Skyrim's Dawnguard Confirmed; E3 Announcement Promised
It is always darkest before the dawn…
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Players: 1 Offline Player
Publisher: Bethesda Game Studios
Genres: Adventure, RPG
Publisher: Bethesda Game Studios
Genres: Adventure, RPG
Release Date: November 11, 2011
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
MSRP: $59.99
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
MSRP: $59.99
Set 200 years after the events of Oblivion the Nordic god Alduin, is coming to destroy the world - right in the middle of Tamriel's Civil War! The Elder Scrolls saga continues with Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim!
RAD episode 222: The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim
Posted By Birdman about 6 months ago
Missing:One bright red headed radio host!
Last seeing:Skyrim
In today’s edition of Review a day.ca we bring Birdman kicking and struggling back to the microphone land from the far away land of Skyrim! It has been a long battle against Alduin,the world eater as he strikes terror into the citizens of the land and it’s up to you as the mighty Dragonborn to finish him off once and for all. There is so much to do in the land of Skyrim that is a game that could easily get away from you before you know it…a simple night time playthru has turned into an all nighter! Find out why Birdman fell in love with a game that he initially brushed off as “big deal” into one of his all time new favorite games!
So excuse me, I’ll be back after I make a run to Solitude and deal with some Tholomar mages!
*Warning-may not ever return from Skyrim after this*
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E3 - Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
Andy give a quick recap of the new edition to the Elder Scrolls series. Will it live up to the hype?
Angry Joe Interviews: Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
Angry Joe lands an interview with his #1 Most Anticipated Game of 2011, Skyrim! Watch as Joe geeks out while asking about dynamic questing, crafting, exploration, and dragon riding? Check out the interview after the jump!
SKYRIM in 5 seconds
There is one particular reason why SKYRIM is gonna be the game of the year !
Skyrim is AWESOME!
FUS RO DAH! A fantastic new world awaits... so let's KILL SOME VILLAGERS! Our first foray into Skyrim is one of frighteningly powerful, unrelenting, sociopathic delinquency! You can do anything to these people and they BARELY fight back! It's AWESOME!
Angry Joe Plays Skyrim - Talking Dogs & Werewolves!
Talking Dogs? Werewolves? Interior Decorating with Joe? With Skyrim its all possible! Angry Joe shows you how engaging Skyrims dynamic quests are and still has time to decorate his new house!
RAD episode 222: The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim
Are you ready to face your destiny Dragonborn? Enter the world of Skyrim as Birdman dons his orcish armor and dwarfen warhammer with this review of the Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
Manacles, fur lined clothes, cold snowy nights, and you're certainly going to see stars. Now that we've discussed what it would be like to go out on a date with Johnny, his review for Skyrim is written, and of all things, right here on the site for you to read.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Video Review - ZGR
Well, it's finally here! But was it worth the wait? Daniel from ZGR checks out Skyrim!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Angry Review
The Greybeards train a new Dovahkiin, Angry Joe, in order to judge and review the newest Elder Scrolls Game, Skyrim. Does it live up to the incredible hype? Or fall from the sky in flames? Find out!
Editorial: Five Grievances Against Skyrim
Skyrim is a damn good game and deserves praise for the type of game it is, a free-roaming RPG that allows players to fulfill their inner desires of what a fantastical hero can be. But it’s not that good, I am sorry to say. The biggest problems I have with Skyrim can be summed up into five general grievances.
Skyrimming Alone!
Fraser's Home Alone for Christmas! Instead of setting up an elaborate series of traps and awaiting the wet bandits inevitable attack, he's Skyrimming himself through the holidays!
Rumor: Snow Elves, Crossbows, and Vampires Hinted as Possible DLC for Skyrim
Will the Falmer come back in their former glory, or are they truly a dead race like the Dwemer?
Interactive Map of Skyrim Now an App with Microtransactions
Time to re-trace the world of Skyrim in the palm of your hand, for a price.
Skyrim Creation Kit, HD Texture Pack Released
It’s a party in my Skyrim, and everybody’s invited – Steam Workshop, free HD texture pack DLC, and the Creation Kit. Ain’t no party like a Skyrim party, ’cause a Skyrim party is friendly user generated content oriented.
Skyrimming Alone!
