The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

By Dave McCarthy Published 26 February, 2007

Remind yourself of Bethesda's brilliant masterpiece.

What is there to say about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? What can possibly be left to say about a game that came out about a year ago, wowing the critics (with average review scores of over 90% and a rare 10 out of 10 from Eurogamer), winning about a gazillion game of the year awards, and selling over 3 million copies? That's the problem facing anybody writing a preview of the forthcoming PlayStation 3 conversion of Bethesda's RPG masterpiece, which is due to be released in March to accompany the launch of the console (in advance of a PSP title set in the Elder Scrolls universe which is set to appear later this year, hopefully).

One obvious strategy for anyone stuck for something to say is to provide a brief summary of the game, in case prospective PS3 owners have somehow managed to steer clear of anything about the Xbox 360 or PC version. So here goes: Oblivion is an utterly open-ended, first- or third-person RPG that is set in a game world that consists of about 16 square miles filled with over a thousand NPCs, each one benefiting from a sophisticated AI system that provides a daily schedule of interactions. It features a star-studded voice cast including the likes of Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, Terrance Stamp, and Lynda Carter, and an epic plot triggered by a chance encounter between the player and the Emperor Uriel Septim VII, who is fleeing for his life from assassins of the Mythic Dawn. But while the game's main quest sees players restoring the heir to the Septim throne, the great strength of Oblivion is that the main quest can be absolutely ignored. Should you so choose, you're entirely free to join a guild instead, or participate in the gladiator arena, or dabble with alchemy, or just develop your umpteen attributes in any direction you'd care to imagine, and generally just explore the almost limitless potential of what is basically the dictionary definition of a living, breathing game world.

'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' Screenshot 1

Here you can see what the game looks like on the Xbox 360 (top), and the PlayStation 3: pretty much the same.

Another strategy for any self-respecting previewer to fill up the word count is to consider how nice the new version looks in comparison to the old version (though this will inevitably throw fuel onto the my-console's-better-than-yours forum flame wars). The problem with such an approach is that the graphics in the PlayStation 3 version of Oblivion are essentially indistinguishable from those of the Xbox 360 version. Although Ubisoft, who will be publishing the PlayStation 3 version, has helpfully provided some comparison screenshots that suggest the PS3 version boasts superior textural detail, the game actually looked a bit more pixelated on the TVs that the publisher used for Eurogamer's recent hands-on. Maybe Bethesda can provide a definitive answer as to which version has a better variety of technical visual effects, but you know what? Put the two versions in front of the average gamer and while they might be able to spot the odd difference (the odd bit of superior geometry over there, a more detailed texture here), they probably won't be able to decide which one looks better. So let's forget about the infinitesimally tiny visual differences between the two versions.

Instead, let's enlist an expert to talk about the technical details of creating a PlayStation 3 title. What about the fact that the PlayStation 3 has got bigger discs than the Xbox 360, for example? "Well capacity would matter if we were having trouble with capacity but since it all fits on [one DVD] disc there was nothing we were doing that suddenly we needed gigs more space," says Pete Hines, Bethesda's vice president of PR and marketing. "For any drive, not just the Blu-Ray, the speed of that drive is the bottleneck for how much data you can stream off it at any given moment. So what we actually do is use a lot of space on the hard drive. We can cache stuff off the disk and have it there ready to use in the game, so that when you're on horseback, riding from one end of the world to the other, we've got the assets necessary so that you're not stopping and pausing and it loads nice and seamlessly as it should. So I'd never dishonour the guys who are making it by saying it was easy: working on any console is hard work. I know they've put in a lot of hours and a lot of hard work to make it happen. But the plus is that it definitely looks and plays really good. And you know it's our first really big triple-A game for any Sony platform. It's the first really huge game that we've ever done, so we felt like if we were going to do it with this one we've really got to do it right, it's really got to be excellent, and I think we've gotten there."

'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' Screenshot 2

If you don't know what this is, you obviously haven't played Oblivion. So we're not going to spoil it for you.

