A must try, even if it's not exactly your cup of tea.
I guess that for my opening words, the only things that come to mind are "long" or "really really big game". The hard truth is, this game is so painfully huge, that I may never completely finish it, which is hard for me considering I like to see everything there is to see. I'll pick it apart starting off with the introduction (fasten your seatbelts). The story sets you off, much like in Morrowind, as a prisoner in this dungeon of the Imperial City Prison. You are freed by the Emperor Uriel Septim who claimed to have dreamed about you and states that he sees great things in your future and whatnot. Why you're in prison is never explained. Also, what the emperor is referring to is entirely ambiguous and considering the nature of this game, one can't be completely sure if what the emperor is talking about is actually about all the "great things" you will achieve on your own, or if he's just referring to the main storyline.
Well then, you create your character by choosing your race and some pretty impressive facial preferences (hair, eyes, nose size, etc.) and then the dungeon escape begins and one may think, "Wait a minute, what about my class?" "We'll get to that in just a sec", the game says.
So you're traversing the prison dungeons all the while giving a helping hand to the knights protecting the emperor, who's being attacked by assassins. It's all very exciting because you're trying out weapons and armor, testing some beginner magic spells and utilizing stealth techniques like stealing and sneaking. It's no wonder this is probably one of the best scripted moments of the game (one of the reasons this review will be so long is because the majority of the game isn't really even like this). After the whole tutorial thing is over and the Emperor is killed (don't worry, it's not your fault), he hands you a stone and tells you to seek this person who could possibly be the only living heir to the Septim throne.
This redguard that was with you then tells you to escape out of the dungeon through a secret passageway in the sewers and then something truly remarkable happens. He tells you that you're a pretty good *insert pre-determined class here*. It appears as if the game has been analyzing you since the beginning and then determined your class by looking at what weapon you used, armor you wore, magic you casted (if you even did), etc. I thought it was pretty interesting although I denied actually being a Bard and went for the other option of choosing my class manually, where I chose Assassin and he replied "yeah, same thing". I've actually seen him say knight and when answered with something completely different, he replies by saying "I would've never guessed".
Well basically, they mixed it up a bit from how it was in Morrowind, but at its core, it remains the same. You chose your race, sex and class, which sets up your skills and talents. Skills are increased directly by exercising them (Acrobatics is increased by jumping, magic skills are increased by using magic and so on). By increasing your major skills (the ones determined by your class), your total level will slowly increase and every once in a while you'll be notified that you must rest. When you do, you'll go up a level and have the chance to raise your stats, that directly affect how your skills work (oh no, I've gone cross-eyed). It's a lot to take in and some may need a guide, especially since it's important to invest your time on skills you'll actually want to use. In other words, if you don't plan on using a bow and arrow, then you shouldn't waste any time on your Marksmanship.
Now, after you're out of the dungeon and through the sewers, you are a free man. Free in the sense that you can do whatever you want. You've already gotten the information you need to continue the main quest, but if you prefer to go in the exact opposite direction and do it your way, by all means, do it. You'll have to visit towns and join guilds for quests in order to progress in the world and you'll probably end up doing this, because very early on (almost as if on purpose) the main storyline quests become very difficult and you'll need to level up. In the it's all really up to you. It can last you 100 hours or it could last you 250+ hours all depending on how you prefer to play. The main story is a rather short one even if it's difficult, but there sure are a lot of other things to do. It's hard to write a review just off my own experience, because every experience may be completely unique. I chose to become an assassin and followed through with it by joining a secret assassin organization called the Dark Brotherhood. For me, that was ten times more interesting than anything else in the game, so it really does all depend on how one chooses to play.
Well, if it wasn't completely obvious, this is a sequel to TESIII: Morrowind and therefore, has adopted its gameplay structure. The game plays like a First Person RPG, but you can toggle the view to Third Person whenever you want. Many elements of the gameplay have been fixed fortunately as well. For instance, fighting is much more fluid than before and when you strike an enemy with a weapon, you actually feel like you're hitting. Arrows actually protrude from anything you shoot them at and the physics are much more realistic. Also, you can now fast travel which is a very convenient second option.
When it comes to its visuals, Oblivion is truly perfect. The world is vast and gorgeous. You can actually see the trees for miles out into the wilderness. Everything is extremely detailed (blades of grass blowing in the wind, the reflection of light off of objects or water, etc.). I could honestly spend hours awing over the visuals and I actually have. The fact that everything, even the NPCs are so well animated and detailed really makes me think. It's staggering how they could'e achieved such an enormous leap between Morrowind which a fairly decent looking game and Oblivion which is without a doubt one of the most beautiful looking games I've ever played.
To top all of this off, the game is complemented with a great musical score: A typical adventurous orchestral sound much like that found in films. Areas are filled with the sounds of animals in the distance, the wind blowing and sometimes even the sounds of frogs croaking. They are very simple additions that together make a big difference. One of the biggest steps forward taken since Morrowind is the addition of dialogue. I'm talking a lot of dialogue. In fact, every single bit of text of dialogue in the game is spoken. There's probably hours of it found in the game. Don't be frightened, if you're a fast reader and you're not into that sort of thing, you can just turn down the voice volume and click your way through the conversations.
For my closing words, it's hard for me to say if this is really a game for anyone. I most definitely liked it and I know many people who have tried it and have told completely different stories of their experiences. I will say that even if it isn't a game for everyone, it's a definitely a game one should try at least once in their life. There really just isn't anything quite like it (except Fallout 3 maybe, but that doesn't count).