Fraser’s Home Alone for Christmas! Instead of setting up an elaborate series of traps and awaiting the wet bandits inevitable attack, he’s Skyrimming himself through the holidays!
Skyrim Mods Database Expanding
Like a fine scotch, wine, or ninth season episode of CSI Miami, Skyrim is getting better with age. Its mod count continues to expand with additions from ENBSeries and an authoritative tweaking guide from Nvidia.
Bethesda Addresses Continuing PS3 Skyrim Problems
After weeks of continuing issues, Bethesda has updated their blog regarding the current PS3 Skyrim situation and, unfortunately, the response is one that will likely not be of much comfort to PS3 owners still struggling with said problems.
Editorial: Five Grievances Against Skyrim
Skyrim is a damn good game and deserves praise for the type of game it is, a free-roaming RPG that allows players to fulfill their inner desires of what a fantastical hero can be. But it’s not that good, I am sorry to say. The biggest problems I have with Skyrim can be summed up into five general grievances.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Angry Review
The Greybeards train a new Dovahkiin, Angry Joe, in order to judge and review the newest Elder Scrolls Game, Skyrim. Does it live up to the incredible hype? Or fall from the sky in flames? Find out!
Rumor: Snow Elves, Crossbows, and Vampires Hinted as Possible DLC for Skyrim
Will the Falmer come back in their former glory, or are they truly a dead race like the Dwemer?
Interactive Map of Skyrim Now an App with Microtransactions
Time to re-trace the world of Skyrim in the palm of your hand, for a price.
Skyrim Creation Kit, HD Texture Pack Released
It’s a party in my Skyrim, and everybody’s invited – Steam Workshop, free HD texture pack DLC, and the Creation Kit. Ain’t no party like a Skyrim party, ’cause a Skyrim party is friendly user generated content oriented.
Skyrimming Alone!
Fraser’s Home Alone for Christmas! Instead of setting up an elaborate series of traps and awaiting the wet bandits inevitable attack, he’s Skyrimming himself through the holidays!
Skyrim Mods Database Expanding
Like a fine scotch, wine, or ninth season episode of CSI Miami, Skyrim is getting better with age. Its mod count continues to expand with additions from ENBSeries and an authoritative tweaking guide from Nvidia.
Bethesda Addresses Continuing PS3 Skyrim Problems
After weeks of continuing issues, Bethesda has updated their blog regarding the current PS3 Skyrim situation and, unfortunately, the response is one that will likely not be of much comfort to PS3 owners still struggling with said problems.
Editorial: Five Grievances Against Skyrim
Skyrim is a damn good game and deserves praise for the type of game it is, a free-roaming RPG that allows players to fulfill their inner desires of what a fantastical hero can be. But it’s not that good, I am sorry to say. The biggest problems I have with Skyrim can be summed up into five general grievances.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Angry Review
The Greybeards train a new Dovahkiin, Angry Joe, in order to judge and review the newest Elder Scrolls Game, Skyrim. Does it live up to the incredible hype? Or fall from the sky in flames? Find out!
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
Posted By Johnny Maloney about 5 months, 4 weeks ago
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
As the bones of the dragon tumbled to the ground, the stranger sheathed his weapon and started to move towards the townsfolk. Amid cries of relief and shouts of joy, the mayor approached the stranger and exclaimed “Amazing! You truly are a gift from the divines to fight off so fearsome a beast with no help at all!” “That?” the stranger asked, motioning to the carcass with his thumb, “that’s nothing. I’ve killed at least fifteen of them this week. Goddamn dragons are like rats in this country. You want a real challenge, can you help me find twenty nirnroot? I’ve only got fifteen and I’ve been looking for them forever it seems.” Sadly, the townsfolk could be of no help to their new hero, and he ran off into the distance, into legend as ‘the man who would find twenty nirnroot.’
| PROS | Excellently designed world, reworked magic & smithing, plot & acting, sheer volume of content |
| CONS | Clunky UI, draw distance/texture detail, sometimes wonky difficulty |
| WTF?! | Anybody else want to see a giants baseball league? Home run! |
I don’t think there’s been any game with so much at stake in the past five years as Skyrim. Whether or not Bethesda Game Studios could re-work enough of the problems in their last outing into the Elder Scrolls would influence not only their future as a company, but indeed the future of purely single player games altogether. That appears to be a non-issue at this point though, as at the time of the writing of this article, Skyrim has shipped 7 million launch units, with at least half sold within the first 48 hours of launch. It’s also toppled records on Steam, with a high of 280 000 people simultaneously playing the game at one point, peaking today at just over 200 000, which certainly is put in perspective when the next highest figure, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 topped out at almost 72 000.
