Something weird has happened to me as I've gotten older, and I don't know whether it's because I've matured or because at times I can be a cocky #$#^@#$, but videogames rarely wow me. I'm not saying that I hate games. On the contrary, but I don't jump up and down like a fan boy when a company debuts its latest products, though I am prone to saying out loud or at least thinking to myself, "Oh my", when seeing or hearing about something, and such was the case when I first laid my eyes on the world map for Bethesda Softwork's Morrowind for the Xbox. Now I don't know if you've seen it (it comes with the game), but it's ridiculously massive. Morrowind's so unbelievably enormous that it could very well take you weeks or even months to see everything. It's safe to say that an "Oh my" was certainly warranted at the sight of such a thing, and I allowed myself to be hypnotized by the game's grandeur. Its go anywhere, kill anyone style of play still to this day sets it apart from other action RPGs, and it's on my list of greatest adventure games of all time.

Bethesda and 2K Games have decided to bless us with a sequel, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and it just may be the defining PC action RPG of the year. Not only does it toss us into another immense environment chock full of NPCs, towns, and danger, but it sports a next-gen coat of paint, some of the best-looking PC graphics that I have ever seen, but unlike the platform's other gems, this one will eventually step outside our computer towers and make a triumphant entrance on the next generation consoles. Oblivion for the Xbox 360? I'd say it's a very safe bet.

Much like in the other Elder Scrolls games, you build your own character and them embark upon an epic quest that's littered with all sorts of side missions, and in typical fashion you can choose which paths you want to take as well as who to help. You can really go wherever you want and slaughter whomever you choose, but outside of the fantastic sensation of freedom that the game provides, there is a story. Oblivion takes place in a world known as Tamriel, and you start off in Cyrodiil, which happens to be its capital province. The land is without an emperor, and with no force to guard it, demons have begun to spring forth from Oblivion, which is the game's hell. As the only person capable of combating this menace you must search for the lost heir as well as locate the source of the evil and destroy it.

There will be well over 1,000 different NPCs in the game, and they'll all be powered by what Bethesda calls Radiant AI, a sophisticated system that allows the computer to think on its own. Characters will do things based on their personality, so if they go to church on certain days, they will, or if they're thieves they'll go around robbing people. They'll eat on their own as well as decide who they want to talk to and what they want to say to them. This system is a lot different than Morrowind's, where people just stand around and watch you.

Also cool is the ability to join groups such as the Fighters', Arena, and Mages' Guild, among others. A whole new batch of missions open up when you become a member of one of these factions, though whether being a part of one will alter your standing among the communities (seeing as how there are good, bad, and downright evil guilds) is unknown.

Although I'm a fan of PC games, there aren't many that have actually influenced my decision to upgrade my graphics card, but Oblivion is in that very select group of titles that have me reaching for my wallet. Simply put, it's beautiful, but I'm not sure that word does it justice. What we have here is a living and breathing world, which just happens to be gigantic, that's been wondrously brought to life using powerful technology. Oblivion is so advanced that it makes Morrowind look like an N64 game. You're going to see individual leaves on the trees, blades of grass on the ground, and forests, castles, huts, and monsters so detailed that the weakest of you will indeed wet yourself. It's absolutely astounding how the developers have managed to take these large environments and make them so breathtaking. Check out screens and marvel at the textures alone! Plus, Bethesda has made excellent use of bloom effects, so the outside environments have this ethereal glow when the sun's up. Just the thought of being able to play this game on the new Xbox has me salivating.

I'm psyched that Oblivion will be available for the next-generation consoles, but I'm disappointed that it won't ship with the Elder Scrolls Construction Set. These unique tools allow you to build your own towns, creatures, weapons, magic, and even dialogue, thus extending the game, and since you can download things that other people have made, Oblivion will probably be infinitely re-playable, but as I said, the construction set is PC exclusive.

All praise aside, there are some concerns that I have about this game. While Morrowind's really good, I'm not a fan of all the reading I need to do. With games such as KOTOR and Jade Empire having plenty of speech to compliment its text, I'd like to see Bethesda hire some voice actors and bring this series into the twenty-first century. Lastly, when I first started playing Morrowind it was next to impossible to kill anything except the weakest of enemies, and while bludgeoning monsters gets easier the more you level up, Oblivion really needs a more accurate combat system that features top notch collision detection. I understand that the series has always had RPG roots and plays like a traditional turn-based adventure (even though the fighting is in real time), but it looks extremely sloppy to the casual player. If you're going to make a first person hack-and-slasher, you better make sure that we can actually hit things. Thankfully, the developers know of this complaint and are experimenting with different systems.

I have to hand it to Bethesda. It's managed to do what other companies/games haven't, which is make an aging humbug like me giddier than a schoolboy on pixie stix. As E3 approaches it is one of only a handful of games that I'm really looking forward to playing, and if it's actually there, attending my other appointments may prove difficult. Look for the PC version of Elder Scrolls IV when it releases August 8.