I played through the beginning of Oblivion on a monitor that was apparently dying and much dimmer than I had realized as it had been fading slowly over time (fun fact: I did not know that SB alternated black and dark grey boxes for quite a while due to this). Because of this no matter how high I set the brightness the cave or sewer you start the game in was pitch black, like I couldn’t see the walls unless I was right in front of them. Enemies as well were more or less invisible.
Eventually I exited the starting area, noticed that outdoors was rather dim as well and figured out that something was wrong. I didn’t really like the game and quit shortly, but the opening section stuck with me. It may have been better busted than it was actually designed to be.