Living another life has driven much of the success of The Sims and WoW, but each of those games lack the full immersion of first-person gaming, and the graphics are average at best. We want to jump in a game and believe we're there.

Oblivion is it. Four years in the making and with an extraordinarily tight lid kept on any game details during that time, Oblivion has exploded onto PC and Xbox 360 -- it's already impossible to imagine a better game this year.

This game has it all, and is probably the first RPG that's sucked in even the most ardent RPG-hating gamer. Remarkable, considering it's a by-the numbers RPG.

You start with nothing, a prison escapee with dowdy rags for clothes and a clunky rusty sword. You'll configure your character with typical RPG attributes that dictate where your advantages will lie through the game. As you move through quests you'll power up your avatar, dress him or her in classier threads and better and shinier armour and weapons. Nothing remotely innovative here, but you can expect that every bog-standard RPG element of the game is executed with almost unparalleled polish and finesse.

But where Oblivion dazzles is in its scope and detail - two elements that rarely go hand in hand. You're cast into a game world that is truly massive -- 16km on a side -- filled with cities, towns and an endearing cast of NPCs (Non-Player-Characters) that engage you with their lifelike behaviour. Each NPC needs food and sleep, just like you do. They need social interaction with other NPC and listening in on their usually daffy conversations is a lark. As AI characters they are remarkably sophisticated and do much to help the immersion. A special nod to the voice acting and lip syncing, as there's an astounding amount of it and it's all good.

Simply wandering around any of the many wonderful towns will soon draw you into new stories and adventures. Often for extended periods, you may instead elect to wander around and just soak up the vast and stunningly beautiful wilderness. There's nothing wrong with a game that lets you just sit on a hillside, staring out over plains, rivers, valleys and distant cities, as trees sway gently, deer frolic in the wind-blown grass and the light slowly changes as the sun passes across the sky, eventually giving you a sunset as beautiful as any in the real world.

Oblivion is a breakthrough game. An essential game. It is high art, a technological tour de force and a masterfully crafted story tale world. It's a wonderful place to be.