Indeed, to judge by the few hours that Ubisoft allowed Eurogamer to mess around with it, they certainly have. Oblivion on the PlayStation 3 is basically identical to Oblivion on the Xbox 360. "For the most part our goal was to take this game that we had done really well with on 360 and simply bring it to a new audience, to bring it to PlayStation 3," continues Hines. "So in terms of features and content and all that, it has everything in it the same as it was in the 360 version - we didn't take anything out, we didn't change any of that stuff. We did add Knights of the Nine, which is content that we had actually initially developed specifically for the PS3 but ended up already releasing for the 360 and PC as a download you can buy, but it comes with the standard version on the PS3. And then beyond that it was really just a lot of customising and tweaking for the PS3 - it's a different box and it functions differently, and so we just did a lot of things to work with the way that console works so that the game loads and runs as fast as possible."

'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' Screenshot 3

But we can tell you that this is a view of The Imperial City. From a long way off.

There are a couple of differences though. As Hines mentions, the PlayStation 3 version will contain the Knights of the Nine expansion, which allows players to establish their own order of knights over the course of the quest. And it's still not clear what form any downloadable content will take. "We do plan to look at offering downloadable content that we've already put out and making it available for PS3," explains Hines. "When that's going to be and which ones we're going to offer, I still don't know, but it's definitely something we want to do. And honestly, we've just started looking at it seriously, where you can start to test that content with a game that's pretty close to final and get some ideas of whether or not there's going to be any issues that we have to address with that stuff." And with a PSP title in the pipeline there's obviously the potential for some crossover there (although this is still unconfirmed: "Right now any cross-functionality with the PSP is TBD," says Hines).

'The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' Screenshot 4

But again, we can't tell you what this is. It'll ruin the surprise.

But yes, this is basically the same game as on the Xbox 360, which is perhaps why it's been so well-received in advance of its launch: "Honestly, the response has been really good," remarks Hines. "What surprises me - and maybe it shouldn't - is how many folks played Oblivion, and how many folks played Oblivion for a really long time and how impressed they are with the PS3. We've got people saying, "Wow, it really looks great." I don't know if they thought it wouldn't work right or if we couldn't quite pull it off, but yeah, we've really got a lot of really positive feedback on the PS3 version. That's gratifying, particularly because we're really close to being done, so if they had problems with it [laughs] there ain't a whole hell of a lot of time to fix it."

So yeah: what can possibly be left to say about a game that came out about a year ago, wowing the critics, winning about a gazillion game of the year awards, and selling over 3 million copies? Well, since Ubisoft allowed Eurogamer a hands-on session with the PlayStation 3 version of the game, there's perhaps one important thing to say. Playing through the opening sections of the game in the catacombs beneath the Imperial Palace, and then skipping forward to a selection of highlights and being allowed to wander and roam at will made this previewer feel like playing the game all over again. Which is surely a good sign.

Picture of Dave.

About Dave McCarthy

Read more articles from Dave by visiting the Dave McCarthy archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (78) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • dominalien #1 5 years ago

    PS3 just as good as Xbox 360 shocker?
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 07:47

  • MadMirko #2 5 years ago

    PS3 just the same as Xbox 360 shocker?

    Come on, let it be.

  • Scimarad #3 5 years ago

    EEK! It's the clone posters!

    So basically they were lying about better loading times and detail distance then? Also does it still stutter every 5 seconds while on horseback? C'mon EG, `fess up!
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 08:02

  • MadMirko #4 5 years ago

    I was replying.

    Honestly. :)
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 08:00

  • Scimarad #5 5 years ago

    lol

  • DUFFKING #6 5 years ago

    Erm, to me it looks a bit better. The textures on the mountains look a little bit more detailed, and the clearly repeated texture in the ditch to the lower left is much more detailed.

    Still massive great shadows where rocks appear right in front of your eyes though.

  • Psi #7 5 years ago

    least the ps3 has a good game to play on it. even if its a game in the pc budget bin atm.

  • Beano #8 5 years ago

    No giant crabs in the the PS3 version?

    What a let down!!

  • Scimarad #9 5 years ago

    I'd agree, but its not that dramatic. They were bloody awful textures on the 360, though. The mountains that is, not the giant crabs...

