Skyrim (PC) Game Review

Note: Video review to come soon (hopefully)

A few weeks ago, you might have heard a massive crash outside. You probably thought it was the sound of the stock market crashing again, or maybe the Euro losing its value, or maybe even another earthquake. But no, that was the sound of the collective grades and free time of millions of boys across the nation being dropped in favor of playing Bethesda’s newest addition to The Elder Scrolls saga; Skyrim.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is the fifth in a series of role playing video games developed and published by Bethesda. The main story takes place in the land of Skyrim two hundred years after the game’s predecessor; Oblivion. Skyrim is currently in the midst of a civil war after the assassination of the High King. The character’s efforts revolve around defeating Alduin, the firstborn of Tamriel’s primary deity Akatosh.

Now if you’re not familiar with the early story like I am, those names probably mean nothing to you. But not to worry! That’s really what makes Skyrim so dang fun to begin with; complete emersion.

The Open World

Skyrim. Is. HUGE. If you’ve played games like Mass Effect, Fable, or even the previous Elder Scrolls games, you will not be disappointed by the truly colossal nature of the landscape. Some whiz out there calculated that if Skyrim existed to scale in real life, the environment would take up approximately 40 square kilometers, that’s about four Nose Hill Parks.

You might then be thinking, “Well I don’t want to walk around see? Walking around is for squares see! I don’t have time to walk around, I want to do quests see!”… Well at least that’s how people talk in my head. Fear not! Just like its predecessor, Skyrim offers a fast travel option (by map) as well as horses that can be bought. You can also sprint… I feel like Aragorn crossing the plains of Rohan whenever I play.

The other thing that strikes me is that the map has a purpose. It’s not like other games where you just slog your way over from point A to point B, cursing the game designers trying to make the game bigger just by adding longer routes. All along the routes there are dungeons, NPCs, and quests.

The only problem I have with travel is the horses is that it’s pitiful how little health they have, and how slow they can go at times. In all honesty you’re better off sprinting, running out of stamina, healing yourself, and then sprinting again. At least that way you don’t lose your expensive horse. That being said, horses do help you fight off enemies, so there’s a bonus.

Quests

If you have a tendency to be OCD about keeping your quest log clean, this game might not be for you. The game actually has infinite quests. And even before it gets to the infinite point, there are still hundreds upon hundreds of meaningful and entertaining quests. You don’t even have to touch the main storyline. I’ve played 72 hours and I’ve done NO main quest lines. I haven’t even scratched the surface!

The best part is, the quests are progressive. They are purposeful, and you don’t really feel like you’re grinding for levels. The storyline is also fantastic. Every NPC peasant has something to talk about, and more often than not, even more quests to give. Be it fetching something from a ruin, raiding a dungeon, or beating some ruffian senseless, it never really seems to get old… except for when it does.

The biggest problem with quests I’ve seen thus far is two-fold. One, the infinite type quests are repetitive, and don’t really seem to serve a purpose. Fetch item X from place Y. Kill person A at location B. You get the idea. The other problem is that for every single faction you join (thus far), you inevitable end up becoming leader of that faction. Join a mage guild, three hours later you’re the arch mage. Join the thieves’ guild, four hours later you’re thief lord. It’s still fun, but it ruins the immersion a bit.

Combat

The sheer level of variety you can employ in taking down enemies is staggering. A multitude of skill trees allows you to be whatever you want to be! Currently I’m a battle mage ninja assassin. My buddy is a Nordic Viking who charges head on into enemies with his battleaxes and heavy armor. My other friend is 100% assassin; he sneaks in the shadows and kills people without them even realizing he’s there. There are tons of weapons in the game (think Borderlands or more!) and tons of spells. The possibilities are endless, and endlessly fun.

The problem with combat is also two-fold, and lies with the AI, and the UI. I’ll discuss the UI later, and the qualms I have with the AI are minor. But the AI is pretty easy to figure out, they run at you, swing once, and then turn around a swing again. Once you discover this you can sprint past them as they are in mid swing and bomb them with fireballs. Rinse and repeat. Bosses however, still remain very interesting and are separate from the generic enemy AI.

Skills and Trade

Just like with combat, the possibilities for skill trees are vast. You can choose enchanting, leatherworking, blacksmithing, and alchemy. Each one is incredibly complex and offers diverse rewards once you max out.

As far as trade goes, it’s surprisingly realistic in that shop keepers have both a set amount of money, and a set amount of items. If you want to sell 54 iron daggers, the merchant might not have enough money to buy all of them!

Skills however, have a massive bug. It is possible to power level your character all the way to 90 just by doing blacksmithing and enchanting! To put this in comparison, getting to level 21 took me 30 hours normally. This needs to be fixed.

Dungeons

Dungeons are simply fascinating. Each one is different and unique in terms of both mobs, and dungeon events. There are hundreds (okay maybe a bit less) of dungeons each with their own risks and rewards. Only drawback is that certain elements are re-used (buildings, pathways). It’s not really noticeable though, I don’t mind, and the graphics are… breathtaking.

Graphics and UI

I won’t spend too long on the graphics, but if your rig can run it, ultra graphics are breathtaking. Though it’s no Crysis 2, I would still absolutely recommend it. Kudos to Bethesda for making the realm large without detracting from the beauty. And now… for the UI.

Blegh. That’s all I can say. Since Skyrim is a console port, it is natural to expect that the UI is lacking, but it is lacking so much that it hurts. It is what changes Skyrim from a 10/10 to a 9/10 or lower. For me, the UI ruins combat immersion.

I encounter an enemy; bombard it with an ice bolt. The enemy is slow so I switch to fireball. Wait, hold on a second, the hotkey I hit replaced the spell in the arm with the ice bolt, I want to keep that! Oh well I guess I’ll double fireball and then switch to swords. Wait, I can’t switch to swords, because the UI is glitchy and unbinds everything whenever you dual wield. Hit the item menu button… find swords… hmm… where is it… ah here it is. Alright bound! Drat! My sword is out of energy and I’m low on health, better ice bolt him to slow him down and heal myself *pushes hotkey button* ARGGHHHHH.

Yes you get used to it, but it really, REALLY, detracts from combat. Especially if you want to spec in multiple trees like me. The character UI is terrible too. No little manikin to help you put armor on, no organizing items by weight, price, or alphabet. You have to hit esc to access the quest menu, but you have to hit tab to access items, magic, and everything else. It’s a total mess and really brings the game down.

Well that’s that, until the video review at least. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything. So overall:

Pros:

• The world is HUGE
• Dungeons and quests variety is great
• Skill trees and combat styles are diverse and fun
• Graphics are phenomenal

Cons:

• UI is tripe
• Some AI styles and bugs make combat easy at times
• Infinite quests are repetitive, and quest lines follow the same mold
• Horses suck

Now, all that being said, I am very confident Bethesda will fix this bugs. And if not Bethesda, mods will always be released. PC may be the weakest platform for Skyrim right now, but I’m sure it will soon be the best.

OVERALL SCORE:

9/10

More nice photos: