The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Reviews

(4.6)

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4.11.2014

I played it, most evenings I would have a break in the middle and eat a sandwich. I would put my character I designed and called Remus a dark elf in the 'Bannered Mare' inn in Whiterun. A Bard would sing songs "We drink to our youth... the age of aggression.. the Dragonborn comes, etc". All the dialogue written and spoken by top voiceover actors and actress' in a variety of regional accents in American and English (several other languages for this game can be downloaded from files on steampowered.com as I downloaded the game there but I have bought games on Amazon in the DVD ROM format as well mostly Tomb Raider games) it's very absorbing and interesting throughout. Here's my Steam review,which was written over a 6 month period during playing the game in 2014, and I completed 87% of the achievements. Probably took me 20 hours to write: This great game took me 400 hours over 6 months to complete all the quests - the legendary edition version is a gigantic map. No cut scenes or large scale animation sequences, all game dialogue is in real time. My system runs it in 1080p with Ultra high detail. It is not just slaying dragons and fighting all manner of enemies and collecting items of use or for wealth accumulation. Helper or Housecarl Lydia is still tagging along, and there are others you can hire. Whenever Lydia died I re loaded a previous save, and now I have the Heal Other spell. If you have to leave her to fulfill quests she reappears sitting at the table in Dragon's Reach with inventory intact. You can drop Lydia off and ask other characters to be your helper if you want a helper tagging along. There are things that happen that seem like bugs initially, for example: The Blacksmith at Skaal village did not respond to the fact I have the Stalhrim source map and Miraaks dragon Sarotaar had ignored the Bend Will shout until when I discovered I needed to not only press but hold the shout button down to get the dragon to offer a taxi ride to Miraak - so I'd make a note on a piece of paper as I am sure I knew it from a loading screen info but forgot as the game is very long! After defeating Miraak the blacksmith then responds and also a new tomb quest starts. In Skyrim I've reached a level now where the basic draugr is less common than the Deathlord draugr and the route to defeat the Alduin dragon and that quest was packed with nasty Deathlord draugr so you will need substantial armour and weaponry + 2 handed skills to reach the dragon fight (my tip is the Ice shout and a paralyse enchanted battleaxe). I have the 4 Aetherium crystal shards collected from the numerous Dwaven ruins but the Aetherium forge has not yet been located.and It was definitely worth paying the game for only £10.17 in a casual purchase hope this review effort balances the scales a bit - and a worthwhile computer gaming experience, and I think I will continue playing it as there is more quests including the Dawnguard DLC that I have not even made a start on yet. I did not know for the first 200 hours about fast travel that it is done by clicking on the map and that filled soul gems re charges magical weapons. For example there is an arrow to Skyrim from Solsthine and you only have to pay a ship captain (the larger centre boat birthed at Windhelm, the smaller boat goes to Solitude and I was initially confused by the name similarity - like finding it difficult to distinguish two people that have similar faces that you only briefly saw; to travel to the Dragonborn DLC Solsthine island. I am a big Tomb Raider fan and am willing to pay full price for newly released TR games, and maybe fans of Skyrim would enjoy trying one - particularly the 2008 Tomb Raider Underworld would be recommended, and maybe take advantage of it as a casual purchase in the next sale, Black Friday is always the best time, at the end of Autumn. Skyrim offers a social aspect that is fairly sophisticated, maybe not to the level of The Last of Us a PS3 only game, but it is academically written throughout, and I encountered no vulgarities/distasteful obscenities at all - such as swearing or nudity. The only mistake was in the pronunciation of the archaic word 'Sirrah' by miners in the Raven Rock ebony mine, which should have rhymed with ticket or the star Sirius, but was spoken like Sarah. I felt perplexed and I thought it was funny, they're calling me a girl's name Sarah, until it eventually dawned on me and a dictionary check. The publisher has a YouTube channel with a set of well made videos includes trailers, artwork, music and voice over, and a game play demonstration staged at E3. If you are looking in the sale, Tomb Raider Underworld from 2008 I would like to recommend, because it has a similar graphical style; and maybe buy it in a casual purchase in the next sale, the Black Friday sale end of Autumn is the best time of the year, particularly on Steam. There are lots of characters that lead you on quests and join in the fights and accompany you. I rather liked Aela the Huntress in the Companions quests. There are Vampires in this game and if you get bitten you may turn into a Vampire and get a set of unlockable special Vampire perk powers. Similarly there is also the chance to become a Wearbear and this also has its own power perks chart. The Dragonborn DLC alone was easily worth what I paid Steam in the sale, and adds maybe 30% to the base game and I followed the pointer in the centre of the top on screen guide bar and it led me to this DLC island from the start of the game so basically I was a weakling facing tough enemies needing to build up the skills and powers. On the main Skyrim map here are 8 boss masks that fit into a Labyrinthian altar, I sold the Morokei mask to Fethis Alor a market trader in Raven Rock - and I can't buy it back as it is not in his inventory - so save them all. Note: I have got it back thanks to www.elderscrolls.wikia.com website info. For PC only and British keyboards you enter a thing called the command prompt by pressing the key directly below Escape and left of 1. (For Americans it is the ~ key) Type: player.additem 00061C8B 1 and enter then the top left of the screen states Morokie added. Make a note of this website as this is enabling me to complete the Labyrinthian altar task which I couldn't otherwise have done. But, really the developer should have made these masks a quest item until these had all been placed into the altar first and that being done before selling or giving them to a follower. The Dawnguard DLC which as with Dragonborn DLC is trigger started at the Palace of Kings. This DLC is using the Skyrim map and using pre-visited dungeons/caves as well as adding or enabling new ones to be discovered, and you get a Vampire helper called Serana and she is lovely, like her name very serene - and she's more advanced than Lydia ie moving around (this DLC adds maybe 16% extra content to the base game - and that is not small by any means). There is an ongoing war between the Stormcloaks and The Imperials and you get to take sides - and although the game told me to join the Stormcloaks I chose to join The Imperials instead and it was allowed and I think The Imperial suit of armour the heavy version is my personal favorite outfit in the game of an large range of outfits. It made the game more interesting having so much choice of outfits and weapons.In conclusion at currently 87% of the Steam achievements done I think I made a good choice in buying and playing it. It would have been helpful if there had been an optional complete map updated of all the remaining undiscovered locations on reaching 80% of the Steam achievements as it is so big e.g. Unlocked: Reveal Complete Map Locations ? Well, I found that typing tmm 1 into the command prompt does that and I did not see much of a difference to the map (tmm 0 removes All markers if you happen to try out tmm 1 just to see all the markers at the start). So at 87% Steam achievements and I may stop playing it at the 600 hours mark after completing the Kagrumez Trials a small Dwarven ruin - I must get the gems from specific locations on Solsthine Island If you're unsure what to buy and reading reviews to decide then you have to take a chance like I did, and Skyrim Legendary Edition is a good choice and the two DLCs were essential and charismatic expansions. I'd like to thank Bethesda Softworks (publisher) and Bethesda Game Studios (developer) for this great game. I am glad I bought and played it, and looking forward to more in the future, and imagining what the next one in the series could be. Could it top this; hope so but it would be a tall order for anyone to ask and expect that to happen. If it equals this game I'd be very happy about the purchase indeed. P.S. At the bottom of a copy post of this review on my Google + page is a link to hear the OST music. This was oomposed by Jeremy Soule,and there is a mixture of melodic, ambient and operatic pieces - 50 tracks some are dramatic like Dragonborn (theme), then there's more peaceful tracks such as Masser and there's also tavern music like A Chance Meeting; I think this contributed greatly to the atmosphere. Also: I've expanded this review in a post, so that it has some enabled links. See: https://plus.google.com/110549169827417443259/posts

