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. mrxdave
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    Without comparing this game to any other game - it's great! It is an amazing achievement to make a game that is this open-ended, and yet each quest seems original. Many games promise a varied approach - Skyrim actually delivers. Aside from minor glitches, this game delivers on core game play and deapth. As usual, I'm a little confused by folks that have given the game a below averageWithout comparing this game to any other game - it's great! It is an amazing achievement to make a game that is this open-ended, and yet each quest seems original. Many games promise a varied approach - Skyrim actually delivers. Aside from minor glitches, this game delivers on core game play and deapth. As usual, I'm a little confused by folks that have given the game a below average score. I've played some HORRIBLE games in my time, and Skyim is NOT one of them.… Expand
  2. Merowech
    Nov 30, 2011
    9
    Good:
    Very nice graphic. Even with an average graphic card. Dont understand people dont like/see that. Wonderfull distance view of the landscape. Perfect RPG atmosphere with a well written storyline. Interactive citicen behavior. It makes you feel living in that world. AI react different how you behave. NPC talking about your progress in game. very nice.
    Poor: Controlling. You can see    Good:
    Very nice graphic. Even with an average graphic card. Dont understand people dont like/see that. Wonderfull distance view of the landscape. Perfect RPG atmosphere with a well written storyline. Interactive citicen behavior. It makes you feel living in that world. AI react different how you behave. NPC talking about your progress in game. very nice.

    Poor:
    Controlling. You can see that it is controler coded and ported for Keyboard and mouse. Sometimes hard to select options with the mouse. So i cant give 10/10. ;-)

    Overall it is one of my best RPG i have ever played.    … Expand
  3. chevmech
    Nov 29, 2011
    10
    Another fantastic completely immersive RPG masterpiece- The perfect next step in an epic series. Elderscrolls sets the bar for the genre much like Indiana Jones and (the first 3) Star Wars movies did for film. Skyrim is a homerun! Bravo, Bethesda!
  4. DudasDrakaan
    Nov 29, 2011
    9
    Overall, Skyrim is fantastic. For 2011, I cannot say that there is a better RPG, and definitely not one which combines the openness, superior storyline, attention to detail, and availability. This is a game that can be picked up by practically anybody and enjoyed -- so long as you have the countless hours to devote to it. ______ With that said, I feel that -- while this is an excellentOverall, Skyrim is fantastic. For 2011, I cannot say that there is a better RPG, and definitely not one which combines the openness, superior storyline, attention to detail, and availability. This is a game that can be picked up by practically anybody and enjoyed -- so long as you have the countless hours to devote to it. ______ With that said, I feel that -- while this is an excellent game that is worthy of its predecessors -- it still does not implement many of the improvements fans of Oblivion had been asking for. While things from Fallout 3 were incorporated into Skyrim that improved the gameplay (followers for one, enemies that are not ungodly difficult to kill when you level up in the 50s is another). Common things you would expect of a sequel of Oblivion are not incorporated. Horse combat does not exist. The AI is just as stupid as it was in Oblivion. The physics system is out of control (I stepped on a pot and it killed me at max health). Random dead bodies will merge out of the ground. Occasional lag spikes will occur if the distance on object detail is turned up past a certain point regardless of system. And did I mention bad AI? Out-of-sight, out-of-mind is all I can say, that and arrows flying past your face are "Probably nothing." ______ With that said, Skyrim is still a great game. The duel-wielding system is great, though some issues pop up where dyssynchrony occurs. The voice acting is more diverse (though not as much as it should be probably, especially with your followers' inventory command). But the main thing is that it is fun. $60 is a fair price for something that can entertain you for over 300 hours. And more, if you are one to spend the time creating multiple characters for different "builds." Minor bugs, like corpses emerging from terrain, can easily be fixed by patches. But, honestly, I find these bugs a little entertaining and the rest can be modded by the community to fix them. ______ Still, many of these things -- such as bad AI -- should have been fixed by now. Horse combat should be present. And freedom of movement in combat, such as doing slides, rolls, ripostes, etc, would, one think, be added to the game by now with influences such as "Brink" on the sidelines (aside: the ability to roll is in the game, however it is glitched and also only usable in sneak mode as a faster means of movement; it's ability to provide dodging against the AI is minimal). And, of course, any comp user would like to have a control format that allows him to use a setup other than WASD without error. ______ So, all said and done, this great game is still great. It is still worth your money. But keep in mind it is not perfect. And hopefully Bethesda will work on giving their games at the polish that has been demanded by fans for several years. I give it 9 Shouts of **** YES!" out of 10.… Expand
  5. Limbo75
    Nov 29, 2011
    10
    I've been a hardcore gaming for the last 30 years and this game sets the bar for fantasy RPG for the last few years. The game play is excellent, graphics on ultra settings are unmatched for this genre, character development is extremely complex and allows for unique class creation based on desired playing style. I have hit level 30 and barely touched the main quest line which shows thatI've been a hardcore gaming for the last 30 years and this game sets the bar for fantasy RPG for the last few years. The game play is excellent, graphics on ultra settings are unmatched for this genre, character development is extremely complex and allows for unique class creation based on desired playing style. I have hit level 30 and barely touched the main quest line which shows that the side quest variety and availability feels almost endless. Mark my words this game will be the best of the year hands down. The visceral experience of hearing a dragon approach while hiking a mountain peak and then the ensuing epic battle is one of the most satisfying gaming experiences to date. None of the bad reviews I've read offer anything truly constructive (many don't even seem to have played the same game I am) and the majority of graphics critiques seem insane as on Ultra Settings it looks better than anything else I'm playing right now on PC. As many others have said I will be surprised if it doesn't win game of the year.… Expand
  6. LaMuffin
    Nov 29, 2011
    10
    elder scrolls. It returns with a big bang! its a massive world with amazing graphics and stunning storyline and side quest content. The fighting in this feels less clunky then oblivion did. And unlike morrowind and oblivion the world feels more alive. It feels like your not in a small world with tons of robots to talk to. The conversations flow more fluienty and the physics is improvedelder scrolls. It returns with a big bang! its a massive world with amazing graphics and stunning storyline and side quest content. The fighting in this feels less clunky then oblivion did. And unlike morrowind and oblivion the world feels more alive. It feels like your not in a small world with tons of robots to talk to. The conversations flow more fluienty and the physics is improved immensly. You might be thinking about the crafting system and think 'I DONT WANT TO MESS AROUND DOING CRAFTS I WANT TO FIGHT!!! ARTS AND CRAFTS ARE FOR GIRLS' well thats true to an extent. but the crafting system is very entertaining and can be exiting... for example you may have just found a deadra heart to make your first deadric weapon or armor peice. And another great part of the game are the perks. when you level up it is such a great feeling that you get to pick a perk. just like fallout. You can also get MARRIED!!!! getting married is suprisingly intense. more so than fighting a dragon. BUT the most important thing about the game for me is this: After you finish the main quest. You will feel like you beat the game. And that even though you still have like 1000000000000000 quests you feel like they are just errand boi quests.... well... The truth is that the main quest is one of the SMALLEST parts of the game! EVEN after you finish the FACTION QUESTS (Dark brotherhood theives guild ect.) There are MASSIVE side quests. You can go out and explore a abandoned house to find it has a deadric gods spirit that will offer you a powerful mace if you go to the mounatins and find a mage trapped by a large group of bandits and after 10 failed attempts to defeat the bandits you use Call Dragon dragon shout and KILL THEM ALL!!!! AND THERE ARE LIKE a BAZZILIONNN more quests like that!!! ITS THE FREAKIN GREATEST GAME EVER!!!… Expand
  7. luna
    Nov 29, 2011
    0
    First the basics: This is a sandbox role playing game played in a first person view where you run around and are free to do whatever you want. You have many options, but in the it all comes down to killing stuff with weapons or magic and obtaining loot. The game is decent by itself and probably deserves a 7/10 if you are new to the series. The following is for the veterans:

    This is just    First the basics: This is a sandbox role playing game played in a first person view where you run around and are free to do whatever you want. You have many options, but in the it all comes down to killing stuff with weapons or magic and obtaining loot. The game is decent by itself and probably deserves a 7/10 if you are new to the series. The following is for the veterans:

    This is just a dumbed down Oblivion. I have no idea what they have spent all these years working on, but it sure wasn't to improve the previous game in any way. There are some cute quests, there are some dragons to kill, but on the other hand everything looks like oblivion, the stats were removed and replaced with health, magicka, and stamina. Skills are no longer tied to stats, so there is no point in using light armor for anything but sneaking. When leveling up the world still levels up with you, and you get to picka a perk for every level. Most of them are of the character "hey, i want to be able to use my spells", "please make irrelevant things easier for me", and a few obviously useful ones, among them a sneak perk that lets you not make any noise when wearing heavy armor completely offsetting the last point of using light armor. Combat is more slow paced, difficulty seems to only affect the hp of things where killing a dragon or troll on the hardest is basically impossible as they regenerate faster than you can hurt them. If this wasn't part 5 of the elder scrolls series I think it would deserve a 7/10, but I'm giving it a 0 as there is no point in wasting your time on this worse experience if you already played oblivion or morrowind. Go download some mods for them and hope than bethesda cleans up their act for future games.    … Expand
  8. TomSEA
    Nov 28, 2011
    10
    Huge and beautiful. Engaging and mesmerizing. The amount of content and replayability is off the charts. If you've played Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas, then you have a pretty good idea what to expect as far as game mechanics are concerned. UI is pretty much identical to the Fallout games. Inventory is a little clunky, but doesn't take long before you're on auto-pilot with it andHuge and beautiful. Engaging and mesmerizing. The amount of content and replayability is off the charts. If you've played Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas, then you have a pretty good idea what to expect as far as game mechanics are concerned. UI is pretty much identical to the Fallout games. Inventory is a little clunky, but doesn't take long before you're on auto-pilot with it and other game controls and just enjoying the game. As awesome and in-depth RPG as you will ever play IN YOUR LIFE. Just buy it and enjoy the game. I'd ignore the nay-sayers who seem more interesting in showing off their "zero" score and going out of their way to find and bemoan the slightest, insignificant defects while overlooking the gaming experience in its entirety.… Expand
  9. Sevvy88
    Nov 28, 2011
    8
    To put it short: brilliant game. I have been using every spare moment of my time since the game released to play it. I honestly can't remember being this immersed in a game since I first played World of Warcraft back in 2006 or so. That's really saying something considering most games do not impress me at all these days.

    Having never been a fan of the Elder Scrolls series before this    To put it short: brilliant game. I have been using every spare moment of my time since the game released to play it. I honestly can't remember being this immersed in a game since I first played World of Warcraft back in 2006 or so. That's really saying something considering most games do not impress me at all these days.