    Oh and don't start that crap, Psi! It has plenty of good games even if they don't appeal to you personally...
    Edited by 2 at 26/02/07 @ 08:23

  • captainrentboy #10 5 years ago

    Anyone who goes to the trouble of pointing out a slightly shinier texture here or there on the PS3 edition, even when they're fully aware it's had an extra 10 months development time over any other version, needs to be killed :)

  • Moz #11 5 years ago

    So no mention on if the PS3 going to be getting the shimmering isles expansion any time soon then?

    Also didn't bethesda say that the shimmering isles expansion upgraded the X360 and PC versions to use the same shaders and effects as the PS3 version anyway? Which would reduce the graphical differences evern more

  • mkreku #12 5 years ago

    I actually think they needed those extra ten months just to get it running on the PS3's overly complicated asymmetric CELL processor.

    But I must say I was surprised by the difference. To me it was very visible.

  • Moz #13 5 years ago

    @mkreku

    There are some clear differences, PS3 shot looks darker, the snow isn't as white and doesn't seem to cover as much of the landscape. The baulder to the left in the forground is easier to see on the 360 shot.

    And because XENOS and RSX process graphics differently they always going to look different as your likely to end up with a difference in contrast and brightness.

    The thing is does either look any better then the other? In the example given each shot has it's own strenths and weeknesses.

  • siro #14 5 years ago

    Lower one looks clearly better on all distances.

    /Seen that it's the PS3 one.
    /Want to flame, but can't.
    /Takes coat (and would still prefer a 360).

  • JediMasterMalik #15 5 years ago

    Wow, it took sooo long to turn this into a battle of the sytems, well done.

  • Eighthours #16 5 years ago

    I hope it does look better than the 360 version. After all, the 360 version is getting a patch to "up" its graphics, no?

  • richardiox #17 5 years ago

    Personally, the main graphical problem withthe 360 version wasn't down to textures etc - but was due to the fact there is no HDD as standard. Consequently, when you are outdoors the game has the 1 - 2 second pauses fairly regularly as it loads in new data.

    On the PC, in comparison although I had the "loading area" screen as a slight framerate drop there was never a noticable pause whilst it caches the next assets.

    If the PS3 version can look the same as the 360 one but without those regular, immersion breaking pauses then to me it has the edge.

  • Drpwnage #18 5 years ago

    A modded PC version with High res textures - now that is a thing of beauty.

  • JediMasterMalik #19 5 years ago

    A modded PC version with High res textures - now that is a thing of beauty.

    QFT!

  • Dizzy #20 5 years ago

    >No giant crabs in the the PS3 version?

    There actually is a giant crab in Oblivion ;)

  • Genji #21 5 years ago

    "Wow, it took sooo long to turn this into a battle of the sytems, well done"

    It doesn't really matter, as it's a shit game no matter what system it's on.

    ;)

  • Darren #22 5 years ago

    @Drpwnage - Agreed and it's what I'm playing at the moment!

    As for the Xbox 360 vs. PS3 comparison shot, you can see that the mid-foreground to background textures in the PS3 shot has less noticeable tiling than the 360 one otherwise, apart from the slight difference in colours, they appear otherwise identical.

    However, one thing puzzles me and that is that the PS3's RSX is based on NVIDIA's NV47 chipset which became the G71 graphics cards for the PC, namely the GeForce 7800 GTX and GeForce 7900 GT. Now as anyone who owns any of those cards will know, myself included, the GeForce 7 cards cannot do full-precision HDR lighting *and* anti-aliasing at the same time. Now the Xbox 360 has an advanced graphics chip designed exclusively for it by ATI that can do both HDR and anti-aliasing and Oblivion shows that off to the full so does the PS3 use HDR or does it use anti-aliasing?

    If it uses only the former then the game is going to look more jaggy than the 360 version (perhaps this is the pixellation that EG mention in their preview?) and if it uses the latter then the lighting is going to look decidely flat (I've seen the difference between all these settings on the PC version). If the PS3 cannot do HDR and AA at the same time then surely games ported over from the 360 that use both are going to look inferior on the PS3?

    Can anyone answer that question? EG maybe...?

