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Anyone not familiar with the Elder Scrolls series is missing out. Known best to the mainstream audience for their massively successful Morrowind (the single best RPG on Xbox), the franchise has enjoyed major success thanks to being one of the pioneers of ‘sandbox’ gaming. The game offers up an expansive, fully realized world and hands you the reins. Previously only available on Xbox 360 and PC, something has changed. Grab some junk food, lock the door and say goodbye to your free time: Oblivion has landed on the PS3.

Oblivion opens with you as a prisoner (for unknown crimes) behind bars. After being taunted by a neighboring prisoner, your pleasant stay is interrupted as a group of guards escort the Emperor of Tamriel away from an unseen threat, and their escape route happens to go right through your cell. As the Emperor lays his eyes on you, it becomes evident that he believes you to have some sort of significance in a chain of events yet to come. It is only at the Emperors request that you are allowed to follow him and his escorts into the deep bowels of the castle.

Through a naturally flowing set of conversations, you create your character. Much like in Morrowind, you choose from a variety of races, classes (including the ability to customize your own), and astrological sign. However, unlike Morrowind where your characters physical appearance was limited to a race and a selection of pre-determined faces, Oblivion allows you to customize the facial features of your character down to the utmost minute detail. This kind of customization ensures that your character is a truly unique creation, and those that cared to, could waste fifteen, twenty minutes creating their perfect character, if not longer.

During your attempt to shield the Emperor from safety, an assassin murders him in cold blood, but not before he could bestow upon you the Amulet of Emperors: a medallion of royal origins, and the task of finding his last remaining son and ensuring he lays claim to the throne. However, things aren’t quite as easy as they sound. You see, angry deadric rulers are opening rifts between your world and theirs, allowing their dark armies to lay siege to the mightiest of cities. These Oblivion gates are one of the main focuses of the games main storyline, as you become tasked with helping to shut these gates and bring balance to the world once more. No pressure, though.

The main storyline is far from the only thing there is to do in Oblivion. Quite the opposite, actually: the main storyline is only a fraction of what’s available to explore and experience during your time with Oblivion. The game is riddled with countless side quests, from Guild sanctioned missions to helping a paranoid Woof Elf unravel a town-wide conspiracy, the side quests will take up more than the bulk of your gameplay experience. The side quests range immensely in their requirements as well. While one quest may be as simple as finding a missing person, others will unravel themselves to become elaborate journeys that span the games expansive map. One of the most fun aspects of Oblivion is that you never quite know what you’re getting yourself into.

In terms of size, Oblivion is bigger than Morrowind, but only narrowly. Some may argue that the world of Oblivion is actually smaller than that of Morrowind, but that could be due largely in part to the instant-transportation system. Absent in Morrowind was the ability to freely transport oneself from one locale to another. Players had to rely on either Mage Guild members to teleport them, or Silt Striders to transport them. Oblivion allows you to do this yourself, from any point on the map. However, your teleport ability is limited to towns and other major landmarks.

The land of Cyrodiil is massive. Throughout the land you’ll find not only humble towns and camping sites, but giant, extravagant cities spanning several districts, complete with docking bays for ships. The world feels very organic and natural, thanks largely in part to the fact that the game is very lush with plants, trees and other scenic additions. The world has rolling hills, rocky valleys and everything in between. This isn’t a miles long flatland; this is a virtual world in every sense of the term.

And what virtual world would be complete without a motley crew of creatures and animals to slaughter (or be slaughtered by, depending on who you are)? Well not a very good one. Thankfully Bethesda covered this ground thoroughly as well, and Cyrodiil is home to some extremely well designed creatures. From run-of-the-mill rats and bears to returning favorites like Scamps, and even a plethora of new enemies for you to lay waste to. The creature designs, while not always unique, are always well executed.

Not a lot has changed in gameplay terms since Morrowind, but the changes that have been made, no matter how seemingly small or minute, add to the experience enough to put this newest addition in the series above its predecessors. Players are now able to use their magic abilities while armed with a conventional weapon, instead of being forced to switch between physical weapons and magic ones. You can now only rest in a bed (though you can wait anywhere, which still recovers health and magicka) in order to gain a level. You now have the ability to purchase houses that are for sale in various towns, and buy your own trusty horse to aid you in your travels (should you decide the whole teleportation thing just isn’t for you).

Other major additions to the gameplay include modifications to the skill sets of the game. Several skills have been removed or streamlined (all blade mastery is now under a singular ‘blade’ skill) while gaining levels of mastery for a certain skill unlocks new abilities to your character. Another major change is that enemies now progressively grow stronger as the player does, keeping the player in a constant state of challenge. This is a departure from Morrowind, where certain enemies were always set at a certain level, making walking into the wrong part of the map a very hazardous piece of business for a low level character. Some enemies will even evolve alongside you, gaining new weapons and armor as your progress through the game, instead of always dropping the same ol’.

The most immediately noticeable improvement from Morrowind is visual. While Morrowind was decent looking, even for the time, Oblivion is a feast for the eyes, offering all the latest visual flares (including bloom lighting and bump mapping) and looks fantastic. Even compared to smaller, more streamlined next generation titles, Oblivion stands on its own as a very impressive looking title. While there are some minor draw-in problems on the rare occasion, Oblivion stands as one of the most beautiful titles available on the PS3 (or any other system, for that matter).

Audio has really received a welcome boost this time around as well. Voice acting doesn’t sound as flat as it did in Morrowind, and everyone feels pretty lively for the most part. NPC characters even engage in random conversation with one another. The conversations can feel disjointed at times, but it usually works pretty well, and it adds a great deal to the atmosphere of a living, breathing world. Not to mention veteran actors like Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean lending their talents to the cast. What more could you possibly ask for?

When it comes down to it, Oblivion takes everything you loved about Morrowind and expands on it while fixing and modifying a lot of the problems it had. The end result is one of the most all around impressive gaming achievements to ever be pressed to disc, and is something that no RPG fan, or gamer in general, should be without. If this isn’t already on your must-own list, put it there.