That’s got to be one of the more creative ways to kill someone with a warhammer. I usually use the other end.
It’s certainly not surprising either, because as far as hand crafted, detailed, rich content (and an insane amount of content) goes, Skyrim doesn’t look like it’s going to be toppled anytime soon. At the end of my sixtieth hour, the ratio of unfinished quests to finished ones stood at 21:45, not counting any miscellaneous bits and bobs. What’s more is I count only two of the major cities that I feel like I explored exhaustively, putting seven more directly in my path, two of which I didn’t even visit at all. I rather objected to an interview Todd Howard did some time ago where he opined that games were certainly getting too expensive, but not Skyrim. His comments smacked of a “we’re special” attitude, but after digging into the latest Elder Scrolls offering, it’s increasingly easy to agree with him.
What an offering it is too, with more than just a few things reworked and tweaked to fix problems in the unfortunately flawed Oblivion. With every specialization much easier to dabble, tweak or focus in, the ability to play exactly the kind of character you want to create in Skyrim is seemingly without fault. Gone are the class based major/minor skill progression, with every single skill contributing to a greater level, and fallout-like perks unlocking based on your rating in a specific skill. As your overall level increases, you’ll find it requires more and more skill advancement to level up, but progress maintains a steady pace, and you never feel quite like you’ve plateaued. This new system is only complemented by the complete overhaul that smithing, enchanting, and alchemy have all received, putting a much higher value on what were notoriously secondary skills in previous Elder Scrolls titles. Magic in general is much more immediate and combat friendly as well, giving players the option to either dabble in it, or fully commit to it, with plenty of perks to increase your effectiveness.
Flowers? Chocolates? If you want to impress that special someone of a Nord lady, nothing says I love you, like Dwemer armor.
These adjustments to the Elder Scrolls formula do nothing but shine, especially against the backdrop of Skyrim. Gone are the vanilla forests and townships of Cyrodiil, replaced by a richly designed hostile and alien environment, dotted with foreign looking crypts and caves, or the strange returning architecture of dwemer ruins. The clothing and accoutrements of nordic life similarly present themselves as meticulously designed, and singularly local. The weapons and armor you’ll find yourself equipping accentuate the cultural differences from imperial life, and it becomes much easier to get wrapped up in the world. This is also largely due to the redesign of the character models, with many plot-important characters having distinct physical presences, no longer just different heads fixed onto the same body types.
I think I saw this place in an issue of ‘Better Homes & Inscrutable Deathtraps.’
The characters serve an excellent purpose as narrative aides as well, with certainly the best voice acting any Bethesda Game Studios product has ever seen. Many of the plot problems from their previous games appear to have been fully addressed as well, with decently written dialogue. While not giving anything of the story away, the very fact that you enter the story as the hero, rather than the hero’s lackey (I defy anyone to justify to me how the player character is the hero in Oblivion, rather than Martin) makes the general experience of Skyrim the most rewarding Bethesda game since Morrowind. I even found the beginning an entertaining nod to their somewhat tired ‘start-in-prison’ mechanic, with the main character going to prison in the beginning, rather than being released from it. I will say however, that catching up on what happened in the couple hundred years since the events in Oblivion was somewhat shocking; the fact that so much epic drama was only explained in brief dialogue snippets and books laying about felt like wasted potential.
8/10
E3 - Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
Andy give a quick recap of the new edition to the Elder Scrolls series. Will it live up to the hype?Angry Joe Interviews: Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
Angry Joe lands an interview with his #1 Most Anticipated Game of 2011, Skyrim! Watch as Joe geeks out while asking about dynamic questing, crafting, exploration, and dragon riding? Check out the interview after the jump!SKYRIM in 5 seconds
There is one particular reason why SKYRIM is gonna be the game of the year !Skyrim is AWESOME!
FUS RO DAH! A fantastic new world awaits... so let's KILL SOME VILLAGERS! Our first foray into Skyrim is one of frighteningly powerful, unrelenting, sociopathic delinquency! You can do anything to these people and they BARELY fight back! It's AWESOME!Angry Joe Plays Skyrim - Talking Dogs & Werewolves!