  • SBfistfun #23 5 years ago

    Me did a poo poo me a big boy now

  • Xerx3s #24 5 years ago

    So when is that shader patch out? ¬_¬

  • Xerx3s #25 5 years ago

    There actually is a giant crab in Oblivion ;)

    Eh?

  • nickthegun #26 5 years ago

    Funnily enough, I went back to Oblivion this weekend and if there is one thing that they need to fix its the framerate. It occasionally becomes really choppy on the 360.

    I dont think the graphics will look any different, but if stuff is streaming from the hard drive and the like, hopefully the framrate will be a bit more solid.

  • Azazel #27 5 years ago

    I'd say that they're giant crabs by real-world ecological standards.

    /looks back on that bizarre sentence with admiration

  • Beano #28 5 years ago

    "There actually is a giant crab in Oblivion ;) "

    You are right... LOL, pretty funny :)

    But is there real-time weapon change also?

  • Xerx3s #29 5 years ago

    So where do I find this crab then?

  • OnlyMe #30 5 years ago

    I have a love-hate relationship for this game right now. I'm constantly reminded of how much fun I had playing the game, and I absolutely loved it. But after I got it on the PC, it's gotten extremely little attention, and for some reason I enjoyed it more on the X360. The PC had a lot less slowdown and was much quicker to load, yet I had more fun playing the X360 version. There's something about that game that felt more like a console-game than a PC-game.

    I'm seriously considering getting the PS3 version eventually. But only if the expansion pack (which is looking really good, the new lands look excellent) is coming on the PS3 as well. Hopefully it will be included.

    Beano: yes, realtime weapon changing as well :p
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 10:13

  • Beano #31 5 years ago

    "So where do I find this crab then? "

    In your pants after a wild weekend ;)

  • SeesThroughAll #32 5 years ago

    Oblivion on the PlayStation 3 is basically identical to Oblivion on the Xbox 360.

    RSX turns out not to be crap shocker.

  • Dizzy #33 5 years ago

    >So where do I find this crab then?

    In a cave called Greenmeade cave, which is on the road East of Skingrad.

  • Phreedh #34 5 years ago

    Where did the snow go in the PS3 version? Also, where are the boulders you can see in the distance on the 360 version. They seem to be missing in the PS3 version. I thought the draw distance for objects would be longer...

  • Scimarad #35 5 years ago

    Generally only when replying to some dribbling Xbot's cries of "that looks like crap" when it clearly doesn't...

    Fanboys of all varieties are losers.

  • SeesThroughAll #36 5 years ago

    I love the way Sony fanboys posts have changed over the last 18 months from "PS3 is gonna be teh piss on 360" to "see, see, teh PS3 is as good as 360 innit"....

    I challenge you to prove that I ever claimed PS3 graphics to ever be drastically superior to 360 ones. And I'd prefer that you wouldn't refer to me as a Sony fanboy.
    I hate fanboys, especially hypocrites like you.

  • dirigiblebill #37 5 years ago

    /kicks door in

    Yes, we're finally HERE! Fanboys of all denominations- rational, comical, historical, tragicomical, tragihistoricomical. We're moving in. We OWN this post.

    /throws wireless controller at TV
    /sets fire to sofa

  • Introspectre #38 5 years ago

    "However, one thing puzzles me and that is that the PS3's RSX is based on NVIDIA's NV47 chipset which became the G71 graphics cards for the PC, namely the GeForce 7800 GTX and GeForce 7900 GT. Now as anyone who owns any of those cards will know, myself included, the GeForce 7 cards cannot do full-precision HDR lighting *and* anti-aliasing at the same time. Now the Xbox 360 has an advanced graphics chip designed exclusively for it by ATI that can do both HDR and anti-aliasing and Oblivion shows that off to the full so does the PS3 use HDR or does it use anti-aliasing?

    If it uses only the former then the game is going to look more jaggy than the 360 version (perhaps this is the pixellation that EG mention in their preview?) and if it uses the latter then the lighting is going to look decidely flat (I've seen the difference between all these settings on the PC version). If the PS3 cannot do HDR and AA at the same time then surely games ported over from the 360 that use both are going to look inferior on the PS3?"

    A good question. I'd also like to know the answer.

