(continued from previous page) ...across the entire map taking just a few seconds more. Also, bear in mind I’m looking at preview code, not the finished game, and load times can be optimised further prior to launch.

While Oblivion doesn’t take advantage of the Sixaxis’ motion sensing capabilities, the game’s many controls do fit very nicely to the combo of buttons and analog sticks. Having played Oblivion thoroughly on PC, I can safely say that all the one button controls I access on my PC’s keyboard can also be triggered with one button press on the Sixaxis - with the exception of maybe "Quicksave/load".

Being an Oblivion fan already, I was confident the PS3 version would be good, but even with the brief hands-on I had, I’m sure this is going to be one of the system’s must-have titles when the game arrives at the end of March. I’m even tempted to start my adventures in Tamriel from scratch, just so I can do it on PS3.

We’ll be bringing you an interview with Bethesda very soon, and look out for a full review of Oblivion on PSU in the coming weeks.