If you ask us, the prettiest game at E3 2005 was neither Killzone for the PS3 or Gears of War for the X360. It was Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Bethesda’s next mammoth RPG.

People in this business rarely applaud heartily after a game demo at E3. But it happened after we saw Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion in action at Bethesda’s heavily guarded mini theatre. Oblivion is quite simply the most gorgeous and impressive game, yours truly encountered at this year’s expo. Actually, it surpassed the Killzone PS3 presentation, which has sort of become the high watermark this year (regardless of whether it’s “rendered” or not –Ed.) But in contrast to Killzone, Oblivion is no lightning fast shooter that seldom leaves you room to breathe and take in your surroundings. Oblivion has you moving around at a leisurely pace, and you get to stay in the same places for long periods of time. Still, the graphics and physics reach a level that makes the game come very close to a photorealistic representation of reality. Now “photorealistic” is a word that’s been stretched very thin in the game business lately, but if you have the right HDTV, this game will indeed provide virtual surroundings of unparalleled quality. You may have seen trailers or screens, and think you’ve seen the game. But forget them. They don’t even come close. Oblivion is many times more beautiful in action.