The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion E3 Previews

Three more very enthusiastic E3 previews of Bethesda’s fourth installment in the Elder Scrolls series have been posted to the ‘net. The first is at Xbox.com, which even includes a short interview with producer Gavin Carter as well:

Q: In terms of character creation, what races and customization choices are available?

A: You can customize your character to death. You can pick your race, pick your face, change your hairstyle, change your hairline, change your hair color, you can age yourself if you want. All the races from Morrowind are back; I think there are 10.

The second is at Gamecloud:

While there are things like inventory screens and skill screens that you can look up and use, Bethesda Softworks reps emphasized that Oblivion was not going to have these kinds of screens be a hindrance on gameplay. Skills, for example, are improved automatically the more you use a skill so there will be no need for moving experience points around. Combat in the game is fast paced as well, as during one sequence inside a dungeon where our trusty sword took down a number of creatures. This same portion of the demo showed off some of the traps that Oblivion will have, including some moving spikes that can take out your enemies as well.

And the third is at UGO:

Fans of Morrowind were generally split down the middle as to how they felt about the open-endedness of the game. Some really appreciated the free-roaming nature, while others were simply too overwhelmed with an entire world to explore that they had no idea where to go next. Oblivion will hopefully suit the needs of both of these groups, thanks to new quest book that you’ll be carrying around. Important information garnered from found scrolls or overheard conversations will be automatically recorded in your book, so if you ever need a hand, it’s right there for you to check. Those who preferred the old method of getting around still have the option of ignoring this book, which should make everyone happy.