The Oblivion remake is real, it's gorgeous, and it's out now

At last: Get ready to close the gate of Oblivion. Bethesda just made it official. The Elder Scrolls IV Remastered launched today. Much of the game has been rebuilt from scratch so it's not just a cosmetic refresh. It's got a modernized UI, streamlined leveling, and much more.

A massive leak last week revealed almost everything fans wanted to know about the long-rumored Oblivion remake. The cache included screenshots and side-by-side comparisons. An Xbox Support representative even let it slip that the game would launch on April 21.

Well, it's a day late, but Bethesda greeted us this morning with a live feed officially revealing the reboot, and from the looks of it, all the rumors were true aside from the release date. Even some of the side-by-side comparisons appear to have come straight from Bethesda's presentation (masthead).

However, Bethesda managed to throw us a few surprises. The most pleasant is that TES: Oblivion Remastered is available as of "right now." The April release is somewhat surprising. May seemed more likely, but maybe that was just me being pessimistic.

What's more surprising is that it is available on most platforms, including PlayStation 5! Considering Microsoft has kept most of Bethesda's newer titles away from its biggest rival, it is remarkable that it didn't at least make it a timed exclusive. Xbox may view the Oblivion remake differently than new releases like Starfield and TESVI, which are exclusives (for now). Whatever the case, it's a smart move - millions of PS5 owners will snap this title up, substantially boosting sales.

Also read: 26 Years of The Elder Scrolls

On appearances alone, there is little reason that fans shouldn't pick up this carefully done remaster unless it turns out to be buggy, a real possibility given Bethesda's track record. It is one of the finer makeovers I have seen recently. It looks gorgeous. I've included screenshots throughout, but please do check out the live footage in the masthead - stills just don't do it justice. The game didn't just get a new coat of paint. Design studio Virtuos rebuilt all models and environments from scratch.

Virtuos said it used the Oblivion game engine as the heart of the game while Unreal 5 produced the stunning visual aesthetic and special effects.

"We've leveraged nearly every major feature from the latest version of Unreal 5," said Virtuos Executive Producer Alex Murphy.

Utilizing Unreal Engine clearly paid off in spades. The only real question is, did developers give the old Oblivion engine any love? I recall revisiting Oblivion on the PS3 a few years ago and had to give up because the control scheme felt too clunky and outdated.

Virtuos said that it updated a lot of gameplay elements, like the user interface and experience. Leveling is not as janky anymore - no more hopping around like a crazy rabbit just to level up that agility stat. However, Murphy failed to mention anything about the game controls. Overlooking control modernization would be a rookie misstep, so here's hoping that Virtuos remembered something so simple yet fundamental to the player experience.

Some fans in the forums questioned whether Bethesda would include the two Oblivion DLCs, Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, or if it would split them off to sell separately and push a deluxe bundle. Good news: Oblivion Remastered includes all original DLC. Bad news (depending on how you view it): There is a deluxe version, which offers two weapon and armor skins, a digital artbook, and the soundtrack.

The Standard Edition is $50, while the Deluxe costs $60. If you don't want to commit to the deluxe bundle, you can always upgrade later for $10. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is available on PC through Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

I'm anxious to hear early reviews, especially from our readers. It will also be interesting to see if this opens the doors for other TES remasters. Morrowind, anyone?