As fantastic as Oblivion
934353
As fantastic as Oblivion. Graphics are tremendous. I do not like having to go thru Stream to play the game. I have played about 100 hours and feel as tho I have just started. Many side quests, but true to the main quest. I love slaying dragons.... Would recommend this RPG to every gamer.
669694
After reading the first four reviews for this album, I decided that I wanted to hear the album for myself before making the purchase. Underworld's MySpace page gives you the opportunity to hear the complete tracks. My take, as a happy owner of seven commercial CDs that the lads have put out, is that I want to continue to experience their growth. I'll start with four stars. But who knows, through repeated listenings I may even decide that Oblivion... is my new five star favorite. Yes, it's ambient and experimental; and yes, you can tell it's Underworld. Sometimes, going along for a ride to a new destination yields knowledge for those open enough to make the trip without prior judgments.
I just bought the album. Wouldn't an artist that cranked out the same 'ol stuff, year after year, be stuck in a rut anyway? The nature of the universe is change, and I'm looking forward to regularly listening to how Underworld evolves.
820209
In my mind, second only to Tolkien on the 'enjoyability' scale.  Constant action.  Fantastic characters.  And a super story.  The whole Riftwar saga is a must read for fantasy lovers.
498332
The story picks right up where Sweet Oblivion ends, but where book one is set mainly in modern day Earth, book two is primarily in an alternate fantasy world full of griffins, phoenixes and dragons galore. The attention to detail is breathtaking, and the conclusion had me rushing to my Kindle store to purchase book three. The only thing I think would make it better is if there was a small amount of re-hashing of events that happened in book one. I remembered most of the events, but not all - and since the events just kept building on top of each other, it took me a little bit to remember all of the background details. This book is perfectly appropriate for readers 15+.(less)
455475
I suggest you buy all 3 of the books before you start this one, because you are going to get hooked right away. I couldn't order the next two fast enough, and delve deeper into Tolkien's magical world of Middle Earth. I couldn't recommend this any more
1268296
Shadow of Mordor has been one off the best games that I have played, the nemisis system of where the warlords remember who you are is just brilliant.  That system makes an extreme step forward in videogaming AI, I can't wait for the next one.  The game itself plays just like all the Batman Arkam Asylm/City games, the fighting, combos, finishers, and everything you can do flawless.  I spent the first 6 hours of this game in awe of how awesome the finishing kills were and how brutal they were too.  This game is a ton of fun and pretty much right up until the end, its extremely challenging, it is clearly deserving of all the game of the year honors it is up for.  The story line is awesome, really great tie in to the movies which I will not spoil.  The only negatives I can think of are the first 90% of the game is amazing and the last 10% ehh, but I did every side quest and my guy was leveled up so for casual players that may not be the case.
4043156
Had an amazing time with this game. The world is beautifully rendered with fitting art direction, immersive, and massive. The combat and game-play are what really shine through on this title though. The action is fast, addictive, and most of all fun, and really acted as the quintessential glue that held all of the other strong points of this game together. The game was incredibly long, without becoming stale, the game-play was thrilling, without being slow, repetitive, or gimmicky, and the world was deep without being overwhelming. All future fantasy game developers should take note, THIS is the way that the genre should, should always have, and always deserved to be handled. A masterpiece. It's only a shame that the studio behind the project is no longer around.
4367045
In this sequel to the Sword of Shannara, Brooks swings for the fences, and connects in a big way.  This grand epic tale picks up some 50 years after the end of the Sword.  The Druid Allanon again walks the earth, for evil magic threatens the inhabitants of the Four Lands.  He turns again to the Ohmsford faimily to help him defeat this evil, this time in the person of Shea's grandson, Wil.  Once again we see elves, gnomes, dwarves, trolls, and mankind joined in a struggle for their very existance, but with a twist: this time they are all fighting together against the evil Demons who threaten to break free of their mystical prison of eons.  The story becomes one of two parts: a heroic struggle of the combined armies of Elves, man, dwarves, and trolls against the Demon hoards, and the frantic flight of Wil Ohmsford as he guides the elven girl Amberle to the mystic place where the seed of the Ellcrys can be reborn, once again trapping the demons in their hated prison.

