Bethesda Softworks long-awaited new installment to the Elder Scrolls series will finally unleash later this week. So what's so different in Nov. 11's Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim?

Skyrim is set about two hundred years after Elder Scroll IV: Oblivion in the land of Skyrim. Your character is given the task of defeating a dragon god who is supposed to end the world.

Gamers who have played Bethesda's other RPG's before like Oblivion will quickly grasp the gameplay. You still get to choose the character you'll be playing but there are now significant changes to character creation. You can now have a more personalized character with tattoos, scars and face paint. There are no more set classes. As long as you use one particular weapon, your character will get experience in those weapons instead of just relying on a bow because you're a Thief. There are now only three attributes in Skyrim instead of the eight in Oblivion. Another feature in Skyrim that will be familiar to Fallout fans is the use of perks. Players can choose from 280 perks to customize their characters even more.

Combat in Skyrim now allows you to use both hands. You can equip the traditional sword and shield combo or mix it up with a sword and spell in either hand. You can now use numerous combinations to take down to various enemies in Skyrim.

The world in Skyrim is as vast as Cyrodiil in Oblivion. Like other Bethesda RPG, the player can roam around the world without even having to start the main quest. And the world in Skyrim is gorgeous thanks in large part to Bethesda's new gameplay engine. Discarding its hardy Gamebryo engine that served Oblivion and Fallout 3, Skyrim will be debuting Bethesda's Creation engine. The engine is responsible for the superior environments with new foliage and precipitation tech. it rains in Skyrim and it looks really good. Although Bethesda hasn't confirmed whether the Creation Engine will be used in their next game gamers are hoping to see it in the next installment of the Fallout series.

Aside from the updated gameplay engine, Elder Scrolls fans will love the re-designs of the major races. Argonians, the lizard men species look more ferocious, and say good-bye to those Shrek-like Orcs in Oblivion. The Orcs in Skyrim look like proper frightening Orcs. The NPCs in Skyrim will also move in a more realistic manner because of the new Havok Behavior technology. The new Radiant AI technology will add artificial intelligence to those NPCs. Instead of having the townspeople just mindlessly standing there, they'll be eating, talking or sleeping like real townspeople.

Another big addition, and by big we mean dragon-size big are the inclusion of dragons in the Skyrim universe. You can now kill dragons and acquire their souls to get more words of power. You can even forge better armor from dragon bones. Yes there are dragons in Skyrim and you should be positively excited at the thought.

All in all Skyrim promises to be an improvement over Oblivion with a more streamlined gameplay designed to attract more players. Purists will find this objectionable but for everyone else Skyrim is shaping up to be an epic game worth its name.