The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12985 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10,547 out of 12985
  2. Mixed: 1,375 out of 12985
  3. Negative: 1,063 out of 12985
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  1. Realtwitchy
    Dec 15, 2011
    10
    Simple the best game I have played since Oblivion was release. I have not had any major issues and I pre-ordered and have been playing since release. That said, there were minor graphics issues that were fixed with the first patch and that patch did create some minor in game bugs that should be easy to patch. However if they made the game this much more awesome then Oblivion I cant waitSimple the best game I have played since Oblivion was release. I have not had any major issues and I pre-ordered and have been playing since release. That said, there were minor graphics issues that were fixed with the first patch and that patch did create some minor in game bugs that should be easy to patch. However if they made the game this much more awesome then Oblivion I cant wait til the construction set gets released so the modding Com can start working and the next expansion WOOO HOOO… Expand
  2. Tercerobootleg
    Dec 15, 2011
    0
    This game is a terrible console port, and each successive patch just breaks the game further. It handles PC hardware as poorly as possible. My PC, which can run Crysis and Crysis 2 both at consistently over 60fps, sometimes struggles with Skyrim at it's most basic settings. It is poorly engineered and the PC port of this game is a joke.
  3. Lawgun
    Dec 15, 2011
    10
    Best RPG of the year. Big open world. Many quests - many gaming hours. Old school RPG with new style. Design of game more better than graphics. Waiting for addons!
  4. Rakathor
    Dec 15, 2011
    10
    Very, very good game. Many people complain about the bugs, and it's understandable, but hey, it's huge game, with alot of work behind, sometimes errors slip through. Another thing is that many people have complained about hotkeys, many think there aren't any, but there is, you just have to assign them, that's not so tough is it? as far as gameplay, yes, it is like oblivion and fallout, butVery, very good game. Many people complain about the bugs, and it's understandable, but hey, it's huge game, with alot of work behind, sometimes errors slip through. Another thing is that many people have complained about hotkeys, many think there aren't any, but there is, you just have to assign them, that's not so tough is it? as far as gameplay, yes, it is like oblivion and fallout, but what can you do, this is rpg, it is supposed to be like this. It is a beautiful game, with a great story, many side quests, and generally it provides many hours of worthy gameplay, 'nough said.… Expand
  5. hacko
    Dec 15, 2011
    10
    Amazing doesn't do the landscape justice. Skyrim offers the single most impressive gaming landscape I have ever seen, not just in its scope, but in the variety and detail, a truly monumental achievement that allows for sublime absorption of the player in its verisimilitude. Towering mountains, sodden marshland, and arid plains comprise the landscape with such character and drama that youAmazing doesn't do the landscape justice. Skyrim offers the single most impressive gaming landscape I have ever seen, not just in its scope, but in the variety and detail, a truly monumental achievement that allows for sublime absorption of the player in its verisimilitude. Towering mountains, sodden marshland, and arid plains comprise the landscape with such character and drama that you can sense the dry air and caustic environment that seeps with the harsh danger that informs the events of the game. Where the setting of Oblivion conveyed a seat of majesty in the Empireâ… Expand
  6. colin_jack
    Dec 15, 2011
    9
    Excellent and huge game. Sure its buggy, very very buggy, but given the size and scope the bugs aren't a big deal. I'm also hopeful that there'll be DLC for it, but even if there isn't there's more than enough content to keep you happy.
  7. roguesas
    Dec 14, 2011
    10
    Brilliant Game - Bethseda have outdone themselves again. Skyrim is a epic and immersive game. And, even better, PC Skyrim has amazing graphics and mod capability (I believe the Mod Tools are being released soon). You will not regret buying this.
  8. Skilvalance
    Dec 14, 2011
    10
    I don't usually leave a review on a game, but in Skyrim's case it just has to be said. I've been gaming for nearly 27 years and RPGs are my favored type of genre. Skyrim takes everything that was incredible from Morrowind and the beauty and vastness of Oblivion and put's it together to create the most compelling and captivating game that i have ever played in all my days(seriously). NearlyI don't usually leave a review on a game, but in Skyrim's case it just has to be said. I've been gaming for nearly 27 years and RPGs are my favored type of genre. Skyrim takes everything that was incredible from Morrowind and the beauty and vastness of Oblivion and put's it together to create the most compelling and captivating game that i have ever played in all my days(seriously). Nearly 130 hrs later and i am still putting off the main quest as Skyrim take's me all over the land to the gorgeous city's then down into the ancient dwemer strongholds!. Theirs more content in this game that even an MMO would would have problems keeping up with. I do understand that some people will give it a low score, but due to content alone, Skyrim is well worth your money. if you play this game for even 10 hrs then that's more than you can squeeze from any other game made this year. my point is time/money with any game and in this case £39.99 is a frickin bargain ! One last point to make. The shear attention to detail this game delivers is awesome! If every company made their games with this much love and commitment like Bethesda has achieved then everybody on the planet would be Gamers by now. keep up the good work Beth, i take my slightly dented helmet off to you ;)… Expand
  9. spinspock
    Dec 14, 2011
    7
    It's a good game but it could have used another 6 months of QA and bug fixing. The combat is incredibly simple and really could use some work. Most of the characters are forgettable and the story fairly boring.
  10. Yllems
    Dec 14, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Truly, a joy to play. Skyrim has a lot of great points and bad points that just can't be ignored. The Great. At first, the leveling and skill tree changes kind of bothered me, but I grew to like the changes, it's a little bit more simplified over oblivion for the leveling, moving to just magicka/health/stamina but the skill trees give a lot of room for diversification. There is a ton to do, so much so, it's hard to know for sure if you've done everything in an area. I particularly like the choices that are presented in some of the quests, for example, when joining the brotherhood. I liked the addition of the shouts in the game, gave a lot of the casting abilities for those who choose not to be a mage. I thought it was a cool idea to move the stars from what you were born under to the stones and I loved how they got rid of the greater and lesser skills and can level everything equally. I loved the enchants, as overpowered as they are, there's still a certain joy in completely destroying your enemy with gear that you've made.

    The Bad: Holy bugs batman... I've been running the game on a top of the line system and get game crashes about every 30min-1hr and get weird graphical gliches as well (which seem to go hand in hand most of the time). I had a companion quest bug out on me because I had cleared out the dungeon while exploring that they were gonna send me to and had to use console commands to fix it after waiting a month in game. Also had a similar story trying to get the house in windhelm, had to use console commands for that one too (who knew you couldn't do brotherhood quests first?). While I like the skill trees, It's doesn't take long to figure out that most of the skills in those trees are worthless (anyone else notice how light armor fully perked is completely worthless when held up against heavy armor fully perked?) and I was surprised and disappointed how many of the top tier perks fell into the worthless category. I was a bit bothered that mages can run around in heavy armor without any penalties, truly, it makes no sense why the mages at the college are all wearing cloth. Playing through on master difficulty is still too easy with the crafting skills as they are, especially enchanting, which can and does completely invalidate magicka altogether (sucks to find that out halfway into the game as a mage after power leveling your magicka). I REALLY wanted at least one item, just one, to be better than something I could make myself. (wth is the point of doing all those shrines if they're all gonna be worse than what you've got?)

    All in all, I know it sounds like I didn't like the game, but after putting in over 240 hrs, I just can't say that I didn't love it. The reply value is high, the entertainment value is high, the story is riveting, I just ended up having to gimp myself and not use certain skills to make it harder. (Currently playing through only using thief stone skills +1hd on master)    … Expand
  11. Gantela
    Dec 13, 2011
    10
    The game is great in every sense, amazing graphics, complete freedom and it creates a great atmosphere. I interesting thing I noticed is that the name Skyrim comes from Middle-Earth and everything in the game looks very similar to it. Let me explain. "Sky" is the opposite of "Earth" and "Rim" (the edge) is opposite to "Middle". On more thing, is that the city Whiterun looks very much alikeThe game is great in every sense, amazing graphics, complete freedom and it creates a great atmosphere. I interesting thing I noticed is that the name Skyrim comes from Middle-Earth and everything in the game looks very similar to it. Let me explain. "Sky" is the opposite of "Earth" and "Rim" (the edge) is opposite to "Middle". On more thing, is that the city Whiterun looks very much alike to Rohan. So this game kind of copied LOTR, so I do not consider the game original. But nevertheless I had and I am still having an amazing experience playing this game. This game has some lags and glitches and some can be exploited, which kind of makes me lose my focus. If you read the other reviews, Skyrim does have some flaws, one which annoys me for example is NPC location. When I have a companion that follows me everywhere, sometimes I just lose him and he never comes back. They I have to go and hire him again. Very annoying. Another flaw are the animations. Some of them seem to be very buggy and often I find NPCs floating over the floor, instead of walking on it. But still, I cant understand how they packed a whole universe into 5.8GB of data. Anyways I would have given this a 9 or an 8, but I simply can't, because this game is going to be a legend and probably, all the bugs will be patched. Awesome work guys at producing the most entertaining game in the last 2 or 3 years. You deserve a medal!
    Great game! 10/10!

    PS: Shame on you, who torrent it. Please buy this game and contribute the developers, who did a great job!    … Expand
  12. Vany
    Dec 13, 2011
    10
    Everything about this game is amazing. I run it on ultra settings on a geforce gtx 580 and its incredible. This game will go down as one of the best games created, period. Since i have the game through steam, i don't want to mod it so i can get the achievements. I'm not sure if there is a way to quick change weapons instead of going through the favorites menu. It would be wonderful ifEverything about this game is amazing. I run it on ultra settings on a geforce gtx 580 and its incredible. This game will go down as one of the best games created, period. Since i have the game through steam, i don't want to mod it so i can get the achievements. I'm not sure if there is a way to quick change weapons instead of going through the favorites menu. It would be wonderful if i could hit the "1" key and it would equip my sword and hit another for shield, etc.… Expand
  13. not_good
    Dec 12, 2011
    10
    A lot of hipsters hating on this because it's popular, you know the type. They'll say [insert band here] sucks, while they themselves can't sing a note or play an instrument to save their life. It's like saying the Beatles suck; they may not be your type of music, but to just dismiss them as crap is ignorant and petty.
  14. Cosmicmeat
    Dec 12, 2011
    9
    I would give this game a 10, but I haven't found myself interested in it as much as I was a month ago.
    But don't let my words discourage you, Skyrim is one of the best games in a long time, get when you can.
  15. Runic12
    Dec 12, 2011
    8
    A pretty solid game but I feel it was lacking somewhat when compared to Oblivion in a few respects, first of it seemed a lot less complex in regard to levelling, there were fewer skill trees with some of my favourites missing such as unarmed combat. This is probably due to Bethesda trying to market the game to a wider audience but it just feels a bit dumbed down. Otherwise the graphicsA pretty solid game but I feel it was lacking somewhat when compared to Oblivion in a few respects, first of it seemed a lot less complex in regard to levelling, there were fewer skill trees with some of my favourites missing such as unarmed combat. This is probably due to Bethesda trying to market the game to a wider audience but it just feels a bit dumbed down. Otherwise the graphics were a vast improvement and the horrible Bethesda face has finally been removed from speech. It has been made more accessible and streamlined and the world felt a lot bigger. There is a lot to do and find and the freedom is immense like every elder scrolls, I'm still eagerly awaiting the DLC.… Expand
  16. Rupture
    Dec 12, 2011
    10
    Whilst it's true the game still has quite a few bugs, for me they are isolated to quest bugs only as I haven't encountered anything else in the way of bugs and I've now played 120+ hours. These bugs at times are infuriating but for Skyrim's sake they don't detract from the experience at all and I still feel this game is definitely a 9.5-10. The sheer size of playable area, coupled with theWhilst it's true the game still has quite a few bugs, for me they are isolated to quest bugs only as I haven't encountered anything else in the way of bugs and I've now played 120+ hours. These bugs at times are infuriating but for Skyrim's sake they don't detract from the experience at all and I still feel this game is definitely a 9.5-10. The sheer size of playable area, coupled with the amount of content to do is overwhelming at times but it's just so good! At any one time, your log is likely to have 20-30+ quests. Sheer quantity does not always translate to quality but Skyrim never transcends into the mundane thankfully. With a slew of quest bug fixes due sometime in the next month, this game is only going to get better with age, oh and as for the graphics...stunning, it's actually mindboggling how good everything can look whilst still rendering smoothly on such sheer scale. If you don't have this game and enjoy RPG's, you really shouldn't be on here, you should be playing the game!… Expand
  17. OliverGrau
    Dec 12, 2011
    7
    This is my 3rd rewiev, and I started at the score 0. I've been playing for about 25 hours now.

    Positive: graphics is great, even on my HP laptop. Gameplay is fun and addictive. Big world, with a lot of quests. Great cities, compared to Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc. Almost unending gameplay. The world feels a live with all these critters running around. Negative: Dialogues is weak, you can    This is my 3rd rewiev, and I started at the score 0. I've been playing for about 25 hours now.

