The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review

Released just over 19 years ago, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was nothing short of a masterpiece. Rumours of a remake had been seen around the internet for the past few months, but the recent announcement, followed by my favourite gaming tradition of “it’s available right now!” was a very happy surprise indeed.

With The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered out now for all current-gen platforms, it was time for me to revisit Cyrodiil and once again close shut the jaws of Oblivion. But is this remaster worth all the gold in Tamriel? Or are you better off sticking with the classic version (with a few mods, of course)?

Oblivion needs almost no introduction. Gamers worldwide have at the very least heard of it, if not spent hundreds of hours in its rich, enthralling world. Back in 2006, you couldn’t get away from talk of the game (not that I wanted to), and it’s left a lasting impression on the industry to this day. But I’m not here to gush about how impactful the original title is, so let’s get on with the review.

Oblivion Remastered is still the same in terms of its story. You are a prisoner in the Imperial City who ends up embroiled in a quest to save the continent of Tamriel from destruction at the hands of a Daedric Prince. Of course, you are still free to ignore all of that and set out on your own journey, maybe join a guild or try your luck in the arena… Its open-ended nature allows players to pick and choose what to do and where to go next, something Bethesda games have always excelled at.

Not only that, but having all the downloadable content included means there’s a huge amount of extra quests and treasures on offer. Shivering Isles in particular is a truly great expansion, with some memorable quests and a new area to explore. All DLC included is more naturally integrated into the world now; instead of having dozens of quest pop-ups as soon as you leave the sewers, you’ll hear rumours from villagers and discover clues that lead you to the various quests tied to all the content.

The most obvious improvements come in the form of the updated visuals and some audio enhancements. Simply put, Oblivion Remastered looks stunning! From the real-time lighting system to a much wider colour palette, it’s really taking advantage of Unreal Engine 5. Character models are also seen significant upgrades, at least when strictly speaking about the visuals. That is, until they start talking. Facial animations can look dated and, at times, a little creepy. Decent lip-synching is great to have at last, but when talking with NPCs face-to-face, I found myself laughing at how ridiculous some of them looked. Despite that, it still undeniably has the goofy charm of Oblivion, and I’m quite glad it wasn’t drastically changed.

As for the audio, well, the incredible soundtrack remains in all its orchestral glory. For the most part, the game doesn’t sound too different, although the new voice actors were a welcome addition. Though you’ll still hear the same performances for several different characters, it’s great to have individual voices for each race and really adds to the immersion. Overall, it was a pleasant surprise to hear all the old musical scores returning without any unnecessary remixes and, of course, the cheesy lines from Cyrodiil’s citizens. Everything about the audio brought me right back to sitting up late on a school night playing the game on my Xbox 360.

Despite all of these improvements, this is still a Bethesda game at its core. Oblivion Remastered’s developer, Virtuous Games, hasn’t quite managed to rid it of the original's jank. Again, this is all part of the charm, and there are certainly far fewer issues than the usual Bethesda title launch, but the occasional frame rate drops were noticeable and rather irritating. Aside from that, the other bugs were relatively minor, such as equipped weapons becoming invisible and flickering light effects, which aren’t huge problems in the grand scheme of things.

The aesthetics aren’t the only thing Oblivion Remastered has improved upon, as there’ve also been some tweaks to how it plays, too. First, let’s look at the combat, which was always a bit wonky in the original but by no means terrible. Now, it hasn’t received a complete overhaul and doesn’t feel too far removed from how I remembered it being, but some additions have certainly made it a more satisfying experience. For instance, enemies will now physically react to getting a blade to the face (or, dare I say it, an arrow to the knee?) and sparks will fly when weapons clash.

Playing in third-person also seems like a viable option now. As someone who begrudgingly switches to first-person when entering combat in every Elder Scrolls game, being able to fight with my character on full display feels much better this time around. It’s perhaps still not the best way to play, but additions such as smoother animations and tighter controls at least give third-person aficionados a fighting chance.

The new levelling mechanics feel like an amalgamation of both Oblivion and Skyrim’s systems. In the original, you could only level up by increasing the stats of your primary skills. Now, any increase adds towards increasing your level, meaning you’ll no longer hit a brick wall once all of your primary skills start taking much longer to increase.

A few final things to touch on, with the first being one that I almost forgot wasn’t an option in the original: sprinting! Yes, you’re now able to sprint until your stamina bar runs dry, just like in Skyrim. This is one relatively minor change that makes a big difference, especially if you’re backtracking through dungeons for any potential missed treasures. Although, the animation in third person does look unintentionally silly! Then there’s the much cleaner-looking UI, which is not only more intuitive but also provides more information to save you from having to dig a little deeper or fire up Google in order to find out what something does.

Overall, I was incredibly happy to return to Cyrodiil and see familiar sights like never before. This wasn’t simply a nostalgia trip, though, as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is an absolute joy to play. Sure, it doesn’t feel like a modern game, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing; in fact, the charm of a mid-2000s videogame makes this remaster much more endearing.

If you’ve never played Oblivion before, then this is a definite must-play, with hundreds of hours worth of content and an incredibly in-depth world to get lost in. If you’re a veteran player, though? Then I’d still absolutely recommend giving this a go. Playing this brought back so many happy memories for me, but aside from the jaunt down memory lane, it’s just a genuinely great game that deserves all the love and respect in the world.