Oblivion Remastered’s shadow drop surprised no-one given that it was among the worst kept secrets over the last few weeks, but what did surprise was the sheer extent of its visual overhaul. Described by creative director Todd Howard as keeping the bones – the core logic – of the original 2006 game intact, it’s fallen on developer Virtuos to use Unreal Engine 5 to re-work the visual layer. It’s a much needed move, and the remaster gives us the works, deploying the full suite of UE5 features as a graphics renderer. Cyrodiil’s lighting is transformed via its Lumen technology, allowing for an approximated form of ray traced global illumination and reflections, with dynamic shadows. Character models, materials, and effects are also reworked from scratch – plus we get a new locomotion system helping to address the rather stilted animations of the original. Best of all, Virtuos adds quality of life improvements like a modernised UI, levelling system, a sprint button, and even an updated lip-sync technology for NPCs.
