http://8xgaming.com/page.php?5
When we first heard about this game we were intrigued by the amount of freedom promised. We were looking forward to the 200+ rumored hours of game play and the immense environments. When the game landed on our desk we were obviously anxious to start playing.
We started by taking time to design our character. We were amazed by the amount of option you could create and laughed at some of the creatures we managed to create.
You start as a prisoner. Your cell has a secret passage way that the king needs to get to. They allow you to tag along to help save the king. You start by heading through the dungeons. This level acts like the tutorial teaching you how to search bodies, fight, pick locks, sneak, and steal stuff. This level is much longer than it needed to be and didn't do anything to make us like the game more.
When we left the dungeons we were greeted with the beautiful world the developers created for us to explore. On you way to the first town you kill a couple creatures then head to the city, where you hit the first major flaw of this game.
A loading screen awaits, but don't worry you don't hit one. Every time you enter or exit a city, building, or room you get to wait at the awesome music-less loading screens. In the video we made you can see just how annoying these are. They do take away from the overall experience of the game play.
If you think the graphics will save this game, you're right; and wrong. The graphics in the cities and some environments are great. They are beautifully rendered. The textures are amazing, when the load. You will hit load screens while walking around and will notice textures in the distance don't load.
The story line is where this game shines, if you follow it. There is too much to do that we didn't follow it at all and did our own stuff. We had fun stealing and joining guilds but it gets old after a while and wonder where the other players are in the RPG.
The last thing we hated about this is no online play. Nothing. Not even scoreboards. Just imagine your favorite MMO, then take away the MMO-ness of it. You have Oblivion.
After we truly look at this game we give it an official score of
7 out of 10
In other words, it's a solid rent.
http://8xgaming.com/download.php?view.7