This tale is so much better than the first book that it often is hard to believe that they were written by the same author.  But Brooks' brilliant prose, inspired story lines, and wonderful characters - only observed in flashes in the Sword of Shannara - are on full display throughout the Elfstones of Shannara.  The reader is drawn into this book almost instantly, and before 50 pages are gone there is no way you can put this book down.  Written in flashes of headlong action and peaceful interludes, one can scarcely catch their breath before the action carries them forward again.  Once again Brooks presents us some wonderfully real characters: the old king Eventine, seeing his health and his people slip away as the enemy draws near, seemingly unstoppable.  The saucy Rover girl who fancies Wil, yet still risks her life several times to save Amberele.  The indomitable Stee Jans and his Free Corps, a kind of French Foreign Legion.  The Elven Prince Ander, so unsure of himself or his place with his people, rising to become a crafty and trusted leader.  The book literally crawls with great characters, making the reading of this such a joy.

The seige of Arborlon ranks right up there with some of the classic seiges in fantasy literature: Minas Tirath in the Return of the King.  Revelstone in The Power That Preseves.  With this book Terry Brooks serves notice that he is not just another derivitive author hanging onto Tolkein's coattails, but a powerufl and compelling author in his own right.  I don't give out many 5-star ratings, but this book richly deserves it.
269713
I love the world of obsidian and this could be even better than the outstretched shadows trilogy. The story is amazing and magical and hard to resist. I am only writing this review to beg Tor to announce a release date for the second novel. I love this series.
1475090
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is one of those games that comes along once in a lifetime and is so overwhelming that household plants die, relationships are destroyed, pets starve, and you don't care because you're inside an oblivion gate trying to close it, and that's just one tiny aspect of the game.

So far I've had two characters. One was a large, sword-weilding, Imperial and the second one is a thieving Nord. The original character, my Imperial, was my test character, and I spent over ten hours in the game not even touching the main quest. I did thieves guild quests and some side quests, some dungeon and cave exploring, and in general, stole a whole lot of stuff, became a vampire, and had an awesome time. With my Nord character I'm taking on the main quest and am loving every minute of it. The storyline is detailed, interesting, and in general, amazing just like the rest of the game.

You start out in Oblivion as a prisoner with luck on his side. However, when the Emperor is killed, you may change your mind about the whole luck thing, because you have just been tasked with finding his lost heir, an illigitimate son, and closing the gates to Oblivion (a hell-like dimension, ruled over by 16 different lords). You spend about twenty minutes traveling through sewer and catacombes, collecting weapons, learning about skills, and for someone that has played Morrowind, everything is very, very similar. Then, when you get out of the sewer you realize why Oblivion is so different. You exit overlooking a beautiful lake, in the shadow of the Imperial City and it's looming walls. Across the lake their lies the ruins of an old structure, gleaming in the midday sunlight that glints of the water of the lake. Clouds move across the sky, tree leaves shudder in the slight breeze, and you spend ten minutes just standing there and taking it all in, and you haven't even stepped off the sewer exit. So, let me break it down a little for you:

Pros:

Beautiful graphics, it really maxamizes the 360s power and is just amazing, everything is detailed to the smallest knot in a tree and the fletchings on an arrow.

The system of travel in Oblivion allows you to fast travel (immediatly go from point A to point B) or purchase a horse (in the main quest you are given the most inexpensive horse but it gets the job done). Anyone that played Morrowind knows how borring traveling for hours got, and you don't get that in Oblivion.

Characters speak, which means you don't have to read an entire novel to discover the storyline.

The game progresses as you do. Starting out as a level one, the creatures you encounter are not impossibly difficult. But as you level up, so do they, so the game is always challenging, but never overwhelmingly difficult. They do have a difficulty slider, however, just in case you aren't getting enough of a butt-kicking.

The journal system is awesome, arranging your quests in terms of completed, active, and avaliable, and you can switch active quests if you want to do something new.

Pro and Con:

The map markers are a blessing for some, a curse for others. I like them, Morrowind was almost impossibly hard at times because they sent you out into the middle of nowehere saying, look for the rock, and all around you, rocks, but now you know exactly where to go. Some people find this too easy though, take it as you will.

Cons:

Sometimes the game screen graphics have glitches that make them pop and shift unnaturally, it's like little black pops on your screen basically, when something goes wrong.

