OK, so I've had the game since release and although I've felt like I've barely scratched the surface on all that there is to do, I'm confident I've played it enough to give it justice with a User Review.
First off, my review is going to point out more of the negative, but that in no way means I think this is a bad game. I just like to quickly see the lower rating on reviews to try and figure out what I'm going to like/dislike about the game. If you want to read all the cool great things about the game, just read any other review out on the net today. That being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed this game, I recommend this game for either the XBox 360 or the PC (I've been playing on the 360 but have a friend who has been enjoying it on the PC) and I think this game is revolutionary in many ways, but, for me at least, there are many aspects of it that DO take away from the overall experience (many reviews have forgiven these and still given the product a perfect or near perfect score but I think you have to factor in the bad no matter how good the "good" is).
Graphics 9.5 - Best in the industry, best for this genre, best for XBox 360 title, etc. However, that "best" comes with a big price tag. Which come in the form of some very long load times (360) and framerate stutters loading new areas or when the FPS drops because a lot of on-screen action. I don't mind a long load time for an initial load of say a town or major area of the gaming world, but when there is a long load throughout town just about every time you to in and out of a building it starts to get a little annoying. Some of this could just be my Xbox 360, but I have not had problems with other games yet. Its getting to the point where I know where the longer loads or stutters are so if I can avoid them I will. (Which is strange because some areas don't take long to load and they are right next door and about the same size.)
Sound 9.5 - Great sound track and mood music. I have played Morrowind (although I didn't complete it) and I became a fan of Jeremy Soule's music back then. I love how the music sets the tone for what you are doing, can be creepy, and can warn you of impending doom. Most of the voice acting is great, but I've been playing enough where I've realized that although they do put recorded voice to all the NPC, which is a huge achievement in an RPG, it sounds like its the same 6 - 7 people with variations in their voice (and sometimes no variation).
Control 9.0 - I'm a big fan of RPGs and really like First Person Shooters, but honestly I've only enjoyed them on the PC. More recently there have been some cool games for the 360 that have given me some practice with a controller FP game as opposed to a keyboard and mouse PC game, but I figured I had to get the 360 version of this game because my PC needs to be upgraded. Oblivion is streamlined a lot more than previous Elderscrolls games, but I still find myself getting lost in the menus sometimes, trigger not control pad! Then when the fighting ensues I often accidentally put myself in sneak mode, change in an out of views to see my surroundings, wish I could see what my d-pad quickslot assignments where (like being labeled in some way other than a symbol), still struggle with the horse, accidentally steal stuff when I thought I was talking to the NPC (how hard is a message, "Are you sure you want to steal that you little thief?", etc. There is so much to do it can be a little overwhelming control wise, but in time I think even a novice gamer will get the hang of it. (FYI - I customized the controller to grab with L Button - left stick pushed in, that way I wasn't always going into sneak mode if I accidentally pushed down to hard on the stick.)
Gameplay 9.0 - Here is where I get all bent out of shape. You may think from reading this that I hate this game, but its simply not the case. It just that for all 9 really awesome implementations that makes this a great game there is that 10th thing that annoys the crap out of me. For example, why don't the item sets scale a little more? I'm not asking for an item list the size of World of Warcraft, but why would I ever want to wear a leather helm (light) that weighs more than my fur helm (also light) and is worth more gold. They should have implement a 1/2 fraction system so the leather helm would have been 1.5 armor, not the same as the fur armor. Another thing is, how on earth can the guards possible know, in the privacy of someone's home, behind multiple closed doors, when an NPC is quickly disposed of? I shouldn't have to wait for them to be sleeping and use silence and not let them even get up before they die. Just by them trying to run or yelling guards I'm busted. Sure I could sneak or silence, but this flaw (in my opinion) actually takes away from the playability of the shady characters. Also, why would you want a proficiency in more that one weapon type, aside from maybe adding Marksman skill. I understand the concept of building a weapon master class, but it seems futile. They all do inherently the same thing. One level knocks the opponent back, another knocks them down or disarms, and another paralyzes them. To try to keep up multiple weapon proficiencies seems like it would slow the leveling down if they were your major and the damaages difference don't seem that vaired. Why didn't they implement the blunts to do the knock downs, the blades to do dismemberments (which would just be a cooler disarm) and the marksman attacks to do big piercing type damage. That way you have a variety and clear difference for unique situations. Now I should clear the air now and say that some of these things that are annoying may just be me being a NooB. Maybe I sjust haven't discovered the "right" way to do things yet because I've only been playing a little over a week.
Overall 9.25 - In the end I do realize I'm being a little harsh. This is a genre defining game and will be measured as such in the future (a la GTA III). I get excited, scared, angry, giddy and many other emotions while playing this game. I will play for many, many more hours. If the modding community can figure out the toolset I may even have to get it for the PC to compare systems and enjoy another version for many more hours. But there are just so many little things that start to add up and if the game itself is good enough these annoyances won't matter. However, I will tell you that I'm not about to overlook ALL of it and give it a perfect score just because the good stuff is "so damn awesome". I anticipated this game just as much as the next guy, I do look at it and think, "wow!", but the more I play it the more jaded I get when I see reviews (gaming sites, publications, and other user reviews) that just shower it with praises and give some good constructive criticisms, but dismiss those as too minor to matter compared to the overall product and still give it a perfect score.
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