Talking Dogs? Werewolves? Interior Decorating with Joe? With Skyrim its all possible! Angry Joe shows you how engaging Skyrims dynamic quests are and still has time to decorate his new house!RAD episode 222: The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim
Are you ready to face your destiny Dragonborn? Enter the world of Skyrim as Birdman dons his orcish armor and dwarfen warhammer with this review of the Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim!The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review
Manacles, fur lined clothes, cold snowy nights, and you're certainly going to see stars. Now that we've discussed what it would be like to go out on a date with Johnny, his review for Skyrim is written, and of all things, right here on the site for you to read.The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Video Review - ZGR
Well, it's finally here! But was it worth the wait? Daniel from ZGR checks out Skyrim!The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Angry Review
The Greybeards train a new Dovahkiin, Angry Joe, in order to judge and review the newest Elder Scrolls Game, Skyrim. Does it live up to the incredible hype? Or fall from the sky in flames? Find out!Editorial: Five Grievances Against Skyrim
Skyrim is a damn good game and deserves praise for the type of game it is, a free-roaming RPG that allows players to fulfill their inner desires of what a fantastical hero can be. But it’s not that good, I am sorry to say. The biggest problems I have with Skyrim can be summed up into five general grievances.Skyrimming Alone!
Fraser's Home Alone for Christmas! Instead of setting up an elaborate series of traps and awaiting the wet bandits inevitable attack, he's Skyrimming himself through the holidays!- December 05, 2011 at 02:41am
After the 1.2 patch for Skyrim my PS3 version is unplayable and before the patch it was almost unplayable. That plus the PS3 version has problems that may never get fixed. Skyrim looses my vote for GotY. Epic fail Bugthesda. If the next patch doesnt fix alot of things then im getting my money back and never buying another Bethesda game ever. I’d give Skyrim a 4/10.
- January 18, 2012 at 09:26am
Bugthesda is right. How can they even sell this broken shit on the PS3? I’ve never played a game that made me so angry and I loved these guys after spending countless hours on Fallout. I’m used to playing bad ports on PS3s but unplayble buggy mess of a game is new and 60$ for this is just BS.
- November 27, 2011 at 04:33pm
I really got to wonder about our community. Really, 62% of you found it overall dissapointing?
- November 29, 2011 at 12:51pm
I think I can answer this: I never got into Oblivion and Morrowind or even Fallout, (I do have friends who played them hours on end thought) because I am not often a fan of RPGs plus watching someone play these games is boring. Then I heard that Skyrim fixed the pacing of the game so I caved into the hype and bought the game. So far, if I didn’t have other matters to attend to I would be playing this game hours straight. The game is great…but there are flaws.
1) While NPCs are full of life, they still don’t draw me into the game. Why is this a problem? Look at Mass Effect 2. When you talk to NPCs in that game, you are engaging in full conversations complete with cutscenes and real-life movement unlike Skyrim which still has the NPCs standing still with one emotion. For example, after committing crimes, guards just stand there in battle stance. We are in new age of gaming, we expect developed characters.
2) The user interface IS clunky, plus they took out armor previews.
3) The game has Bethesda bugs, but those can be patched
4) Traveling, while a staple, does piss me off.Overall, I find that while there are many changes to the game, looking at it from a broader perspective one could see that the game has not changed that much from Oblivion. Do I dislike this game…FUCK NO THIS GAME IS AMAZING AND I’M GOING TO LOSE MY SOCIAL LIFE BECAUSE OF IT! Does it deserve it’s praise…to some extent yes, Angry Joe I think did overrate it though. Would I call it GOTY…You can but I’m not because other games there were games this year that I felt had a greater overhaul than Skyrim. Skyward Sword, while many argue that game hasn’t changed don’t realize that they are playing a more immersive Zelda game with it’s controls. Uncharted 3, where my biggest fault with is was Uncharted 2 set in the desert, I still found to be more cinematic even though I was still playing the game. Finally, L.A. Noire out of all them was probably the best experience I had with a game all year being that it excelled in technology and overall gameplay.
I hope this gives you a better understanding. If you love Skyrim, then more power to you. I love it too, but I’m not a crazed fanboy like everyone else especially Angry Joe.