12.11.2011

Perhaps the biggest, best and most hyped game of the year is finally here! I'm just going to dive right into this review because this game deserves every single bit of praise.-------------------------------------------------------Story-------------------------------------------------------The game opens with you, a prisoner, on the back of a cart along with other captured prisoners. After a short ride into the nearest town, you are introduced to a small, but incredible part of the world of Skyrim. As the Imperial soldiers who captured you force you off the cart, you begin customizing your character. After this, your fate seems decided as an executioner looms over you and prepares to end your life.Low and behold, just as the axe comes down, a dragon swoops down and sends out an incredible roar.Unknown to you, or anybody else, the Dragons have returned to Skyrim after years of absence but why have they returned? That thought doesn't even cross your mind as you sense the opportunity to escape and an action-packed and explosive escape begins. Once you safely escape the terrifying Dragon and the chaos behind you, the world of Skyrim opens up.You are Dragonborn, born with the soul of a Dragon and able to learn and master the language of the beasts. With a war being waged in Skyrim and the return of the Dragons, it is your quest to seek out and destroy these powerful creatures and gain their knowledge. It's a simple story but one that draws you in and captivates you from start to finish. Sadly though, the length of the main story is a little short. Of course, it depends on how you play but thankfully, there's a plethora of things for you do in this game and, for me, completing the main story is the last thing on my mind.-------------------------------------------------------Graphics-------------------------------------------------------I could sum up the look of Skyrim in one word - extraordinary. Whilst the introduction might not offer a good chance to get a look at the graphics, the moment you step out of the first cave and see the open world of Skyrim you can fully appreciate how hard Bethesda have worked on this game. This game boasts some of the most impressive visuals I've ever seen and considering that Skyrim is open world and you can go anywhere, you'd think the game might struggle here and there.Water effects are stunning, the icy landscapes are crisp and beautiful and the lighting works really, really well. When you begin to climb snowy peaks and explore dark caves and ruins you might feel scared or terrified and the visuals add to the eerie atmosphere that is commonly encountered when exploring ruins, caves and other places. One thing I have noticed is that some textures takes a few seconds to pop-in. This isn't a huge, or common, problem but it is noticable in some locations (atop high mountains looking down etc), but this doesn't take away from the fact that the game looks breathtaking even on the consoles.-------------------------------------------------------Gameplay-------------------------------------------------------Everything about this game is fantastic. Once you're free to explore, you decide your own path. Do you head to Riverwood and initiate the start of the main storyline? Or do you head north and come across an ancient Nord ruin that houses a dark secret and terrifying creatures? Maybe you could purchase a woodaxe and start collecting wood? Or become a blacksmith and make/upgrade your weapons? It really is up to you. If you've played Oblivion/Fable/Fallout then you'll know how this works but Skyrim does actually let you do what you want. You never feel pressured to do this mission, or go here and fetch this item for this person.The combat in Skyrim has recieved a welcome overhaul. Straight from the off you can dual-wield swords, axes, maces, daggers and even spells. Whilst the idea of dual-wielding in a game is pretty simple it isn't done often. Skyrim gives you the ability to make your own combat, almost. Coming across bandits in a crumbling ruin, you have choices as to how you can take them on. Dual weapon? Dual spell? Or perhaps an axe in one hand and a fireball spell in the other? Whatever works for you. This system is incredibly simple but it works so well and because of it, combat never feels like a chore or boring. Mix it up and you'll get a lot out of it.Being an RPG, you'll need to level up to get better at slaying those Dragons, right? Well, in Skyrim levelling-up has been given a completely different, yet simple, mechanic. Unlike in Oblivion where you choose your specific skills and advance those, you level up by increasing any skills you want a few times. Depending on the type of character you want to play, you may choose to level up only your magic skills. Or perhaps you're a barbarian and will level up your one-handed/two-handed and block skills? Maybe you're just a jack-of-all-trades and will focus on everything? Regardless of what you choose, once you've levelled up you look to the heavens and get to increase either your Health, Magicka or Stamina. Do this, and you're then given a perk which you use to unlock abilities. You can spend this perk on anything from each skill or you can save it and store multiple perks until you're ready to make a decision.The freedom in Skyrim is awesome. With hundreds of quests, multiple guilds to join and other objectives to complete, you really can sink so much time into this game. One of the most epic and tense things in this game is the dragon fights. The Dragons in Skyrim are dynamically scripted which means that they can attack you whenever and however they like. Some Dragons are scripted and are only encountered at specific locations/points in the game but most of them you can find flying around/torching some poor horse in the wilderness. It's incredibly tense when you're walking through a dense forest and hear nothing, when suddenly a Dragon lands right in front of you and spits forth a torrent of fire. Is it fun? Oh, yes! Is it epic? Oh, yes! Featuring an awe-inspiring soundtrack, battling with the dragons is a fun, dangerous, exciting and breathtaking adventure on its own!I don't want to give the impression that Skyrim is a perfect game because it isn't, but it gets so many things right that you cannot help but feel that it deserves all the praise it's getting. It has a few texture issues and frame rate drops along with random "go here and fetch" that quests that feel tacked on at the last minute but fans of action, adventure and open world gameplay are in for a massive treat with this game. It's one of those games where, even after sinking hundreds of hours into it, you'll still keep coming back for more.PROS+ Massive world to explore+ Improved combat and levelling-up system+ Tons to do+ Exploring is in-depth and atmospheric+ Dragon fightsCONS- Textures often struggle- Poor draw distance- Repetitive side-quests (go here and fetch that etc.)- Bugs and glitches-----------UPDATE (23/12/11)-----------So the game has been out for over a month now and, as I'm sure you've heard, the game has problems. I wanted to play the game more to see if I experienced any problems that I've been reading about. As many other reviewers have said, the game is fine until your save game hits a specific size. I personally have not experienced this issue yet, but my playing experience has been far from unhindered.I'm sure there are more errors in the game than what I'm about to list, but I just want to inform people who are going to buy this game what they might experience: --The game will randomly crash at any point-Scenery/backdrops will pop-in and out in the wild-Lag/slowdown issues-Backwards flying dragons-Some quests cannot be completed due to errors-If you save whilst being hit by a hostile projectile, that projectile stays in your character (had this happen to me)-AI can sometimes be slow to respond (rare)You may still be wondering why I've still given this game a five-star rating if it is this bugged. Well, to be honest, Skyrim is still a fantastic game and worth purchasing but it's not a case of IF you experience any issues, it's WHEN. Bethesda are working hard to address these issues but I personally find the crashing more annoying than backwards flying dragons. I just hope they address the crashing problems as soon as possible.My overall opinion remains unchanged - buy this game. Just be prepared to experience some degree of bugs, glitches and other errors. Also, I strongly recommend that you hook up your PS3 to the internet otherwise you won't receive the patches that Bethesda release and therefore, your game will remain filled with problems.

