The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

Gameplay: 10, Prime.
Graphics: 9, Superb.
Sound: 10, Prime.
Value: 10, Prime.
Tilt: 10, Prime.

Making a sequel to Oblivion was going to be a big challenge for Bethesda to pull off right. With all the hype this game had before release it may have been susceptible to "Overhype" syndrome, fortunately for Bethesda, I try to ignore all hype before a game's release and take everything as it happens. I am glad I did this for Skyrim...

GAMEPLAY

Bethesda hit the payload when Oblivion was released gameplay-wise. With visceral First Person combat with swords and spells coming out of your ears and an easy to navigate world. Skyrim hasn't exactly changed much, though now Spells are mapped to each hand instead of being used with your standard kit and Bethesda have implemented dual wield of 1H weapons and said spells.


Dual wielding weapons (I used swords for my playthrough) increases output damage by double,
if using the same weapon on both hands that is, and balances itself out by the inability to
block. Same thing happens with Spells, except after certain perks are purchased in the
destruction perk tree (more on leveling later) you can combine 2 destruction spells into a
deadly combination. This added depth is great for the combat in Skyrim, and with each
attack having slightly more weight to it, it feels a whole lot more brutal.

One of my quarrels with Oblivion has been completely fixed in Skyrim. No longer do you have
to micro manage which skills you raise each level to max specific stats, they've dropped
stats all together and weapon/spell damage is based on the skill tree it falls under. Minor
and Major skills have been removed as well, meaning every skill increase goes towards your
next level, and with the removal of Acrobatics and Athletics, you won't receive random
skill increases just traversing around the world. Each skill has a perk tree associated with it. Each tier has a skill requirement, and are generally great for creating the character you want to play. Lockpicking's tree is a bit less useful with the change to Fallout's style of Lockpicking, but Bethesda could have removed the tree all together and added with sneak to fix that.

Exploring the world and taking quests couldn't be better. Bethesda have discontinued being able to Fast travel to every city straight away, but have replaced it with a taxi service (horse and cart) that costs 20/50 gold to travel to the cities instantly, though once you've been there once you can fast travel as many times as you like. The map of the world ingame does start out a bit confusing. It's 3D layout confused me for the first 30 hours or so though when I became more accustomed to it I could traverse all the mountains and such by swivelling the map around to get different angles of said mountains. Its a great little map for fast travelling with the locations marked clearly and having objectives in its own menu with the ability to switch them on and off helps with clutter issues.

Overall the general gameplay of Skyrim is second to none. If you loved Oblivion, I can see no reason why you wouldn't thoroughly enjoy exploring and killing in Skyrim.

GRAPHICS

Oblivion's graphics were incredible when it was released for the PC in 2006. Skyrim's graphics take it to a whole new level. The environmental effects are superb, I thorougly enjoy trotting about in the rain and staring off into the distance watching lighting strike various places. The draw distance is great, though with the save file bug you see these popping in more often when you have a large save file. It's not exactly game breaking but it slightly detracts you from the experience.

Character models are great. Oblivion had round faces and ugly women, Skyrim has more detailed faces with a combination of hideous (in a good way) and attractive women and men living in the cities. Armor looks great, Bethesda combining cuirass and greaves has been useful in making most well armed characters look good. It also helps remove some of the random combinations of clothes which can be good and bad, but it's for the greater good. The amount of characters on screen has improved dramatically because of this change, and cities barely have frame drops because of it.

SOUND

The sound in Skyrim is phenomonal. I get chills whenever I'm exploring and I hear some wolves howling to alert its comrades of my presence. All monsters have their quirks, I don't want to spoil all of them for you.

The weapons sound meatier than in Oblivion. Each strike sounds like its hitting something solid now unlike the sound of hitting leather in Oblivion.

Oblivion's voice acting problem of too few actors has been fixed. There are at least 70 different voices from what I can tell, though generic characters of each race all share the same voice which isn't that bad.

The soundtrack sets the mood really well, with heart pumping action beats and tranquil
sounds when exploring the roads and cities.


VALUE

I like to judge games value by how many hours you get per dollar. I spent $110 on my limited edition copy, have 70 hours so far and I can see MANY more to follow. If you want a game thats going to last you months, GRAB THIS GAME.

TILT

Bethesda have struck gold again with Skyrim. I enjoyed every minute of it. I can foresee nothing to detract me from my gameplay, this game is that good.

FINAL RATING: 9.8, Superb

The Bottom Line: Masterpiece, Well Worth The Hype

(review was written by Galblade and polished by Rigas)