  • kissthestick #39 5 years ago

    even though im not into these types of games, i'm really happy Bethesda took extra time on the PS3 version, i respect them for that.:)
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 11:03

  • SeesThroughAll #40 5 years ago

    No, I do hate Microsoft, for getting shafted with their software over the years, and many things they did such as making overpricing of software a common thing. Just like you hate Sony for their screw-ups.

    So, those are the reasons why I've been refusing to buy anything MS-branded for the last year and a half, and why I won't be getting a PS3.

    Happy?

  • dirigiblebill #41 5 years ago

    Slay Ken Kuturagi! Assassinate Bill Gates!

    /kicks over table

  • Genji #42 5 years ago

    Fanboys in massive "I'm not a fanboy" denial shocker!

  • Genji #43 5 years ago

    Pfft, I'm no fanboy.

    Although, you have to admit, this would be a whole lot better on the Wii.

  • Xerx3s #44 5 years ago

    Generally only when replying to some dribbling Xbot's cries of "that looks like crap" when it clearly doesn't...

    "Xbot" is only used by one type of person... ¬_¬

  • Santino #45 5 years ago

    "Remind yourself of Bethesda's insomnia curing borefest"

  • drumbaby #46 5 years ago

    Is it forwards compatible with the PS4?

  • Xerx3s #47 5 years ago

    Only on the US and JP model's.

  • JediMasterMalik #48 5 years ago

    temporarily

  • tiddles #49 5 years ago

    Don't be a fanboy, be a hateboy

  • Tiger_Walts #50 5 years ago

    After the complaints about the textures on the 360 version, I'm not surprised that a PS3 version coming out a year later is better in this regard.

    PS3 shot appears to be in a slightly higher res or made with a sharper output, though. So, don't judge the textures on their relative sharpness until we get some 3rd party comparisons.

    I wonder if they fixed the bodged levelling NPCs.

  • Xerx3s #51 5 years ago

    Indeed; If you didn't buy this on the pc or 360 and bought a ps3; this is something that you can't really miss. Forget shoddy launch crap & japanese anime rippoff bollocks, this will guarantee you atleast 200 hours of fun.

    Tiger Waltz: Don't dispair, the update will be release on the platform that you bought it for as well.

    Oh and better a fanboy than a boy fan. Oh...errr.... ;p

  • TheEnd #52 5 years ago

    The continued over-rating of this horribly dull game baffles me. The graphics are pretty, yes.

    Where's the fun?

  • Zob #53 5 years ago

    Fun is subjective, no?

  • TheEnd #54 5 years ago

    Morrowind had it. :/

  • kangarootoo #55 5 years ago

    Oblivion is loads of fun for those whose buttons it presses. If you don't think so, then it simply hasn't pressed those buttons for you.

    I will say though, going out on a limb (and not aimed at you TheEnd), that there does seem to have been a core of Morrowind fans who didn't like the direction Oblivion went (both in terms of gameplay, and also in terms of it being a console game). As a result they decided not to like it on principle.

    People can be funny sometimes. Remember the outcry when DeusEx2 went cross platform. Worse still the ludicrous hissy fits had by some over the OPTIONAL 3rd person camera view in Thief 3. Strange days indeed.

  • JediMasterMalik #56 5 years ago

    I actually loved it at first, but having played Morrowind, I could see the sacrifices that were made for the latest game. It was all so much simpler and had less depth, which I do think was a consequence of it being made with consoles more in mind.

  • smelly #57 5 years ago

    >Lol Hateboys FTW

    Less being a "hateboy" more confused as to why someone would want to pay 3 times more money for a machine to play the same games as another machine .. but with crappier graphics?

    Seems daft? I'd understand if these were exclusive games or something?

    Meh.. ho hum.. oblivion was shit anyhows... All style, no substance.. perfect for the ps3.

  • ronuds #58 5 years ago

    Definitely a simpler game than Morrowind. I liked it, but had a lot more fun with the previous iteration in TES series. Oblivion seems like it was made more for children.
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 17:41

  • fawe3 #59 5 years ago

    I have no idea whats with this new rpgs. I never finished morrowind, never finished oblivion, never finished gothic 3, I did finish gothic 2 but that one had one of the worst endings.