    Having never been a fan of the Elder Scrolls series before this game, perhaps my opinions is a little skewed. For me, this has been an entirely new experience that I thought may have only existed in MMO's, a market that is completely saturated at this current time. I was beyond surprised and pleased when I began my journeys through the harsh, beautiful, and vast world of Skyrim. The voice overs are good, only becoming cheesy or poor from time to time, the combat system is fun and feels rewarding br leveling your character up in real time by actually performing an action, and perks you receive from leveling up definitely make your character feel like more of a hero. That heavy armor may take up alot of your bag space, but trust me, once you fill out your perks, it's worth it! Other skills are improved upon in a similar, rewarding way. The game isn't without it problems. The game has several glitches, and many people have even run into game breaking bugs. If you play on PC, there seems to be a constant "crash to desktop" error as well that can be pretty infuriating when you are engrossed in the game. Having to constantly save due to a game's instability is unacceptable. Overall, the game is gorgeous and rewarding, though at times the bugs can cause you to want to rip your hair out. Given the massive size of this world and the adventures that take place in it though, most players will be willing to forgive them. The good far, far outweighs the bad. A game I will certainly never forget.    … Expand
  10. MetalHeadCrab
    Nov 28, 2011
    10
    The most impressive thing is the game hardly ever crashes like Bethesda's previous titles. Summary: Its good, enough said or it will all be spoilers.
  11. FormerHuman
    Nov 28, 2011
    9
    I would normally hold off until completing a game before submitting a review, but there is the cold hard fact with Skyrim that I never will really complete this game - not because I will give up on playing it, but rather the exact opposite is true - like Oblivion, and to a slightly lesser extent also the two new Fallout games, this game goes on beyond what you expect by a degree that isI would normally hold off until completing a game before submitting a review, but there is the cold hard fact with Skyrim that I never will really complete this game - not because I will give up on playing it, but rather the exact opposite is true - like Oblivion, and to a slightly lesser extent also the two new Fallout games, this game goes on beyond what you expect by a degree that is hard to pinpoint. Speaking of pure out-of-the-box content alone, there is already so much to explore and experience that no other single player game out this year can compete in the sheer number of hours that can be poured into playing the game. Such a broad and ambitious game however comes at a price, and that price is technical issues - the game, on all platforms it would seem, has been somewhat fraught with them from release, and noticeably there are the predictable element of PC players who are so affronted by bugs (that are already being resolved) that they refuse to acknowledge the games' qualities at all - a juvenile response. Simply put, though I too had my share of issues getting the game running for a while, I have still managed to spend 62 hours in game so far since the day after release, with probably a record game-to-sleep/life ratio for myself at least. All this despite bugs - the fact remains, despite a few reactionary naysayers, this game has deservedly received universal praise for it's scope, ambition and downright playability from a gameplay perspective - first impressions reveal it to not have changed from Oblivion in any dramatic way, but after digging in some more it becomes very clear very quickly that there are many significant new developments, as well as a major revision of how magic works (with the peculiar removal of spell creation, however) in combat, with left and right handed weapons and spells providing a more reflex and exciting combat system than in any Elder Scrolls game to date. Part of the beauty of these games and the secret to their continued success and shelf-life is the expandability provided by third party mods, of which there are already numerous tweaks and minor alterations, and some less minor (the seemingly much maligned inventory system has already had one reinvention that presents your items and stats in a clear and accessible manner). The game is huge and it can only get bigger, and after the standard for official expansions was set so high with The Shivering Isles for Oblivion, we can likely expect some equally dramatic work from Bethesda themselves in the future. Like Oblivion, this game will be played for years to come, and rightly so.… Expand
  12. TappedOut
    Nov 28, 2011
    6
    For the casual or new gamer, this game is the pinnacle of single player RPGs and is without rival. For experienced players to the Elder Scrolls series, many of the balance issues that plagued Oblivion are present. While leveling and monster scaling is no longer an issue, the crafting skills in the game make the hardest difficulty so easy that they are nothing short of broken. Without usingFor the casual or new gamer, this game is the pinnacle of single player RPGs and is without rival. For experienced players to the Elder Scrolls series, many of the balance issues that plagued Oblivion are present. While leveling and monster scaling is no longer an issue, the crafting skills in the game make the hardest difficulty so easy that they are nothing short of broken. Without using exploits, this game is devoid of limitations to prevent players from becoming overpowered if they so wish, removing the challenge from the game. This can largely be circumvented by avoiding smithing and enchanting.

    That aside, the graphics are gorgeous and spectacular with the proper hardware. The open world map does away with much of the copy paste terrain of its predecessor, and sets a new standard for adventure games. The volume of quests is somewhat overwhelming and some of the real gems can be difficult to pull out of the masses, but they are there and they do deliver.    … Expand
  13. anonima
    Nov 28, 2011
    10
    This is a masterpiece of RPGs. The story is amazing,the characters are almost reals. So epic feel when a dragon flying to the moon,then you shoot him and he fall like a sandvich!
  14. DrCola
    Nov 28, 2011
    10
    Subtract everything you hate about past elder scrolls games, add everything you love, add a better engine that does not crash on you every 10 minutes and is not a steaming pile of bugs, pretty up everything, make the faces cooler and make just about everything better and you have skyrim. This game is a masterpiece, its the game that we have been waiting for in 2011, (Most titles this yearSubtract everything you hate about past elder scrolls games, add everything you love, add a better engine that does not crash on you every 10 minutes and is not a steaming pile of bugs, pretty up everything, make the faces cooler and make just about everything better and you have skyrim. This game is a masterpiece, its the game that we have been waiting for in 2011, (Most titles this year have been bad to say the least) This game would deserve a perfect 10 if not for the super lame secondary main quest which is the civil war, you can kill the final boss in one hit, I understand that level scaling is bad in most cases, but in some cases things have to be level scaled. The annoying part is, the civil war is about the length of the dragon questline! this game would get a 9.7 in my book now, thanks to that one little detail, but since metacritic forces me to round up my score, 10 it is!
    Also, if you really want to complain about the crappy interface of how you painfully select everything and how its built for a controller, do one of the two following things : get a mod, or use a controller, we all have USB ports!    … Expand
  15. mynameisbone
    Nov 28, 2011
    9
    Once I boot this game after install it in my PC, I was mesmerize by the size of this world. It maybe have the same size as in the previous game but it has more content to explore, more dungeons and plus, dragons to fight. It have the same game mechanics as previous game but the developer have upgraded it to make this game more enjoyable. Leveling had been simplified with no classes andOnce I boot this game after install it in my PC, I was mesmerize by the size of this world. It maybe have the same size as in the previous game but it has more content to explore, more dungeons and plus, dragons to fight. It have the same game mechanics as previous game but the developer have upgraded it to make this game more enjoyable. Leveling had been simplified with no classes and jobs and this create more freedom for you to set you character with your personal skill set and perks. I'm impressed with it new graphic engine that packed with detail with vast landscape with long draw-distance. Perk system is new to the game and I really impressed with rich perks to choose when you level up so it add more depth to your character's skill. I play this game just to wander around, kill some dragons and loot at dungeons without really care all the quest I take. Still, it's not a perfect game but that not ruin the game experience itself. I found that this game really fulfill my wanderlust nature in free-roam games like this. Vast landscape waiting to be explored by players. I recommend to all Elder Scrolls and RPG games outside.… Expand
  16. jefersonrg123
    Nov 28, 2011
    10
    Sem duvida alguma, o melhor jogo que ja joguei! mesmo nao gostando de RPG eu estou jogando e adorando! tambem é o primeiro game que digo que me prendeu a frente do computador por mais tempo! Com certeza merece GOTY!!!
  17. RyanAbes
    Nov 28, 2011
    6
    This game is, sadly, exceptionally repetitive an exercise in banality. As others have said, the world feels very empty, and the random quest generator is no match for hand crafted quests. I'd prefer one or two perfectly honed, well written, intriguing quests, than for all the random kill/fetch quests in China.