21.11.2017

Since its debut in 2011, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been an amazing success. It’s seen three huge expansions, repackaged as a complete Legendary Edition, released on the newest generation of consoles in a remastered Special Edition, and most recently, its port to the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation VR. When I first saw the PSVR version announced, I was immensely excited.However, I didn't have a Psvr, let alone thinking about buying Skyrim!Yes, Skyrim was one of the main reasons I got myself a Psvr. And an excellent bundle in the black friday sale.For a game that wasn't originally designed for VR, Skyrim is nothing short of impressive. This really is the Skyrim that you know and love,but now you can enjoy it like never before with the immersive presence of a VR headset.Much like the new Switch version, which came out on the same day, this is essentially the same game as was released six years ago but with all the DLC included from the start. And no matter what the compromises and problems involved were in making it work that is an incredible achievement.Funny how some games have incredible staying power. Tetris has been coded for virtually every gaming device since the 1980's. Whilst something like Doom has been able to run on everything from smart watches to microwaves.Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is one of the latest additions to the canon of games ported as widely as possible for years after their initial relevance. The 2011 open-world role-playing game set the modern standard for the genre, earning rave reviews across the board. Players could be any sort of hero they wanted, and explore the massive fantasy region in any way they wanted, allowing for nearly infinite replayability.Although I completed the main story on the Xbox 360 many years ago, I only played the game for around 160hrs give or take, compared to hundreds of hours other players have done. I also purchased the Legendary Edition and then the Special Edition on the Ps4, that of which I played mods, for a number of hours as well.Going into Skyrim VR I was concerned that it was going to be another port, but I’m happy to say that I couldn’t have been more wrong.Skyrim VR is not a simplified version of Skyrim. It’s not a version of the game that’s been sliced and cut for virtual reality. It is Skyrim in all of its glory.And soon after putting on the headset, there I was again, in the back of the wagon, bound for my own execution...It was a pretty cool moment, I have to admit I got a little giddy. Straight away I was amazed on how much depth there was.I mean, this opening portion is largely on rails sure, and the real test would come later, but the opening of the game blew me away!Bethesda has added a lot of customization options to the comfort settings. Players can change how much of a vignette comes in when moving or turning, change the rotation angles for turning, and make the snap either instant or gradual. If you’ve followed VR, then you know that increasing the comfort settings will lower the sense of immersion. Finding the lowest comfort settings that you can stand is the best way get everything the experience has to offer in VR while not getting sick. Opting for sliders instead of toggles, Bethesda allows players a lot of control over their own experience and comfort in Skyrim VR.Thankfully even though this my first foray into VR, not once have I suffered from any kind of motion sickness.There are two ways to play Skyrim VR: with the DualShock 4 controller or the PlayStation Move controllers.The move controllers, I haven't had the chance to play with yet, but the Dualshock however was perfect.Skyrim VR makes the 6-year-old game feel fresh again. It may have taken a graphical hit compared to some of the more recent re-releases of the original, but the appreciation of scale more than makes up for it.Graphically, the game is a lot closer to its original 360/PS3 version than the newer remastered editions, which's a shame, but that's simply due to the limitations of rendering in PSVR. It’s sure to bother some, but for those who can allow themselves to get immersed in virtual reality despite graphical quality, I found it easy enough to lose myself in the world and largely forget about the flat textures that cover many of the surfaces. Keep in mind that I was playing on a standard PS4, too. It’s possible that the Pro does a better job at handling the rendering of a massive open world in virtual reality.In 2011 Skyrim was a technical marvel — one of the largest and most open worlds that many players had ever explored. On the one hand, the extra degree of immersive intimacy afforded by VR is put to excellent use here. Gazing across sweeping, mountain vistas, or up at an angry giant, looming directly overhead, has an extra, visceral punch here above and beyond what the base game can achieve. Skyrim has always been defined by its scale, and in that regard VR is a natural and obvious way to enhance that basic appeal.The menus remind me slightly of minority report popping up in front of you which I found cool.Even sitting in the three-dimensional starscape of the skills menu is a stunning experience that could have just as easily been left a dull two-dimensional screen.Transition from 2D to virtual reality is amazing. I normally play my games on a 49" Samsung, but it doesn't matter how big your tv is, and whether or not it's full hd, or 4K with all the bells and whistles, at the end of the day, you're still a spectator. Similar to when you watch a movie or at the theatre, you're an observer. But VR takes you into that game. You are in that world, and that's where Skyrim VR succeeds! The depth and immersion can only be experienced for oneself to fully understand and appreciate.With virtual reality, when you’re in motion, you're experiencing the world all around you, it’s a sensation unlike any other.When you’re walking through a forest, taking in the sights in front of you, you can stop and turn your head. You won’t see your couch behind you when you do this. Instead, you’ll see the path you just walked.Look up, down, anywhere at all, and the game is all around you. You are inside of that world. For a huge Skyrim fan like myself, it’s a wish come true. I remember climbing The Seven Thousand Steps to High Hrothgar when I first played Skyrim, but doing it in VR felt like an arduous journey, and one that I remember more clearly and in so much more detail than any of my time playing the game outside of VR.You can almost feel the snow hitting your face when you climb the highest mountains.Spiders hold a lot more terror when they are coming at you. Campfires feel warm and comforting.Most impressive, perhaps, is the presence of a dragon flying over your head, or slamming into the ground in front of you.Play with headphones, and you’ll have the full experience. Sound has incredible depth in Skyrim VR. Spells roar with a voracious power that makes them feel like true destructive forces. Wonderful orchestral pieces add amazing soundscapes to your exploration, and the sound of enemies approaching in a dark dungeon makes your blood run cold.Playing Skyrim VR showed me the future of virtual reality, and It's ignited my love for PlayStation VR.Make no mistake — Bringing Skyrim to the PSVR is an impressive feat, especially given the age of the game and the technical constraints of the platform.It’s still hard to comprehend that Skyrim, a game from 2011 not originally designed for virtual reality, is now PlayStation VR’s killer app. Marrying these two ideas seemed like an impossible feat, and I don't know how, but Bethesda pulled it off.Skyrim VR is anything but a simple port to virtual reality. It is lovingly crafted with care and attention to make one of the biggest and most memorable VR experiences since the platform first launched. Skyrim VR isn’t just a must-experience for PSVR owners; it’s a reason to buy the headset.Pros:The whole game is fully playable in VR, which includes all the dlc, Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn.Despite the games problems, the sense of immersion is incredibly impressive. Skyrim itself is as good, if not better, than ever.Cons:Low res graphics and blurry visuals.Bugs and glitches.5/5

30.9.2014

From its dazzling open-world expansions, to its gorgeous visuals and complex storyline driven by both character dialogue and intense gameplay and backed by an astounding soundtrack, Skyrim is ultimately one of the greatest RPG games ever created.The central premise, in a nutshell, revolves around the player assuming the role of Dragonborn, who must save Skyrim's fate from the malicious and manipulative dragon Alduin. Fantasy lovers alike will undoubtedly enjoy every minute progressing further into this complex storyline, but what also gives this game a significant amount of both depth and substance is the second story which runs parallel; the land of Skyrim being torn apart by a bitter rivalrybetween the Stormcloak and Imperial factions entrenched in hatred since the overthrowing of the High King. This in itself plunges the player into an incredibly intricate, politically-driven feud and offers a much more refreshing perspective. As a man who generally cannot adhere to one task alone without becoming incredibly apathetic and demotivated, Skyrim offered me an amazing opportunity to dip between these two major plot lines (this of course not taking into consideration the ridiculous multitude of other quests appointed to you from NPC's (non-playable characters) across the map of Tamriel far-and-wide.)The musical score in itself is more than just a cacophony of miscellaneous in-game sounds of sword-on-sword clinging and clanging and noises akin to battle sequences. From the hearty string and flute melodies that echo through the inns of the homely Bannered Mare, snuggled away from the blizzards and bitterly cold winter storms, to the haunting, foreboding backdrop amidst the Nordic dungeons where time forgot, to the epic, emotionally-driven mosaic compositions that form a tapestry of both suspense and great heartfelt depth as you traverse along the plains and rocky hills overlooking the azure sea and culture-rich villages, right down to the grand royalty of the great halls of Dragonsreach, Solitude and Winterhold, the soundtrack does more than just accompany the gameplay; it enriches it. Each and every place one can explore in Skyrim is brought ever more to life with the wave of Jeremy Soule's (the composer's) hand, and if you feel I'm exaggerating a tad, try closing your ears or muting the television while playing and you will see for yourself. Pieces like Distant Horizons and Wind Guide You make you want to just lay the controller down for a bit and watch the camera rotate itself around the player and the mass expansions laid out around them. One They Fear and Caught Off Guard will have your adrenaline pumping as you fight off behemoth-sized fire and ice-breathing dragons atop mountains as well as undead knights in the murky, sinister depths. The score is so varied and patiently written and performed it is spread over four discs (owing to roughly 18 tracks each) which I, as you can imagine, am proud to own.The visuals go without saying. The incredible detail from both the in-game physics to the rich contrasting colors are testament to the aptitude and sheer proficiency of those at Bethesda. Thick, crisp white snow blanketing towns and villages which fluoresce in the night. Intense crimson sunlight beating down on trickling water streams and smooth stepping rocks. Rich, vibrant greenery inhabiting obscure tree creatures. Marble floors and walling of desolated Elvish towns, protected by advanced robotics operating with all their alluring architecture. Golden, warmly fires underneath char-black cauldrons to tiger-skinned rugs which hug vast spaces of palace flooring, to iron doors in ancient Nordic underground bunkers, presented in sharp and elegant swirls and patterns. All detailed, and more, in such a way you can almost step inside this world and be lost amongst its beauty and awe. Even great care has gone into the facial expressions exhibited by NPCs, ally and foe alike; energy-surrounded guarding shields summoned by necromancers and great axes wielded by the greatest and challenging of enemies are just some of many examples.As far as the dynamics of the gameplay go, Skryim does not stop short of just offering players the ability to shape their character's appearance and race. Throughout the game and with each level up, the player is given the chance to increase their magic, health and/or stamina, followed by their skills, which range from lockpicking to armour, and from smithing to conjuration. Take your pick, after all you decide how you want your character to be. A stealthy assassin possessing advanced lockpicking skills? Or a mage specialising in healing, conjuring and alchemy? A hardy, steel-clad warrior? Or a mix of all of these? The choice, and indeed the Skyrim world is yours. Subsequently, the actions you carry out in this game will improve such skills, for e.g. the more you devise potions and medicines, the higher your alchemy. The more you implement the use of your shield in combat, the higher your blocking. Weapons, armour and jewelry improve certain aspects of your statistics and scrolls collected throughout allow you to conjure up allies to aid in fights when help may be needed.The fighting sequences keep the action fast-paced and heart-pounding. The player has the option of using physical means of attack (swords, shields, axes, bows and arrows, hammers etc) as well as using magic in a variety of destructive ways (fire bolts and flames, ice attacks and electric sparks shooting from the hand, Victor-Von-Doom-style.) But above and aside all this, Skyrim offers a much more unique in-game combat technique which is also integral to many of the quests; the ability to shout certain chants and words in a myriad of manners. They can be used to control and bend the weather to one's will, calm creatures or terrify enemies, sending them fleeing back to the recesses they crawled from, and knocking fool-hardy bandit chiefs right off their feets. Shouts can be improved with every new part of the chant learned (which involves first discovering the chant transcript and then purchasing them by means of dragon souls obtained from slaying them.)In summary, Skyrim is truly a colossal fantasy RPG epic that requires a great deal of time and dedication; expect to burn away 3-4 hours to even several as it pulls you into a beautiful world you do not wish to pull yourself away from. What I have reviewed is a mere fraction of what this game offers (no hyperbole intended.) Battle dragons, wolves, vampires, the undead, corrupt ministers, shady townsfolk, reckless thieves, daemon worshippers, bounty hunters, assassins... Choose your fate, decide the outcome where more than one is possible; town criminal with a price on your head, or hailed saviour of the people? To support an Imperial movement well-cemented in the politics of Tamriel, or side with the rebellious Stormcloaks, that claim the democracy is fragmented under Imperial rule? The choice is yours.At the time of reviewing this game, Amazon priced it at £12.48. Take my word for it, it is, and will be, worth every penny. You may find cheaper elsewhere, but once you immerse yourself in this game, the price tag will appear negligible.

