Just got Mole's 360 magazine and there's an Oblivion article. One screenshot... most amazing one that I've seen yet. Seriously. I actually said Wow out loud. If you spot an 'Official 360 Magazine' in a shop that you can flick through, have a quick peek.

Must say they make the game sound even more amazing than I already know it is hehe. And apparently the old trick of making loads of potions, drinking them all and completeing the game by killing the boss while you're lvl 1 will be no more. Magic Items and Potions will be linked to magic skills and alchemy level respectively, so a low level guy aint gonna be able to chug back tons of potions to make himself uber.

Radiant AI is a system that gives our NPCs a certain level of autonomy, and any level of autonomy is potentially dangerous. As I'm fond of pointing out, I can't seem to maintain a two-person household in the Sims without someone eventually setting themselves on fire. So overall we tend to play our cards somewhat conservatively in this area, to avoid the NPCs going wacky and slaughtering whole villages or anything. Yet they still manage to surprise us every once in a while. Just the other day I was fighting the "boss" of a particular dungeon -- a nasty orc warrior in heavy armor. As he was tearing me to pieces, he shouted degrading epithets at me. "I'll pick my teeth with your spine, puny elf!" He proved the victor, and in the moments before the load menu came up, he knelt to loot my corpse while muttering with disdain, "Annoying creature." I love it when small random events like that add up into something that fits the character so perfectly.

The perk features themselves run the gamut. The magic skill perks open up access to higher level spells, while perks for a skill like athletics allow you to regain fatigue levels faster while running. Other skill perks open up new abilities. A master of block can do an automatic counter-move after a successful block that disarms an opponent. A master of armorer not only can repair magic weapons and repair weapons up to 125% condition, but his or her repair hammers never get used up.

The scale is along the lines of one and a half times the size of Morrowind, but massive is really the only word you need to describe it. Even with all that extra space, I am still amazed at the density of content we've managed to pack in. Just this morning, I received a quest that involved a trek to a remote cave in the eastern Valus mountains. I still haven't made it out there as I write this in the evening. I keep stumbling on random dungeons and places of interest and sidetracking myself. I found a cave with a final journal entry from an adventurer lying outside, detailing his plan to enter and take down the ancient Lich inside. I came upon an ancient Elven ruin and went in hoping to find some Varla stones that I could use to recharge my magic weapons. I even ran into a gate to Oblivion and decided to enter and see what lay within. The size doesn't really change the way the game is played so much as give you an incredible amount of options of things to do.

There is a 4 page spread in the new March edition of PC gamer (uk) What caught my eye is there focus on the arena. Here's some of the stuff they say.

They cal this the blood works: The long walk from the training rooms to the amphitheatre, up a dark spiral slope that runs with the blood of previous combatants. It's a gruesome reminder of what's coming. I emerge into the glaring sunlight of the arena. My bow creaks as I draw an arrowand wait for the metal grille to raise. It lifts, my arrow arcs beautifully across the dusty arena and into my opponent's neck. The crowd roars.

My arena opponent has three of my arrows jutting out of various parts of her body by the time she reaches me. But suddenly her sword is flashing ina nasty looking spinning attack, and all I can do to defend myself is hold up my bow with both hands. The blow knocks me for six, staggering me and blurring my vision. The fickle crowd cheers. I hoist my warhammer off my back and launch into a full-force swing

Combat is swift and brutal now that you can block at any time with any weapon, damage has been ramped up to compensate. Even rats and goblins pack a nasty punch, and the blurry effect really makes you feel it. You move much faster in Oblivion than you did in Morrowind, so a delicate dance of darting in and out of your opponents range to get in a few quick hits is a dangerous affair. The real joy comes from timing a powerful blow from a two handed weapon, so it strikes just as your opponent moves in to attack.

My blow, however, bounces harmlessly off my opponents shield. She lunges in with a few quick slashes before I can regain my balance sufficiently to defend myself. By the time I do, i'm in serious trouble health- wise. It's time to use my secret weapon: The lovers kiss....

Yea it's worth getting the Mag.Four pages of that writing which takes you beyond the arena and making contact with the Brotherhood.
"....I should pay a visit to an old man staying at The Inn of Ill Omen, if not the Brotherhood won't contact me again. With that, the man vanishes. Not so much as a puff of smoke. It looks like a bug until I take a step forward, and suddenly realise he is still standing there. As I watch, this almost indiscernable shimmer walks calmly to the door, opens it, and leaves. It's the chameleon spell, and I resolve to learn it very soon."