The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

  "Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood." ~General George S. Patton

           Skyrim, what can be said about it that hasn’t been said already? Winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards in 2011, this product of the esteemed Bethesda Studios has sold over 70 million copies across all consoles in merely three years and is considered one of the greatest games of all time- and for fair reason too. Note, this review will be covering the PC version of the game, as I downloaded and played through the game with and without mods (getting all the achievements, while I was at it). Is it truly worthy of its praise or is it merely another Triple A game that gets a cult following and spurns the protests of other sources? This review will clarify all the positives and negatives of the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, however those that have already played the game may or may not have differing opinions on it, being that the game is what you make it to be.

            Beginning with your capture as a presumed enemy, you start the game learning about a civil

Beginning as a prisoner, you will later
make a name for yourself however
you wish to be seen.

war that is enrapturing the province of Skyrim (the northernmost region of the land of Tamriel, the continent of The Elder Scrolls Series), and are rushed off to your execution (right after you customize your character, of course). Obviously this doesn’t happen, or else the game wouldn’t exist in the first place. Instead, you are “rescued” (I use the term loosely, as will be explained later) from your fate by the unlikely arrival and attack of a black dragon with a demonic appearance. By throwing the scene into turmoil, your character is given the choice of escaping with a fellow prisoner or an Imperial guard, thrusting the player into Skyrim’s main selling point: Choices (more on that later). Following your escape, the player is presented with the overworld, a huge open-world province for the player to explore all on their own. With hundreds of vanilla (that is, built plain into the game) side quests that range from fetching items, combing dungeons, exploring caves, or even hunting animals these quests are always new every time they are presented, unlike many games that simply rehash bland fetch-kill-complete quests at every given moment. The main story itself revolves around the

After your first run in with dragons,
you will find them scouring the
landscape and offer a fun
challenge of hunting down.

main character being “Dovahkiin”, that is to say possessing of dragon blood, meaning the character can not only slay dragons, but just as well consume their souls and use their language for personal benefits (called “Shouts” in the game, this dragon tongue has many uses ranging from fire, force, and even time control). As “Dovahkiin”, the main character proceeds on the quest to kill “Alduin”, the dragon that unintentionally rescued him from his execution. The main character finds out that Alduin is written into legend as the dragon to end the world, and as Dovahkiin he is the only person suitable to perform and complete this task, as many have already tried and failed. With an interesting and consistently progressing main tale, Skyrim delivers well in its story aspect.

            Taken from a first-person or third-person point of view (given your preference, you can use either) Skyrim is a combination of an action, adventure, and role-playing game. The player gets full customization of their character, choosing from a conglomerate of races that span from cats, lizards, elves, and simple humans. Each race has its own advantages and disadvantages, and one of the more

From hammers to axes, swords
to bows, maces to magic, Skyrim offers
a wide variety of outlets to deliver pain
to many different enemies.

interesting things about race choice is the prejudice that NPC’s treat you with depending on their own race (for example, elves tend to dislike humans, and vice versa). The gameplay itself is also riveting, specifically due to its central concept of limitless (or at least, close to limitless) choices and combinations of weaponry. As a spinoff of race, certain races are better with different weapons and skillsets (elves are best with magic, humans with brute force, etc.), however all races can use the same weapons and armor, all of this depending on the player’s own playstyle. Like weapons? Then use them. Want to use magic? Sure, why not? The player has full reign over how their character in the game develops, which is a main topic of Skyrim’s success in an industry where players crave for more and more choice in their games. Off topic, but I myself have a Nord level 83 that is a master of dual-wielding, but also is maxed out on Destruction magic, just showing how diverse you can make your character’s skill assets to be.

Much of the scenery in Skyrim is
stunning, to say the very least.

While clunky at first to a new player, much of Skyrim controls are easily adaptable and run smoothly, just like the game as a whole. I myself have a PC that isn’t optimized for gaming, however I could run it on a solid frame rate with decent rendering distance. Although the fighting in Skyrim may appear dull, the non-flashiness of its violence was done in a very artistic way, immersing the player into the universe by putting a realistic spin onto an already unrealistic, fictional world, due to the action being normal and (ironically) very human in nature. While magic itself is blatantly unrealistic, it’s passed off as simply “there”, a given for anyone that picks up and plays Skyrim. Instead of making magic the “be all to end all”, the game merely offers it as simply another way to play the game (I myself didn’t really care for it, but once again it’s all about preference).

Now for the most important (or at least, most influential) part of Skyrim for me: The Mods. Console gamers should disregard this section, simply because it will have no effect on any of you

From adding new hair styles to more,
ahem, "lewd" outputs of designers,
the modding community provides
anything for everyone.

being it that you all will never have access to the modding community, but those that plan on getting it for PC keep reading. Where do I begin? Ever since its release on PC until even right now, Skyrim’s modding fanbase has worked non-stop to deliver simple modifications ranging from simple bug fixes to putting new, overpowered items into the game Skyrim’s modifications completely add a new flavor to the game as a whole. Want new weapons and spells? Check. Even more quests? Check. Do you want a new house? Got that. And for those interested, want your character to look like some anime chick? Got you covered there too (and I wish I was kidding). With more modifications than there are seconds in a month (most likely way more than that), Skyrim’s modding community can likely deliver to you whatever it is your heart desires (for the game, that is).

Although generally not game breaking,
many of Skyrim's bugs are incredibly
annoying.

However, this “perfect” game is not without its many flaws. One of these flaws that killed the game for me many times was its rampant bugs. There were times when I couldn’t even open the game without it bugging out on me for minutes at a time, just to inevitably crash. While it may have been from loading too many mods, this still should not occur in a game suited for heavy processing, a direct result of being an open world game with more choices than many other games on the market.

Although the bugs are generally considered understandable by many review sites, being that the game IS open-world and DOES have so many choices, I myself feel it should be pointed out more, since the developers themselves knew exactly what they were doing as they created this game. That being said, the other flaws of the game are minor in comparison (short main quest, terrible followers, etc.), since they can easily be cured by a couple choice mods (PC only though, sorry console players).

Possessing its flaws and strengths at the same points, Skyrim creates a world of imperfection that defines its in-game world near perfectly, a world covered in violence and peace, love and hate, and all other contrasts under the sun. While not being the “perfect” game that “defines a genre”, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim delivers a mold-breaking sequel to an already stellar series by providing the player with immense choice capacity and feeling of dominance over an entire world.

Pros:

+Great action

+Runs well on most computers

+Amazing modding community

Neutral:
+/- Clunky, realistic fighting

Cons:

-Short main story

-Lack of bug attention on developer’s part

OVERALL: 9.25/10 A MUST HAVE FOR ANY ADVENTURE OR RPG FAN.