- December 03, 2011 at 09:22pm
Probably the same crowd that thought MW3 was a good game (I know I’m a broken record on that game and it ain’t something to bring up here, I still go insane every time I see or hear its name just when i try to forget about it.)
- November 19, 2011 at 01:34am
The biggest graphical bug I have found, exists only on my boyfriend’s save file, where the first dragon he killed, which we both saw burst into flame, randomly appears throughout town, fused into buildings and cabbage gardens, twitching and breaking into pieces at random. The latest sighting of this dragon involved it fused into someone’s barn roof, its head on sideways, and its tail sticking towards the sky. This does not affect gameplay at all. It is just incredibly bizarre and often hilarious.
- November 20, 2011 at 03:23am
I have a very similar situation with a dragon I killed in Solitude. It’s skeleton keeps appearing in different places throughout the city all the time anywhere between the bard’s college and the main gate. Sometimes its not there at all only to show up in an extra bizarre position another time.
The weirdest cases were it being completely underground, but its head sticking up through the floor in front of the Radiant Raiment’s door and another when it was just stuck to the side of one of the guard towers tail toward the sky. - November 19, 2011 at 01:27am
There are plenty of bugs, but they are usually fairly harmless. My biggest issue, as far as bugs go, is the inconsistency of the audio. I only have the 360 version, so this could be an exclusive case, but when you turn away from a speaking character, their voice will sound echoey and far away. Even though, realistically, they are still right beside you. This doesn’t always happen, however… It is more common in the first 5 hours of gameplay. I would not be bothered by it, but I am slightly hard-of-hearing, and when the characters’ voices start warping back and forth or echoing, it is a nightmare for me to understand what they are saying. Thank God for the thorough subtitles.
- November 19, 2011 at 07:52am
I rather think that’s a sound mastering choice, honestly. I found the game to be quite quiet on my PC in general, but if I was standing too far away from characters that were talking without the dialogue window being open, I found their voice dropped off quite quick if you weren’t standing RIGHT in front of their projected sound. I didn’t mention it, because I found it could be easily adjusted by either moving closer to the dialogue, or turning the volume up, but I did find the master volume level rather curiously low.
As far as the bugs go, most of the complaints I’ve seen have been unusually small in number, and quite harmless in comparison to their previous titles. I was really quite impressed with how playable the game was (after the day one patch, of course).
- November 19, 2011 at 11:31pm
It might just be the version as well. As long as I try to stand facing them directly, it’s not a problem. I just have trouble hearing lower sounds, so when the male characters would start mumbling, I had no idea what was being said. And the problem seems to go away after a while, much like how a lot of minor bugs seem to right themselves. Except the dragon, he’s still having seizures in people’s cabbage patches.
- November 18, 2011 at 03:50pm
Johnny, now that you’ve finished Skyrim, it’s time to return to the chair and play Nehrim: Fate’s Edge for the next five days straight.
- November 19, 2011 at 09:04am
I can’t, man! I need a break! I did all that Elder Scrolls modding article stuff, and then force fed myself skyrim for practically a week straight… I did download Nehrim though, and after I get a little bit of break time with Arkham City (PC version drops on the 22nd), Saints Row 3, all while keeping L.A. Noire cases on the side that I can knock one off every now and again, I’ll make the choice to go back into Skyrim, or hit Nehrim up.
I still have to thank you for pointing me at it though, it’s exactly the kind of mod I like to use as an example of why I’m a PC gamer. Rest assured, I will be letting you know what I think after I finally dig into it.
- November 18, 2011 at 03:22pm
Good review and respectable score.
I want to say 10/10.
I can’t. It has a few small but crippling bugs in the game that will need a patch asap. That being said, it’s forgivable given the sheer scale of this game.
Right now I’d say my biggest two complaints are incomplete quests that can’t be finished because you ‘found’ the quest item early and that on the PC version, when you read a book or note and go back, you have to exit and reload your inventory to be able to properly scroll through and make specific selections again. That one wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t enjoy reading most things.
That being said – 9.999999999…No, not really… 9/10.
If I had to rate it off the experience alone? It’d be perfect…Not gonna lie. Good lord this game is freaking addictive. 80 hours and CLIMBING!! Not even a fraction of the game done with SO much more to go.