    I do not think it is that it is a console port though, as so many have said.    This game is, sadly, exceptionally repetitive an exercise in banality. As others have said, the world feels very empty, and the random quest generator is no match for hand crafted quests. I'd prefer one or two perfectly honed, well written, intriguing quests, than for all the random kill/fetch quests in China.

    I do not think it is that it is a console port though, as so many have said. It's interface is obviously geared towards console. I think the large part is the concessions Bethesda Software have made to try and make it a game with more "mainstream" appeal. I think if anything, the Steam Stats are telling, most people seem to be giving up playing it early (prior to level 25, a feat which is easily obtained http://steamcommunity.com/stats/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim/achievements/ ) at the time of writing this, the stats show that at least 50% of players look to be giving up somewhere between level 10, and level 25. The numbers of people who have completed guild quests to the end (which honestly, we're talking maybe two to four hours gameplay per guild), is staggeringly low. I think this game is a flop, I've tried to force myself to play it (and I have sunk 60 hours into the game,) TRYING to like the game... and it has failed to entertain me. It has felt tedious and boring. It has felt pointless.

    As a regular game, yes, this deserves a 6/10... it's pretty, but you can't play any more than two hours at a time, because it lacks anything to retain interest. There is a lot of lore in the game, yes; and infact some of it is entertaining. But I could as easily read the books online as in the game, and get as much entertainment value out of it. But as an ELDER SCROLLS game... I think it rates probably a 3/10, compared to the rest (I guess Morrowind being 10, and Battlespire being 1)

    If you are someone who is looking for an involving, engrossing, epic story, like Morrowind, and to a lesser extent, Oblivion; then look elsewhere.

