19 день Первоцвета
   Автор: Reaver, 16.05.2006

Oblivion Mobile review (S60 smartphones version)

hat can an avid gamer expect from a mobile game? Deep, thrilling gameplay? Or just a way to kill some time? Oblivion Mobile offers both. Fitting a huge universe in about 200 kb is not an easy task, but nevertheless while Oblivion for mobile phones, it constantly reminds you that it's an Elder Scrolls game.

All the character classes are a standard for TES, leveling system is taken from TES: Arena, the inventory interface looks and works a lot like in the "big" PC / Xbox 360 version of the game and the equipment you find was surely seen in some other TES games before. The main storyline has all the key moments of PC / Xbox 360 version, but the story is delivered to you in a different way.

Player is given a nameless hero, who is just call 'Champion'. After getting the Amulet of Kings in the very beginning of the game, Champion puts on Emperor's Robes and heads out of the prison to look for Jauffre.

Our hero has some real sense of humor and enough impudence not to be willing to save the world for free. And right after meeting with Jauffre, Champion informs the Blade that he won't even think about looking for some lost heir without a heavy bag of septims.

In all the sub-quests player-controlled Champion is not motivated to help without some reward as well. Greedy bastard! Speaking about the sub-quests, there are quite a few of them in the game - destroy a few monsters, find the lost item, save the guard captain. The game plot is widely delivered to the player in cutscenes before and after the missions, but they can easily be ignored by someone who can't wait to get back in action.

The controls are comfortable for an isometric game and reminds of the mobile Might & Magic. When you approach an object that can be used or activated, the text bar with the possible action pops-up at the bottom of the screen. For example "Jump", "Talk", "Deactivate Stone" e.t.c.

The isometric view makes it hard to find the right angle to attack you opponent sometimes. And it gets even harder if the enemy is standing at the edge of the screen and can not be seen completely, if at all. In that way, all you can do is hit him blindly, or try to move further so the screen will advance and reveal the enemy.

Saving the game is only possible after you complete a level. Each one will take approximately 20-30 minutes. If you get killed in an uneven battle, you won't have to go through all the level again, but will be resurrected not far from the place you died. There is no limit on how many times you can die, and that makes the game much easier. All the 'hard' places are 'hard' until you raid them a few times, destroying the enemies one-by-one, getting killed, coming back e.t.c. But the real deal here is trying to beat the game not dying once - a task for true hardcore players. And I doubt it's possible to do that the first time you play without some scrupulous character planning and equipping before each mission.

Along with saving the game, you can go shopping during the level completion. Weapons, armor and all the other things a warrior, mage or archer character may need can be found in the store. The money for buying all the goodies are acquired as rewards for the quests and can also be found in the sacks that some enemies drop and the chests, that are scattered throughout the levels. The sacks and chests also contain equipment sometimes, but usually the best stuff you get is sold in stores. As you advance in levels, more and more powerful items start appearing in the shop. Closer to the game's end, you will most probably have the most powerful weapons, armor and spells and will still be dirty rich, so all that you will want to buy are potions of restore health, cure poison and restore magicka.

The game successfully goes around the phone memory limitations in different ways and manages no to lose it's visual and gameplay attractiveness. (Take an oversized Daedroth, add wings and you'll have Akatosh for the game's finale. That said, the Dragon God actually looks like a dragon, so such a workaround to save some memory is not a bad thing). The ending is not any less spectacular (for a mobile game), than in the PC / Xbox 360 version of the game.

Oblivion Mobile appeals to both casual gamers, who are not playing very often, and to gamers that do play a lot. Not without it's minor flaws, most of which are there because of the limited phone memory, the game will attract new players to the world of Elder Scrolls and will let the seasoned TES fans to experience the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from a different perspective.

Our review score: 9/10