The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion review

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls, we're publishing our original reviews of each main game in the series from our archives. This review first ran in PC Gamer UK issue 160, back in March 2006.

The fourth Elder Scrolls game becomes the first to break the 90% score barrier. Tom's review makes it clear just how enamoured he was with the game. Where our Morrowind reviewer clearly struggled to become immersed in world, here Tom is spinning multiple first-person tales of his adventures off the beaten track, finding surprising and detailed adventures as he explored the edges of Cyrodiil. Today, Oblivion is often seen as the weird middle-child of the series post-Daggerfall—not as weird and uncompromising as Morrowind; not as dense and modern as Skyrim. But reading through Tom's review here, I can't help but feel the pull to return.

Developer Bethesda Softworks
Minimum system 2GHz CPU, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb 3D card
Recommended 2.5GHz CPU, 1Gb RAM, 256Mb 3D card
Release date March 24, 2006

Gleurgh. I have 'The Look' again. The slightly puzzled, blinking stare that seems to say «Where did my Mace of Embers go? Why am I now a pasty nerd instead of a lithe lizard-man assassin? What are all these metal monsters on wheels?» I can now only understand the modern world as a means of getting me back to Cyrodiil, Oblivion's vast and absurdly beautiful realm. I am told that if I write this review I will receive just enough gold to buy food until the 'weekend' comes and I can return.

Elder Scrolls games are about letting you loose in an enormous fantasy RPG world, giving you masses to do, and never forcing you to do any of it. You're given a main quest, generally involving saving the world by fulfilling a prophecy (an Elder Scroll), but if you get distracted working for guilds or helping out the locals, you can happily play for months without touching the main story. The point of that freedom is not just to give you options, it's that once you've become the most