There is so much to say about this glorious game and so little time. So let's start from the beginning. You play as...you. You start off in prison off the coast of the great Imperial city. During an interesting escape of the current emperor, you find your way out of your dank cell. It's through this that your adventure begins with a nice tutorial and nice flow.
Players of Morrowind will be right at home with this title as it doesn't stray far from the first. The characterization but with alot more freedom with choosing your facial features. It boils down to expanding the x and y axis of your cheeks and brow, etc. It gets pretty deep and you might find yourself just accepting whatever you have so far after 15 minutes if you're not a pro at the art form.
The controls are basic and handle nicely, though for spells you'll most often be pausing the game into your menu to choose a new spell to cast. Hot keys are optional, though I rarely use them as it's just one more second of time spent before you do any damage, and you need all your time you can get.
The combat system has been improved from Morrowind. In Morrowind, your weapons had damage differences in three catagories retaining to direction of swing. Here it's all about power. This may disappoint some as it takes away more of the span of different combat choicies, but those same will be happy to know that blocking actually requires skill now. Rather than blocking automatically, you'll have to raise your shield/weapon to block the blow or take on the full bunt of the enemy's damage.
Sound is great, as the music flows deeply and the voice acting is pro. Sadly, the music can sometimes overshadow the voices and make it hard to hear the "dialogue", but there is text to read anyway.
Oblivion is definatly easier to travel. Where in Morrowind you had to find a mode of transportatoin which cost you money, in Oblivion you just need to go to your world map and select the point you wish to warp to. This is good when doing lengthy quests, but is ill advised when you want to explore and get some extra exp and coin.
Story is sadly kinda basic from the beginning. Mysterious occurances arise that link to an evil cult of maniacs trying to destroy/take over the world. The idea of an evil cult is not that far from Morrowind, although Oblivion manages to keep you interested with engaging dialogue and more epic ends to your means.
The good/evil system of course exists, but a purely sub concious level. The game wont record you as evil or good, that's up to you. What evil boils down to, though, is kill innocents and stealing. This is harder to than in Morrowind, so being good is almost a must to finish the game. You can be evil when you retire.
The graphics I'll say last because it's obvious everyone knows how great they are. They are crisp and sharp, with smoothness where needed. This is no where more apparent than the outdoors. When you level the prison for the first time and step outside, you will be in awe. The trees, the swaying grass, the crystal waters. All of it surpasses anything I've seen in earlier games.
In short, this is the best RPG of the year, and was before it even came out. The 360 has not had too many phenominal games out for it yet, or games in general for that matter, so Obivion's arrival prooves that the Xbox 360 is the powerhouse it promised to be.
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