11.12.2011

As a fan of Oblivion it was obvious I had to pre-order this beauty of a game. Now I did have to take some time altering to it, some changes like not being able to use health spells while still wielding weapons, remembering this time around that vendors DO now run out of money to buy off you, and that rather than a standard level for enemies you now face regular/fairly regular "big bosses" or masters/leaders so you do have to plan ahead often to make sure you are well equipped. But the latter is fine with me, its easy to get robotic on games and Skyrim mixes it up a little to keep you on your toes!For those new to TES, the world is an epic freeroam world, many interactive A.I. and many quests,main, sub etc. This installment sees your character (fully customisable, male/female, size, war paints, hair, and best of all you get to (with requiring money ingame) customise armour etc) in a new world from Oblivion, we see a Triassic or Jurassic style age map, with such beautifully designed beasts as the Sabre Tooth, Mammoths and tundric terrains. There are giants (mostly friendly if you keep your distance, try not to take them on early on), mages, mercenaries, dungeons, caves all in mountainous and open regions, all explorable (though some only by quests in first instances), you have many guilds you can join, thieves guild, the Dark Brotherhood (assassins), and many other unique to TES this edition. There are cities and quaint villages all with their own unique offering to quests and skill trainers. Though the size of the map can be daunting to many not just new players so its advised you make good use of the carriage outside Whitehall stables to pay a small bit of gold to travel to each city so you can the fast travel easier (to fast travel you must have explored the area atleast once before).This edition to TES is literally about you being a dragonborn (able to take the soul of a dragon), the dragons are mostly random on appearing but there are areas you can seek out to hunt them, you also have a special "shout", the language of the dragon, they are great at using verse enemies but be careful not to use them on the citizens or you can get into trouble ;-) Also you seem to be in the middle of a wonderful war between the Nords (native to Skyrim) and the Imperials who reside in Skyrim as semi-rulers though you will notice there are still Jarls in the cities of Skyrim who are mostly backing the Nords or Stormcloaks as they are known. So you can have your hands full when people expect you to choose a side ;-)Though originally I gave a 3 star for taking away some of the original Oblivion leveling styles etc I find myself ever more addicted to the TES via Skyrim, this game is hard to put down and there are so many options to choose and paths you can take that it feels alive within you. The interactivity as always is great but I have to say its a great thing the voices sound more numerous than Oblivion, that got a tad irritating hearing only 2 different voices in the game :P Now you have a more diverse accent arena and as for the characters, so much has been added to the details, the Khajiit look awesome and sound much better! Seriously good work put into this title! Bar the rush to get the PS3 version out on 11.11.11 hence the often glitchy problems verse Xbox and of course the mighty PC! But I highly recommend this to any age group, bar like the rating its given (15 in UK) as there are darker circles in the game just like in reality! But the beauty is you get to choose how you play it, good guy, bad guy, or a bit of everything! This is no ordinary game!Alas there are a number of glitches I have found:1. A couple of times out in the wilderness you can get attacked while already in conversation within a quest so you have to come out of it to fight then start the conversation from scratch again.2. Sometimes an enemy will fall and you won't be able to pick their items (but you can leave area via a door etc and return to successfully do this).3. Dragons often "flee" leaving you to chase them far and wide to kill them and also you must be careful, I have had many dragons kill vendors etc, a blacksmith, a sneak trainer and other important people that I didn't realise were important until later on when I found some shops were no longer available to trade with.4. Sometimes vendors will not show the selling bit to use for trade, I thought maybe somedays weren't trade days etc but this seems very random and not set.5.a. There is a serious "slow down" rate on PS3 but I have only found this on gameplay of over 6 hours non-stop! So shouldn't really be an issue so long as you keep an eye on real time ;-) But this is hard, its an addictive game, and beautiful in so many ways!5.b. I have found taking auto save off completely and just manually saving has also stopped "glitching" when entering/exiting areas, the autosave seems very badly done so if you can rely on yourself to save regularly then I highly recommend this.6. A door is missing in the garden you find a Daedra God in via a portal for a quest (I forget exact details) but you get out of the garden via speaking with this Daedra but if you return to this garden later you will not be able to return so be careful to save often especially before entering new areas.7. Horses die very easily and you still can't attack while riding so you have to just keep fleeing regularly, dragons can kill them in just one hit if the horse doesn't run in time (when you are not mounted on the horse), this is costly and unique horses like Shadowmere will be gone for good when dead!8. Some areas you travel to on quests will still not be possible to fast travel to even if you've been there before.So really I have come across a couple of bad glitches but overall most problems are rectifiable manually so its just a case of remembering where not to return and having breaks between gameplay (even if it is your day off!), on my days off I play 4 hours a time, turn off console and come back 30mins or more to return to gameplay, with this I have had no real issue with slow down bar the odd moment where you can just stop movement a few seconds, let the game load settle and return to play.(*This is without the patches, I haven't internet for PSN so unsure what the patches do to the glitches but without the patch these steps should help*)Top game, see it taking another Game of the Year award without any hassle! Well deserved and keep up the great work!