    Positive: graphics is great, even on my HP laptop. Gameplay is fun and addictive. Big world, with a lot of quests. Great cities, compared to Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc. Almost unending gameplay. The world feels a live with all these critters running around. Negative: Dialogues is weak, you can ALMOST say everything to some guy, and it still has same effect. Bugs is really bad, I am reinstalling Skyrim right now, because I can't fast travel, dragons is flying the wrong way which causes big laggs, a lot of quests is just really boring(there is some good ones too, don't get it the wrong way) and dragons are sometimes invincble.

    I think the game is pretty good, but it could get A LOT better. I would reccomend it to everyone, because we all need to make an effort, to safe the lands of Skyrim!    … Expand
  18. ApfelGanja
    Dec 12, 2011
    8
    Skyrim is a great game, with a massive world, hundreds of side quests, and enough gameplay to keep you in front of your rig for a couple hundred hours at least! But I can't give this game a 10 or even a 9 due to the technical issues. The game is filled with bugs to the brim (and the occasional crash, although rare) and although Bethesda have promised us a patch, i haven't seen any patches.Skyrim is a great game, with a massive world, hundreds of side quests, and enough gameplay to keep you in front of your rig for a couple hundred hours at least! But I can't give this game a 10 or even a 9 due to the technical issues. The game is filled with bugs to the brim (and the occasional crash, although rare) and although Bethesda have promised us a patch, i haven't seen any patches. The menu is a console port, even an idiot can see that, and the gameplay does have some glitches and combat does get repetitive sometimes. But overall, I'm really enjoying this! I'm only level 27, but I've been to every town or city there is, and there's always plenty to do!… Expand
  19. Levethian
    Dec 12, 2011
    10
    Opinion after 250+ hours. Bethesda's pursuit of freedom is admirable, and this is the best world created to date; but it naturally comes at the cost of a cohesive narrative. If you want great story & characters, better to play a more traditional RPG. Or better still, read a book. 60,000 lines of dialogue in Skyrim, but still not enough :). If you're about to play this for the first time,Opinion after 250+ hours. Bethesda's pursuit of freedom is admirable, and this is the best world created to date; but it naturally comes at the cost of a cohesive narrative. If you want great story & characters, better to play a more traditional RPG. Or better still, read a book. 60,000 lines of dialogue in Skyrim, but still not enough :). If you're about to play this for the first time, make sure you check the 'Skyrim Nexus' and browse it's 2700+ mods (amended UI, better textures), and I suggest a mod that stops NPC's from clamoring to spout their life-story (no NPC greetings).… Expand
  20. Supreme
    Dec 11, 2011
    10
    This game is....
    And i have spent countless hours contemplating if this is true.
    Also as a "hardcore"gamer some might say, i have played basically most games that were average to outstanding in the last 10 years but i can definitely say now after all this time in my humble opinion.

    The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - IS..THE BEST.. GAME I HAVE EVER PLAYED.
  21. silversun
    Dec 11, 2011
    10
    THE best game out there right now- possibly ever made. For how much playing time you get it is well worth the price and whatever bugs are happening. Truth is- bugs will get fixed, and mods and patches will be made. It's only going to get better. So you better jump on the skyrim train to tamriel because this game is great for everyone. If you hate fighting badass creatures and adventuringTHE best game out there right now- possibly ever made. For how much playing time you get it is well worth the price and whatever bugs are happening. Truth is- bugs will get fixed, and mods and patches will be made. It's only going to get better. So you better jump on the skyrim train to tamriel because this game is great for everyone. If you hate fighting badass creatures and adventuring for treasure, you can sit in Whiterun and smith to level 40 :)… Expand
  22. DV8ER
    Dec 11, 2011
    10
    Overall this game is amazing. It's so fantastically well done that it's a game I can't get away from. I'm completely addicted and I love it! Way to go Bethesda!
  23. garyfisher
    Dec 11, 2011
    10
    Skryim is an amazing RPG with only a few minor problems. Like most Elder scrolls games, the biggest feature is the the massive open world. After a short 10 to 15 minute tutorial, you are free to travel to any part of the world and completely ignore the main story line which lets you easily get engrossed in just exploring. Skyrims impressive visuals just add to this world and make it thatSkryim is an amazing RPG with only a few minor problems. Like most Elder scrolls games, the biggest feature is the the massive open world. After a short 10 to 15 minute tutorial, you are free to travel to any part of the world and completely ignore the main story line which lets you easily get engrossed in just exploring. Skyrims impressive visuals just add to this world and make it that much more engrossing There are over a hundred dungeons and each dungeon is vastly different and enjoyable after clearing around 20 of them myself. The basic leveling system is easy and enjoyable to handle. Level any of the 18 skills you have 10 times and you level. You then raise your magic level, health level, or stamina. Then you pick a perk for one of the 18 skills. Each skill has an average of 6 to 7 perks arranged in a tree, some of which requiring a certain level or other perks taken. For example in order to build some dwarven armor, you will need your smithing at a certain level, and have the steel smithing perk unlocked. Nearly all skills are useful, and making a "bad" build is difficult. Only by actively attempting to build a bad character will give you trouble, such as taking many archery perks when you never actually use archery. I have yet to look online for a build guide, afraid I was going to have to rebuild my character due to poor choices. This is a nice refreshing break from most other RPG's with many classes unable to beat the game. The difficulty of the enemies is varied, yet challenging. There is a difficulty bar that can be adjusted, but for the most part you won't have to. The story is as deep as you want to make it. You can play the main story line and enjoy what the game has to offer, or meticulously comb your way through hundreds of side quest and books in the game and find all there is to know about Skyrim. Like I said though, there are some minor problems. One problem is shop owners have their own money to buy items you are selling. While its a nice feature to add a certain level of realism and prevents the player from hording and selling literally everything they find, that amount of money can be difficult to work with. This really isn't a huge problem, but can result in you lugging a few extra items around just because no shop owners have the money to buy it yet. Overall I highly recommend this game, even at the current price tag of $60. You will easily get 60+ hours of entertainment and not even be close to finishing. I am 30 hours in and have dozens of areas to explore, dungeons to clear, and dragons to kill.… Expand
  24. TruthfulReview
    Dec 11, 2011
    9
    Firstly, I'm not going to lie and say this is the best game of all time, because it isn't. However, it is a bloody good one with its outstanding graphics and phenominal storyline. However it does have some of its issues like any other game.

    I first was encouraged by friends to buy this game, even though I was some-what against the game by it's previous game which I have not been a massive    Firstly, I'm not going to lie and say this is the best game of all time, because it isn't. However, it is a bloody good one with its outstanding graphics and phenominal storyline. However it does have some of its issues like any other game.

    I first was encouraged by friends to buy this game, even though I was some-what against the game by it's previous game which I have not been a massive fan of. However, I have to say that me buying this game was one of the best decisions I have made in quite a while. This game kept me entertained for a very long time and its phenominally high graphics just fuelled my lust for this game.

    The game has some of the most advanced graphics I have seen throughout my 7 years of gaming experience, from its small scale detail to the massive mountains in the background, which is not just a picture but an actual place you can go without it changing detail ( If you get what I mean ). The fighting, whether it be from the melee or magic side is simply magical. The detail, the sound, the movement, the characters, all add a realness to it and thus, I shall be playing this game for a very long time revealing all of its advantages and secrets there is to offer...but even then I would only dent but a fraction of what this game has to offer.

    You can choose different races, genders and types of characters with a wide range of choice, which is what I value in the game...choice. As you play through the game, every single decision you make will affect the game; by slaughtering a village to deciding which way you wish to go, it will have an impact on your gameplay, which therefore makes this game impossible to finish.

    On the other hand, with this game you have to be careful what you do, like if you kill a woman 'Hildy' for example, in the first village you encounter she will not respawn...she is dead for good ( to my knowledge ). However, some may argue that this is to add realism and many value this as a good aspect of gaming.

    Furthermore, the range of enemies you encounter is far more than the decisions you make! From giant spiders to enemies of all races, you can slay almost anyone - even your allies!

    To tell you the truth, this game is almost faultless and you gain a real achievement from completing the game which takes you hours, if not weeks to complete. Unlike other games, you are guaranteed what you pay for with this game. A very enjoyable experience indeed.    … Expand
  25. compu4
    Dec 11, 2011
    6
    This game is quite fun, but I don't know how all of the professional reviewers gave it such high scores. They must have been using their Elder Scrolls Beer Goggles. The main problem with this game is its lack of polish: there are many flaws that are simply inexcusable in an AAA title.

    Pros: Great Story, characters, and lore. Very immersive atmosphere. Vast world with virtually unlimited    This game is quite fun, but I don't know how all of the professional reviewers gave it such high scores. They must have been using their Elder Scrolls Beer Goggles. The main problem with this game is its lack of polish: there are many flaws that are simply inexcusable in an AAA title.

    Pros: Great Story, characters, and lore. Very immersive atmosphere. Vast world with virtually unlimited freedom to explore. Great deal of character customization options. Many quests are fun and interesting. A huge variety of weapons, armor, and magic to choose from. Many minigames and extras to supplement the combat.

    Cons: The game is basically Oblivion 1.5 with a new story; it fails to deviate from its predecessor in any real, innovative ways. Some of the quests are even ripped straight out of the old game. HORRIBLE, BROKEN AI: AI like this is inexcusable given the caliber of the game. Huge, unpredictable difficulty spikes. The new conversation system is horrible: the game often locks me in conversation while the NPC continues to walk away from me, so I'm stuck talking to his or her ass the whole time. Very limited dialogue options. Riddled with bugs and glitches that should have been resolved during playtesting. Bad graphics: the game barely looks better than Oblivion. Bad textures across the board, very basic lighting model. WORST SHADOWS that I have seen in any recent release. Direct X 9 ONLY; they really should include a DX 10 or 11 renderer in this day and age. The ULTRA preset doesn't even max the graphics, you must make sure to enable all of the highest quality settings manually. Even then, the game looks terrible.    … Expand
  26. richarmadrid
    Dec 11, 2011
    0
    This game don't deserve a 0, but not even a 10. The score must be a 7 so my 0 goes to lower it's score to where it must be if it wasn't for all the hype, fanboys and mindless reviewers.
    What can you find in Skyrim? Ok, it's a better game that oblivion but that's not too much considering oblivion was an absolutely piece of **** Anyway you can find the same crappy combat system (that is, a    This game don't deserve a 0, but not even a 10. The score must be a 7 so my 0 goes to lower it's score to where it must be if it wasn't for all the hype, fanboys and mindless reviewers.
    What can you find in Skyrim? Ok, it's a better game that oblivion but that's not too much considering oblivion was an absolutely piece of **** Anyway you can find the same crappy combat system (that is, a broken combat system where you can only smash your button waiting for some final movement to appear)
    You can find too the same linear quest as always, when someone says in a review that you have total freedom and that **** they don't tell you that no, you don't have any freedom to make quests. You have freedom to explore, freedom to make the quest at anytime but when you choose to make a quest it must be done in one way (lucky if you have two ways to do one quest). I would prefect to have 100 quest instead of 500 if that 1000 quest had diferent ways to solve them.
    You can find boring NPC too. Npc without any personality that seem more like a quest container than a real character.
    You can find a console menu too. Yes, a console menu in a PC game, with all the funny things of useless navigation and frustating mouse movement.
    You can find a total cliche of story where you are a chosen one because bla, bla, and bla. "chosen one of many" like the bard's tale song says.
    You can find shadows too. No, wait, you can't. Graphics are a joke. I don't care too much graphics in this kind of game but it is funny to read the suposed "good graphisc" of this game where you can light a torch that don't make any shadows or the general shadow of your character seems like a mess of pixels. Not good graphic for the system requirement it needs.
    In one word, it not a bad game, if you liked oblivion this will be the best game ever. But of course, this is not the GOTY.    … Expand
  27. Aemony
    Dec 10, 2011
    9
    Skyrim is almost everything you'd want in an open free-roaming world. There really isn't a correct way of playing the game and it's up to the player in how he want to approach the game. Do you want to be like a Demigod were every enemy encounter is a breeze? Or do you want them all to be challenging? There are a lot of ways of playing this game, and I'd wager for the most fun the playerSkyrim is almost everything you'd want in an open free-roaming world. There really isn't a correct way of playing the game and it's up to the player in how he want to approach the game. Do you want to be like a Demigod were every enemy encounter is a breeze? Or do you want them all to be challenging? There are a lot of ways of playing this game, and I'd wager for the most fun the player shouldn't be afraid to vary his gameplay style. Imposing your own artificial limitations can go a long way of making the game more enjoyable, such as don't use Fast Travel, don't use the Compass to navigate, don't focus solely on maxing out Enchanting or Smithing first, et cetera.

    That said, the game is a masterpiece were the sum of its part far outweigh the parts itself, which shows. The voice acting is the best in the series so far, but it doesn't really say much. Voices are still repeated on a regular basis, which some might feel breaks the immersion. The main quest feels empty and boring, as does most of the quests of the guilds. Overall, the feeling of being "special" and treated as such is too obvious. Regardless of what line of quests you want to do, you'll pretty much end up being labeled as SPECIAL early on, and an early non-worthy prize awaits you after a few simple quests. Gone is the struggle of advancing through the ranks of a Guild in order to succeed.