    If you are looking for "kewl swords and spells and kik'n a** and man you fight dargons!", then this is likely the game for you. It is a lot like the Fable series... (fun in their own rights), but not what you'd come to have expected from a company like Bethesda, or from a game that takes itself this seriously.    … Expand
  18. NoclearSqworms
    Nov 28, 2011
    10
    This is definitely the right choice for Game of the Year. While Oblivion didnt have your character drawn into any particular "story" while running around on all of those sidequests, Skyrim sucks you in hard during each and every storyline. The quests you do pertain directly to a lot of the books that are littered around Skyrim (and now sit cozily on bookshelfs in three of my houses). TheThis is definitely the right choice for Game of the Year. While Oblivion didnt have your character drawn into any particular "story" while running around on all of those sidequests, Skyrim sucks you in hard during each and every storyline. The quests you do pertain directly to a lot of the books that are littered around Skyrim (and now sit cozily on bookshelfs in three of my houses). The shouts that change the weather are great for clearing up that haze or the snowstorm and making everything look pristine. Ahh... and you can summon a dragon (and numerous other minions if you are a conjurer) !! Whose side are you on in the civil war??? *Stormcloak*… Expand
  19. cowkiller1234
    Nov 27, 2011
    10
    This game is a terrific RPG! It is one of the only RPGs that isn't in your face about the choices you made (for instance, being evil/good doesn't change the way you look.) I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't have an arena like in oblivion, and the plant life is familiar looking and not foreign looking like in morrowind, but it is still terrific!
  20. Compgamer55
    Nov 27, 2011
    10
    This is a very worthy next installment in the elder scrolls. The graphics are good, the gameplay is fluid, the lore is outstanding. Having started the series at morrowind it has been interesting to see the lore develop through out the series and I really like how you can hear/talk to people about the other lands that you have previosly visited and sometimes they even talk about actions ofThis is a very worthy next installment in the elder scrolls. The graphics are good, the gameplay is fluid, the lore is outstanding. Having started the series at morrowind it has been interesting to see the lore develop through out the series and I really like how you can hear/talk to people about the other lands that you have previosly visited and sometimes they even talk about actions of your previous character. (ex hearing of an eruption on red mountain that caused alot of elves to relocate to skyrim). They have improved the gamplay alot, the fighting is outstanding but one of my favorite additions was the ability to buy and upgraid a house, particularly the weapon racks and mounts that were added. I think its cool to be able to put my old sword up on the wall, or to have my favorite set on a rack for easy taking whenever I want. The only part I was a little disappointed in is the dark brotherhood quest line seemed a little short and was too easy. My character was very not stealthy and I had no problem completing the quests w/ no bounties or killing necessary people where as in oblivion that was impossible in many missions and overall the oblivion quests were more exciting (for the dark brotherhood). There is an abundance of quests, its really crazy the amount they put into this. I also think the dewmer ruins in this game are far more interesting to explore than in the other titles. Crafting is also a very big upgrade. I LOVE the redesigned armor, oblivions armor was rather ugly in my opinion and even possessing daedric armor didnt excite me as much where as in this game almost all the armor looks great. Another downfall for me is some of the characters use the same voice (one in particular is very distinct and able to be heard from few characters) The world is very large and full of places to explore, iv played for over 80 hrs and im not near finished. I cant wait for the DLC to come out... Also to Therealjonah who was the top negative rater when I posted this I just loled at him. I read down to the part where he said some thing like "when the first morrowind came out..." what a moron morrowind is the Eldar scroll III, thats some "experience". To add to that he wants morrowind with better graphics, anyone with the PC version of morrowind has access to all the mods made to the game MANY of which re-do much of the visuals to make them look much better and add variety I suggest trying them out. To someone else "This game is really broken on PC, it's unbelievable that reviewers do not take into account whether developers put in any effort on the version (PC) of the game that they are rating" wouldnt know I bought it on the 360, why would anyone who has it on a console take into consideration how it runs on the PC? Thats the dumbest expectation from people iv ever heard... I own morrowind and oblivion on console and PC, do prefer PC but went with console for this one until it goes on sale on steam or something but why would I think that the majority of people who will own it once on a console car about the PC? Anyway Overall this game is great, a vast improvement in the series and I will enjoy playing it until the next installment comes out, hopefully the gap wont be as large as the last one! 10/10… Expand
  21. Optim
    Nov 27, 2011
    10
    A fantastic game that will give you a run for it's money. It deserves all of it's critical acclaim because it has been improved so much by Bethesda it's actually insane. The main quest is fun, the side quests are numerous and the gameplay has been improved tenfold. The environment will change by your will, the people will talk about your deeds, random events will keep you occupiedA fantastic game that will give you a run for it's money. It deserves all of it's critical acclaim because it has been improved so much by Bethesda it's actually insane. The main quest is fun, the side quests are numerous and the gameplay has been improved tenfold. The environment will change by your will, the people will talk about your deeds, random events will keep you occupied throughout the world and the endless amounts of towns and dungeons will keep you occupied forever. An amazing, captivating game that is worth EVERY penny. A ten out of ten for me.… Expand
  22. Hogwashskin
    Nov 27, 2011
    10
    I'm not going to say this is incredible, because you already know it. Instead I'll state two facts about my Skyrim experience. One: I've played sixty hours. Two: I feel I've only scratched the surface. There is an unimaginable volume of material in this game. It's so well-realised that fast travelling between locations seems incredibly wasteful - you'll never know what places you'veI'm not going to say this is incredible, because you already know it. Instead I'll state two facts about my Skyrim experience. One: I've played sixty hours. Two: I feel I've only scratched the surface. There is an unimaginable volume of material in this game. It's so well-realised that fast travelling between locations seems incredibly wasteful - you'll never know what places you've missed, or encounters, characters, quests, treasures. I haven't fast travelled once. I haven't wanted to. Each time I'm sent off somewhere, I go by foot, and never cease to come across astounding experiences. Some criticise the game's animations or voice acting or whatever. To me this is anal retentive. The game is **** huge. Experience it. Enjoy its scope and ambition. When I'm walking through an autumnal mountain pass at sundown, I'm not thinking about UI niggles, I'm thinking: "holy **** The animations are fine, the level scaling is fine - a solid compromise between Morrowind and Oblivion - the towns are huge, the characters brilliant, the combat bloody good, the quests well-thought out and, of course, infinite. There is too much excellence in this game to give it 2/10 for a few unsatisfying door textures. Ignore the grumpy little graphics whores who expect games to look better than real life. Try Skyrim for yourself. It's brilliant. And endless.… Expand
  23. Matonk
    Nov 27, 2011
    10
    This game is incredible. I have spent 100 hours on it with one character, and probably will spend 100 more. For once in a RPG, I actually feel immersed, I spend more time wandering around exploring than doing quests, because the sandbox world is so amazing. You could play this game like a life sim, and still get your moneys worth out of it. Donâ
  24. loloynage
    Nov 27, 2011
    10
    This game is one of the best i have ever played. Even if it has some bugs, it is an incredible game, probably one of the best I ever played. A game filled with content and missions that do not feel frustrating and repetitive, but fun and exciting. This is probably the best RPG i have yet played. Don't be discouraged to buy this game because of the bugs, they hardly stop you from enjoyingThis game is one of the best i have ever played. Even if it has some bugs, it is an incredible game, probably one of the best I ever played. A game filled with content and missions that do not feel frustrating and repetitive, but fun and exciting. This is probably the best RPG i have yet played. Don't be discouraged to buy this game because of the bugs, they hardly stop you from enjoying this masterpiece.… Expand
  25. Grimloon
    Nov 27, 2011
    9
    It's not Oblivion, it certainly isn't Morrowind. Good fun though! This game is probably the most approachable Elder Scrolls game so far but it has to make sacrifices to be that. [Insert generic anti console rant here]. It's made anti RPG players pure fanatics for the genre by restricting the options. The ones that are left are glorious, just not as great as some of us are used to.
  26. drachehexe
    Nov 27, 2011
    8
    Anybody who gives this game more than 7.5 isn't looking at Skyrim objectively or they know nothing about RPG's in general.

    Skyrim is a beautiful, full world. There are plenty of quests to do, people to meet, and dragons to kill. However, none of it is really innovative. Other than dragons Skyrim doesn't really add anything new to the Oblivion formula. Just about everything that made    Anybody who gives this game more than 7.5 isn't looking at Skyrim objectively or they know nothing about RPG's in general.

    Skyrim is a beautiful, full world. There are plenty of quests to do, people to meet, and dragons to kill. However, none of it is really innovative. Other than dragons Skyrim doesn't really add anything new to the Oblivion formula. Just about everything that made Oblivion good is there, and not much else.