5.11.2016

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition review - A fine remaster of one of the greatsEven after half a decade, Skyrim is an RPG with an unprecedented level of soul. It’s in its atmosphere –– from its flat frosty tundra and river-veined forests to its tallest peak, the Throat of the World. It’s in its cities –– from the hilltop settlement of Whiterun in the nation’s heartlands, to the walled white fortress of Windhelm to the northeast, and the rocky magnificence of Solitude to the west. And it’s in its people –– from the bold pride of the Nords, to the subtle schemes of the Dunmer (that’s Dark Elves to you and I), and the mystery of where the Dwemer (or Dwarves) ever disappeared to.The Special Edition is a brighter,sharper version of the exemplary game many people will have played a lot before –– perhaps even for hundreds of hours on multiple play throughs. Its skies may now be more vibrant, its forests livelier and its cities more detailed, but its soul remains just as rich as it was back in 2011. While the technical overhauls can’t quite bring the Special Edition up to the high visual standards of more modern open-world fantasy games like The Witcher 3, it’s a substantial improvement over the original. From the views as you gaze across a huge mountain valley, to the lakes that shimmer in the morning sun, Skyrim’s occasionally blocky architecture and ageing draw distance can’t detract from what is still a beautiful game, even today.As an enormous sandbox, rife with opportunity for player-driven adventure and open-ended storytelling, Skyrim is near unparalleled. You will spend your time questing through its many caves, dungeons and castles for pursuit of treasure; fighting dragons, goblins and vampires in order to defend small homesteads and entire cities from ruin. You’ll stumble across secrets, uncover heinous plots and altogether create your own individual stories, discovering more and more about Skyrim’s different races, factions and cults. It’s a significant timesink.Skyrim Special Edition reviewIt’s entirely worthwhile, though. Even today, Skyrim’s core obsession with freedom is utterly engrossing. Its various scripted sequences are showing their age, with creaking, stiff character models, stilted animations and a fair level of flat voice acting across its many thousands of lines of dialogue, but the moment-to-moment adventure is unlike nothing else out there. It starts, as every Elder Scrolls game does, with you in chains; heading towards your execution. You don’t know what you did to get yourself into this sticky situation, but you’ll quickly find out that death isn’t on the menu for you today. Just as you stick your head onto the block, ready for it to be unceremoniously lopped off, a dragon attacks the city you’re being held in. You take this advantage to escape in the chaos, and venture out into the world to forge your own legend.From there the possibilities are –– almost literally –– endless. You could pursue your first main quest and discover the road to uncovering your destiny as the Dragonborn, a rare breed intrinsically linked to the army of dragons who’ve conveniently returned to Skyrim. Or you could wander off on your own path; become a warrior and take up arms with the Companions guild in Whiterun; study the arcane arts and become a mage, specialising in any of Skyrim’s five main magical schools –– Destruction, Restoration, Illusion, Conjuration and Alteration. You could become a thief, handy with a bow, capable of sneaking around in the shadows and doing the bidding of the underground Thieves Guild in the far south-eastern city of Riften.Then there’s the Dark Brotherhood –– an infamous band of assassins who kill for contracts, and whose final aim is regicide. Become a merchant, travelling the world selling and buying wares, or picking plants and herbs to become a master alchemist. Or you could begin with Skyrim’s downloadable content, all of which come included in the Special Edition. The first of the larger two packs has you taking up arms with a band of vampire hunters. The second is an adventure to an entirely new island off the continent, called Solstheim, which takes visual inspirations from 2004’s The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind –– a favourite among long-time series nuts.Whatever you do, you’ll find fun and excitement. Developer Bethesda made large leaps from 2006’s The Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion to Skyrim, and the latter is a much better crafted experience. Swing a sword and you’ll become better in the art of one-handed combat. Shoot flames from your hands and you’ll increase your destructive magic rank. It’s a really intuitive system, one that avoids the annoying tendency of some role-playing games to give you less control over the shaping of your character.Skyrim Special Edition reviewThe Special Edition also adds mod support for consoles –– community created alterations to the game that can add new gear, new environmental details or even entirely new questlines to pursue. How these mods will influence your game depends how you played the game originally, and what platform you’re playing on now. PC players will be used to these, having had access since the game released, but it’s still great to be able to mod the game directly from the main menu. As for consoles, it’s a mixed bag. Xbox One owners will be super pleased –– thanks to Bethesda’s ongoing mod support since the release of Fallout 4, you’ll get access to over 200 mods at the time of writing. PS4 players aren’t so fortunate, and will likely be disappointed by the paltry number choose from –– Sony’s 1GB limit on mod files means that the mods themselves are limited to more cosmetic changes that don’t nearly explore the vast potential that a community driven bank of content provides.This unfortunate platform inconsistency doesn’t hamper what is, overall, a great remaster of an absolutely wonderful game. Having already played the original game for well over 400-hours, revisiting Skyrim is still an absolute treat –– like Todd Howard said in a interview, it’s somewhat like seeing an old friend after a long time apart. Skyrim is still Skyrim, warts and all, so don’t expect to play a bug-less, glitch free experience. But do expect a game that values your time, rewards you in countless exciting ways, and understands the incredible art of building an utterly enthralling fantasy world. It’s one of the greats. Don't miss it!

12.11.2011

THE BAD BITSCrash and Burn, two reasons why I can't give this excellent game five stars. Skyrim crashes - lots. It's not just a PS3 problem but it is one that I would have thought would have been sorted out before release, given its prevelance. As a result, never before has the maxim of 'save early and save often' been more appropriate and it is incredibly frustrating. It can happen during saving and loading as well, which makes it even worse. Frustration is something one must get used to in this game, especially early on. Getting to many of the locations in this game is not easy, as so much of the terrain is mountainous. None of the maps give any real idea of how to get somewhere,and so you can either spend a soul destroying amount of time trying to get up steep slopes that in real life would be rather easy, or spend ages going around a mountain looking for the one path up. Admittedly, once you've played the game for a long while you can pick up on visual clues to follow, buts it's hair-pulling stuff until then. Enemies who use fire attacks seem uber powerful, whilst your own flames seem pitiful by comparison. Mages are able to skip about backwards like Errol Flynn on speed to avoid your attacks, whilst your own attempts to do the same are often met with weapons that seem to have grown another yard in length.GRAPHICSThe graphics are a let down in all honestly - Oblivion on the PC five years ago looked better. Except the animations (characters, monsters, dragons etc.), they are very good. I've always played these sort of games in 1st person but here I play it almost entirely in 3rd. Critical hits lead to a 'close-up' of the fatal blow, which can be suitably viseral and cinematic, though decapitated heads seem to defy physics. Oh yes, you can decapitate your foes. All that said, some parts of the world are very well realised and some of the snow effects are truly impressive. And there's a welcome return of Dwemer ruins, which should make Morrowind fans happy.SOUNDThe music excels and much of it will be recognisable to people familiar with music from the fantasy genre or 'Celtic' music. There's even a theme or two taken from Morrowind, which almost brought a tear to the eye. And the pace of music really cranks up during battle, particularly if it's a long battle. World sounds also impress, with animals being identifiable before they're seen, the sweet song of running water, the chilling roar of a dragon in the distance. The voice acting isn't too bad, though there are a few two many Dick Van Dyke-esque 'English' accents in there. There has obviously been some attempt at making many of the people you meet sound Scandinavian, though they generally sound more Austrian, Dutch or generically Eastern European. Of course there are far too many Americans in it - American accents really have no place in a faux-medieval setting - but you'll be used to that from film and TV. There are also many more voices than in Oblivion, which is a blessed relief.MECHANICSIn many ways, this game reminds me of the transition from second edition AD&D to third edition D&D, in that many of the mechanics have changed but much of the spirit remains. Gone are major and minor skills and gone are most of your stats. Skills still improve as you use them and the more effort required to push the skill up a point, the more it contributes towards levelling up. Upon reaching a new level, you can now only raise your health, stamina (fatigue as was and also determines how much you can carry) or magicka. However, you now also gain a Perk, a al Fallout 3. These allow all sorts of wonderful things, from being able to craft Orcish armour, to slowing down time when taking an aimed shot to decapitating your foes. I was wary of these things at first, having rather enjoyed the system as was, but it actually works very well and can help to make each character you play that much more individual. The available player races are the same as in Morrowind and Oblivion and you can greatly customise how your character looks.DUAL GOODNESSAs before, you can put something or a spell in each hand but here those hands can now work together. Take Flame in your right and left hands and cast at the same time and marvel at how much more effective it is (healing this way is very handy too). Take appropriate perks and it gets even better. Wielding a weapon in each hand can be devastating and watching battle in third person, can look like something out of an 80s fantasy movie. Blocking with a shield takes some getting used to but once you get the hang of it, some wonderful one-on-one battles can ensue. Gone though are the skeleton blademasters of Oblivion, which is a real shame.INCIDENTALSAlchemy has changed, in as much as it can't be done on the go as before. Now you must search out an alchemy lab before making your potions, though luckilly there're plenty of them about, often in the most unlikely of places. Enchanting is much the same as in Oblivion, though be prepared to invest a lot into your enchanting skill before you can produce anything of worth. Smithing though, is where it's at. Weapons and armour no longer degrade with use but they can be improved, or even created from scratch. As you get better at smithing, you can create ever more impressive items (including jewelry) and there is a great satisfaction in being encased in a suit of armour you made yourself. You can also cook, making soups and roasts that heal health and stamina and are a much cheaper (if heavier) alternative to potions. Haggling is gone and now prices are set against your Speech skill - the higher it is, the better prices you get. There are, of course, perks.... Oh, and you can get married.AND FINALLY...There's much I haven't mentioned as there is much more fun in discovering it for yourself - dragons, for example. The world of Skyrim is more alive than in Oblivion or even Morrowind and there are many more (and useful) campanions you can take with you, making it a much less lonely experience. The game is enthralling, utterly immersive and all too often I've thought to myself, just one more mission, even as I could barely remember my name. Simply put, Skyrim is brilliant, truly brilliant.Watch the skies, traveller.