Is this game perfect? Hell no. It’s got its own problems that keep it from getting there but ask yourself this? Is there a single perfect game out there on a scale like this? Is there a single game with literally hundreds of hours of game-play content (not counting completion and ‘trophy bs that pads out so many SHORT 5-10 hour games) that is even remotely as satisfying as Skyrim or enjoyable? No, there isn’t. Or at least, none that I know of.
Given the scale of this game, I can wholeheartedly forgive it all. And even better? I play on PC so I know that patch is coming, one way or another. God I love Bethesda.
————
As far as difficulty goes I’ve found very few troubles on master mode. Stealth Archery? Yeah…I rock that. I wish I’d recorded downing that Blood Dragon (granted, the weakest of the dragons) in three shots…ON MASTER MODE!! And I haven’t even finished maxing enchanting yet for the dbl bonus. Just made Archery boosts for all applicable pieces and good lord…the dmg! Right now at level 39 my glass bow does over 220 base damage. Throw in sneak attacks and critical hits?I’ve gone through enter fortress gates Prince of Persia style fast drawing the bow and notching the arrow only to zoom for slow, fire, release zoom, rinse, repeat. The results with my sickening damage output is pretty much everything save bosses and a few select NPCs essentially being one shot before they even come close.
Now if only I didn’t have so much trouble with those damn cave bears -_-
————————————-
On a side note:If you don’t want an OP tip – Ignore the next line –
Enchanting is god-mode for money making by the way. Banishment weapons turn an absurd amount of profit. Just make Iron Daggers of Banishment with a petty soul gem and they go from about 25 value to 1400-1600. My advice is invest in speechcraft for investment bonus because you’re gonna need it if you enchant for the $$.
- November 18, 2011 at 03:19pm
And here I am finally putting some time in playing Dragon Age II. That’s a great game, too, isn’t it? It’s not as large as Skyrim, but it’s got its unique perks. I swear, once you start f*cking an elf, your acrobatic stat goes up.
- November 18, 2011 at 02:14pm
I’m currently sitting at 88 hours played for Skyrim.
Oh god. Someone help me.
- November 18, 2011 at 03:32pm
You don’t want help. You don’t need help.
Don’t fight it James! Search your feelings! You know this to be everything your heart desires.
JOIN THE DARK SIDE! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *cough*
- November 18, 2011 at 01:50pm
I’m certainly enjoying the hell out of the game and I didn’t even like Oblivion all that much. For some reason, Oblivion never clicked for me and Skyrim fine tuned or removed alot of things I didn’t care for, making it a much better game overall. I’m like 35 hours into the game and I’ve only done like an hour and a half of main quest line lol
My only complaints would be how terrible the companion AI is. It’s possibly worst than what I saw in New Vegas. They really didn’t try to improve companions at all as it looks like they used everything from the previous engine for the game. Also some of the animations are pretty stiff looking, but really, they don’t detract from the game too much, which is easily a 9 for me, cause I had no problems with the UI, which was much better than previous games.
- November 18, 2011 at 07:20am
I believe one of its biggest accomplishments is creating a cohesive and organic world the likes of which have never been seen before. People will react to you and your endeavours, whether short-term or long-term. With dragons being able to attack at any time, there’s no shortage of interesting moments to be found. The Radiant AI also makes things really immersive. In this game, moments which would be scripted in any other game can happen at the drop of a hat. It’s quite an accomplishment.
I’d give it a 10 if not for the god awful menus. You have no idea how frustrating it is for the directional controls to lock up for a second when opening up your favourites menu. Patch that and the perfect score is yours, Bethy.
- November 19, 2011 at 07:53am
That is weird. Several of my friends and I love the menus and the way they are handled. We all have the XBOX 360 version since our computers cant handle this game. And i have played for around 12 hours. Skyrim could be one of my favorite games of the year.
- November 18, 2011 at 04:55am
As others pointed out: seriously man, learn your keyboard shortcuts. Especially since you were playing on the frikin PC where you can Keybind every favorites (or just use Q for favorites menu). Likewise each menu has it’s own shortcut(I,P,M,/).
