Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the latest role playing game (RPG) from Bethesda Softworks. The Elder Scrolls series began in 1994. You can read a history of the games here.

Although I haven't played any of the other games, I am really enjoying Oblivion. I'm not much of an RPG gamer as I rarely get absorbed enough into the game to finish them. But Oblivion has kept my interest. Oblivion is visually gorgeous and the gameplay is wide open. You can follow the story and complete missions or you can just explore the huge area where the story takes place and do as you please. I have already spent over 80 hours playing and I am probably only half to two-thirds of the way through the main story line. In addition to the main story-line there are many many side quests.

From a hardware perspective, the game is very demanding. Only a powerful gaming machine will be able to run this with all the eye-candy turned on. However, you can turn a lot of option off and still play the game.

If you like RPG games then you probably already have this one. If you are more of a casual RPG player (like myself) and you have a hefty enough computer, you ought to get this one. It is worth the coin.