12.9.2015

If you are a fan of open world-sandbox RPG's then this is for you.Yes this is a five star review, and yes this an absolutely amazing game... however I do want to emphasise that it is not perfect.I am playing this four years after it came out... and I do with a lot of games because initial releases often buggy as a hell, and I want to make sure that I have the final patch before embarking on my quest. Additionally, and for the sake of clarity, I am a big fan of Morrowind (although it took me a long time to like it), and I have NOT played Oblivion.The story is interesting insofar that there are two main quests, three class-type sub quests and more miscellaneous quests than I can count.The two main quests are that:1)Civil war has broken out in Skyrim between the Empire and native Nords. You must pick a side and see your faction to victory.2) Because of the civil war, the dragon king Alduin has managed to break free of his time-prison, and as the Dragonborn (and dragon soul in a human body), only you can defeat him.Both story-sets are good, make reasonable sense, and are enjoyable.There are a few things that really struck me whilst playing;The graphics are great. Bearing in mind that I only upgraded from my PS2 to PS3 in 2015, I played this on my HD TV was impressed. There is fantastic detail in everything, and the way that light sources are used really create atmosphere. That said, these are no perfect - in particular, my shadow when cast on a cave wall was horribly pixellated.Secondly, the scale of the game. It's big. I mean like really big. Seriously, we're talking ginormous. At a rough guess, I have put 500 hours into this, and I'm still not done with all the side quests and my character is a long way from being maxed (currently in the high 90's).Thirdly, the AI, and in particular that of your companion/sidekick. Look, I know that AI is notoriously difficult to code, but it is frustrating when you're being hacked to death and your coterie just stand around and watch. Not in this game - they have absolutely NAILED the AI. My companion responded to my commands, attacked and defended as I wanted and was generally a real asset.Next up, is the XP scaling. I know that a lot of games use this now, but can I just say how much I love it. It doesn't matter how much of a super-character you are, key areas will scale the villains accordingly and this makes the game so much better.With these points, it should evident that dropping your £20 odd on this game is well worth it, and I would even go as far as to say that this game ON ITS OWN justifies the cost of a PS3.However, as great as this game is - and it is a great game, and I really do love it - it is not perfect. A few complaints;1) You can own property throughout Skyrim in which store objects and equipment. Great. However, if you put too many objects in a container, the game starts to REALLY lag. I mean like 3minutes to open up a new area (where said container is). However, you get no idea how many items a container can hold, and there is no warning. It would a really good idea to put some sort of limit, either by weight or number of items, on containers so that this cannot happen.2) Several times I got stuck in the scenery, and had to reload. This is really annoying, and there is no function on the PS3 to report the problem, or the co-ordinates where this has happened.3) Hard crashes. Yup, I got nearly a dozen over 500hrs of play time. It's not the end world, but it is really annoying, and typically happened when there was lots of magic being cast on screen.4) Whilst the companion/sidekick AI is great, equipping them with magic enhanced weapons does not do anything. For example, I give my companion a daedric bow with should do 30pts of additional fire damage. When I use it, the target bursts into flames. When my companion uses it, it just seems to deal regular damage.5) Spells and enchantments. Honestly, I found these a bit frustrating. Unlike Morrowind, there is no method to create your own spells, and different pieces of equipment limit the type of enhancement (by way of soul gems) that you can place on them. Personally, I would have like this to have been a lot more open, rather than the restrictive way they are applied.6) No online play. I appreciate that such a game would be difficult with online players, but it would have been nice to be dungeon crawl with a few friends.7) Reputation. The game employs a Fable-esque reputation style function... but the results are really mixed. For example, I got dragon scale armour and Azura's Star... and it was great because NPC's comment on it as I walk past them. However, this is not true of all quests. In Whiterun, the court wizard tells you "if you have an interest in magic, you should join the Mages Guild in Winterhold"... and off I go, join the guild, rise through the ranks and become High Archmage. But it doesn't matter how many times I go back to that court wizard he never acknowledges my rank, and keeps telling me to go to Winterhold if I have an interest in magic. It's a bit frustrating.8) Lastly maps, and quest markers. The world map is great, and I really like. However area maps, particularly of dungeons, are horrible. They overlay all levels onto a single two dimensional plan, making it impossible to tell where a door or a corridor actually is, or which way I should be heading. Similarly, the quest markers are great for telling you once you have started a quest. However, there is no marker - nor system for turning it on - to tell you who has a quest for you. I appreciate that this encourages you to "talk to everybody", but towards the end of the game, it is a little needle-in-the hay-stack like.However, the annoyances are minor given how great the game is in other areas. The graphics, immersive gameplay, and sheer scale all warrant your time and money.Not perfect... but possibly the best reason to buy a PS3.

10.3.2017

If you're looking for a game that is going to be a good long term investment for HOURS of gameplay with unpredictable elements, interesting characters, tens of things to do and lots of gameplay variation, then look no further.While this is the fifth instalment to the Elder Scrolls franchise, don't be put off feeling that you can't play if you never played the first four, don't worry, as each game is stand alone, and, to be honest, it isn't necessary to know any of the game history to get along with this.You start your journey (as with all TES games) as a genderless raceless prisoner, and from there you're given the choice to whether you want to be a mer, beast or a man (mer being the elven race),You have several races to choose from, each with their own benefits and downfalls (such as a dark elf might have resistance to fire, but might be weaker in other areas such as cold resistance, etc). You can tweak each character/race to suit what you want to play, and no race or gender are bound by rules of what they can do and how you can play. You won't be asked at the beginning of the game if you want to be a rogue or a warrior, or a mage, etc (although you will initially find some stones to give bonus stats to those particular gameplay styles, it isn't that relevant). In fact, you can start this game playing a Warrior or a mage and turn into a thief/assassin fairly later on, you can even decide to re-distribute all your skill points by making a stat you've excelled in legendary (this is apparently so you can continue to level past level 60).The story continues as you, the prisoner, discover miraculously that you are some magical hero with the power to absorb the souls of dragons and unlock new exciting abilities which will help you defeat your foes and save the world. While your "Dragonborn" storyline goes on (not linked to the expansion of the same name which is included) you have hundreds of non-related quests ongoing that you can interact with, including a civil war between two factions (the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks). As well as these quests, the game provides a feature called "Radiant questing" which recycles and mixes certain elements of gameplay randomly and endlessly so you never run out of things to do (these quests can be located with innkeepers and faction NPCs - such as the Companions).Gameplay ranges from massive exploration, not just dungeons but massive intricate ruins, towns and cities, all populated with either enemies or townspeople NPCs who will provide quests or trade. Unlike a lot of RPGs, most of the NPCs (except essential ones with important quests) can literally die, either by your hand or by attacks from bandits, dragons or vampires. You can cast spells (and there are a ton of spells, some I'm still coming across after years of gameplay since the original release) and there are a variation of weapons. As for customization, you can customise weaponry, not only creating your own from an ore of your choice (depending on what you have) but enchanting it with magical properties and actually naming it yourself - the same applies to clothing and armour.Need more to do? There's so many factions, ranging from The Companions (a replacement of the Fighter's guild in previous games) that have a beastly secret they may share. Not enough? Become a Thief, steal to your greedy little heart's content, pick your way into NPC houses, amass a fortune. Still not satisfied? Join the Dark Brotherhood, a guild of deadly Assassins, kill to your black little heart's glory. Still not enough? Go to college and learn magic and other useful skills - Winterhold maintains a college for Mages while Solitude holds a college for Bards.As RPGs go, this is one of the ones you can find yourself playing for YEARS and still never quite hit everything you thought you knew. There are hundreds of things hidden in the game, from random encounters with bandits and thugs, encounters with NPCs, encounters with ghosts and monsters that aren't attached to quests or the story itself, just there as local colour (and relevant to game history).This version includes all of the Expansions, which include Hearthfire (allowing your character to build a house and adopt two children which you can find smattered around the world). Dragonborn is perhaps the most expansive and challenging of the expansions, while Dawnstar adds the element of more vampire attacks, not only out in the wildness but literally in the towns and cities in the wee hours of the morning.It could take weeks to talk about the things this game contains, the endless hours of entertainment. What I will make a point to talk about is that this Special Edition has added some nifty little features the previous version failed to have. The atmosphere has changed dramatically, lands looking lusher, full of flowers (ripe for picking in use of alchemy) and the lighting has changed, giving beautiful sunbeams and warmth - walking around Whiterun (the earliest town you'll come across) you can literally 'feel'' the hour it is by the lighting, and recognise morning from evening. The textures and sounds have been reworked and look fantastic and much more in tune with the world, making it feel all more immersive and real.The cost of this game, even though OLD, seems steep at £30 right now, but I guarantee, this is absolutely worth every penny, it's an investment and one - if you are an RPG fan - you will play for many years to come. You will never regret buying this game.