    Discussing were the elements of the game fails can take all day as Skyrim contains a lot of very different elements, which all feels lacking in one way or another. Yet this doesn't stop the game from feeling like a masterpiece. It's fun, it's immersive, it allows players to customize their gaming experience and offers an extremely high level of freedom. The attention to detail in the world is amazing, and it's a wonderful experience just exploring the world in your own pace. Is Skyrim a GOTY of 2011? Yes, I truly think so. Though is it a 10/10? No, while it's great, it isn't perfect. There's A LOT of faults in the game, though while frustrating or disruptive at times, these doesn't stop you from enjoying the rest of the game.    … Expand
  28. Siegfriedm
    Dec 9, 2011
    9
    Bethesda, as always, make a great game with many bugs. It's so strange that a game with so many bugs is also so great! Honestly, I never had many bugs with the game, maybe I was lucky. Now with patch 1.3 things are also better.
    I suggest to everyone to make this experience! This game is infinite. You have realy many many things to do and the main story is much better than that of    Bethesda, as always, make a great game with many bugs. It's so strange that a game with so many bugs is also so great! Honestly, I never had many bugs with the game, maybe I was lucky. Now with patch 1.3 things are also better.
    I suggest to everyone to make this experience! This game is infinite. You have realy many many things to do and the main story is much better than that of Oblivion.
    After the disappointment of Dragon Age 2, I was feared that also this could disappoint me, but I was happily wrong :) Buy it!    … Expand
  29. Digitalkid
    Dec 9, 2011
    10
    Really surprised with all that whining. Shame that some people have glitches, but I'm more then 120 hours in game, and it works great! Sure Skyrim is my GOTY and one of the most atmospheric games since Might and Magic 6-7. Skyrim not only revives all the best traditions of true oldstyle RPGs, but although adds some beautiful stylish looks to a detailed and well written story of Tamriel.Really surprised with all that whining. Shame that some people have glitches, but I'm more then 120 hours in game, and it works great! Sure Skyrim is my GOTY and one of the most atmospheric games since Might and Magic 6-7. Skyrim not only revives all the best traditions of true oldstyle RPGs, but although adds some beautiful stylish looks to a detailed and well written story of Tamriel.

    Ah, and look at those people with 0 ratings.. they mostly have all zeroes in their reviews. It's just impossible for them to get some positive emotions. Whiners))    … Expand
  30. JonnyZ
    Dec 9, 2011
    10
    Love the Game, absolutely positively the best game I've played ever. Loved Morrowind when i came out, Loved Oblivion when it came out too. Skyrim is amazing and it can only get better. I understand people's reasons for hating the game as it does have flaws but some people are incapable of looking past any negative aspects of any game. Graphics are beautiful, although more voice actorsLove the Game, absolutely positively the best game I've played ever. Loved Morrowind when i came out, Loved Oblivion when it came out too. Skyrim is amazing and it can only get better. I understand people's reasons for hating the game as it does have flaws but some people are incapable of looking past any negative aspects of any game. Graphics are beautiful, although more voice actors would be nice. Story is Good. Not amazing but it falls in line with all the previous games. More or less. I bought it for 360 but i intend to purchase it on Steam very soon. As soon as i finish upgrading my computer. So bottom line, Game is amazing, even if you have never played any of the previous games it could easily become one of your favorite games. Obvious choice for Game of the Year on all platforms.… Expand
  31. Cell1e
    Dec 9, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I bought the game on day one and began playing. I was disappointed with the CC and the ghastly lack of choices for making any type of attractive character for this game. Eventually got a playable character and found myself in a fairly standard opening scene typical of Oblivion, captured and on my way to execution. Oblivion had me already in a cell so pretty typical beginning. Found myself not so impressed with the world and graphics, they are nice but not amazing as claimed and the world colours are too muted for my taste.
    There are many many many quests to do so I got busy. After a few days of questing and exploring and beginning to get quite fed up with the very long dungeon quests I decided to get married. Marriage is a joke. Its a cold and lacklustre union with little to recommend it as the perks of marriage were glitched and didnt work as they should have. I also felt not one bit connected or fond of the guy as he pretty soon annoyed me with his getting stuck, getting in the way, sleeping on floors and calling me 'sister' instead of wife. Oh my God if they were going to bring us some marriage couldnt they have at least have made it a little more romantic and meaningful. Blah. :(
    I got bored and fed up with the bugs and glitches before I managed to finish the main quest. I would have loved to give this game a higher score but it feels like such a half- assed effort and I feel it is not one bit an improvement on Oblivion. (I really get mad when I think of this game-grr my lists of complaints are endless)
    For people who love meaningless quests for uninteresting NPCs and huge worlds to run around in for days on end this game will be a winner. Those of us who need an intelligent and interesting storyline and an immersive world, this game will be a HUGE HUGE disappointment so wait until it goes on sale and you have many many days with nothing else to do.    … Expand
  32. Gladio77
    Dec 9, 2011
    9
    To my big dismay i have no other option than changing my previous 9 to a zero.

    I was very impressed with this game until it got a mandatory update through steam. Since then the game is unplayable. Errors and performance issues( had none of these problems) Even the update 1.3 to cancel the effects of updatge 1.2 did not work. So a shame really but a well deserved zero for a game that    To my big dismay i have no other option than changing my previous 9 to a zero.

    I was very impressed with this game until it got a mandatory update through steam. Since then the game is unplayable. Errors and performance issues( had none of these problems) Even the update 1.3 to cancel the effects of updatge 1.2 did not work. So a shame really but a well deserved zero for a game that does not work anymore.    … Expand
  33. blackslash99
    Dec 9, 2011
    9
    I wasn't into the Elder Scrolls Series much until last year (yes, last year!) when I first played Morrowind . It was a really enjoyable game for me. It was my first RPG infact. The detail, the gameplay, the characters, the story, everything were awesome except the graphics , but again you can't expect much of a graphics from a game released in 2002 compared to what we have now. I skippedI wasn't into the Elder Scrolls Series much until last year (yes, last year!) when I first played Morrowind . It was a really enjoyable game for me. It was my first RPG infact. The detail, the gameplay, the characters, the story, everything were awesome except the graphics , but again you can't expect much of a graphics from a game released in 2002 compared to what we have now. I skipped oblivion ( which I'll play soon). And then came SKYRIM!! It was refreshing for me . The awesomest game released in 2011. The graphics, the story, the details , the characters, the animals, the missions . All of them were perfect. Although there were one or two things which bothered me. The quests for each of the factions could have been a bit longer. They end too quickly. More-over I find Skyrim a bit repetitive, they could have introduced a few more new things in the gameplay. But that won't stop it from becoming my Game of the Year. I recommend this game to every RPG lover in this world!!… Expand
  34. CLUTCH
    Dec 8, 2011
    10
    I hadn't planned on getting this game as I didn't really 'click' with Fallout 3 or Oblivion (I picked GOTY versions of both up on Steam during sales), but I am really glad that I did. I love a good singleplayer RPG and so far (12hours in) this is a GREAT RPG! I mean...In what other game could you be on your way to an objective, when you see a massive dragon fly over your head and dive-bombI hadn't planned on getting this game as I didn't really 'click' with Fallout 3 or Oblivion (I picked GOTY versions of both up on Steam during sales), but I am really glad that I did. I love a good singleplayer RPG and so far (12hours in) this is a GREAT RPG! I mean...In what other game could you be on your way to an objective, when you see a massive dragon fly over your head and dive-bomb over a small hill...You get to the top of the hill and you see the dragon attacking 2 giants and their 2 pet woolly mammoths!! Then moments later, some undead skeletons are disturbed and rise up to join in! Then, after they have made quick work of the dragon, they all decide it is your turn to die..and it's all unscripted!!

    Seriously, if you are into RPG games, Bethesda have gotten it very right with this one. Some of the user created mods have also made some major graphical improvements. I can understand if this game gets GOTY, 12 hour in and I don't even feel like I have scratched the surface yet, but it has been an EPIC 12 hours so far! Highly recommended. :)    … Expand
  35. Teaser38
    Dec 8, 2011
    7
    Incremental improvement on Oblivion. I've had no game killing bugs, but a few crashes which is better than any other Bethesda game I've played. Grind, grind, grind is the name of the game. Flat main quest line that offers little in the way of re-playability. Addicting, yes. Engaging, no.
  36. davenbettridge
    Dec 8, 2011
    8
    It's great that an RPG to take itself as seriously as Skyrim has been so successful as it will ensure that we continue to receive more epic RPG in the future. Skyrim's Nordic setting is good, the vast scope and the depth of the quests and skills are also compelling. The character skills, progression and the amount of things to do in the game are fun and rewarding which does make SkyrimIt's great that an RPG to take itself as seriously as Skyrim has been so successful as it will ensure that we continue to receive more epic RPG in the future. Skyrim's Nordic setting is good, the vast scope and the depth of the quests and skills are also compelling. The character skills, progression and the amount of things to do in the game are fun and rewarding which does make Skyrim value for money and worth peoples time. Unfortunately I found the main story fairly lame and I felt disinterested in most of Skyrim's characters and skipped over most of the dialog which should not be the case in an RPG. I found myself only completing quests for rewards rather than any story purpose which is a missed opportunity. I also did not like most of the character models in Skyrim, the humanoid faces were awkward to look at. As I played Skyrim on PC I was disappointed that the UI was very console friendly at the expense of much keyboard/mouse support, which is something that is inexcusable for a game originating on the PC. Overall Skyrim is an epic game and one that has a lot of depth, its a pity that the characters and overall story of the game are not better but it is what it is. Recommended.… Expand
  37. clavain
    Dec 8, 2011
    6
    While Skyrim may have resurrected some of the spirit of Morrowwind, and in terms of graphics can be outstanding (if your system can handle them), the more time you spend with it the more bugs and repetitive content you notice. Combined with the dumbing-down that has occurred as TES continues to cater to console gamers over PC gamers (incredibly bad UI, oversimplified attribute system,While Skyrim may have resurrected some of the spirit of Morrowwind, and in terms of graphics can be outstanding (if your system can handle them), the more time you spend with it the more bugs and repetitive content you notice. Combined with the dumbing-down that has occurred as TES continues to cater to console gamers over PC gamers (incredibly bad UI, oversimplified attribute system, potions galore everywhere you go in the world) and weak attempts to bring in MMO players (crafting, cooking and houses etc.) while still retaining a form of the flawed leveling system from Oblivion, and shortened/simplified faction and other quest lines which make it irrelevant what type of character you are playing, makes it very difficult to give it a higher score. Combined with an endless series of patches (or third party mods) needed to make the game more playable (no 64-bit exe support for example) and it is clear that Bethesda really doesn't care about the PC market, or making a true RPG anymore. Style over substance sadly.… Expand
  38. Andr9492
    Dec 8, 2011
    9
    I give this game a 9 because this is a great game. Not the best. But not the worst. It has some bad things like the UI but the overall feeling was fantastic. And it was certainly nice to get a good RPG after the mess that Dragon Age 2 was.
  39. Argowal
    Dec 8, 2011
    9
    One of the best games I've played. Leveling system works great, story is solid, graphics are nice. A few bugs to work out, but highly recommended. Get this game.
  40. zvoith
    Dec 7, 2011
    10
    One of the best game I've ever played. The world is full of detail and richness and I don't want to stop playing. Although there are a few bugs and one broken quest, "Blood on the Ice," that doesn't keep me from thinking about all the positives. The ps3 users really should stop complaining about the lagging issue. Currently the ps3 version has a 6.2 rating from users. There are ways ofOne of the best game I've ever played. The world is full of detail and richness and I don't want to stop playing. Although there are a few bugs and one broken quest, "Blood on the Ice," that doesn't keep me from thinking about all the positives. The ps3 users really should stop complaining about the lagging issue. Currently the ps3 version has a 6.2 rating from users. There are ways of avoiding the lagging issue on the ps3, so stop complaining already.… Expand
  41. Knobaroo
    Dec 7, 2011
    8
    I would be traversing the wilds of Skyrim right now, however I took an arrow in the knee so must sit and write about what I have learned.
    First off, This game is in no way deserving of a 10! So many bugs. (long list, you can look they up as you come across them..... yeah you are not the first to have that happen) some you can work around, some that make you just drop a certain quest line.    I would be traversing the wilds of Skyrim right now, however I took an arrow in the knee so must sit and write about what I have learned.
    First off, This game is in no way deserving of a 10! So many bugs. (long list, you can look they up as you come across them..... yeah you are not the first to have that happen) some you can work around, some that make you just drop a certain quest line. (Saarthal the 6 pillarstones simply wont work for me..... cannot go any further. No workaround that I can find, previous saves don't clear up the issue)
    Do I expect it to be bug free? Would not dream of it. As a matter of fact, because it it a Bethesda game, I expect it, and would for some strange reason give it absolution from the rules of ratings. The price of this absolution is the highest score a gold Bethesda release can ever get is a 9. You know it needs patched even before you install it.

    Sights and sounds are amazing. This is the ultimate "Whats over the next hill" game. Graphics and textures seem to be held back to accommodate our uhh...... not quite up to speed, distant relatives on the console side of the family, but work nicely and set me into a fine state of immersion. So just a small hit here. (took me 2 hours to get sound to work, Bethesda logo war drums nothing. Was playing with headphones. Updated all drivers ya-da, ya-da, ya-da.... set audio from headphones to surround sound and fixed!)

