Sir Moanalot: Oblivion
Since Skyrim just came out, I thought I’d grab the previous game, Oblivion, from Steam and see if I unfairly brushed it off when I first played it a couple of years ago.
After just over 12 hours of play, I’ve put it down again. I was actually ready to uninstall it in frustration.
Maybe the problem is that I’d only put 12 hours into it. It’s meant to be this huge, epic game with countless things to do. And in 12 hours I hadn’t done that much. Explored a bit. A couple of dungeons. A bit of the main quest.
But that’s still twelve hours. In 12 hours I hadn’t managed to find the fun. Just a lot of walking, a bit of boring fighting, a bit of boring quest dialogue, and a bit of riding on a horse admiring the scenery.
No fun. In twelve hours.
The combat’s not fun (man hits you, you block, you hit man, he falls over).
The dungeons aren’t fun (you go in, kill everything and everyone for no reason, and get inferior boots as a reward).
The story’s not fun (“light the Dragonfires in the Temple of the One in the Imperial City with the Amulet of Kings else the realms of Oblivion swallow us whole”).
Even levelling up isn’t fun. Because of its complex combination of attributes and skills you can very easily end up with a weak character. And that means you’ll struggle at higher levels because, in a decision seemingly designed to undercut any feeling of being a Mighty Adventurer, all the enemies level with you.
Yep. Those bandits, highwaymen, wolves, rats and mudcrabs are going to be roughly the same difficulty at level 25 as they were at level 1.
When I play an RPG I want to feel the time and effort I’m spending is making my character stronger, better, more capable. But in Oblivion you feel weak.
I’ve pumped 12 hours into this character and yet I’m still Guybrush Inferiorboots — a distinctly unmighty pirate.
I’m going to play something fun.
