The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim a Bethesda Softworks game

Five long years after the last instalment, comes the latest epic adventure in the Elder Scrolls series,Skyrim. Set 200 years after the Oblivion crisis from the previous title. A new problem has risen in Tamriel, Dragons have returned,while a civil war wages in the Nord province of Skyrim. You are the prophecised dragon born,Fabled to solve both crises. I wont directly mention the story, so to avoid spoilers.

The games sets up both of these major plots rather neatly with the opening sequence. Which sees your head quite literately on the block, as a supposed traitor to the Empire. That is until you get your first glimpse of your reptilian foes, when a dragon attacks just before you lose it(Your head,that is).He is Alduin, first son of Akatosh, fabled World-eater.


This is followed by a short sequence to let you get to grips with the mechanics. From there on in, the game allows total freedom to explore. You could follow your fellow escapee back to his family in Riverwood, or see what's over the horizon.You could if you chose just spend your entire time picking the pretty flowers, it's up to you.

Before you take your first real steps into the landscape, there's a few things you'll need to know first. First is the combat and character progression. Both are a little different this time around. Combat brings with it now,the ability to dual wield spells and weapons and to mix and match. Favourite spells and weapons can be stored in a list, accessed via the d-pad, but it feels a little awkward. And later on even slightly overwhelming.Each ability will now level up organically as you use it, which I found a lot more useful than the normal clunky stats based system. As a side note I will point out some are very grindy and will take a lot of time, and gold, to get to a decent level. Specifically Smithing, alchemy and enchanting are the skills you really want to work on if you want the best armour, weapons and potions.

The landscapes that make up Skyrim and its towns are incredibly varied. No town feels the same as any other, and you can tell what area of the world you are in just by the look of it, if you’re familiar with the map in general. I’m not just talking about having a “snowy land” and “not-snowy land” either. There are sweeping plains, rolling hills, snow-capped mountains, lush forests with roaring (or babbling) rivers running throughout, rocky crag-filled vistas, port-side villages... Then even within each of those areas, the architecture of the different towns’ buildings varies as well, so one snow-swept town to the north will not look the same as the other one just slightly to the west. The effort that has gone into making sure nothing looks copied/pasted is very evident here. This is even true in the various dungeons all around Skyrim - there is a large amount of diversity in your surroundings even underground. Whether you’re walking through a Nord hall of the dead, a ruined Dwemer maze, or a snow-filled cave full of bandits, you have a vastly different experience almost every time you venture into a dungeon.

Skyrim is the kind of game you can lose hours to, I found myself looking at the clock 5 minutes after starting, and realising it's 5 hours. You've got the 2 major storylines running through it, but aside from these, there are literally hundreds of quests for you to go through. With major lines involving The Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, and others.These faction quests are as per Oblivion mini stories on their own. One of these involving the equivalent of the fighters guild from the previous game. The Companions, who you will meet on your way to Whiterun to discuss the crisis with the Jarl. You'll find them getting seven shades kicked out of them by a giant. Later with this quest line you'll be made a werewolf, as well as the usual chance to become a vampire somewhere down line, although both at the same time isn't possible. You may also find a spouse this time around, they can be useful too. Giving a regular income, and stocking items you might need for smithing etc.

What you really want to know about is the dragons. I'll start by saying they're a disappointment.When you first meet one you'll be greeted by an epic chorus, followed by huge roar swooping down on you. The actual fight however boils down to cover based magic/archery, until you level up at least.It's just a case of persevering until it's dead.
Once it is you'll be rewarded with a shiny new soul. You'll absorb one of these from each dragon you face. No need to worry about finding enough, they'll respawn, even after you're done with the main story line.

Which brings me to the next point,Shouts(accesseed via RB)There are 20 in all.As part of your dragon blood, you're able to speak in the language of the dragons. Basically magical powers using your voice. These vary from fire breathing, to bouncing your voice as a decoy. To collect these you'll need to find words of power on dragon walls scattered around. These can be pointed out for you in notes ''from a friend''. You'll pick these up buy using any of your shouting abilities in or around the towns.

On the achievement front it's a hefty job, but the list is a relatively easy one to chalk off. there's the normal story progression ones, your collectibles.As well as several faction quest lines to complete.

On a side note; the game isn't the best technically with lots AI breaks and bugs. A lot these are minor thou, and can be unnoticeable. And these are to be expected in a game of this scale and size.

Summary; A truly epic follow up to Oblivion. At times it will feel almost like a second life. Full of magic, swords and dragons. A masterpiece, not without flaws and bugs, but these can be over looked. If you have the time to invest in it you'll experience one of the best role playing games of all time

10/10[center][u][b]

It's not quite finished yet but, it's taken long enough lol I'll add stuff, and edit, during the rest of the week

Very nice mate.
Not a 10/10 in my eyes because its so damn broken with glitch's and freezing up all the time. Having said that I can't stop playing it this week!

Welcome back mate

Well done mate. hope you get too fully finish it as you intended as it would be a shame too rush it.

Good review of a truly epic game

Kent I'll be setting some time aside to write up the paragraphs I think it's missing

Mark I don't think a game has to be perfect for a 10

habitualschizo wrote:

Mark I don't think a game has to be perfect for a 10

I wasn't trolling mate, just an honest opinion

Sorry mate didn't think you were. I can see now it sounds like I was implying that.

if ever a game deserved a 10 its this one

Yes there are a couple of glitches which get fewer in number with each patch, but the enormity of the project makes the odd bug inevitable

I spend nearly all of march just playing this game. Nothing else went into the disc drive at all. I had anticipated it being a good game but I was unprepared for how totally engrossing it would become

The easiest way to describe it would be to call it Oblivion on steroids, but even that would do it an injustice

The sheer scope of the varying tasks and the beauty of the enviroment mean that once it has its hooks in you there is no leaving until you have finished

The main quest around finding and destroying an old dragon takes you on quests all around the map but for me the real treat is in the seperate quests required from joining each of the guilds

The levelling up process is much more wide ranging than with Oblivion and your chosen path and style of play is complimented by perks and uplifts in the associated area of skills.

The achs are brilliantly staged in as much as they actually lead you through almost as a map for your journey and make the sometimes overwhelming amount to do seem more manageable.

The graphics are quite beautiful but its the voice acting that brings everything to life. The amount of different characters is staggering and they are all voiced to perfection.

The main quest and the side quests seem now to all work without a hitch but there is a final ach for completing 15 daedric events and for me this is where the game still needs a bit of fixxxoring. So after 100 hours in Skyrim I am awaiting a patch to get the final 30 ach points, but every minute of the experience was quality and as with its forebearers it has been a high point in gaming for me

Buy it play it love it

10/10