    The graphics are beautiful, the game-play is smooth for the most part, the dialogue and voice acting are top notch (even if voice actors are reused ad naseum). Sadly the game has a serious number of little flaws that, when added together, really make Skyrim and overall disappointment.

    Starting with the interface. Definitely developed with consoles in mind. For PC users it's slow, clunky, and just plain bad. Even using my 360 controller with the PC version of the game it's just not right. This is probably why I don't own a console, this minimalistic design scheme is weak and uninspired.

    The interface is most troubling because it gets in the way of the meat of of any RPG; combat. You'll often find find yourself accessing the inventory several times through combat to change spells, or drink potions, or switch from dual wield to weapon and shield. Even with the "favorites" button which can cut time navigating the menus it still becomes an annoyance breaking up the flow of a particular battle and ruining the overall experience.

    Moving on to keyboard controls they are just plain screwed it up. Even after the patch I cannot make my own custom keyboard setup as the game fails to save any of the changes I make. And the default controls are a mess. They could have taken some hints from some of the modern day standards instead of screwing it up just to be different. Different isn't always better.

    The level and skill advancement hasn't changed much from Oblivion, except now you can choose various perks from high skill levels that used to be automatically assigned as you progressed in Oblivion. The spells and skill selection hasn't changed much (if at all) which is also disappointing.

    Combat is action oriented hack and slash where your skill with the keyboard (or controller) is more important than your character stats. As everything you face will be tailored to your level you will, for the most part, never find anything too hard or too easy if you approach the encounter right.. Honestly, I think my characters skill with a bow should be more important than my skill of aiming the bow for him. While it's a standard for action RPG's it lessens character development.

    You will find tho that making a character to your play style will be pretty easy. The balance and difference between various play styles is well done and feel quite different for the most part, requiring different strategies for encounters. Mages, warriors, rogues, and rogue-mages, and warrior mages all feel independent of each other. This is perhaps the highlight of the game mechanics.

    The biggest disappointment of this game is Bethesda's promise of certain things that they failed to achieve. One was the "alieness" you felt in Morrowind. They promised players would feel like a stranger in a strange land with Skyrim, much like the unique presentation of Morrowind which was lost with the generic setting of Oblivion. Skyrim has no such sense of being unique in any way. It's more or less like one would expect an RPG set in snowy mountain regions with nordic influence.

