Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Official Game Guide

As many people have mentioned, part of the fun of this game is in exploring on your own and figuring things out through trial and error. However, if you don't have a lot of time and have trouble keeping track of where things are, this guide is the perfect companion to the game. It has a lot going for it: 1. Original content that can't be found elsewhere - there are many games that have extensive web sites put together by fans with detailed descriptions of items, spells, monsters etc. However, there are very few such sites for Oblivion. Most sites have spell inventories but that's about it. There is no single resource or collection of resources on the web that can replace the information in this guide. 2. Price is great - discounted at 35% here and 41% at walmart.com this guide is a terrific value considering it is a large 368 pages with full color. Someone commented that the pages are a bit washed out since they're not printed on glossy paper but for the price, it's a good trade off in my mind. 3. Complete walkthroughs - very thorough walkthroughs of what seems to be every possible quest including the main quest; faction quests for fighters, mages, theives and assassins; arena quests; daedric quests; master training quests; freeform quests; and miscellaneous quests. Since the game is pretty open ended, many of the walkthroughs describe what happens when you make different choices for a given quest (e.g. if you tell Glarthir that he's imagining things you get one outcome and if you lie to him and confirm his paranoia you get a different one) 4. Great detailed maps with descriptions of various shops and points of interest. Even though the in game map is quite good. It's nice to have a map to look at while you're running around so you don't need to keep pausing to bring up the in game map. Also, the maps in the guides include things that are not on the in game map such as the locations where beggars sleep in the city. Very important if you are a character inflicted with Vampirism and you need to find a known quiet secluded place you can always go to for feeding. 5. Terrific lists - great lists that describe effects and locations of alchemy ingredients. Excellent summary of spells, skill level required and effects. Very good list of weapons, their weight, speed, damage, etc. 6. Strategies are sprinkled throughout the guide and are very helpful while you're learning the game. A few things are missing but with such a rich environment, it's not surprising that they couldn't fit everything in the guide. A few things that could make this guide even more complete than it already is have been mentioned before like more consolidated quick reference lists - list of trainers, lists of shops which sell various items, list of shopkepper who can repair items. But again, the lack of these things doesn't detract from the value of the book.

I was hesitant to buy the Prima guide as all thier other ones suck. I was hoping for a guide like The Morrowind Prophecies and was disappointed to hear that Prima was doing the guide for Oblivion. Then I noticed that the guide is written by Peter Olafson, the same guy that did The Morrowind Prophecies. What a relief! So I bought the guide and sure enough, it's exactly like The Morrowind Prophecies, only for Oblivion. This is an Awesome guide and worth more than the retail price. Trust me, if Oblivion is anything like Morrowind (an I expect it is) you will need this guide at some point. Enjoy the game! If you get stuck, open this guide and you will find your answer!

Oblivion is a HUGE game. If you are like me, you want to try to do as much as possible without help. Explore the world, attempt quests and learn the ins-and-outs of the game on your own. But sometimes, you get stuck, and in a PC RPG this big, a well written Strategy Guide is a welcome relief for the times you get stuck. This guide helps create characters, defining the attribute scores for the different races and skill types and even giving suggestions on how to make characters with your own customized skill set. It gives detailed listings on items, weapons, armor, spells, equipment and inventory throughout the game. The first half of the book outlines all the steps needed for the main quest. Then, the second half of the book covers the Guild quests, village quests, skill quests (for your specific character type) and all the other side quests. Since the game is so new, I can't guarantee it covers ALL the quests in the game, but there are maps for all the caves, ruins, mines, towns, and places that you might need to visit. This book is big because the game is big. There is so much to see and do in this game, it takes a well written and well designed strategy guide to help you through the hard parts. I do not plan to use this for every quest because it would take away from the fun of the game (and trust me, the game is fun). However, I am glad to know it is there when I need it. The bottom line is this--buy the game. If you get stuck, you should know that this great strategy guide is here to help you, and you will probably need it. Not just to learn about the quest you are stuck on, but to find out some of the other cool things you could be doing in the game world. I highly recommend Prima's Strategy guide for Oblivion.

I don't make a habit of buying strategy guides for the games I play -- all too often, there is more than sufficient information online for free, so what's the point, right? But in this case, I have to say I am happy I made an exception. This strategy guide is so comprehensive and in-depth it makes the 'guide to tamriel' that is included with the Collector's Ed. of Oblivion look silly. The in-depth segment on character creation alone is worth half the cost of the book to people like me who found that part of the process somewhat confusing in Morrowind - the information in this guide completely takes all the guesswork out of it, and having read it I was confidently able to make my choices regarding birthsign, class, race, sex, etc. It even includes text on how to create a few 'model-characters' to play or build off of, one for every type of player out there from the pure magic approach to the pure battle approach and everything in between. The background on enemies, characters, and aspects of the game (i.e. crime and punishment) is invaluable. No longer did I feel like I was heading off into this huge diverse and complex world without a clue as to what my approach should be, and this confidence really made the game enjoyable. Do yourself a favor and pick it up today.