As to dragon fights fo rme now 48 hours in it’s gotten to the point of: “come down here you where I can at least shoot you, you coward”
- November 18, 2011 at 05:21am
I do know about the shortcut keys, but that’s a workaround for the PC only. When dealing with the UI, it still requires you to exit screens, reopen other ones, and other problems.
If you’ve leveled up, and you accidentally run into the skill menu you’re *forced* to upgrade your health, stamina or magicka without being able to go into your active powers menu to check and see how each stat is specifically augmented. If you could switch between the menu screens on the fly, and see how your magicka is bolstered, that would help.
The point is that in order to navigate between the pause menus, you’re still required to move in and out of screens instead of having it all there in front of you, because god forbid I want to check my skills and inventory without having to move in and out of pause/unpause or screen submenus. - November 18, 2011 at 09:18am
Unless Console versions don’t support key bindings (witch would be the problem of console options), as far as i know consoled do support keyboards (I do know PS3 does, not sure about xbox360).
“instead of having it all there in front of you” it it was all in the same menu you’d have 30ish menus in there, and it would be incredibly unvieldy (and would be just as bad or worse).
- November 19, 2011 at 09:08am
I don’t mean having EVERYTHING open at the same time, but the opportunity to switch between them from the inventory screen without having to do a go-between, being able to look at your health and magicka numbers without having to go into the skills screen.
It succeeds in a lot of areas I HATED the Oblivion UI for, but that doesn’t make it good… it doesn’t even make it better. It just makes it different. There could have been a way to somehow hybridize the systems, and let me go back and forth between my map (which was pretty, but also pretty useless), my journal, and my skills screen without having to deal with all these middle-men uber-menus.
- November 18, 2011 at 03:35pm
I don’t quite understand the argument about multiple windows to see stats, etc. while leveling up but maybe that’s because the level up really only effects the three basic stats? Well, I guess it was just never an issue for me but to each there own.
You are right about the interface through, to a certain extent. It is a tad glitchy but I’ve yet to be frustrated by navigation on it. Like they said, hot keys. You can immediate jump to any interface quick and simple with the keyboard and I haven’t had any of those problems so far.
Still, a solid review. Thx ^_^
- November 18, 2011 at 04:35am
i don’t find the ui that clunky sens you can just press i for inventory etc so once you get into the game it is not that big of a hassle it is atlest better than oblivions
and don’t get me started on killing dragons i had 3 dragons in a row pop into existans that i needed to kill that was kinda frustraiting
and as i said in angryjoes skyrim vid fuck the voice actor who thougt sounding like arnold schwarzenegger was a good idea
also condensing some of the skills of needed but it kinda nerfs beaing a ranger sens you would acrobatics your way untill you could run around full speed with a bow drawn, now this is a lvl 60 archery perk witch kinda sucks, meaning as an archer you are kinda of a sitting duck untill you get it, and it just feels odd getting speech for buying and selling stuff
p.s i saw skyrim top at around 380k ppl playing it at the same time :3
- November 18, 2011 at 04:31am
Hmm, what version of the game did you review? The PC version which I have, allows you to access the inventory, spells, skills, and others with just one button key. Plus exit menus with one press. I’ve pretty much never seen that submenu.
Hmm, sounds like you were playing the PC version, did you never check the control options?
I’m not accusing you of being wrong, just curious.
- November 18, 2011 at 05:17am
Oh, I did know that the hotkeys for the menu were there. That doesn’t excuse the overall design of the UI though. It also only accounts for shortcuts in the PC version specifically, not necessarily the console.
What’s more is (and I didn’t complain about this in the review, as it’s more a PC only problem) I found that the menus would conflict between keyboard and mouse input, with a keyboard highlighted dialogue or menu option being activated by a mouse click that was hovering over a completely different choice. Shortcut keys or not, the UI was pretty badly designed. - November 18, 2011 at 04:20am
I’m about 7 hours in and I’m loving it.
I’d probably give it a perfect 10 already.One thing that surprised me though, but in a good way, the magic is tons of fun!
Magic was so damn boring in Morrowind and Oblivion, that I pretty much never used it at all.
Now I’m finding myself using it a ton more, while I’m usually a warrior thief in these types of games, guess I’ll be adding mage to that as well. And since the game removed classes, I can do that.I think I might end up with a man of many skills, but master of none.
