to think of a game that's gathered such strong momentum leading up to its release. Wherever I looked people were obsessing over every last piece of information on the game, with single-sentence comments from the development team being dissected and tiny ten-second trailers being analysed for every last detail. It was clear that, from a fan expectation point of view anyway, Oblivion wasn't going to be a run-of-the-mill release. It was incredibly hard not to become caught up in the hype, so, despite having only played The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind for a meagre four hours, I started playing Oblivion with the highest of expectations.

In what would turn out to be a trend with Oblivion, minutes flew by as I tinkered with the character creation tool. Still, my Nord ended up looking rather warrior-like in a Hollywood Blockbuster kind of way, even though his beard looked like something a mechanic had wiped onto his face. Grangor (a name which possibly didn't live up to the ten minutes I took to come up with it) was now ready to start his epic adventure. Well, he was ready, but his surroundings didn't exactly bode well for adventuring, with the walls of a jail cell not really offering up much exploration.

To say Oblivion is beautiful isn't doing it justice. You must see it for yourself.

It wasn't long before the great Emperor used my cell as an escape route and took me along with him, trusting me because of a dream of his I'd appeared in. Anyway, he left with his guards and I was told to wait. Not keen to spend the whole game in an underground tunnel system, I picked up the sword of a fallen guard and made my way through the dark caves that a hole in a wall ever so slightly suggested I explore. Expecting some trolls and goblins, I was a little surprised (quite literally) when a number of giant rats started attacking me. With a flaming torch lighting my way I lashed out with my sword, slaying the beasts in true mighty warrior style.

Perhaps a little running away was involved too, but no more than any sane person would have done; they were after all, very big rats. After battling through many more rats and a number of goblins (even managing to stealth kill one of them) I managed to rejoin the Emperor and his guards, for what would be a final battle. Knowing that his fate was sealed the emperor tasked me with finding his long-lost son and gave me the Amulet of Kings. Rather annoyingly the main guard then stripped me of my sword and asked my birth sign and skill class. Not keen on his suggestion I opted to be a warrior, which may not have been wise based on my troubles with the rats I had encountered earlier.

Attempts to steal the dead Emperor's sword were in vain, so I headed on into the sewer and started my new quest to find the Emperor's son.

Attempts to steal the dead Emperor's sword were in vain, so I headed on into the sewer and started my new quest to find the Emperor's son. Numerous dead goblins and giant rats later (if you haven't twigged, there are lots of giant rats in Oblivion) I was free, in the open air and ready to take on all who challenged me. I headed to the Imperial City Palace to check things out, but the guards there weren't being too helpful, so I decided to try and lock-pick a door that seemed to be out of view of the nearby guard. Sadly, this proved to be a rather stupid idea, as guards were all over me like vampires on fresh meat, and I was soon in a predicament that no cunning plan could save.

One moment of reckless abandon later, I'd resisted arrest and had started to flee the palace, with guards in hot pursuit. Thinking I might have a chance fighting them I turned to take them on, but as far as one-sided battles go, this was right up there. Numerous deaths later I managed to get outside the city gate, hopped onto a horse and galloped into the hills that sprawled before me. The heart pumping music settled down about five minutes later and I had made it... or so I thought. From behind me approached a guard who claimed I had stolen a horse. With the evidence rather clear to see between my legs, I turned myself in, putting my rebel days behind me. Two days in the slammer wasn't exactly hard-time, but I came out a better man.

In Oblivion you can be pretty much who you want to be

The next five hours or so saw me save the village of Aleswell from the curse of invisibility, head off into a tomb of some sort before being attacked by a group of bandits, venture into a wizard's dungeon, watch a sunset in the early hours of the morning, deliver the Amulet of Kings to a good friend of the Emperor and close an Oblivion gate in the city of Kvatch. All this and I'm still a rather lowly level two warrior Nord.

To say Oblivion is good is perhaps a little unfair, as in truth it's incredible. Since its arrival my every waking moment has been spent playing or thinking about playing it. You can't simply pop the game on for an hour, as an hour turns into three or four before you've had a chance to think; there's simply so much to do that the game may well take over your life for a while. I've barely scratched the surface, but it's already clear that what I'm playing is destined to be ranked among the best video games of all time.

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