Also, this game has frozen on me three different times, in 15+ hours of gameplay mind you, but still, with the 360s power, it shouldn't do that. This is the only reason why I'm giving it four stars instead of five.
3655767
Open and yet very full of content. The freedom to be everything you want to be and somethings you didn't even know you wanted to.

A good story to be explored at whatver pace you want. Oblivion was good this is better.

As an extra plus it can be moded like the two previous Elder games so you can tweak and change your experience.
1665344
This is a great game. The story is pretty good, the graphics are awesome, and the freedom and flexibilty to do whatever you feel like with your character in game is a welcome break from most RPG's not on a PC. The graphics for Oblivion on the PS3 are just as good as they are for the 360, if not better. I have played this game for the 360 and when I purchased my PS3 I had to get this game! Any fan of RPG's or similarly styled games will not be dissapointed by this title!
401337
there is alot of what i might say about this wonderful book discussed already in reviews here. i will just briefly add that i loved this book. i found the end of the trilogy somewhat disappointing (okay, very disappointing), but the first two books are so spectacular in their tone, characters, world-building and plot that i still have to seriously recommend the whole thing.

the essential aspect i want to commend here is this recorded version of the book. it is truly stunning. the author beautifully reads his work, but then all voices (anything in quotes) are voiced by actors and they are fantastic. Lyra is so perfect I was filled with a kind of amazed delight. but all the voice acting is wonderful, and it is all both served by and serves the extensive and excellent dialogue in this book. at first it was slightly weird to have totally different voices reading the text of the book, but that quickly faded until the book came more alive than any audio book i've ever listened to. even if you've already read the book i recommend this recording. it is really amazing
2862355
On the back of the hardcover version of this book, Eoin Colfer heavily recommends this book to everyone, saying that if there isn't a sequel, he'll have to get a petition going.
I agree with him in almost every way. Though the book starts off a little weird (but awfully intriguing), by the end, I was glued to the page, and could not stop reading no matter what i did. If i remember correctly, I picked up this book one afternoon while waiting for my computer to boot up, and five hours later, I was finally done, and my computer had shut itself off.
The plot line is beautifully woven, with a leap-up-into-the-air-with-a-shout ending, deep and complex characters that you feel as if you know as friends at the end, and most importantly, it takes the ideas of Faeries, demons, humans, and fantasy itself, to a whole new level.
Just as Colfer wanted, there is a sequel, and in fact three more books to the series, which will not fail to dazzle and amaze anyone looking for an adventure.
3593367
While not quite as good as the simply perfect masterpiece that is Dehumanizer, this fantastic return is almost as good. Also, Sabbath have never sounded heavier with the more modern production. Just listen to tracks like "Follow the Tears", my god- heavy as hell. Iommi never ceases to amaze with his seemingly endless amazing riffs. Sadly they were not able to record anything else with Dio after this, but at least we will always have the amazing music they made together to hold onto.
4354769
An exceptional return to form for id software and the Doom series at large. It returns to the classical first person shooter style of balls the the wall action and mayhem. Doom is like a great heavy metal album. It is loud, intense, exhilarating and gets the blood pumping. It has tight shooter controls, insanely fast paced action and a visual style that makes every vista and shot look like a heavy metal album cover from the 80's and 90's. The back tracking can get tedious and going back to look for the many secrets in the game can be annoying since you have to restart levels from the beginning every time you want to run through it again. For a game that encourages hunting for little secrets they do make it a tad tedious. However these are small complaints when compared to how much fun Doom is. Its story, for how little there is, works remarkably well because of how disinterested the main character is in the narrative. It knows why you're here and doesn't waste time pretending to be something it isn't. The games presentation is remarkable too. Its one big interactive Heavy Metal album cover that runs at a smooth 60FPS PC and consoles. The music is brilliant as well, all put in the right places to get you pumped for the action. Its got the right blend of old an new. Hardcore base guitars and even some digital elements that fit in perfectly. If the composer of this game did live shows I'd go in a heartbeat. Doom shows the world how shooters are done. None of this bland cover mechanic force walking section bulls***. Doom is all about in your face action and fun. It's elegant simplicity is what elevates it beyond most shooters today, and I'm damn glad to have Doom around in 2016.
2247745
Tamara Thorne and Alistair Cross are great writing partners. It is as if they have been together forever. They are magically deliciously horrifically awesome.