27.12.2011

You'll love it for being so good but hate it for being better..This game is VAST.. I mean seriously huge. You'll get 300 hours of game play at least out of it. It's addictive and enthralling. You will get lost in this world and find it incredibly hard to put it down as one quest leads seamlessly onto another. Value for money wise, it's got to beat everything else out there hands down.Here you have a game of breathtaking scale that interweaves action with character building, crafting, exploration and shaping the course of a land's history.. with dragon slaying. What's not to like?It's a really good game, but as it turns out there are a few things...- It hangs/freezes regularly.About every hour or two in my case and it seems to have gotten worse with the last two updates - not better. This is frustrating to say the least.- Glitches and bugs do pop up , most minor but there do exist a couple of major ones that affect your quest lines and cause dramatic drops in the enjoyment of it- Loading times. The waiting every time you go inside, outside or (in some cases) change rooms of a building) are long and drag. I understand why they are there but I think they need to re-think the way/why/when and how they do this as it breaks up the gameplay too much in many instances.- Difficulty. They have not quite got it nailed in my opinion. The start is ok, challenging enough and then it settles into a good curve more or less but by the time you get to level 40 it really starts to lose its shine because most things pose no threat to you whatsoever. Also the availability of things (items spells and stuff etc) is weird and not natural. eg. Why should there be less gold in a rich person's house because your level is low than later when you're more experienced? I think these sorts of things should be re-thought.- Story and Character - the biggest issue with this game and the thing that stops a good game from being truly great. Like many MANY games out there, they get the 'what' you do sorted out but not really the 'why' you'd bother. No one has any charisma, personality or endearing qualities. The voice acting and general story writing is average and it feels like if they learnt a few lessons from Naughty Dog (Uncharted series) they'd have something truly great. They have spent years building thousands of different dungeons to pillage but it fails to get you excited enough to bother most of the time or provide any reason for you to care about any of the characters you should be helping - or not.eg. There is a political struggle going on and you are pretty much expected to side with one faction or the other (Imperials or Stormcloak rebels) - but don't really have an option to choose neither. What if (like me) you think the Empire is a largely corrupt and fascist entity that has no legitimate claim to rule over others but then the Stormcloak rebels are a bunch of redneck white supremacists whose leader is a murderous egotistical megalomaniac who has no claim to rule others either? What can you do? Frankly if I'm the Dragonborn and can defeat Alduin, run three guilds and be a Thane of several regions I should either be able to suggest myself or tell them all to get knotted and undermine them by establishing an anarchist independent state.. but no.. I have to play along with this ridiculous feudal paradigm. Sigh.. anyway.. there's more.Why are none of the special or amazing legendary quest items nowhere near as good as the stuff I can make myself? It cheapens things..Why don't people remember/respect who you are? The world doesn't really change in any meaningful way as a result of your actions or achievements which takes a lot of the shine off.Some things are earned too easily also. Eg. I (reluctantly) became the Arch Mage of the magical college just by completing the quests. I don't even use that much magic and (unfortunately) spend most of time killing endless undead in caves - not running an arcane academy. Am I the best person for the job? No. Did I have a choice? No.I am now also the head of the Thieves Guild but still get treated like a common piece of dirt by my underlings when I pass through. I also have one quest where it still doesn't consider me to have completed the 'join the thieves guild' part of the quest when I'm supposedly running the place. Also why is almost every structure around the place run down? Anyway.. I could go on.. but the point is that it felt a bit rushed and while it is impressive in scope and brilliantly engineered to suck you in and take hours, days and even weeks of your life - it should be better I feel.Buy it, enjoy it, be frustrated by it but keep the pressure on them to do better next time and write some fascinating stories and characters to bring the world truly alive.

31.3.2013

A breathtakingly huge, engaging, addictive, immersive world.I started playing Skyrim at Christmas, and three months later - having escaped from certain death, discovered my Dragonborn heritage, scavenged weapons, upgraded armour, improved my combat, magic, lockpicking and pickpocketing skills, slain dragons, looted dungeons, caught (and cured) vampirism, and much more - I'm still blissfully nowhere near completing the main story quest. I have a long to-do list of intriguing side missions, all of which supply extra weapons, powers, combat upgrades and gold (the Skyrim economy has sensibly remained gold-based and bank-free). I have acquired a house, an assistant named Lydia clad in heavy dwarven armour I made myself on a blacksmith forge,a horse that endearingly attacks enemies regardless of my stealth mode and often wanders off and gets lost, an Ebony Bow of Fire and something of a reputation - not to mention in real life, an Alchemy app on my iPhone.Yes, it was developed for something called a "PC", and my beloved PS3 seems to have been something of an afterthought for the developers, who recently released the full set of DLC packs a mere 6 months after XBox (no problem for me though, I needed 2012 for Uncharted), and console versions lack the command-line and third party plugins available on the PC. Yes, it is famously glitchy and scene transitions are painfully slow, and you never quite trust it to come back from them at all (although a series of software updates have improved things, and there is a setting to reduce the number of auto-saves). Yes, most of the voice acting appears to have been performed by Arnold Scharzenegger and Dick Van Dyke (it's a jolly 'oliday in Skoyrim) - and in battle housecarl Lydia tends to shout, oddly, "you'll never get the best of me!" (it's an expression) and shopkeepers struggle to entice you with "some may call this junk: me, I call them treasures" (the dialogue must suffer in translation from Ancient Nord) - but seriously, none of this matters. The world of Skyrim is so vast and so beautiful - from snowstorm-lashed mountain tops to dreamy lakes, ancient stone fortresses to sunken wrecks, sunny valleys, misty marshes and creepy underground labyrinths, dragons circling distant ruins at sunset - that you find yourself dreaming of it. You could play this game full-time for months - there are thousands of hours of entertainment here.You begin the game as a prisoner on a cart (in first person mode, so you can't see yourself - you can toggle third person later) being taken to an imperial fortress for execution. When you get there a guard takes your details - here the game lets you create your character by choosing a name and race (choose from Lord Of The Rings style Elves and Orcs, some regular humans and a couple of others). I chose a cool-looking lizard guy with the ability to breathe underwater - all available in male and female flavours and infinitely customisable for build, skin tone, hair and eye colour etc. Seriously, police forces should be using Skyrim for their 'Have you seen this man?' posters. Especially if he's an elf.From overheard conversations in the cart and guards' talk with the other prisoners, you learn that the land is ruled by an Empire but that rebels are fighting back. Later you can chose sides and fight battles, or you can stay out of it - it's up to you. Then, just when things are looking frankly bleak for your new lizard guy, something happens that gives you a chance to escape.Every action increments your character's skill rating at that activity, and some dialogue and action choices affect the storyline, so that the game is never quite the same for any two players. Its classic underlying "Dungeons And Dragons" model cleverly adapts to any style of play - use the bow and see your archery skill increase, or use magic firebolts (available from all good wizards for a few gold pieces) and boost your Destruction Magic level, and so on - so if you just want to wander around exploring with a big sword, then fine (your Double-Handed Weapons and Heavy Armour ratings will gradually increase with each fight), or if you want to get nerdy with the spells and potions, stealth and smithing customised light armour upgrades, or become an assassin or a vampire, then the game becomes more about those for you.As a veteran of all of the Tomb Raiders, most of the Metal Gear Solids and the Uncharted series, I am finding Skyrim more than just a game. It's an endlessly absorbing alternate reality full of discovery and adventure, and I unreservedly love it.