    Lets talk Gravity for a moment. Although this game feels less "floaty" then last efforts, this bugs me more then all other Bethesda traits. Sneak your way through a cave and walk over a skull. It flies across the room like you kicked it with all your might.
    All this vertical terrine and I can just run down most steep cliffs without any fear of falling to my death. About the only time gravity kicks in is when I'm running up hill and get caught on a 6 inch lip in the hillside. I guess all those $$$$$ make them float around the office, and they perceive gravity a little different.
    That's my biggest pet peeve against Bethesda games. Big minus in the score column.

    All and all, at the end of the day I have a lot of fun, and would say that there are lots of adventures awaiting. 30 some hours into it, and I feel like I have just nicked the surface. Weighing good vs bad with this game is unlike most games ratings. It's more like your personal tolerance meter then a score. Some company's put out a 6 hour game today for the same price. I feel that I will not find most of the bugs before they are fixed, and I'll be playing this game for a long while. So I give the game an 8.5. This is the sum of the overall value to me. It is a lot of entertainment for the money, and the good outshines its unsightly blemishes.    … Expand
  42. Blueburn
    Dec 7, 2011
    10
    Unmissable on any gamer's shelf. Stunning graphics and nearly infinite quests. Apart from the buggy release the game is sheerly enjoyable. Also recommended is the collectors edition for the real gamers. Buy it today rather than tomorrow!
  43. ThePredatoR
    Dec 7, 2011
    10
    One of the best role-playing game ever. The system of leveling your character just amazing. I cant playing Morrowind because there is a horrible combat system. Magic in Oblivion was bad. Bethesda fixed those problems and released the game with perfect gameplay.
  44. Spartan111
    Dec 7, 2011
    6
    This was my and i am sure a whole lot of other people's most anticipated game of the year and while the game improves on some parts it gets worse in other areas compared to oblivion or simply stays the same and for people playing an elder scrolls game the first time you might give the game a 10 but otherwise it feels dumbed down in many ways. I am first going to start with what has beenThis was my and i am sure a whole lot of other people's most anticipated game of the year and while the game improves on some parts it gets worse in other areas compared to oblivion or simply stays the same and for people playing an elder scrolls game the first time you might give the game a 10 but otherwise it feels dumbed down in many ways. I am first going to start with what has been done right which is the following: The world is once again huge with lots of areas to explore, the insides of dungeons and caves are more distinctive compared to oblivion, the graphics are a decent improvement for a game of this size(although i am only placing this as a pro because there are mods that make it better), the customization has been improved (although not greatly so for a game that has come out 5 years later after it's predecessor), there is an actual variety in vegetation zones compared to oblivion, the NPC's are more realistic and believable, the sound effects and music are very good, one of the greater improvements is the greater variety of combat options(Dual sword wielding, one arm magic one arm sword etc.), the dragon shouts are cool and add more combat tactics to the game, the level scaling has been improved, there are once again many quests and the game CAN provide hours and hours of entertainment, the skill tree and perk system is a nice touch. Now for the cons which unfortunately are many: The game implements very little battle tactics and does not require much technique or skill this is disappointing especially after playing a game such as Dark/Demon's souls, The game's quests are very repetitive(Steal this item, kill this guy/creature, clear this place out, retrieve this item, help this guy out, deliver or collect this/these items... yes and that's about it) and they don't have the same charm or excitement as oblivion did, there is less of a variety in enemies, there is slightly more voices in the game although the variety is simply not good enough of an improvement for five years later especially the female voices, the game is simply not rewarding (Most of the items found at the end of caves and ruins are rubbish as one can simply enchant far better items), the game has a lot of useless skills and activities (Alchemy and Smithing are a waste of time and are only used to level up, nothing good can be made from smithing, Alteration/ Illusion magic are useless as the only good spells that fall under these categories from oblivion have been taken away e.g. Paralysis, Invisibility (Unless i have not attained them yet which is unlikely as I have played 85 hours and have nearly clocked the game)), there is a disappointing variety of spells that can be bought and there are still only three categories for destruction spells (that being fire, electricity and ice) and there are no cool spells that have been added the current spells have simply been improved from oblivion, the leveling up has been dumbed down to three attributes (being health stamina and magic) no longer allowing greater specialization as oblivion had, leveling up in certain skills has no effect and simply unlocks perks of that specific skill, the story is simplistic, unepic, short and in the beginning a bit vague, other main quests are also very short and have not been improved from oblivion and in some cases are worse, gold is the reward mostly for completing quests although gold cannot be used for much at all (if you explore a lot) and is only used in the beginning of the game, Dragons and dragon encounters are cool in the beginning but become tedious/ boring and become pests a lot of the time as they are encountered too frequently, the game offers many shout powers but few are truly useful and effective(quality over quantity), while the level scaling has been fixed there are still problems as once one has unlocked all the perks for one's chosen speciality (one-hand, destruction etc.) one can become weaker as the the game allows only an improvement over health, stamina, magic (not magic strength or melee strength etc.)although this is not that prevalent, there is fewer variety in the creatures that one can summon(Only 4 as far as I know), 90% of what this game has to offer can be experienced and seen in the first 20 hours. Overall this game does not expand and improve enough and was over-hyped and the game is a disappointment in my opinion. I also want to say that the fact that the ps3 version does not work properly is inexcusable!. Not GOTY. 6.5/10.… Expand
  45. duckypwns
    Dec 7, 2011
    0
    I think Skyrim is terrible in all honesty. The main quest is just filler material. All you do is slowly traverse from A to B, only to be told that you need to walk to C. When walking, 90% of the time there is nothing to do, and nothing to fight.

    When you finally do get to fight, there is absolutely no depth to the combat system whatsoever. If you have a melee character, the only logical    I think Skyrim is terrible in all honesty. The main quest is just filler material. All you do is slowly traverse from A to B, only to be told that you need to walk to C. When walking, 90% of the time there is nothing to do, and nothing to fight.

    When you finally do get to fight, there is absolutely no depth to the combat system whatsoever. If you have a melee character, the only logical thing to do is use your strongest attack until you run out of stamina. The only reason you would ever use your weak attack is because you don't have enough stamina to use your strong attack. Would you rather give the enemy a nice little friendly love tap, or would you rather try to kill them? Playing as any kind of mage is equally as repetitive and bland. You just do the same thing over and over again on every single enemy. Switching from fire and ice to attack fire / ice enemies appropriately is not depth. The difference between shooting red and blue from your hand is superficial. You're still just doing the same old boring thing over and over again. Sure, you can be an archer, or some other type of mage, but you're still just doing the same thing over and over no matter how you look at it.

    The enemy variety is mostly humanoid based opponents, such as draugrs, skeletons, and bandits. Yeah, there are things like Dwarven spiders, where - They really change it up on this one, get ready! - You have to LOOK DOWN to attack them! So deep, right?! Wrong. Yeah there are more enemies than this obviously, but regardless, you generally fight them in the same ways no matter what.

    The perks are mostly passive, for example, "add 20% attack power". That's not fun. A good example of a perk would be something that adds a whole new gameplay mechanic, like the "silent roll", and "hawk eye" (where you can zoom in with your bow). I'm not citing them as perfect perks necessarily, and sure, there can be a FEW passive ones, I'm just saying these perks were some of the only ones to have the general right idea of what a good perk should do.

    The areas are aesthetically appealing to some. I'm not saying the game looks bad or anything, but just that that's not what impresses me. There are only about 3 different area types in this game, the dwarven areas, caves, and crypts. There may be more that I can't think of at this moment, but once you've seen all the dungeon formats, you've seen every dungeon in the game. Everything after that will just be that same old thing rehashed once again.

    So to sum it up, there is no variety with character customization, the areas have no variety, the enemies have no variety, and this game honestly has what I would consider one of the most superficial combat systems to ever exist in a game. Top this off with countless glitches, terrible patches, a lot of grinding, and pointless difficulty levels that only make the game superficially harder (giving an enemy more HP doesn't mean it's harder).

    I'm not saying the game is total garbage, but the scores that this game is getting in spite of all of these problems is just absolutely ridiculous. I don't see how so many people are claiming that this is the game of the year.    … Expand
  46. TheTacoShack
    Dec 6, 2011
    10
    This game is fantastic and a great addition to the elder scrolls series. Dungeons are far more diverse and the environment is beautiful................
  47. Slothhead
    Dec 6, 2011
    4
    I scored Skyrim based on what it delivered. While skyrim could have been great, I fear that many of the high scores here are from die hard fans looking at the ooh ahh factor. Because Skyrim deals in the open world we are pleased to see sprawling vistas. But when broken down into its parts, Skyrim is nothing special. I am not rating skyrim on what could have been or what may be in monthsI scored Skyrim based on what it delivered. While skyrim could have been great, I fear that many of the high scores here are from die hard fans looking at the ooh ahh factor. Because Skyrim deals in the open world we are pleased to see sprawling vistas. But when broken down into its parts, Skyrim is nothing special. I am not rating skyrim on what could have been or what may be in months after patching, i am rating it on what i was delivered. Graphics The graphics are better than that of oblivion, but in current gaming, they are certainly nothing special. They are nice when they work. There are numerous issues regarding graphical problems, and this really brings the score down. Where it could have been an 8/10, what i received are overall graphics of a 4/10. Story line The quests, including the main quest are really quite shallow in terms of their story. There is nothing remarkable about them at all. In fact i found the speed at which i was able to join and become the head of each guild rather pathetically short; everyone seems to trust you very quickly, no need to really prove yourself, just collect this or that and within 4 specific quests you are the head of the guild. Secondly, many of the side quests or miscellaneous quests are completely vacant of thought, Ã¢â… Expand
  48. Pwnznewbz
    Dec 6, 2011
    9
    Yes, go buy it. Yes, play it for hours and hours. Yes, it will be game of the year.

    This game plays very much like Fallout, except in a fantasy setting. The world is very open and you can spend a lot of time just exploring the game. The story is pretty amazing as well and is one of the better rpgs I have played in awhile. You can choose to level your class, in a familiar way if you played    Yes, go buy it. Yes, play it for hours and hours. Yes, it will be game of the year.

    This game plays very much like Fallout, except in a fantasy setting. The world is very open and you can spend a lot of time just exploring the game. The story is pretty amazing as well and is one of the better rpgs I have played in awhile. You can choose to level your class, in a familiar way if you played Fallout, where you choose perks to level skills that you gain while playing. I've beaten the game, gotten 98% of the achievements (1 quest was bugged for the final achievement, so waiting on the patch) and still could play this for weeks more or a few more run throughs. I plan on replaying as a mage next time around ;) Definitely a buy, even at full price and, again, this will be the game of the year.    … Expand
  49. svush
    Dec 6, 2011
    10
    its awesome. rich, huge and fun. the best elder scrolls so far. over 300 hours of game play. the best rpg game ever made. and on the top 3 of the best games ever made. in my opinion. buy it!!
  50. Bitter_Boy
    Dec 6, 2011
    7
    It's a nice upgrade to Oblivion, but it's not groundbreaking. If you liked Oblivion you'll like this. It's immersive and pretty and the voice acting is well done. It's been entertaining me for about 2 hours every night ever since I got it a few weeks ago. There is so much to do and I feel like I'm barely making a dent into the content, and I know the modding community will add a ton ofIt's a nice upgrade to Oblivion, but it's not groundbreaking. If you liked Oblivion you'll like this. It's immersive and pretty and the voice acting is well done. It's been entertaining me for about 2 hours every night ever since I got it a few weeks ago. There is so much to do and I feel like I'm barely making a dent into the content, and I know the modding community will add a ton of replay value in the coming months. So why is it only a 7? Subtract 1 point for being unoriginal in many ways. Same guilds, same dungeons, same enemies, same boring inhabitants as Oblivion. Oh, and the same bug ridden engine, which brings us to the next problem. Subtract another point for the myriad of annoyances. NPCs chit-chat with you incessisantly, repeating useless dialogue over and over. Followers don't level correctly and become useless after a few level ups. Player mages are UP while player warriors are OP. Dragon spam ruins immersion. The list goes on. And finally, subtract another point for the serious bugs - broken quests, #rimlag on the PS3, and releasing patch 1.2 which broke more than it fixed. Please publishers, stop, stop, stop shipping beta versions of games. I know a lot of reviewers dropped the ball in properly reporting these bugs, but the game publisher is still ultimately responsible.… Expand
  51. AeroAtlas
    Dec 6, 2011
    9
    A solid FPS RPG with a ton of exploration with alot of unique creatures and hilarious Bethesda bugs to keep you interested. Also alot of lore if your into that kinda stuff :) 9/10
  52. o_oli
    Dec 6, 2011
    10
    Simply one of the best games ever made. It has many quirks and bugs, but the same can be said for all previous elder scrolls games, and it's part of their charm. There are some more serious bugs that do need patching soon, however the community has created mods and workarounds for the most part, which is again another reason why this series is so great (and why you should get it on PC!).Simply one of the best games ever made. It has many quirks and bugs, but the same can be said for all previous elder scrolls games, and it's part of their charm. There are some more serious bugs that do need patching soon, however the community has created mods and workarounds for the most part, which is again another reason why this series is so great (and why you should get it on PC!). With the official mod tools coming in January and some DLC no doubt on the horizon, this game is set to be entertaining for hundreds of hours.… Expand
  53. darkcerb
    Dec 5, 2011
    10
    66 hours played and there's still a mind boggling amount to do, this game has content, graphics and sound all AAA standard. If you like rpg's this is your game. Bethesda has created a huge open world chock full of quests and dungeons to explore populated with npc's that go about there daily lives reacting to the players achievements in game. I really can't recommend skyrim enough, run66 hours played and there's still a mind boggling amount to do, this game has content, graphics and sound all AAA standard. If you like rpg's this is your game. Bethesda has created a huge open world chock full of quests and dungeons to explore populated with npc's that go about there daily lives reacting to the players achievements in game. I really can't recommend skyrim enough, run don't walk to your nearest game shop or steam and buy this game.… Expand
  54. BladeFlare
    Dec 5, 2011
    9
    This game is awesome, i love it and all it has to offer. But there is a special reason why i put 9. just for the little things. sometimes i leave my horse behind at a field so i can go kill a nearby dragon and keep the horse safe. when i come back the horse is dead by arrows. why? i don't know. he is just dead and if i reload the game from before he died i then have to go kill the dragonThis game is awesome, i love it and all it has to offer. But there is a special reason why i put 9. just for the little things. sometimes i leave my horse behind at a field so i can go kill a nearby dragon and keep the horse safe. when i come back the horse is dead by arrows. why? i don't know. he is just dead and if i reload the game from before he died i then have to go kill the dragon again, just to find the horse dead again. horses aren't cheap. i do have a couple of bugs here and there. and vampirism i find just wonderful. Everybody wants to kill you! but the game has way more ups then downs. great battling system, fun dungeons, lots of cool side quests, massive map to explore, great storyline, tons of great features like magic, making weapons, stealing, and more, the game doesn't have to be hard or easy, and best of all, a great feeling of adventure while playing. if a game gets ten, that means it is 100% flawless. not true about pretty much any game but this game is surely a favorite of mine. and whenever i see a comment about how this game is bad and it actually tries to make sense, i find that almost nothing they say is true or really matters in how lowly they scored it.… Expand
  55. Highlanderonly1
    Dec 5, 2011
    10
    I usually have my priorities in line and do not get addicted to games like this, but my upcoming finals might have to take a backseat to all of this awesome.
  56. InfinityFeed
    Dec 5, 2011
    9
    This game is amazing, if you are even remotely interested in RPG's then you should give this game a try. Be aware that you will lose your friends, your job, your girlfriend and not even realise that it has been a week, and your mum has been force-feeding you soup while you have been passed out at your keyboard for a few hours.