  • cyber_nicco #60 5 years ago

    ""Xbot" is only used by one type of person..."

    I'm an Xbot, and I'm two kinds of people...
    Edited by 1 at 26/02/07 @ 18:10

  • Scimarad #61 5 years ago

    Well, I'm a 360 owner and I used it...

  • smelly #62 5 years ago

    Wot's an xbot?

  • agparrot #63 5 years ago

    oblivion?

    So the PS3 CAN do backwards compatibility?!

    /leaves

  • monkey-ken-wizard #64 5 years ago

    I played the 360 version, too much talk with Monks for my liking.
    But if fluffing up dwarfs is your bag, you gonna love it.

  • dryden555 #65 5 years ago

    Well, some long time PC RPGer's dont like Oblivion's broken leveling system and cookie-cutter dungeons. Too easy to max out your character with little effort. It looks pretty with eye-candy aplenty. Great if you arent looking for actual challenge.

  • smelly #66 5 years ago

    Agreed.. Now someone make a 3d version of ultima 7!!!

  • yagisencho #67 5 years ago

    Looks good. Not as good as the PC version running on a $600 USD home-built system (with community texture patches), but good. In fact, I have a system build of spare parts sitting unused that could play it better than the PS3.

    Consoles. They're cute, aren't they?

  • smelly #68 5 years ago

    @yagisencho : And on pc, it costs 10 bucks

  • urban #69 5 years ago

    the detail is clear and its not just BLOOOM

  • smelly #70 5 years ago

    But is that difference worth paying 300 quid extra for?

  • JediMasterMalik #71 5 years ago

    smelly - shut up

  • mike_mgoblue #72 5 years ago

    Yes,

    Bethesda DID say that when the Shivering Isles expansion pack is released for the Xbox 360, it will include the new shaders that will improve the graphics of the ENTIRE game!!!

    Bethesda said that the reason for this is because it has nothing to do with hardware; it is simply a shader program that they took the time to write for the PS3, and they realized that it could also be placed in Shivering Isles and downloaded on the Xbox 360.

    Bethesda said it was actually their intention from the beginning to use a shader program like that, but they simply didn't have the time to release it when the game was initially released for the Xbox 360 and the PC.

    The bottom line is that the graphics of the Xbox 360 version will be improved when Shivering Isles is released!!! And that is AWESOME!!!

    It means that the Xbox 360 version will have the best graphics available, and it means that the Xbox 360 version will also have all of the available downloads and expansion packs...and those are key elements of the game that won't be available on the Playstation 3 version for many months!

    With that in mind, you can easily see why the Playstation 3 version of Oblivion will not be rated as highly as the Xbox 360 version.

  • smelly #73 5 years ago

    @JediMasterMalik :

    Why? It was a logical question? Or did that question make you feel insecure about your intended purchase?

    Someone said that the graphics looked better, and I merely asked if it was worth paying 3 times more money just to get those graphics on a year old game?

    Edited by 1 at 27/02/07 @ 17:21

  • JediMasterMalik #74 5 years ago

    No, it isn't. Of course not. Happy?

    I told you to shut up because you were asking a dumbass question.

    If someone was going to get a PS3, and they wanted a good action RPG, they could get this game and the graphics would be better then when it first came out. Why do you have a problem with that?

    NO ONE said they were buying a PS3 for Oblivion, you were just trying to bash it for no reason. Who buys a console for one game anyway?

  • Genji #75 5 years ago

    "Who buys a console for one game anyway?"

    People who bought the Xbox lol

  • miiiguel #76 5 years ago

    Oblivion... Oblivion..., I kinda remember playing that game..., I looooong time ago though...

  • spiny #77 5 years ago

    http://ww w.gamespot.com/features/6148788... = PC > (PS3+360)

  • Andrew294 #78 4 years ago

    I have Oblivion on my laptop the requirement are fit but when i hit play it loads a couple seconds then a little box comes up and it says there was an issue and debug doesnt work i sent 3 reports and for soe reason none of their advice works ive uninstalled it re-installed it restarted my CPU ive done damn near everything i can but theres an unspecified area that the bleeped with a CPU encription thats not biary numerals and someone please help.....