Skyrim - A Massive AdventureThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the biggest games ever made. The world map is literally epic, and there's almost just as much area to cover inside caves, dungeons, buildings, and towns. The game play is extremely open in not only your style of play, but also in the choices you are able to make, as well as being able to explore the entire world freely. This game is regarded by many to be among the best games ever made, but that really depends if you like what the game is all about. If you're really into the whole questing, looting, dungeons, dragons, and action-rpg genre as a whole, chances are you'll really like this title. Not only that, but in terms of raw content this game is Massive, and can keep you entertained for a very long time. Anyways, on to the criteria!
Graphics 7 / 10 -- The graphics in this game are mediocre at best. Considering the generation, the visuals could have had a lot more detail, not only in texture, but also in their shape and sharpness. Some things like plants, rocks, grass and the like can have extremely low quality textures, especially when the system is struggling to keep up with rendering the environment. My score would've actually been lower if not for the fact that these graphics were probably about the best they could do with just how much content is packed into the game. The characters and enemies look good for the most part, providing enough detail to see facial features as well the lines for muscles or bone. Also the inventory features a 3D picture for each item, and they look pretty good for the most part. The weapons specifically look particularly good, and have a ton of detail put into the design. The spells and their visuals are pretty sub-par. For instance, when casting Fire, which is just a continuous stream of fire that flows from your hand, it really doesn't look all that realistic. It's more like just a cone of colors that resemble fire more than anything. The dragon's look great for the most part, and they should considering they're the main focus of the game's foes, though they're still nothing to rave over.
Sound 9 / 10 -- The game's audio is fantastic. All of the soundtracks are great, giving you that adventurous vibe you want to feel while exploring. The tracks for combat are fast paced and intense, making you feel hyped and keeping your blood pumping. Most of the tracks feature a full orchestra as well, which is something I always love to hear in a game. The tracks that would play when finding something important, such as a new Shout were incredible, especially the ones with the choir behind it. All of the characters in the game feature full voice acting, and they do it for every single dialogue choice there is. This is extremely impressive, seeing how there are hundreds of characters to talk to, on top of there being a good 3 - 10 dialogue options to choose from on average when you speak to them, if not more. All of the voice acting sounds great with only a few exceptions, but they are few and far between enough to be easily overlooked. The sound effects are pretty mediocre overall. I can't really think of anything that stands out in the slightest, and if anything, a few of them were a little off. One in particular was when you ate a food item, it was supposed to be a chewing and / or swallowing-like sound, but it just seemed weird to me. There would be a very short track that plays when you level up that sounded great, and had a choir behind it who used their voices in growing levels of intensity, almost symbolically representing your character's growth.
Addictiveness 8 / 10 -- For me personally, the game was extremely fun to play, albeit repetitive after the first time through. The game offers a ton of different paths to choose in a ton of different story lines. For instance, there is a civil war you can choose to take either side in. There are also 5 or 6 guild or faction story lines to go through. The combat can be broken down into an insane amount of ways to play. You can be a tank who wields a huge mace with the thickest armor you can find, you can be an assassin who sneaks up on their pray (my personal favorite), a mage who destroys their foes with the arcane, or any combination of these you choose. There are also tons of potions or other items which can be used to coat poison on your weapons. These poisons not only deal damage, but can do everything from burning an enemies mana, lowering their resistance to magic / physical damage, or even dealing a form of elemental damage. The game can be played from either a first or third person perspective, depending on your preference, or even just the situation. The dragon's AI is a little dumb, with them mostly just flying in a circle overhead, and only dropping down to attack occasionally. Actually most of the game's AI is a little sluggish, or just charging brutes when it comes to melee fighters. The quests are extremely repetitive, most of them being your simple fetch and retrieve variety. Some of the more unique ones are fun, but there's not many that fall under that category. I can't speak much about the Knight or Mage combat, since I didn't explore the options very thoroughly, but I can say it doesn't take long when using the Sneak skill to become a little over-powered. When the skill actually gets high enough, you almost have to go out of your way to be noticed. Though playing as a Knight in first person is extremely fun trying to time your blocks and swings, especially against multiple opponents. The stamina bar also keeps things interesting when playing as a Knight, or blade wielding Thief / Assassin. My favorite way to attack was always using a bow. Especially from a first person perspective, it was extremely fun trying to see how far away you could hit your targets from. Trying to shoot a goat, or even better a rabbit, from 100 - 200+ yards away was a really fun challenge, and was a great feeling when it would give you the slow motion kill cam doing it. The biggest drawback to the game play is probably the long loading times, taking up to 30 seconds to render an environment at times (may be less on a good PC).