    Full review at    This game is amazing, if you are even remotely interested in RPG's then you should give this game a try. Be aware that you will lose your friends, your job, your girlfriend and not even realise that it has been a week, and your mum has been force-feeding you soup while you have been passed out at your keyboard for a few hours.

    Full review at http://infinityfeed.blogspot.com/2011/11/elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-review.html    … Expand
  57. silmaril464
    Dec 5, 2011
    10
    100 hours in game and no bugs encountered, this game is a masterwork, is the best game of the year ;)
    bethesda ha hecho un gran trabajo con este juego, una verdadera obra maestra, espero que gane todos los malditos premios habidos y por haber xD Larga vida a SKYRIM!
  58. Numureon
    Dec 5, 2011
    10
    If I hard to summarize my experience in Skyrim with one word, I wouldn't be able to because I'm still agape and drooling over just the sheer beauty and excellence of the game to the point where I'm foaming at the mouth. While that description is superfluous it's not too far from the truth, I sincerely believe this game is game of the year material, and deserves every positive review onIf I hard to summarize my experience in Skyrim with one word, I wouldn't be able to because I'm still agape and drooling over just the sheer beauty and excellence of the game to the point where I'm foaming at the mouth. While that description is superfluous it's not too far from the truth, I sincerely believe this game is game of the year material, and deserves every positive review on this aggregate website. However it's very depressing to see the score suffer from irrelevant and irresponsible 0's granted because people killed chickens and never returned, or they hate how the hair looks hairsprayed to them. But at the end of the day, I'm very pleased that this game got to where it is today, because to me it's not just another game, it's a second world. The character AI is surprisingly solid, a huge leap from the cardboard box of Oblivion, aside from the common person walking up to you mid-conversation, yelling about their knee. The combat lacks at times, but the finishing moves, the dual casting, and dual wielding add a splendid flourish that still keeps the game otherwise fresh. The content is so grand and generous that after a few hours of playing I felt myself sitting on a mountain of goodies and treasures that would make a rich man feel full. However I could still see on the proverbial horizon a plethora of content still to be explored and gathered. Grapically, this goes without saying, is absolutely superb. I stared at a running stream for 10 minutes in awe, before turning around and losing my mind over a mountain side. The game is worthy of every solid review and award it receives. What it doesn't deserve is the army of irresponsible nay-sayers who built it up so high that it could never live up to their expectations, and ultimately didn't.… Expand
  59. numbody
    Dec 4, 2011
    6
    This is abridged. You can see the whole thing at http://resthard.blogspot.com before passing judgment here.

    Bad Things Armor/Apparel (some skill development stuff too) Morrowind was great in this department, the way players could stack various pieces of unique armor (Left Gauntlet, Right Gauntlet, Left Pauldron, Right Pauldron, Cuirass, et-cetera) on top of clothing and stuff, enchanting    This is abridged. You can see the whole thing at http://resthard.blogspot.com before passing judgment here.

    Bad Things

    Armor/Apparel (some skill development stuff too)
    Morrowind was great in this department, the way players could stack various pieces of unique armor (Left Gauntlet, Right Gauntlet, Left Pauldron, Right Pauldron, Cuirass, et-cetera) on top of clothing and stuff, enchanting each piece of apparel with enchantments to boost stats in myriad ways. Of all the things to streamline (to put it nicely), why this? I mean, Skyrim left a lot of crap in the game that really didn't need to be in it, so who's the guy who was ultimately in charge of determining where the line would be drawn in terms of content? It's okay to implement a bunch of amateurish combat finishing animations that add absolutely nothing to the game, but when it comes to apparel customization, four main pieces of armor's the limit. And one ring, players can only equip one ring at a time. Where's the sense in that? Give me the option to at least equip two rings without having to find or make a mod!
    Say what you will about balancing the gameplay mechanics and player stats, this has nothing to do with it; otherwise, Bethesda would've spent more time fleshing out how skills are developed. The player can become, for example, a master-level blacksmith by making hundreds of leather bracers over and over again. Bethesda could have at least added milestones in skill development --you know, maybe a player would have to craft some specific armor set before he/she's able to move on to a higher skill level. But no, leveling skills, if that's something you're focusing on, has the potential to feel like a simple grind. And on this note, since when can mortals craft Daedric armor and weapons? Also, the fact that the components needed to craft more complex pieces of armor and weapons is so frighteningly simplified leaves me feeling unsettled. I find it hard to believe that with three, 0.1 stone leather strips and five, 1 stone ebony ingots, one can craft an elaborate piece of 38 stone ebony armor.

    Combat
    Despite what Bethesda says, the only thing that's been remotely updated are the combat animations, and even those leave much to be desired (there's zero finesse when it comes to fighting in Skyrim, in terms of both look and feel). Every fight can be handled in the same way. As it is with the entire game, and when it comes to doing battle in particular, Skyrim's made it so that players don't have to think. Even fights against dragons aren't all they're cracked up to be, as all the player's got to do is wait for a dragon to land before running up to it and assaulting it with a barrage of low-brow flurries. And why bother adding V.A.T.S. style kill animations if they all end up looking awkward?
    The animations themselves lack a certain finesse, though this is something more of a personal feeling. Sure, the game takes place in Skyrim, but does everyone have to look like a barbarian when they fight, tactlessly swinging their weapons about like muck-raking savages? Adding variety to animations or, if nothing else, making the different attacks more cohesive with one another would work out better. Take a page from Dark Souls --that game's got some really nice attack animations -- excellent sense of weight, good timing, finesse -- and they all fit with one another; that is to say, I believe that my character in Dark Souls is capable of performing all of these varied moves with all of these varied weapons.

    A few other things
    Level scaling is back, and while it's a little more subtle than it was in Oblivion, it's still a huge drag. The field of view is claustrophobia-inducing; would've been nice to add an option to change that instead of needing to tweak .ini files. The seemingly blatant disregard to ensuring how different armor pieces stack with one another is unacceptable (for example, wearing a hooded robe with a mask makes my character's head disappear).
    Morrowind felt like an immersive experience. Skyrim feels like a game and nothing more. As much as I'd like to explore the beautifully realized world of Skyrim, I know that underneath the nice veneer is a rotten core. I don't understand how games like Risen and Two Worlds II get metacritic scores in the 70's while Skyrim gets a 95.

    The bottom line is this: For the $60 price tag and for all the hype surrounding it, I shouldn't have to settle. I should be wowed by Skyrim, and I'm not. I don't wanna have my hand held when I play a game, and I'm sick of being reminded about how lame my Skyrim experience is by its numerous quirks. Skyrim is a horrible ode to the direction in which the game industry is headed. Playing Skyrim makes me miss Morrowind.    … Expand
  60. davoid15
    Dec 4, 2011
    8
    While there are certainly RPG elements, I would hesitate to call this a true RPG. Not that it is a bad game by any means, but fans of Fallout 3, New Vegas, Oblivion, or Morrowind may feel they are missing depth. The quests are fun, and the combat is intuitive. Magic scales poorly, however. Overall, a very fun game, but almost brainless compared to more full bodied RPG's.
  61. NoVertigo
    Dec 4, 2011
    8
    As a true elder scroll fan, I can promise to any reader reading this review will not see a biased/unrelated/ranting review here. I was long looking forward to skyrim, after experiencing Oblivion I honestly thought Bethesda could not surpass this. After playing many hours of Skyrim I feel I can speak true to other fans, or any other gamer who seek an excellent FPRPG experience. Lets startAs a true elder scroll fan, I can promise to any reader reading this review will not see a biased/unrelated/ranting review here. I was long looking forward to skyrim, after experiencing Oblivion I honestly thought Bethesda could not surpass this. After playing many hours of Skyrim I feel I can speak true to other fans, or any other gamer who seek an excellent FPRPG experience. Lets start out visually; Skyrim I must say is stunning (if you have the power for it), even on a medium setting. What really strikes out is the atmosphere. You will see snow dust blowing, trees waving, beautiful water detail falling from cliffs and all sorts of wildlife running from and after you.. Skyrim honestly made me feel as if I was actually in the wild. The characters were mediocre, slightly better then those from oblivion with some flaws on texturing when they speak. Character creation, although very similar to oblivion, is very detailed as well, customizing everything from your nose, to the amount of dirt thats exposed on your skin. Now to gameplay; Skyrim has many different aspects to its gameplay that many gamers such as myself can pick out for a thorough review. First combat. I can definitely say that bethesda perfected combat in skyrim. No longer is it running around hacking and slashing. There are more fluid techniques one can use and it actually feels that you need to study your opponents moves. From using your shield to push them back to parrying them. Spells are excellent in which you now hold down to attack and dual wield. All in all the combat in skyrim is flawless. A huge draw back in this game is the character leveling. There are many perks one could use in this game but I feel there is alot left out. No matter if its a sword or mace, the mechanics only care if its one handed or two handed. Character strength and athletics no longer matter and any race can be a good spell caster if you devote your points to it. It feels that you can be anyone and excell in anything, which is fine, but it takes the fun out of being a character specific class. One thing I felt fell short was the GUI. The interface can be quite aggravating compared to oblivion which was much more organized. Some highlighted conversation selections will not work, the map controls are bit tedious to work with, and the inventory screen is quite bland. On to the story/quest/replay values. So far (I will not spoil anything) the story line is excellent. All the characters have a different personality, the voice acting is excellent, there are literally hundreds of quests and you will never become bored. AI town civilization is also greatly improved. Characters have better dialogue with each other and it feels like an actual simulation. To sum it all up, If you are an elder scrolls fan, Skyrim should not be an option just get it you will be satisfied. If you enjoy in depth RPG's that take on a more action style gameplay, Skyrim will satisfy you. If high replay value is what you are looking for, look no more. Skyrim, I can easily say, definitely meets expectations to a brand new Elder Scrolls title… Expand
  62. Awesomegamer7
    Dec 4, 2011
    10
    after a week of playing TES 5:Skyrim, I can say that the game is another masterpiece from Bethesda Studios like Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
    While playing the game you really get attached to the story that your doing and there are quests all over the kingdom of Skyrim to do.
    The controls are good (of course), music is perfect, combat mode has its problems but nothing you can't stand to play.    after a week of playing TES 5:Skyrim, I can say that the game is another masterpiece from Bethesda Studios like Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
    While playing the game you really get attached to the story that your doing and there are quests all over the kingdom of Skyrim to do.
    The controls are good (of course), music is perfect, combat mode has its problems but nothing you can't stand to play.
    The only problem with the game for me is that you cannot kill the guys important to the story (the guys that give you missions to do and etc...)
    But after all the game is a pretty good, if still haven't go to a store near you and buy it.    … Expand
  63. obscurus166
    Dec 4, 2011
    7
    Having clocked up around 80 hours on Skyrim now, I feel just about qualified to write a review. It is fair to say that Skyrim is a very good action RPG, but is rather too shallow to offer a truly great roleplaying experience.

