Since its inception a few years back hot on the heels of the Doom awakening, Quake has enjoyed a solid transformation from a typical first person shooter to an advanced world at the brink of war. Quake III Arena, the last title to emerge in the series, delivered the kind of dramatic deathmatch experience unheard of before in a game, and has since become a landmark for both the PC and Dreamcast platforms. Now, a few years later, the Quake series is looking to make a monumental comeback.

Enter Quake IV, the latest and perhaps greatest in the series to date. This will mark the series' debut on the Xbox 360 console, as well as the usual stop on PC. In the game, you take control of a Marine named Matthew Caine who is sent along with a team to stop an intergalactic invasion of your planet, following hot on the heels of the event featured in Quake III. As the game proceeds, however, you soon find yourself captured and chopped to bits by the grotesque enemies, and soon you're equipped with some slick new powers that will give you a chance to even the score with those who did this to you.

Activision was courteous enough to show off some video footage of the game, and, although it's still rather early, it's a dazzling display. Quake IV features the most stunning use of lighting in the series yet, complete with environmental effects and large, vast levels that feature quite a bit of bleak imagery. The game doesn't hold back on its violent content either- the way that the enemies chop you to bits as you sit there and watch may be a bit hard for some to watch. Still, it looks beautiful in all its harrowing splendor, and should make for a nice tech piece for the Xbox 360.

Furthermore, the game expands on its gameplay as well. Along with featuring more entertaining run and gun action that the series is known for, you also have the ability in later levels to ride a powerhouse Walker device, complete with rockets and a fully loaded machine gun to mow enemies down like grass. Be warned, though- not all the bad guys are pushovers. In fact, Activision's presentation ended with a large metallic spider emerging and squashing you like a lesser impact.

Combining its already vast multiplayer possibilities with a blazing new engine and lots of new gameplay ideas, Quake IV looks to be the most breathtaking entry in the series yet. The only question is, will your skills evolve with the game as well? We shall see when it arrives this winter.