Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is out now and it’s a massive upgrade
Bethesda has finally revealed The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered and it looks like a major upgrade over the original.
Bethesda has finally revealed The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered and it looks like a major upgrade over the original.
After an overwhelming amount of leaks and rumours, Bethesda has officially revealed The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered.
Developed by Virtuos in collaboration with Bethesda, the remastered version looks like a substantial revamp of the original, which was originally released on Xbox 360 and PC in 2006 (and PlayStation 3 in 2007).
Better yet, as was previously rumoured, the remastered version is officially out today for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered UK priceThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered costs £49.99 for the standard edition or £59.99 for the deluxe edition, if you don’t play it via Game Pass.
Both versions include the original game’s two expansions, Knights Of The Nine and Shivering Isles, which add a bunch of new storylines and quests.
Beyond expansions, the remastered version also packs in all previous downloadable content, including Fighter’s Stronghold, Spell Tomes, Vile Lair, Mehrune’s Razor, The Thieves Den, Wizard’s Tower, The Orrery, and Horse Armour Pack.
As for what’s in the deluxe version, this includes a digital artbook, soundtrack, in-game Akatosh and Mehrunes Dagon armours, weapons, and horse armour sets.
What has changed in The Elder Scrolls 6: Oblivion Remastered?Bethesda showcased the reworked open world role-player in a livestream, where it debuted the visual improvements across the province of Cyrodiil, which is now rendered in Unreal Engine 5.
The remaster features various overhauled gameplay systems, including improvements to first person combat through added feedback, and the option to sprint for the first time. The user interface has also been simplified and improved too.
There are also reimagined character models, new lines of dialogue for each race, overhauled lip sync technology, and an altered levelling system partially inspired by Oblivion’s successor, Skyrim.
All this has meant the file size has ballooned from the 4.6GB original, which was limited by the disc technology of the time. The download size for the PlayStation 5 version of the remaster is now a whopping 118.916 GB.
It’s not just a pretty improvement (Bethesda)While The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is beloved by fans, it hasn’t been celebrated to the same level as its sequel, Skyrim, which has been releasedand re-released on every platform imaginable in the years since it debuted in 2011.
It’s not really clear why Oblivion was ignored for so long, as it was arguably more influential than Skyrim, in the sense that it redefined the concept of first person Western-made role-playing games.
Not only did it lay the groundwork for Skyrim but also for Fallout 3, which at the time was a dormant franchise which Bethesda bought from original publisher Interplay.
Skyrim might be a better game but it would never have happened without Oblivion, which has many admirable qualities of its own, including a much more diverse range of biomes and some excellent voiceover work from the likes of Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, and Terence Stamp.
This remaster looks set to serve as a stop-gap while Bethesda continues development on The Elder Scrolls 6, which still doesn’t have a release date despite being announced in 2018.
A fresh coat of paint (Bethesda)Email [email protected], leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
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