    By doing away with the standard base statistics (strength, agility, personality, etc) in the name of simplification, Bethesda has actually cheapened the gamer's    Having clocked up around 80 hours on Skyrim now, I feel just about qualified to write a review. It is fair to say that Skyrim is a very good action RPG, but is rather too shallow to offer a truly great roleplaying experience.

    By doing away with the standard base statistics (strength, agility, personality, etc) in the name of simplification, Bethesda has actually cheapened the gamer's experience significantly. Fallout: New Vegas offered a great insight as to how those statistics could affect the player's choices in a game, from different dialogue options with real consequences to being able to solve certain tasks for certain NPCs. Without those differing routes to the same conversational goal, interactions with NPCs feel flat, bland and pointless.

    Of further frustration is that NPCs fail to recognise the player's achievements in the realm, though they comment freely on abilities of which they ought to know nothing. "Hands to yourself, sneak thief," a Whiterun guard might tell me, though I've never been spotted thieving in Whiterun (or anywhere near it). I am, however, a thegn of Whiterun and, despite the Jarl's promise to let all and sundry know my new rank, I am never addressed as thegn by anyone save my huscarl (who, I am sure, does it only to humour me). The addition of companions is tiresome in the sense that it adds nothing to the game, save a beast of burden. Most are pretty poor combatants and the dungeoneer will find most of his time protecting the person whom he has hired to protect him. Followers offer no unique interactions or personalised side quests and, in that respect, compare unfavourably with Fallout: New Vegas and the Mass Effect series. They feel like an entirely wasted opportunity to add some roleplay value to the game.

    There are a large number of quests to complete, ranging from the benign (advise lovers for the Temple of Mara) to the downright evil (lure priests to their death for demented gods). There are some real moral choices to be made. However, there don't tend to be particularly profound consequences for those moral choices, which is rather disappointing.

    The raidiant quest system works well as a means of getting the player to explore the whole map. While the radiant quests themselves are necessarily simplistic, that is entirely forgiveable in the circumstances. Far more frustrating are the scripted side-quests, the College of Winterhold plot being particular source of dissatisfaction at its short and shallow scope. When I arrived, I was learning to cast ward spells. Three hours later, I was the Archmage, thanks to an infuriatingly simplistic deus ex machina plot device, and without being a noticeably better spellcaster. Morrowind required me to do tasks for various mages and to master several magical disciplines. Winterhold obviously sets a lower premium on actually being any good at magic. There are, of course, things Skyrim does brilliantly. It's a very handsome game to look at, even on medium graphics settings. The dungeon design has improved immensely since Oblivion (even if the inevitable secret door back to the beginning seems like something of a cop-out). The dual wielding system, while not perfect, is an interesting development and a welcome addition to the game. Even in snowy Skryim, there are a variety of terrains and architectural styles which gave the game a real feeling of size. The underlying plot dynamics are interesting: the Nords portray themselves as valiantly fighting for their homeland against the elven oppressors and the weak imperium, but themselves oppress Skyrim's native folk in the west. But the game feels unfinished, even hasty in places and, after 80 hours play, leaves me with the distinct impression that it could have been so much more.    … Expand
  64. coldchaos
    Dec 3, 2011
    9
    Despite a few minor hiccups this game is near flawless with content overload everywhere, there is literally nowhere you can go on the map that won't have a farm/mine(with quests to boot) or towers/dungeons to clear, or caves to explore, or mountain passes to traverse. The character animations are vastly improved over Oblivion with much better handling of rendering.

    Only reason I'm giving    Despite a few minor hiccups this game is near flawless with content overload everywhere, there is literally nowhere you can go on the map that won't have a farm/mine(with quests to boot) or towers/dungeons to clear, or caves to explore, or mountain passes to traverse. The character animations are vastly improved over Oblivion with much better handling of rendering.

    Only reason I'm giving it a 9/10 is because they didn't release TES Construction Set with the game(re-texturing being fully supported though, and awesome). Anyone giving this game less then a 7/10 probably don't even own it or suffer from a severe case of PEKAC.    … Expand
  65. Mofoso
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    I have heard a lot of complaining over the fact that "the game is too big and does not grasp a true RPG feel...". This is a completely contradictory statement, "Role Playing Game (RPG)", adventure and exploration is a very important factor of a role playing game. The amazing scenery and remarkable graphics are none like I have ever seen in any open world true RPG (and I have played quite aI have heard a lot of complaining over the fact that "the game is too big and does not grasp a true RPG feel...". This is a completely contradictory statement, "Role Playing Game (RPG)", adventure and exploration is a very important factor of a role playing game. The amazing scenery and remarkable graphics are none like I have ever seen in any open world true RPG (and I have played quite a few). With over 300 hours of game play the game calls for endless fun and adventure (which is literally true due to the fact that there are repeating quests and random encounters that never end...). Finishing moves add excitement to combat and animations like running and jumping have a more realistic feel than Oblivion in which jumping across a street was possible at the "flick of the ankles", in Skyrim the Dragonborn's arms and body reacts and bends and the legs bend at the appropriate joints to imitate the look of someone really jumping. Voice acting is not spectacular and yes can be important in a RPG, but Bethesda still managed to pull off 70 different voice actors playing over 150 roles which is far greater than Oblivion's ~10 voice actors. To conclude, if you enjoy a epicly thrilling adventure filled with breath taking visual scenery and fun combat then this is a game for you.… Expand
  66. karmasleeper
    Dec 3, 2011
    5
    Skyrim follows in the vein of its predecessor Oblivion in providing an even more streamlined open world RPG experience. Attribute points are no more with racial traits the only factor defining a starting role for your character. Character progression is so streamlined that soon even these racial bonuses will mean little as the way you choose to play defines your character. This approachSkyrim follows in the vein of its predecessor Oblivion in providing an even more streamlined open world RPG experience. Attribute points are no more with racial traits the only factor defining a starting role for your character. Character progression is so streamlined that soon even these racial bonuses will mean little as the way you choose to play defines your character. This approach truly gives players the greatest freedom in how to approach the game but perhaps unintentionally lessens the replay value of the game. There is no reason to replay the game as a different character since you can grow your skills however you want. I can be a mage with a two handed battle axe or sneak effortlessly in full plate armor while picking pockets in broad daylight. There are fewer spells, fewer skills, fewer weapon types, and fewer armor slots than ever before. Like Fallout 3, players receive one point to invest in perks each time they level up. These perks are very bland compared to Fallout 3, however, and usually provide passive bonuses in the way of reducing the madicka required for spell casting or increasing weapon damage by a certain percentage. The UI is atrocious and designed around a console controller. It requires way too much scrolling and unnecessarily interrupts the flow of combat. "Favoriting" an item in your inventory reduces the amount of screens you have to mull through, but as your character progresses, results in another length list you have to scroll through to access what you want. The main quest is reasonably interesting but anyone who has played an Elder Scrolls game will find it recycled and painfully short. Fighters, thieves, and mages guild exist in various forms as does the Dark Brotherhood. Daedric quests are back and most towns have one or two side quests to explore. There's a lot to do in Skyrim, and the world is fairly big, but like previous games in the franchise suffers from repetition. The landscape varies only in token ways and dungeons feel bland and samey after a short while. From a performance strandpoint, the game runs well but things could be so much better. The game doesn't use more than 2gigs of RAM (though there is a mod to address this), it uses DX9, and it's the same engine as Oblivion contrary to Bethesda's claims. Once again, a developer has chosen to allow ancient console hardware to dictate what they can and cannot do with their game rather than innovate and explore new ways of doing things in the franchise. If you are a hardcore Elder Scrolls fan, wait for a price drop. This is not work $60.… Expand
  67. Pomornik
    Dec 3, 2011
    9
    Best RPG i have ever played, and i've played plenty. Its superior to morrowind and oblivion in almost every possible way. It would be easily a 10/10 if it wasn't for the fact, its a console port, and it shows. First of all, the interface is... not very good, it was obviously designed to be used with a gamepad, but you can get used to that. The bigger problems are the technical issues.Best RPG i have ever played, and i've played plenty. Its superior to morrowind and oblivion in almost every possible way. It would be easily a 10/10 if it wasn't for the fact, its a console port, and it shows. First of all, the interface is... not very good, it was obviously designed to be used with a gamepad, but you can get used to that. The bigger problems are the technical issues. Horrible, blocky and flickering shadows, random crashes, and not so great performance even on a good machine. I wont mention smaller bugs, since they are but a minor annoyance, and nothing gamebreaking.
    Still its worth to get through all that, because the gameplay itself is next to perfect. The combat is great, there is no boring quests, dialogues and voiceactors are top notch, envitorment is just beautiful. As in case of all Bethesda titles, there is a strong support for mods, which will definetly help keeping the game alive for many years.    … Expand
  68. CJx101
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    People just **** about things that aren't perfect. Well, welcome to the gaming industry and life. Nothing's perfect, but this is not, I repeat NOT an expansion to Oblivion. There IS actually a lot more and exciting content. But please, if you don't like it go back to your repetitive Call of Duty. If you didn't notice the better graphics then I suggest you upgrade your video card. OtherPeople just **** about things that aren't perfect. Well, welcome to the gaming industry and life. Nothing's perfect, but this is not, I repeat NOT an expansion to Oblivion. There IS actually a lot more and exciting content. But please, if you don't like it go back to your repetitive Call of Duty. If you didn't notice the better graphics then I suggest you upgrade your video card. Other than that, Quotation forthcoming.… Expand
  69. djmehs
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    I'm pretty sure the 189 people who gave this a bad review are trolling like crazy. Not even sure why I'm defending it...The 1480 people and 21 critics who love it pretty much let it speak for itself. Everyone who has something bad to say seem to be hating on the PC version of it...I've got the PC version and it runs flawlessly. On Ultra High Quality graphics. I think in 58 hours of playI'm pretty sure the 189 people who gave this a bad review are trolling like crazy. Not even sure why I'm defending it...The 1480 people and 21 critics who love it pretty much let it speak for itself. Everyone who has something bad to say seem to be hating on the PC version of it...I've got the PC version and it runs flawlessly. On Ultra High Quality graphics. I think in 58 hours of play I've had 2 crashes. Which are never a problem since the game autosaves like every 5 minutes. Every time you go to a new area. This is my first actual PC game purchase (Since I just finished my first build about 4 months ago) Brand new to PC gaming, I tried to play with the mouse and keyboard and get used to it. I got a little bit frustrated because I had to keep looking down at the keys, but I still got the hang of it for the most part. I prefer my 360 controller because I've been an Xbox gamer for years, but I didn't despise the keyboard and mouse. It just wasn't for me. I even liked the F5 quicksave. In fact, I used it all the time even when using my controller. The graphics are beautiful at Ultra High Quality setting. I can see trees and lakes miles away, then actually travel to that lake and swim in it. People are also complaining that Bethesda uses mods as a way to improve their next game. Not sure I understand that very much. To me, it seems like making it easy for modders to mod and tweak their game to give Bethesda ideas for later games should be a major plus. Modders get to mod, Bethesda learns from the mods, and players see the results in later games. Everybody is happy. Oh, and I noticed most of the reviews about bugs were on the DAY IT WAS RELEASED. A game this massive and expansive is going to be buggy. As of today, I've already gotten 2 updates for the game fixing a ton of those bugs. Which means they jumped on it as soon as possible. Beta test all you want, you'll never find all the bugs until you get thousands and thousands of people playing.… Expand
  70. footlx
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    A huge game in the tradition of Bethesda's memorable previous works of art. I have barely scratched the surface of Skyrim and have already gone through tons of immersive content. Truly an alternate world for one to lose himself into. I cannot understand how some users are giving it a 0 score. I think they are on the pay role of Bethesda's competitors. Sore losers!
  71. TooCritic
    Dec 3, 2011
    6
    This game has not passed anything seen before. The graphics are marginally better, although most of the hits from 2007. better graphics. Gameplaj is the same as in Oblivion. Parts of the game, such as enchantmnet and alchemy, are useless. This is a sad story about PC titles in recent years, with few exceptions. We get a bad console ports, although I have when playing Crysis nearly 5 yearsThis game has not passed anything seen before. The graphics are marginally better, although most of the hits from 2007. better graphics. Gameplaj is the same as in Oblivion. Parts of the game, such as enchantmnet and alchemy, are useless. This is a sad story about PC titles in recent years, with few exceptions. We get a bad console ports, although I have when playing Crysis nearly 5 years I thought that today's game will be something special. Ð… Expand
  72. RemembersREPTON
    Dec 3, 2011
    9
    I have been playing RPG games since the dawn of time and Elder Scrolls IMHO has always been the best FP RPG by a clear mile. This is an excellent follow on from the superb Oblivion. The graphics are beautiful, the geography stunning and the main plot interesting, drawing on what we all ready know about the Elder Scrolls universe. The lack of real character classes, with players choosingI have been playing RPG games since the dawn of time and Elder Scrolls IMHO has always been the best FP RPG by a clear mile. This is an excellent follow on from the superb Oblivion. The graphics are beautiful, the geography stunning and the main plot interesting, drawing on what we all ready know about the Elder Scrolls universe. The lack of real character classes, with players choosing development via their actions is excellent. I personally miss all the scores for intelligence etc, but its a minor point as the simplified perks and magicka, health, stamina model works well. The game is not perfect however, with your actions in the war not really changing people demeanor towards you. The theft system is also flawed, as it was in Oblivion, with some objects just being there for the taking. Say hi to the leader of the town, rob him blind, hang out for a little with his trinkets in your pockets, no one notices or cares. Especially weird if your publicly a paid up member of his worst enemy. No problem in Skyrim for some reason. IMHO however the game is an RPG, so you have to have a little imagination, and if you have its an excellent experience. My main gripe is that there seems to be less variety of content (clothes etc) than in Oblivion - I am guessing this is due to the game being primarily developed for console. I await some clothes mods from the community. I would have so much respect for a company that did not dumb down games on PC - come on guys, PC's should be the pinnacle, with reduced content for the consoles, don't set the bar at the lowest possible denominator.… Expand
  73. Zumeraga
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    I have never rated a game to be a 10 before, however in thinking what would I change about Skyrim??? Seriously nothing comes to mind. It is an incredible game. The story line is good, the graphics are incredible, the open ended gaming is wonderful, it is by far the most enjoyable game I have ever experienced. Congrats Bethesda, you have a winner here, in my opinion. I can only hope weI have never rated a game to be a 10 before, however in thinking what would I change about Skyrim??? Seriously nothing comes to mind. It is an incredible game. The story line is good, the graphics are incredible, the open ended gaming is wonderful, it is by far the most enjoyable game I have ever experienced. Congrats Bethesda, you have a winner here, in my opinion. I can only hope we don't have to wait 5 years for The Elder Scrolls 6!… Expand
  74. Zephalian
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    I didn't like SKYRIM, until I GOT HIT BY AN ARROW IN THE KNEE, y'know made me open my eyes then i was like what a beautiful game?, i shoulda bought Oblivion but i have skyrim now it dosen't matter the game is a very well done piece of RPG Western at it's finest, can the other RPG's knock Skyrim? who know's but only complaint is the world feels empty as times.
  75. elgringo
    Dec 3, 2011
    10
    Incredibly entertaining game, but probably too much time is spent in dungeons. Even though they never repeat you will always have a secret exit at the end of each dungeon to leave it faster without the need to go back, this is repetitive and predictable. The plot writing for the college of Winterhold (mages) was very mediocre but the good main story makes up for it. A good investment forIncredibly entertaining game, but probably too much time is spent in dungeons. Even though they never repeat you will always have a secret exit at the end of each dungeon to leave it faster without the need to go back, this is repetitive and predictable. The plot writing for the college of Winterhold (mages) was very mediocre but the good main story makes up for it. A good investment for your money. Get this game.… Expand
  76. kabbi
    Dec 2, 2011
    5
    When I first started this game I was like **** 10/10... as I progressed through further, I started noticing lots of bugs, a sincere lack of momentum in plot (lots of forgettable gopher quests). About half way through the game I realized that none of the stats matter. The game is so damn easy anyone can beat any mission pretty much with any character set up. I found the AI challenge to beWhen I first started this game I was like **** 10/10... as I progressed through further, I started noticing lots of bugs, a sincere lack of momentum in plot (lots of forgettable gopher quests). About half way through the game I realized that none of the stats matter. The game is so damn easy anyone can beat any mission pretty much with any character set up. I found the AI challenge to be as rewarding as shooting fish in a barrel. If you turn up the difficulty your health drops so fast that you have to pause every 5 seconds and drink 8 health potions. Very little room for role-playing beyond deciding what cool armor you want to wear. Dialogue especially of wandering NPC's gets so annoyingly repetative the only thing they're missing is a pullstring when u walk by. Did I mention there's no story nor do your choices have any effect on the outcome? You're pretty much just killing mindless ragdolls and calling yourself the Dragonborn somehow imagining that quests you did/didn't do are going to make a difference. When you complete a quest NPC's go on talking about it over and over again til you want to **** kill everyone. This game sucks. Some of the reviews I've read on it are extremely questionable. But then again I was totally hot for it the first week so I'll shut up.… Expand
  77. f0lly
    Dec 2, 2011
    10
    GOTY...no doubt. So much to see and do. Engaging quests. Well polished game on release, with only the most minor of glitches (compare this to TW2 and the abomination that was Rage). I am 37 hours in and feel like I have only scratched the surface; I reckon I'll get an easy 200 hrs of quality gaming out of this. I will say it again; GOTY without a doubt.
  78. Heavymetal4life
    Dec 2, 2011
    0
    Take back my earlier game review, Game has had several patches an it still runs like **** crashes on random loads or fast traveling between areas, will have texture load failures. **** for all the game content an as fun as it might be, I refuse to play it anymore cause I am sick of it randomly crashing every 5 to whatever minutes. piece of **** crap game an Bethesda has joined the ranks ofTake back my earlier game review, Game has had several patches an it still runs like **** crashes on random loads or fast traveling between areas, will have texture load failures. **** for all the game content an as fun as it might be, I refuse to play it anymore cause I am sick of it randomly crashing every 5 to whatever minutes. piece of **** crap game an Bethesda has joined the ranks of crap software companies just like the rest of them. Horrible peace of **** unfinished released software I am sick of wasting my money on crap software that is released untested an we the consumer get to play their test dumby as they patch an fix the game they released broken. TIRED OF IT AN I REFUSE TO BUY ANY GAME THAT IS NOT MADE BY BLIZZARD FROM NOW ON.… Expand
  79. Nautilus
    Dec 2, 2011
    0
    Copying the Oblivion mods is that all Skyrim is about. They cherry picked and stolen some great ideas of modders and implemented it into the game. Skyrim is more like an expansion pack to Oblivion. It is nothing but a heavily modded Oblivion, just like Fallout 3. The game engine is not different, Todd Howard is a liar. It's still based on Gamebryo Tech. Bethesda's policy is same asCopying the Oblivion mods is that all Skyrim is about. They cherry picked and stolen some great ideas of modders and implemented it into the game. Skyrim is more like an expansion pack to Oblivion. It is nothing but a heavily modded Oblivion, just like Fallout 3. The game engine is not different, Todd Howard is a liar. It's still based on Gamebryo Tech. Bethesda's policy is same as Infinity Ward's: "Why break it if it's working?" And like in every gamebryo based Bethesda game, texture quality makes me puke because it was designed for consoles in mind, consoles with tiny video memories... Skyrim lead animator Josh Jones is a worse liar than Todd, the animation system is not revamped or whatsoever. Animations still do suck. Go play some GTA IV, watch the guy strafing right&left while running and then you'll learn what animation is really all about. Not properly working controls give me a headache, mouse acceleration is an atrocity. User interface is designed for consoles in mind. Hard to use with keyboard+mouse combination, mouse does not work in 90% of menus. Game crashes to dektop every now and then, crapload of bugs making my quests break, flying items&creatures all around is a mess, dragons escaping ass backwards and don't give their souls sometimes. Yeah there are mods to solve most of these problems but modders are not Bethesda, i'm rating Bethesda here, not the modders. Don't know the console version but for PC, i give this game a solid "0" because this is all it deserves for backstabbing PC community again and again.… Expand
  80. spacecaptain
    Dec 2, 2011
    0
    How do you say overrated in 150 characters(?), because that's all you really need to know. If you like running around and looking at pretty, fake places, you'll love it. If you're looking for a rich, deep roleplaying game experience, you'd be far better off playing um, er.... Oh, that's right. They don't make those anymore.
  81. adlersson
    Dec 2, 2011
    10
    I couldn't play too much with the Oblivion but I was curious about this piece so I bought it and fortunately I didn't have to disappoint. I think one of the best offline RPGs today.
  82. fishrule
    Dec 2, 2011
    10
    Our hero, our hero, claims a warrior's heart
    I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes
    With a Voice wielding power of the ancient Nord art
    Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes
    It's an end to the evil, of all Skyrim's foes
    Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes
    For the darkness has passed, and the legend yet grows
    You'll know, You'll know the Dragonborn's come
  83. moholdt
    Dec 2, 2011
    10
    I'd never imagine myself enjoying a 1st person role-playing game but with all the hype I decided to give it a shot. From the very start I got completely hooked. I haven't finished it yet, and I got the feeling I'm not even close and I've spent 100 hours (I take my precious time enjoying every pixel of every scenery).

