Be careful who you attack in this game:  even accidental attacks that strike a friend or ally will likely provoke them to attack you, including the powerful city guards and Imperial Watch.  One of the more annoying instances of this is your horse:  stealing a horse is common for characters lacking the thousands of gold required for their purchase, but even a glancing blow to one of these unowned horses will cause them to chase you across the entire map until either you or it are dead.  For this and other reasons (like a guard’s uncanny ability to realize a crime without evidence), crime doesn’t pay unless you’re in the right Guild.

Many of the longer quest chains, particularly those dedicated to the Guilds, have you racing across Cyrodiil on simple errands.  Purists may travel everywhere by foot, but for the rest, a "quick travel" function allows you to travel to the major population centers and any discovered locations of interest through the game menu.  You’re unable to travel like this while in combat or inside a building.

However, those who travel without this method have plenty to enjoy during the trip.  The scenery is fantastic, changing as you progress from region to region, and is only improved with impressive lack of load times (though this has warranted a small complaint for the 360 version, load times for the PS3 are mere hiccups).  Draw distances are outstanding on both versions, though pop-ups happen more than infrequently.  For those who take closer looks at the detail put in the game, you’ll thoroughly enjoy the texture work done...even though those textures are reused ad nauseum.  Building models are much the same, though you will indeed notice architectural differences between those built in different regions.

Audio is one area that Oblivion lacks dramatically.  Immediately, you’ll notice the voice of Patrick Stewart (Cpt. Jean-luc Picard, from Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Emperor Uriel Septim, and Sean Bean (Boromir, from Lord of the Rings) as Martin Septim.  This is where the voicing excitement stops:  a total of thirteen voice actors fill the roles of hundreds of important and unimportant NPCs.  You’ll find that a single actress plays the voice of all Argonian females, and if you ask one about a rumor, a different actor will spit out the info in her stead.  It’s difficult to immerse yourself in a game where talking to one NPC instantly reminds you of the other twenty characters voiced by the same actor.

Voiced by Patrick Stewart, Emperor Uriel Septim starts the game off on the right foot

Sound effects were ignored as well:  the sound of galloping your horse over stone is the same as galloping over grass, for example.  Bethesda didn’t completely drop the ball with audio, as their soundtrack, albeit quite short, does wonders for establishing mood without drawing attention to itself.

Owners of the 360 version have access to two downloadable additions to the game:  Knights of the Nine, a multipart quest, and Shivering Isles, a full expansion including several quest chains completed in a brand new area.  PS3 owners received the Knights of the Nine expansion for free, included on the Blu ray disc, but Bethesda continues to port the other.

PC players have their own set of goodies beyond the expansions.  An extensive modding community has sprung up, offering additional models and add-ons, as well as console-activated cheats.

In an age of shrinking games in lieu of better graphics, Oblivion undoubtedly stands out.  Hundreds of hours of gameplay await prospective buyers, with each experience being wholly unique.  The full RPG experience was missed, however:  gorgeous yet repetitive texturing, along with the star-studded yet incomplete voice cast, fail to top off the almost perfect package.  For those who bought the game for 360 or PC, the PS3 port doesn’t offer anything new except sharper models, static lighting (whereas the other versions sported dynamic effects), and faster (as well as fewer) load times.