25.1.2018

The Good:-Full Skyrim game, At times can feel real. Fast loading.The Bad:-Bethesda bugs aplenty! Hardware limitations. Poor Draw distance. VR Spiders are EVERYWHERE!So at this point Skyrim has been released on what seems like everything since its first came out back in 2011. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bethesda plan to make a version for Playstation 1 at this point! While I would love to see a remake of Morrowind or Oblivion, Bethesda instead decided to re-re-rerelease Skyrim but this time in VR. But is it any good and is it worth buying the game again?So with that being said it is highly likely that you already know what Skyrim is and how it plays so I won’t bore you by going over it again but instead focus on the VR aspect and how well it plays.First,I want to say that I am using the standard PS4 console (Uncharted 4 version) and not a PlayStation Pro so please keep that in mind. I have heard the pro version runs better.One thing that surprised me is that this is the full Skyrim game with all expansion/DLC’s included. After playing DooM VR, I thought it would be selected parts of the game but was pleasantly surprised to see it wasn’t.The graphs have had a huge downgrade from the HD version which is understandable. Some items look very blocky and textures when up close are more like the 360/PS3 version of the game rather then the newer versions. While I don’t have too much of a problem with that I do with the terrible draw distance. I’ve had trees pop up less the twenty yards away from me, grass sometimes only being around my feet and even enemies appearing out of nowhere. It’s at times like this that you are taken out of the game.There are also the usual Bethesda bugs which I think have been there since the original. My personal favourite so for is when fast traveling to on of the Cities, several guards dropped from the sky and landed in front of me. Then people started walking around saying “Where did this body come from?” My thoughts exactly.However, I do have to mention the poor hardware and how it is possibly the biggest problem for this game. While in close quarters it looks amazing as item move in real time, the one area I was really looking forward to was climbing mountains and looking down on Skyrim. However, it just looks blurry and fuzzy when looking over long distances. I found this to be the case in several other PSVR games so it’s not just this one. It is a shame but Bethesda did the best they could with the tech they had. I’ve even found map icon and text to be a fuzzy mess too.So with all this negativity you probably thing I don’t like this game? Actually, I do. It is still Skyrim and it is an amazing world to be in. Even though it has been less than a years since I last played this game, I loved every second of it.One last point I want to make is the motion sickness accept. I personally didn’t get any but there are several setups to help. First is you can use the snap angle to move. This is where you use the right joystick to move left to right in 30 degree angles (the angle can be changed) or have complete 360 movement although this did make me feel dizzy. Also a black ring comes up around the edges when moving to help focus the players eyes. I turned this off and felt it worked a lot better without it. There are many opinions in this game. Also, it might sound silly but I also found bobbing your head a little when walking long distances also helps….although you do look stupid!Also, the game is VR only unlike Resident Evil 7 for example which was playable both normal and VR. So if you are buying this to play on and off VR, it wont work.So would I recommend this game? Well, I’d say yes overall with a but. It is an amazing game and impressive to see they got the full version to work but that is the problem, it is the same game all be it with all DLC included. Nothing new has been added to the adventure and just one year after the HD rerelease just feels all to similar. However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have fun with it. If you already own the PSVR then I would say go ahead and get this game. If you don’t own it I wouldn’t recommend buying all the gear for just this game.Still, I did have a great time visiting the land of Skyrim and with Fallout 4 possibly coming soon, VR is not going anywhere for the time being. (Oh and Resident Evil 7 is still the best VR game!)Gameplay:- 19/20Graphics:-13/20Sound:-17/20Replay Value:-19/20Value for Money:-18/2086/100:- A grand (if not blurry) adventure.

10.6.2013

It is my opinion that Skyrim is one of the greatest games of this generation. I bought the original game on release and played it over three months until I gained the platinum trophy, racking up about 174 hours of gameplay in the process, the game has a vast open world with so much to do and see, the main quest line itself is huge but there are also multitudes of side quests and miscellaneous quests that it would have been easy to play for even longer. I then traded it in knowing that eventually there would be new content and a "game of the year" (or in this case, Legendary) edition would be released in the future at which point I would be able to pick it up again.I am sure most people will be aware of the huge backlash against Bethesda after the PS3 version of Skyrim was released,people experienced problems with the game lagging and freezing up forcing you to hard reset your console, there were also reports of quests glitching, dragons flying backwards and then the dlc was held up because there were issues with it's compatibility. So I was starting to think this edition was never going to make it on to the PS3. I was disappointed, but there was no way I was going to be able to just upgrade my PC to play it and although I do have an xbox 360 I grew weary at the thought of starting again from scratch on that platform just to play new content, I wanted to play using my level 50 character who had been with me from day one, we'd been through a lot togehter, didn't seem right to just dump her and start again! But finally, after numerous patches and several delays, here we are again.I must admit that I was fairly lucky with the original game, I did not experience anything like as many problems that some of my friends and posters on gaming forums had. I did find that saving regularly and deleting old save files helped a lot and luckily I only experienced minor lag and a few freezes. I learnt to spot when it was coming and save and quit before it completely crashed. It was somewhat ironic that the game was patched mere days after I got the platinum trophy.So, I had not played Skyrim since January 2012, and was looking forward to returning to the game world. Things do appear to be running more smoothly, I have put in about 8 hours so far and have had no freezing, no crashes and only a very minor slowing down, which typically occurs after fast travelling to a big town with a lot going on eg solitude.The new content is very good so far, I am enjoying the Dawnguard questline, which allows you to either be a vampire hunter or become a vampire, which gives the game replayability value as most people will want to try both, I certainly will! I have also built a house in Falkreath thanks to the Hearthfire expansion but have not any children living there yet although again I will be trying that out too. I have not started the Dragonborn quests yet as I have heard that this is the best add on so I am saving the best until last, I am sure I will not be disappointed. All in all this set is great value for money adding on many hours of extra gameplay and more trophies for trophy hunters.Some may view the bugs and glitches that have plagued the PS3 version as game breakers and everyone's experience is a different one, and a valid one, if you say it is unplayable to you then who am I to argue, it seems a lot of people had it worse than I did, I use an upgraded 80GB "fat" PS3, other models may differ, I can only speak for myself. I was actually called a fangirl and an apologist by people on forums just for stating that my game experience was not as bad as others. Oh well that's the internet for you, you can't please everyone! I think that if you have multiple systems available to you then maybe playing on PS3 is not the best option but if you only have a PS3 I would not let these issues put you off, if you enjoy open world RPG games and fantasy games in general there is a lot to love here, the game itself is worth five or even more stars, but for the problems it has had a star has been deducted. However now I have this definitive edition with all the content I will never trade it in again and will return to it whenever I want to lose myself in the immersive, beautiful world of skyrim.

16.6.2012

Ive only just bought this game because Dark Souls came out first and I never like buying similarly themed games together. All I have to say about Skyrim is ...wow, what a game!Skyrim is the perfect antidote to slogging through Dark Souls punishing game world for six months. Its an absolute joy to play in this relaxing, immersive world were the hours fly-by if your not careful.The full map is open to you right from the start, which is good because you can just wander anywhere and do anything you want before you even think of starting the main quest.Getting to grips with the vast array of weapons feels brilliant and there seems no end to the customization you can do with all your equipment and weaponry.I also like the way you can tackle scenarios differently,you can just run in to battles and just throw caution to the wind or take a stealthy approach. Creeping round some of the dangerous mountainous sections and dungeons feels really atmospheric when you get the hang of the on screen 'detection meter' that lets you know if the enemy suspect someone is there. Also, being able to sneak up behind enemies and take them out in gruesome style with a gory slit-throat kill feels utterly brilliant. The feeling you get from successfully taking down an entire legion of guards by using only stealth kills is as macabre as it is satisfying! Yes, the stealth in this game is superb(if you decide to use it that is), thanks for the option Bethesda!The world that Bethesda have created is truly awe-inspiring, I keep getting distracted by the scenery whilst I traverse the games many and varied landscapes, almost picturesque in there Hi-Def brilliance(Picture creeping over a snow-capped peak to spot a Dragon slumbering on a Clifftop and the Aurora Borealis setting the night sky off in the background... awesome to behold, let me tell you!)And lets not forget about Skyrims underworld, a vast and intricate labyrinth of caverns and passage ways that stretch under the entire map. You can spend days exploring this impressive underground world alone(Imagine Lord of the Rings' 'Mines of Moria' but on a massive scale, and then populate it with thousands of deadly orcs and other nasties and your not far off this games underworld)Skyrims map, both above and below ground is a fantastic piece of design.The game is also backed by a stunning incidental orchestral score that perfectly suits whats happening on screen, and whilst gentle strings and female voices will accompany you simply riding on horseback across the landscape, the music quickly shifts to full orchestral if a dragon drops out of the sky to take you on!The music even changes if your creeping up on someone for a stealth kill, which really adds tension and suspense to the moment... another excellent touch.Honestly, I cant rate this game highly enough and though it does have a few bugs, they dont break the game like most are touting in the one star reviews!But with the sheer scope of the map, and the variety in quests, gameplay and weaponry, it more than makes up for the little niggles.Skyrim is a masterpiece of game creation... Roll on Elder Scrolls VI!After completing the main story line I still feel like Ive only seen a tiny percentage of what Skyrim has to offer... Awesome game.PS- I highly recommend playing this game with surround sound headphones, because the atmosphere created with the games sound is stunning, And just not the same through a normal stereo set-up. And personally speaking, though the sound is good through the hi-fi dolby surround, it feels ten times better when you play it through surround enhanced headphones... You feel like you're there!I use an earforce-DSS with normal stereo headphones to achieve a superb gaming experience that will consume your life......BE WARNED, THIS GAME IS ADDICTIVE!NB. TIP... Keep your game saves down to two, and always keep deleting your autosaves and the game runs very smooth... 95% of the time. Never turn your autosave off completely, (like I foolishly did) they can be a lifesaver sometimes, so dont turn them off completely just use them as a backup for if you die unexpectedly and set them for every 30mins or so.

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