    I've been reading some complaints though about bugs and things not    I'd never imagine myself enjoying a 1st person role-playing game but with all the hype I decided to give it a shot. From the very start I got completely hooked. I haven't finished it yet, and I got the feeling I'm not even close and I've spent 100 hours (I take my precious time enjoying every pixel of every scenery).

    I've been reading some complaints though about bugs and things not working and I'm really curious about what these bugs might be that make people so angry. The bugs I've encountered are minor and the fact that this game is so immensly huge I really don't care about them. I'd rather have a huge world to explore with some random bugs than a tiny little excuse of a "Story Mode" which is flawless.

    Recently alot of new exciting games have been released but so far none can match the gametime, depth and experience Skyrim can offer. I have no idea when I'm gonna complete the game but I don't think it will be any time soon. And after I do finish the game, I'm gonna have another go at it. This time playing another role.

    I actually created an account on metacritic just to write this review because I think Bethesda deserves the feedback. If this is the new standard for how future game should be like, then we do indeed have a bright future ahead of us. I can only imagine the amount of hours and efforts put into making such a huge universe. If anyone praticipating in creating this game is reading this review, well I would like to say thank you so much for making me feel there's still hope in the gaming industry.    … Expand
  84. kolaborr
    Dec 2, 2011
    10
    Bugs? Sure but i still love this game. Big Mammoths, Giants are the best (Dragons are weak). Love the gameplay, love the graphics. Overall great game. A must buy for everyone!!
  85. mikefromsaskato
    Dec 2, 2011
    10
    Absolutely amazing. If you enjoy RPGs at all this game is a must-buy.

    Is it perfect? Of course not; no game is. What is Skyrim? The game that truly makes you forget the time until all of a sudden it's 3am and you have to get up for work in 3 hours. It's the game that has made me squeeze an extra 70 hours in the past two weeks, despite all my obligations to work, family, and friends.    Absolutely amazing. If you enjoy RPGs at all this game is a must-buy.

    Is it perfect? Of course not; no game is. What is Skyrim? The game that truly makes you forget the time until all of a sudden it's 3am and you have to get up for work in 3 hours. It's the game that has made me squeeze an extra 70 hours in the past two weeks, despite all my obligations to work, family, and friends.

    Skyrim is the kind of game you will want to play over and over, just to try different character paths and morality options.

    I honestly cannot see how anybody can review this game as "negative" unless they either hate RPGs or had such high hopes that any game would make them bitter and angry.    … Expand
  86. Mr_Mouse
    Dec 2, 2011
    0
    So called professional reviewers that rated this game highly never saw the PC version. So much is 100% clear. Either that, or they were blind. The looks beautiful enough, from a distance, but the character animation is crude, with too small number of polygons. Voice acting is still not enough, with voices for different characters soon starting to be familiar, heard one bartender, heardSo called professional reviewers that rated this game highly never saw the PC version. So much is 100% clear. Either that, or they were blind. The looks beautiful enough, from a distance, but the character animation is crude, with too small number of polygons. Voice acting is still not enough, with voices for different characters soon starting to be familiar, heard one bartender, heard them all. The user interface is written for consoles, it is terrible on the pc. But worst of all, and not to be missed by any reviewer, is the huge number of bugs, freezes, crashes to desktop, stuck quests, immortal beings, ,issues with the loader, and on and on and on. You have to let Steam check the integrity of the local files constantly to be able to start it up again and hope you'll be able to play. And then if you do, you may find the game locks up yet again at some location, with nothing else to do but power down the computer and reboot. It shows to me that game sites, and game reviewers have no clue whatsoever, and are being led by the nose by companies. That, and they lied if they were saying they reviewed the PC version.… Expand
  87. Truesteel
    Dec 1, 2011
    10
    Incredible graphics, great story, fun combat, immersive environments, what can I say that you don't already know? It has its fair share of bugs and problems as any Bethesda game does (and really any game of this magnitude) but it more than makes up for it in creativity, depth, and the sheer amount of content included in in the game.
  88. glddraco
    Dec 1, 2011
    10
    This game has to be the best game I've ever played. Sure its buggy but most games, especially complex games are going to have bugs. I've been rather down with fantasy rpg games ever since Dragon Age 2 came out and I almost gave up on games in general. I loved the details among the many things you can do in the world.
  89. LilLoki
    Dec 1, 2011
    0
    NOT A GOOD GAME AT ALL! specially after playing the true GREAT RPGs that came out this years such as Witcher 2, Dark Souls and Skyward Sword. Skyrim does nothing better than the other RPGs, other than the cool title screen chant song. In fact when compared, one can easily tell how outdated it its, in its game play mechanics, and characters animations. Take heed, this game is worth nothingNOT A GOOD GAME AT ALL! specially after playing the true GREAT RPGs that came out this years such as Witcher 2, Dark Souls and Skyward Sword. Skyrim does nothing better than the other RPGs, other than the cool title screen chant song. In fact when compared, one can easily tell how outdated it its, in its game play mechanics, and characters animations. Take heed, this game is worth nothing more than a rental.… Expand
  90. andrecastelo
    Dec 1, 2011
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Skyrim is a game supposed to take the immersion to the next level. The landscapes are amazing, the world building is excellent and being divided between two factions in the middle of a civil war, when neither of them is black and white is awesome. The shout idea is another good point and I particularly liked the other guilds and factions sidequests.

