Giving Old Games New Life: Oblivion

Anybody who has an active interest in video games has almost certainly heard of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. If you happened to snag a copy of the PC version when it was released two years ago, chances are that you’ve completed it many times over and it is now collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. But fear not, dear gamers, for I have a reason for you to bring this wonderful game out of its resting place. That reason is Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul.

Because Bethesda Softworks has allowed for the easy modification of its games, you may have already experimented with various Oblivion mods in an attempt to add something new and exciting to the game. Most of these mods provide a few minor tweaks here and there, but nothing very substantial. Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul, on the other hand, is a complete restructuring of the game (keeping intact the main storyline). Best of all, it is completely compatible with all of the official plug-ins, including Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine.

OOO, as it is commonly called, is a large collection of some of the best Oblivion mods. These mods include the addition of new items, new side quests, bug fixes, and much more. The monster-leveling system has been modified to provide more challenging fights for stronger characters. New enemies, such as the Spectral Warriors, are more difficult to defeat than the existing Oblivion creatures. A new magic system that utilizes magical properties of gemstones has been added to the game, providing players with a new arsenal of spells in addition to the existing magic system. Your characters can even sport some flashy capes and cloaks now.

Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it? Well, that’s only scratching the surface. I don’t want to give away everything. Instead, I encourage you to download and install OOO and check it out for yourself. You may have to install an additional patch or two and change the load order of your mods by using the Oblivion Mod Manager in order to get OOO to work properly. It takes a bit of time to get everything set up the right way, but don’t get frustrated. Reading the instructions on Oscuro’s site is essential, so don’t skip anything!

If you plan on starting a new character, be warned that OOO Oblivion is a bit more challenging than the unmodified version. If you need a few pointers on creating a character and starting fresh in OOO Oblivion, check out this thread on the Bethesda Softworks forums. Also, if you don’t feel like spending hours searching for the new quests, items, dungeons, etc., you should check out the OOO Spoilers page on Oscuro’s site. It provides maps and instructions on how to trigger new quests.

Since I’ve installed Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul, I’ve put almost 100 additional hours into the game. I highly recommend it if you don’t feel like dishing out the cash for a new game, or even if you’re just looking to get back into Oblivion again.