The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion E3 Previews

A half dozen new previews for Bethesda’s fourth installment in the Elder Scrolls series have surfaced, all of which are based on E3 impressions. The first is at IGN PC:

NPCs also have dynamic non-scripted conversations. This means that the topics they discuss are decided by their knowledge of each other and events going on in the world. At one point the main character walked up to two townspeople and overheard a conversation about Daedra spawning just north of the town. Then, when speaking to one of these characters the previously mentioned topics appeared as a conversation options.

The second is at ActionTrip:

Another fear that I had from seeing the previously released screenshots was that the bloom effect would just make everything look too shiny and nice and that you’d never really get that dungeon feel from playing the game. Hell no, man, I was so wrong. One of the last scenes that we were shown takes place in a city that was attacked and razed to the ground by the forces of Oblivion – you enter the scene on a cold rainy night surrounded by death and ruins. The weather effects are amazing and the scene is about as grim as they come in computer games. The thing is that the Elder Scrolls IV engine is so powerful that it can create both the dreamy look of buildings and forests drenched in sunshine, as well as scenes of gloomy dungeons with festering corpses and monsters.

The third is at Jolt Online Gaming:

According to Bethesda, the bow will be the only ranged weapon in Oblivion, but the reason, we’re told, is to make it the best ranged-combat simulation it can be, from the feel of the bow to the physics and impact of the arrow. And speaking of physics, expect that to be a big part of the game too, with crushing and impaling booby traps a-plenty.

The fourth is at RPGFan:

But what else is going into game balance? Recall that I mentioned the Oblivion gates leading to hellish worlds populated by Daedra. Those fans of previous Elder Scrolls titles, such as Morrowind, know that Daedra are high-level enemies who can be a threat even to high-level players. Not too far into the game, the main character will be exploring those Oblivion worlds, populated as they are by Daedra, and this is where we can see the mechanisms the team at Bethesda has in place to maintain game balance: the areas level with you. The fundamental philosophy the Oblivion team had was that the player should be able to go wherever they want whenever they want without having to tediously level up first. So maybe when you go into your first Oblivion gate, you will meet low-level Daedra, while a few hours later, when the world inside the gate respawns and you are more powerful, there will be more powerful enemies and better loot. The intention is for the game to grow with the player, allowing them to integrate themselves into the world.

The fifth is at Next Level Gaming:

They added in some very nice physics effects. During the demo, they showed the main character shooting some arrows into a bucket, which in itself isn’t all that awe inspiring, however, the bucket spun and moved as if it were really struck by an arrow. On top of this, you can remove the arrow and the bucket reacts again. In addition, objects react as they should, if you shoot an arrow into wood it becomes imbedded, if you shoot stone it will simply bounce right off.

And the sixth is at GameZone:

The graphics in Oblivion are absolutely astounding. The world is fully realized, with amazing art design and objects like ancient ruins looking as great as ever. The character models are highly detailed, and the magical spells look excellent as well. The new physics model does realistic things like arrows that stick into wood and flesh, objects that fall off dressers and roll across the floor, and traps that can take either you or your enemies out.