    The problems with Skyrim are several. For a game built to be in the top tier of the immersion factor, the AI is just too poorly written. Characters have few lines, you have little impact on their lives or their behavior towards you and the problems when everyone is against you (with vampirism for instance, if you are starved, doesn't matter if you are wearing a mask, everyone knows you're a vampire and will attack on sight, even the poor guy who has agreed to help you 10 minutes earlier) CERTAINLY break immersion.

    Whenever a dragon flies by in a city, EVERY ABLE BODIED men and women WILL drop anything and everything they are doing to kill it. It's complete **** everyone should be running away desperately. And the horses? Why are they so completely badass in this game? Every time I unmount near a bandit camp, my horse goes **** inside it to murder every single one of my enemies. Don't get me wrong, my horse is the DB one and it's cool that he behaves like that, but should EVERY horse in the realm do this? It certainly breaks the immersion when horses flee the stables to kick some dragon's ass.

    This game is hell of a lot fun, but its flaws are immersion breaking. It's a game that wants you to lose yourself inside its world, but instead manages to break in every NPC encounter you have.    … Expand
  91. jadeia
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    This game defines a genre and is without question, the best RPG gaming experience currently available to human kind.

    Although I will deduct one point for a long list of bugs and the ongoing CTD errors :)
  92. LORDofDOOM
    Nov 30, 2011
    10
    One of the best games ever made - I've played now over 80h and it got better and better :-)
    If you can buy ony one game for this year - Buy Skyrim.

    BTW: This is one of the very rare games in last time that comes with Mod Support/SDK. If the Moddingscene is active as they was by skyrim you can have fun forever with this game.
  93. SpazzBrozz
    Nov 30, 2011
    10
    I LOVE THIS GAME. Your review must be at least 150 characters long. Your review must be at least 150 characters long. Your review must be at least 150 characters long.
  94. Eman3s
    Nov 30, 2011
    10
    One of the best games I've ever played, its just stunning with all the little details they put in it. I've put about 65 hours into it and every time I turn it on my mouth still! hits the floor, its been a LONG time sense a game has done that to me. As for the bugs, Yeah it has some bugs...but with a game that's THIS BIG! you need to expect some. Bethesda will iron them out with patches.
  95. Renge
    Nov 30, 2011
    10
    The time you wasted from your life for this game will not gonna be in vain. I don't play Oblivion, but I can say that this game is so much better than I expected before. I thought this game will similar like Mass Effect series, well there is some similarity, but Skyrim win by wide margin. Open world, make your own stories, pick your guild, pick either Imperial or Stormcloak, play warrior,The time you wasted from your life for this game will not gonna be in vain. I don't play Oblivion, but I can say that this game is so much better than I expected before. I thought this game will similar like Mass Effect series, well there is some similarity, but Skyrim win by wide margin. Open world, make your own stories, pick your guild, pick either Imperial or Stormcloak, play warrior, mage, thief, archer, or hybrid, that is for you to decide.

    The best RPG I've ever played in my whole life, hands down. Can't wait to see the future of this game in the hand of the modding community.    … Expand
  96. ProxyXIII
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    I found this game thoroughly enjoyable even though it was an obvious console port and streamlined to hell. I thought game could have gone over and had more features added or redone. It just feels like it is missing so many things, and things taken out that should have stayed. I came from Morrorwind and Oblivion, and those two honestly had more content, even so, I enjoyed this game and whatI found this game thoroughly enjoyable even though it was an obvious console port and streamlined to hell. I thought game could have gone over and had more features added or redone. It just feels like it is missing so many things, and things taken out that should have stayed. I came from Morrorwind and Oblivion, and those two honestly had more content, even so, I enjoyed this game and what it offered. Being able to jump into the Elder Scrolls world was nice and I did notice the game running alot better than Bethesda's recent games.

    I'm playing it on the PC, and so far hadn't had any problems with crashes, only when I'm alt+tabbing constantly. For those of you that do play on the PC and didn't notice, you can add hotkeys to your equipment from the favorites menu.

    I've tried this game on the console as well and I have to say, I'm glad I'm a PC gamer. The console version of this is too jittery and buggy. Still I wish the devs would think more about the PC community, and stop streamlining everything. I miss the complexity of a game and now everything is made for the convenience for kids and people who are too lazy to get into the learning curve

    All in all, the game is fun and anticipating the upcoming DLCs and mods.    … Expand
  97. Haon
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    I was sitting around last night and I finally realized why I like Skyrim so much. It reminds me of backpacking. You don't go backpacking to win the war or save the damsel; you go to wander the countryside and see the sites and pick up cool sticks. Skyrim realizes this goal better than any other game, period. There are three reasons why: quests, dungeons, and the visuals. The questI was sitting around last night and I finally realized why I like Skyrim so much. It reminds me of backpacking. You don't go backpacking to win the war or save the damsel; you go to wander the countryside and see the sites and pick up cool sticks. Skyrim realizes this goal better than any other game, period. There are three reasons why: quests, dungeons, and the visuals. The quest structure is loose enough to give you freedom but well written enough to inspire you to continue. I love getting the push out the door to go to place X, but not being punished if I get sidetracked to place Y. The dungeon structure is incredible. There is a slight amount of similarity simply to retain realism, but each dungeon I've been in is dramatically different than others. Long gone are the cookie cutter aelid(?) ruins and gateworlds of Oblivion. The variety is simply stunning. Finally, the visuals are great. Not just good, and not super-fantastic, but well done indeed. More than the simple graphical rendering is the way Bethesda realized the world and the ecosystems. All you need to do is watch Planet Earth to grasp that "tundra" does not equal "barren wasteland," and the designers have created a vibrant land that does Northern Europe proud. Along the same lines is the cultural ambience of Skyrim. There is racism and tension over who should rule the land, and both come off as very real. Some of the comments by the peasantry is a little goofy, but do yourself a favor and listen to the jarls talking with their minions. Absolutely stunning dialouge. Now, to the more generic topics... Combat is well done. It seems to me that combat in Skyrim is as interesting as you want to make it. Want to be a guy w/ heavy armor and no mobility that can take it and blast it? Go ahead. Want to be the guy (me) who dances around in combat? Want to snipe? Want to... You get the idea. My advice is to pick the play style you like, though. Skyrim will let you do whatever you want, but if that bores you, it doesn't care... The sound also deserves mention. A pro reviewer (sorry for the lack of the cite!) said something along the lines of "when a dragon lands on you and the soundtrack starts playing, you WILL pee your pants." Man were they right. Mute the sound, meh, another fight. Have the music and flame effects blaring and your begin to appreciate why games are called multimedia... (Side note: I've got the song running through my head as I write this. Nice...) Finally on my list of total awesomeness is the load times. I'm playing on a laptop w/ decent specs, and this game runs on High visuals and almost NO load times. I'm talking 5 seconds tops. For such a huge world that looks great, this is flat out unbeliveable. In fact, it essentially nullifies my biggest gripe, which is......... CRASHES! Yep, they're there, but because I can reboot the game and get back to playing in 30 seconds flat, it much easier to treat them as a reminder to move around in real life than as game breaking issues. My second biggest gripe is the lack of, hmmm, how about epicness with regards to the supposedly high-level characters in the game. If you're one of the top dogs in the Companions, why are you dressed in steel armor and not Ebony? Why aren't the jarls weilding souped up versions of weapons? "So you can't get their stuff early" just doesn't seem good enough. Bethesda, try a little harder next time, please. To be fair, though, the rest of the world levels MUCH better and more realistically than in Oblivion/Fallout 3. Lastly, this game really shouldn't win any awards for storylines. This isn't really a slam, because they are nice enough, but a Witcher 2/Mass Effect/Dragon Age this is not. If you're SOLELY in a game for the storyline, you might wait a bit for this one. Or not, and read the tons of books lying around in the game... Lastly, I'd like to make a comment about the PC interface: I can't comment. I went into the game knowing I'd be playing with a controller, and it's quite well done (plus you can still quicksave on the keyboard! Yay!) If you're dead set on using a mouse/keyboard, just remember to check the modding community; they've got some nice fixes. All in all, this game is the best exploration/open world game to date. It is freedom, exploration, and fun bundled up and delivered to your computer. Enjoy the hike!… Expand
  98. Galf506
    Nov 30, 2011
    4
    Skyrim doesn't deliver. It's the fifth game in the elder scrolls series, and it still carries almost all the flaws Morrowind and Oblivion had, adding some others on top of them, getting a bit closer to Morrowind in overall quality, but still way far from what we used to experience and what was expected from this game.
    On the technical side, the game is a massive disappointment, with a    Skyrim doesn't deliver. It's the fifth game in the elder scrolls series, and it still carries almost all the flaws Morrowind and Oblivion had, adding some others on top of them, getting a bit closer to Morrowind in overall quality, but still way far from what we used to experience and what was expected from this game.
    On the technical side, the game is a massive disappointment, with a trainwreck of low res textures and only minor overall improvements on the effects. No one wanted Battlefield 3 quaity, but there's no excuse for the messy squashed low res textures Bethesda put in this game. Everything is blurry and under a green tint. And landscape still looks bad from a distance, like Oblivion. They still haven't managed a good low detail LOD for distant objects - which is ridiculous, after what the modders did with Oblivion. Face models and some animations are better, but not very good.
    The user interface is the worst I've EVER experienced, even the worst console ports are better than this, it cannot be described. Huge areas of wasted space, the inventory has pretty much no filters and everything is vertical with zero horizontal space used.
    Stat system has been streamlined to hell and back, you get to choose between health magicka and stamina, there's a reduced numer of skills and each one has perks, that would have been a good feature if introduced in some other way, but as they are now, they're just the only way to make skills useful since they botched up the skill system: for example, shield blocking is completely useless until you farm the perks for it.
    Equipment, streamlined too. You can only wear one ring, the enchantment system is awful (you learn enchantments by destroying items, then you're restricted to only certain enchantments depending on the item - for example torso pieces of heavy armor can't be enchanted for elemental resists) there are no more upper body and lower body armor (one piece now) no pauldrons, no polearms, no crossbows and all the melee weapons feel the same, you can't even decide to cut,pierce or smash - the attack animation is random and automatic, dealing always the same kind of damage.
    Melee combat is horrible. Two handed users pretty much cannot defend, Sword and shield users move incredibly slow and block no magic damage until you are of high level and managed to farm through the perks. Armor rating under 300 is basically useless. Awkward "finisher" animations pop up at every fight AND YOU CANNOT DODGE HITS! And no mounted combat, again.
    Sneaking is the same as it was in oblivion. Meh.
    Ranged combat is actually useful now, but it still needs mods to make it good.
    But where Skyrim really falls short is in the true RPG component, something that mods cannot fix: it's not a true RPG. There's some VERY RARE good writing, but most of it is pretty subpar and boring. Almost all quests have no choices or neutral paths, you are forced to do things that you do not want to do or to witness events that could be easily avoided and the game pretty much invites you to be a "master of all trades" character, killing the immersion.
    The only area where Skyrim can be considered a good game, is the exploration. There's a lot of content to experience by just exploring - provided you're ready to accept the lack of choices and the mostly average writing.
    Not worth buying.    … Expand
  99. TheGamer89
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    Unbelievable good. Skyrim takes everything that was brilliant about previous Elder Scrolls titles and expands upon them tenfold. This game has pulled me away from all other games until I am happy I have "completed" it. There is no shortage of content and things to do, and 80 hours in I don't even feel like i'm near any sort of end.
  100. DMuhny
    Nov 30, 2011
    10
    Beautiful world. Excellent graphics. Exhilarating combat. Overall, this game is simply a 10/10.
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PC Game of 2011
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Feb 29, 2012
    90
    Unfortunately, Skyrim trips and falls on its own (most probably, to make the cool-sounding deadline of 11-11-11) and just before it reaches perfection as the ultimate specimen of its genre, it self-destructs in a crucial aspect of game design: the interface and the peripheral components (inventory, journal, map, etc)... but that is not to say that Skyrim is anything but a truly majestic, epic RPG that will suck you right in its cosmos.
    Read full review
  2. Armchair Empire
    Feb 14, 2012
    100
    Skyrim is definitely one of the best games of 2011, but if the DLC holds out, it might just be one of the best games of 2012 as well.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 19, 2012
    90
    Skyrim is the best open world RPG you can get. A true evolution of genre is not flawless but still it is the game you love to live in. [Christmas 2011]
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