- November 18, 2011 at 04:10am
I’m 80 hours+ hours in and still having a blast with it
This is easily my game of the year and I came in with ZERO expectations and even told the publisher “Impress me” and that they did.Good review man
- November 18, 2011 at 05:23am
It’s a phenomenal game, agreed. Thanks Mike, I just hope people don’t see it as me being “hard on the game.”
- November 18, 2011 at 06:51am
yes sens 8/10 is such a low score -_- 8 = a great game witch skyrim is the only thing that makes skyrim maybe worth a 9 is how much time you can spend in it without doing the same thing (sens the ammout of content should play a part in the score atlest in my mind)
- November 18, 2011 at 08:23am
*Ties Harith down in a chair, staples his eyelids open and makes him watch:* http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4966-Hate-Out-Of-Ten
- November 18, 2011 at 08:42am
Thank you. It’s been a while since DToid got a positive comment from the community on this site.
- November 18, 2011 at 08:52am
renegadered seen it and i do agree with jim sterling that ppl expect 9/10 or 10/10, but the reason i think this has happend is that ppl who has reviewed for a long time use the same ruler they did as when they started but generally games improve in quality and controlls so you really need to change what an avarge game is over the years or you start handing out way to high scores
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Mike gets his games early because he has built a good reputation with alot of the game developers since HE IS a gaming journalist! Also, he prefers audio over doing video reviews because that’s just how he is and how he does things!
Don’t like that fact!? Then go watch Angry Joe or someone else who does video reviews!
I’m sure you have a good reason but damn some footage would have made a big difference. Could only watch for a few minutes because of that.
I’m an audio guy.
I don’t do video very well so I tend to stick what I do what best and that’s audio since I do that professionally on air with clear channel and a few other radio chains.
I do video for vlogs
I can’t play this game anymore. Graphics aside, I have bumped into too many faults and too many bugs and too many instances of it not being coded right or enough effort being put into the game. I have to wonder what the testers were doing and it takes me right out of the game when the quest givers act like they don’t know you or have serious short term memory loss.
I was loving it at first but it’s far too clear how lazy they have been with it in reality and that saddens me. Loved the last games, but this has disappointed me so much.
I bought the collector’s edition of the game as well as the collector’s edition game guide, at one point of the midnight launch I had a receipt worth $208.95 in my pocket, and you know… it was 100% worth it, the game is amazing and the benefits of the collector’s edition outweigh the cost by far.
I am SO in love with this game, I literally have not been able to pull myself away. It took me exactly 8 days to get my first character to level 50, get myself a sweet set of homemade armour with smithing 100 and smack the main plot on the head with a big Ebony War Axe of Fiery Death!
Skyrim <3333333
The game came out on 11/11
You made the review on 13/11
You played for 54 hours
Something doesn’t add up.
He got it early as a reviewer, remember? He even stated that in a video too.
That makes sense.
He said “I put the game inside the tray”, so I assumed he bought it at BestBuy or something.
You should listen more carefully. He had the game way before it was out.
Typically I get a game about 2 weeks before release and the odd time about 3 weeks to a month.
I just wish I’d started sooner because ultimately this game really grew me on ways I didnt expect
You mentioned LotR: War in the North as an example of a well established series. While that may be true of books and movies, the same can not be said of games. Elder Scrolls by far outdoes LotR in terms of credibility and reputation there. Don’t expect too much.
I find it funny that most of the reviews I have seen for this game have been by people who never bothered to pick up an elder scrolls game before, yet consider their opinions to hold weight on the subject lol.
I’m 90 hours in….this game has consumed my life.
Death to all who come across me in my Legendary dragon armor full set with a enchanted daedric great sword with ALL two handed enchantments!
I love this game
Skyrim was bound to be awesome. But it even surpassed my expectations.
I loved this review Birdman. I was kinda wondering what system you played Skyrim on? I have an XBOX 360 and a PC, but I don’t know which version to get. Can you make any suggestions?
He played on the 360 I believe. I’m playing on PS3. Game runs good on all 3 platforms.
Get it for PC, less loading times by far and looks twice as good. It renders BEAUTIFULLY on PC. Don’t waste your money on it for a console when you could have one of the best looking games ever.
Solid review, Mike. I’m picking this one up right when I get off work.
Awesome review dude. I’ve been having a blast. 38 hours in and I’ve done hardly any main story quests. Keep up the good work Birdman.