Story 8 / 10 -- The game's story is not only good, but there's an amazing amount of it to be told outside of the main campaign. I'm personally a sucker for games like this, as I love to immerse myself in the game's world as much as possible, learning everything about it I can. The main story is pretty interesting, though I wouldn't call any of it unique or innovative. It follows your typical "the world needs to be saved, and you're the only hope" type of formula. Though I will admit there are a few unexpected twists, there really isn't much I can say about it, other than it's a pretty good story overall. My favorite thing about the game in terms of story is how many side stories that take place in the game, as well as how almost every single character in the game has their own tale to tell. Not only are there 5 or 6 guild story lines to go through, all of which are very interesting and entertaining on their own, but many of the side quests provide even more lore about the world or it's history. Sometimes it can be as simple as a feud between rival families, and other quests can be started simply by reading a book about an ancient legend, leading you to search for it yourself. Though hardly anything story-wise could really be considered unique or new, it's all still very interesting, as well as presented beautifully.
Depth 10 / 10 -- As stated in the introduction, this game is epic and massive in scale. If it weren't for the ability to fast-travel to previously visited locations, as well as being able to buy a wagon ride, which is the same thing as fast-travelling, or you can just sit and enjoy the ride, to any of the 9 major Keeps (towns basically), the time spent traversing the landscape in-game would be unbearable due to it's size. Not only is the over world this large, there's about just as much space underground or in caves / dungeons to be searched through as well. In terms of things to do, there is no shortage to be found here. There are probably over 150 actual quests in the game to complete, if not a lot more than that, as well as probably 200+ miscellaneous objectives that are similar to a quest, but with a much more minor task / reward most of the time. In my play through of trying to accomplish everything I could without a guide, I spent about 190 - 200 hours before I couldn't do anymore without help, and even then, there were more than a handful of things left undone. Another great feature is that for certain guilds like the Assassin's or Thief's, there are tons of killing / robbery, sabotage, etc missions to do outside of the main story for them. It's not limited to just those two either. Be it for a quest or not, there are over 100 full caves and forts for you to explore and clear out, making this game a dungeon crawlers paradise. The game also features alchemy, armor / weapon crafting, lock-picking, pick-pocketing, and tons of other skills to use outside (or indirectly for) combat. For alchemy, there are over 100 different ingredients that can be used, and you must figure out, or buy, the recipes to learn what they make. For crafting, there is leather than can be made from animal pelts, or bought from stores, as well as over 30 different kinds of ores / metal used for more heavy armor. Lock-picking obviously requires lock picks, and is player skill based, making it easier as you improve on the skill itself. There's also enchanting, which allows you to place magical properties ranging from adding health, to improving a certain skill, or even adding a certain percentage of weapon damage to your armor or weapons. Enchanting requires the use of Soul Stones, which are items that capture the souls of fallen enemies. Though to be able to capture them, you must not only have a soul stone big enough to hold the soul you're after (different enemies have different level souls), but you must also have a spell or enchanted weapon specifically for capturing souls. Every one of these side-skills has it's own skill tree along with the combat based ones like One-Handed, Two-Handed, Archery, Elemental Magic, Heavy Armor, Light Armor, etc, and level up the same way (through use). The stronger the soul, the more powerful the enchantment. This is probably one of the biggest games ever made in terms of sheer content, so it definitely deserves a perfect score.
Difficulty 5 / 10 -- Unless you're playing on one of the two hardest difficulties, the game doesn't present much of a challenge. Even then, once you level up to a certain point and get a little practice in, the game still isn't nearly as difficult as you would want it to be. Even though the build is way over-powered, in my play through as a Sneak Archer, I think I only got hit by enemies maybe 40 - 50 times, and that was taking down at least a thousand foes, if not more. The dragon's were a slight challenge depending on their level of strength (the dragons strength is based on color of skin). They mainly made up the amount of times I was hit due to their fire / ice breath being unblockable if you're in range. The only time this game presents a real challenge is if you're a melee fighter taking on a dragon in a city or on a mountain top, where they can land somewhere out of reach, or fly by while still using their breath attacks. Other than that, as long as you don't let anything catch you off guard, or wander into a Giant's Camp before you're ready, the game will rarely leave you dead. Playing as a mage is difficult at first due to lack of mana (or magicka, if I remember correctly), but after you've gotten a few levels and acquired some decent skills, you will pretty much be untouchable. Also, every enemy in the game is at least somewhat scaled to your level. This can make certain enemies (namely things like Giants or Dragons) a bit over-powered both early and late in the game, but it's always something you can handle when prepared, or at least run away from if necessary. Also the ability to carry a Huge amount of items in your inventory allows you to keep way more than you will ever need in terms of supplies on you. Keep in mind the capacity is based on weight, so the more heavy loot you try to bring back to keep or sell, the less of other things you will be able to hold. You can surpass this weight limit, though you move incredibly slow, as well as lose the ability to fast travel when over burdened. Most of the game will be spent fighting the same types of enemies over and over again, so you learn how to dispatch them fairly quickly, if not also efficiently. This is the one area of the game that left me wanting more.
Overall 9 / 10 -- This is definitely a game worth checking out, even if at first glance it doesn't appear to be your thing. It's not for everyone, but if you enjoy real-time combat, great story-telling with an immense and lore-rich world, or RPGs in the slightest, you should definitely give it a chance.
Hope you enjoyed the review :)
Graphics
7 Sound
9 Addictive
8 Depth
10 Story
8 Difficulty
5
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