    Skyrim is a fine game. It's fun to play and it's vast. There is lots to look at and do. But it's not perfect. It's certainly better than most other open world RPG's (Gothic 3 & 4, Risen) but then so are Morrowind and Oblivion to this day. Sadly, Skyrim fails to take what Morrowind and Oblivion games us to the next level. It just gives us more of the same but with a worse interface.    … Expand
  27. Therealjonah
    Nov 27, 2011
    4
    Hey everyone. Time for my review of the most anticipated game of this year. I picked the game up as soon as it came out. and i have been playing it since. 70 hours into the game, here are my experienced thoughts, I have to say i am not all that impressed. We are redlining here. The first thing i noticed is that this game is "exactly" like the last oblivon. Just amped up a bit. Let me takeHey everyone. Time for my review of the most anticipated game of this year. I picked the game up as soon as it came out. and i have been playing it since. 70 hours into the game, here are my experienced thoughts, I have to say i am not all that impressed. We are redlining here. The first thing i noticed is that this game is "exactly" like the last oblivon. Just amped up a bit. Let me take this moment to say that the first morrowind was and still is the best one. why dont you bethseda scammers remake that one for us with skyrims graphics? The ability to leviatate was the best part of morrowind. . Being able tocraft your spells as weak or powerful as you chose, to make your belt of leviatate and fly through the air raining destruction spells down on the world. There was also very unique and powerful items available. to the user. Such as the incredible boots of blinding speed. How come there is no items as cool as those boots in the two recent editions of morrowind.(and i played the sh**t out of oblivion and morrowind) I was disappointed to find that skyrim is the same as oblivion. The dungeons are nice, the puzzles and amount of underground crevices to explore is greater than oblivion was but still the game seems to lack that thuum of power. The shouts are well pretty useless really. i have only found one of those special skill statues(the lady) I miss how morrwind allowed you to pick your birth star and get a special ability in it. i dont like how skyrim wont let you craft very powerful items. in morrowind i could make a fireball spell that required 1000 mana and did equivelent damage. in skyrim i cant make any spells at all. just theones they give me. Even the enchanting of items is very limited in skyrim. Its way to quick and easy to become the head of a guild. and it offers no bonus or perks to the user. The only really useful thing guilds do is provide neat missions. other than the thieves guild wich allows you to pay off the guards instead of going to jailand or paying a fine. i quickly realized there is little to no point in crafting my own gear since the stuff i find will always be better. The only two self enchanted items i use are twin ebony swords i enchanted with fire and frost. nothing epic, i set them to 10 damage each(max is about 31 so far.i dont expect it to go up much.) and if i set them to max damage they would only be useable once. as is i set them to be usuable 350 ish times each.(saves on recharging them after every swing or battle) There is a lot ofd walking around and more fast traveling. The horse is useless, basically it lets you run without using your stamina and you cant fight from horseback. There is a lot of glitches i have found. example theres this one dungeon with a pit 20 ft deep filled with water. at the bottom in one corner is a... air bubble. There are lots of quest glitches, some i have completed 3 or 4 times. they keep coming back up though.There are problems with displaying items in my house. And the options to furnish your houses are lame. You should be able to choose how many chests book shelves and/or sword racks you put in and where they go. Also i put say a sword on a shelf and leave and come back and its been thrown off the shelf onto the floor. i have had things fall through the table and floor on me as well.
    The oriniginal morrowind with these graphics would be awesome. And all those things you have to give to delvin..wtf i want stuff like that in my house. so far the coolest ornaments i have found are those dynamo cores(nice animations on em) and a bee in a jar.(very cool) Overall the game is ok. but in all honesty wtf did you guys waste your time on oblivion for? didnt you fu**ers make enough on the first one? what happened to the making of this game ? do you guys think we are all stupid or something?
    i hope you get your acts together and bring back the things that made this game so epic in the first place. even in oblvion i could at least become a god of sorts. not the same as morrwind mind but still. Nothing quite makes yoiu feel as powerful as flying over a city and wiping it out with a giant fireball. !!!    … Expand
  28. Jonathanp55
    Nov 27, 2011
    8
    It is a fun game. Great main story, fun game play, beautiful graphics, open world. But its not all good. The side missions, for example, the Mages Guild in this game just sucks. I mean, when you complete the mission, its like they say "good job, now here you win" and thats it! Blood graphics are still not impressive for an M rated game. ALOT of glitches in the game, usually major glichesIt is a fun game. Great main story, fun game play, beautiful graphics, open world. But its not all good. The side missions, for example, the Mages Guild in this game just sucks. I mean, when you complete the mission, its like they say "good job, now here you win" and thats it! Blood graphics are still not impressive for an M rated game. ALOT of glitches in the game, usually major gliches that probably are figured out by now. Overall a good game, but please Elder Scroll, work on side quests too!… Expand
  29. Motoob
    Nov 26, 2011
    4
    The game plays well until it doesn't. Quite simply the game crashes constantly. On average with my computer set up the game crashes between 30-45 minutes of gameplay.
  30. Copenhagun
    Nov 26, 2011
    7
    Over-hyped. Too much walking, and riding a horse around vast amounts of land, and not enough action. Also, it'd be nice to know what your level is, versus the level of the enemy on screen consistently. I hate getting reamed by an enemy npc, because I couldn't see it level vs. my level.
  31. Wintre
    Nov 26, 2011
    9
    Graphically amazing, etc etc. It is worth buying this game for the sheer number of hours you can spend playing it, the quests and storylines just don't end. That said, it isn't perfect. My only con is that, after rising to the top in different guilds, becoming Thane is different cities, even after winning the war, it doesn't seem like you've done anything. The reactions toward you areGraphically amazing, etc etc. It is worth buying this game for the sheer number of hours you can spend playing it, the quests and storylines just don't end. That said, it isn't perfect. My only con is that, after rising to the top in different guilds, becoming Thane is different cities, even after winning the war, it doesn't seem like you've done anything. The reactions toward you are pretty much the same as when you started the game. For me, that isn't a problem because I don't mind not getting attention from NPCs. For others, it might be. Also, this game does have a small problem of just randomly crashing now and again. The people who have these problems just need to give up playing on a computer, it does that because their graphic cards aren't up to date or they're from the 90s.… Expand
  32. Jima
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    This game is amazing. I am almost 30 hours in and feel like I just started the game. Around every corner is something a little more exciting.
  33. InsidePCgaming
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    Hands down best game of the year! The whole landscape is intrigueing. The graphics are amazing. To explain the game simply, would be to say that itâ
  34. wallofjericho42
    Nov 26, 2011
    5
    I'm stuck between a 10 or a 1 rating for this game. I really should have purchased the Xbox version, because the PC version is so prone to glitching, lagging, and crashing that it makes the game near unplayable. I can barely play the game anymore because it crashes so much and so often. The game itself is excellent no doubt. I just wish I could play it.
  35. Caboosey
    Nov 26, 2011
    9
    Simply amazing. No words can describe the feeling you get as you roam the vast tundra of skyrim as a dragon circles overhead. Despite the unlimited list of amazing parts included into this game, its not perfect. Some really boring side quests and extremely repetitive voice acting among the cities (And you thought it couldn't get worse than talks of mudcrabs). On the other hand, there areSimply amazing. No words can describe the feeling you get as you roam the vast tundra of skyrim as a dragon circles overhead. Despite the unlimited list of amazing parts included into this game, its not perfect. Some really boring side quests and extremely repetitive voice acting among the cities (And you thought it couldn't get worse than talks of mudcrabs). On the other hand, there are amazing side quests and so many i haven't discovered yet. The diversity of virtually everything leaves me knowing i'll play this for years to come. And the modding community loves Bethseda's games just as much as i do. It is impossible to argue that this game isn't one of the best games ever.… Expand
  36. utking
    Nov 26, 2011
    4
    Bad ui, bad bugs, not good enough graphics. Not showing any skills, too easy to play. Oblivion was 10x times better!!...........................................
  37. Insanityof-Dave
    Nov 26, 2011
    9
    Current Play Time: 52 Hours
    Review: Excellent
    Graphic's: 8/10 Sound effects and music: 9.5/10 Voice acting 8/10 Gameplay: 9/10 Content: 10/10 Controls: 9/10 Interface: 6/10 Replayability: 10/10 Value for money: 9.5/10 Overall an excellent game worth the £29.75 I paid for it. The interface is very poor as its a console port and quick swaping weapons/spells is terrible. However    Current Play Time: 52 Hours
    Review: Excellent
    Graphic's: 8/10
    Sound effects and music: 9.5/10
    Voice acting 8/10
    Gameplay: 9/10
    Content: 10/10
    Controls: 9/10
    Interface: 6/10
    Replayability: 10/10
    Value for money: 9.5/10

    Overall an excellent game worth the £29.75 I paid for it. The interface is very poor as its a console port and quick swaping weapons/spells is terrible. However these are small issues as im sure they will get modded ON THE PC (HAHA to consoles who pay £50 for a game then have to pay for the DLC and can't mod the game)    … Expand
  38. bob13bob
    Nov 26, 2011
    2
    The game is boring. You spend 90% of your time running around the world (boring) and going through dark dungeons with maybe 15 easy creature fights (boring).. Combat is shallow and uninspiring with no skill or challenge. An FPS gears of wars game requires more tactical combat techniques (duck+shoot, duck + blind shoot+ shooting from the hip+ aim shooting + when to roll and seek cover+The game is boring. You spend 90% of your time running around the world (boring) and going through dark dungeons with maybe 15 easy creature fights (boring).. Combat is shallow and uninspiring with no skill or challenge. An FPS gears of wars game requires more tactical combat techniques (duck+shoot, duck + blind shoot+ shooting from the hip+ aim shooting + when to roll and seek cover+ weapons that are actually used differently and tactically in different situations = all required to play the game) This game, either swing a floaty sword or use range (all range is the same)… Expand
  39. BillGR17
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    This game has everything the rpg player want !
    I have play this game more than 130 hours on steam and i LOVE IT
    The elder scrolls is the only game that it gets better and better ! They did what we ask they put everything we was talking about they fix everything that wasnt working good from the oblivion and now for the first time i see ppl traveling !!! No i am not talking about some    This game has everything the rpg player want !
    I have play this game more than 130 hours on steam and i LOVE IT
    The elder scrolls is the only game that it gets better and better !
    They did what we ask they put everything we was talking about they fix everything that wasnt working good from the oblivion and now for the first time i see ppl traveling !!!
    No i am not talking about some hunters or some guards i am talking about ppl from ur guild (like the companions) u can spot them traveling (its a little bit hard to find them ) they go and do stuff the dragons are here and they can come to u anytime anywhere how cool is that?
    if u are low lvl or weak u need to run hide and do stuff to escape or if u are strong u can fight it u can shout to make force him to land ! and now u can be what u want to be and u can just be good at everything !! a lot of perks a lot of quest a lot of stuff to find ! ok i cant talk now i am going to play it !    … Expand
  40. Mcad
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    Simply great game, can't fault it. Graphics look great, it plays well and the story is interesting and follows on from the 2 previous great games. Don't think bethsda has made a bad game yet.
  41. Jasmo
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    Same premise as other Bethesda games with the non-vital central story line and unlimited opportunity to set you own goals and define your own criteria for success. I guess for those with no imagination and needing to be hand held down a specific path this is a negative but for me, being able to give free range to ones own imagination is what play is all about. Visually stunning even on aSame premise as other Bethesda games with the non-vital central story line and unlimited opportunity to set you own goals and define your own criteria for success. I guess for those with no imagination and needing to be hand held down a specific path this is a negative but for me, being able to give free range to ones own imagination is what play is all about. Visually stunning even on a laptop. Dungeon crawls are a big improvement over the mind numbing bi chromatic monotony of Oblivion. Use of a rich mix of design elements makes every dungeon feel different even though one knows they have to reuse elements in a design this massive. Despite all the complaints, the only significant issue I have had is the classic memory leak issue which can lead to CTD every few hours if not managed. As long as you leave and re-enter every few hours or whenever you see signs of texture rendering not being correct it runs fine even on higher settings. Fully immersing and enjoyable. I am 150 hours in and have not gone past half way on any major quest lines. Just too much fun stuff to do.… Expand
  42. Gray_Perth
    Nov 26, 2011
    9
    I started with Daggerfall many years ago, and enjoyed Morrowind and Oblivion too -- Skyrim does _not_ disappoint. I am playing on an underpowered laptop with lowest graphics settings, and it's STILL engrossing. It's very immersive and quite simply entertaining -- it will eat up the hours as you complete quests and generally wander around, finding new and interesting things around almostI started with Daggerfall many years ago, and enjoyed Morrowind and Oblivion too -- Skyrim does _not_ disappoint. I am playing on an underpowered laptop with lowest graphics settings, and it's STILL engrossing. It's very immersive and quite simply entertaining -- it will eat up the hours as you complete quests and generally wander around, finding new and interesting things around almost every corner. I only awarded 9/10 because of a few bugs/glitches, and things such as: not really any dialogue choices, too many NPCs are flagged as "essential" and are unkillable, no proper incentive to eat or sleep, and destruction magic being underpowered at higher levels. But these are small nitpicks in a really entertaining game! It's just fun to play, to explore, to quest, to kill things and level up, to buy a house, visit new cities, slay dragons, etc. etc. Overall this is a very solid RPG game with interesting quests left-right-and-centre. I have already got my AUS$90 worth and I'm only about 40 hours in. I expect to hit 100 hours easily with this game. Recommended! 9/10… Expand
  43. Shionsan
    Nov 26, 2011
    4
    An awesome game for the first few hours. World of Skyrim is big and nicely detailed. And pretty much everything is highly improved compared to previous series of Elder Scrolls. But after those few hours of gameplay you'll start to realise that all this awesomeness, all this freedom Skyrim gives you, is nothing but illusion. While game allows player to do what he want and when he want, anyAn awesome game for the first few hours. World of Skyrim is big and nicely detailed. And pretty much everything is highly improved compared to previous series of Elder Scrolls. But after those few hours of gameplay you'll start to realise that all this awesomeness, all this freedom Skyrim gives you, is nothing but illusion. While game allows player to do what he want and when he want, any "not-by-script" actions will break the game at some point, making it impossible to proceed with storyline without console shamanism. Quests have a lot of obviously stupid algorithmic errors, and do not take player's possible misbehaviour in account. It's like they were written by random people, who never seen each other, not to say talked about each others quests conflicting with each other. Bethesda absolutely should spend some of that money on hiring a beta-tester team.

    There's a lot of "generic" quests, that tells you to kill/steal/buttkick something and go back for crappy sum of 100-300 coins. Those "Infinite quests" is nothing more but a lame "MMORPG-style grinding". The story itself is straightforward, onesided and utterly stupid. For example, if there is a war between two groups, and you happen to join one of them, the other side will hate you, and try to kill you should opportunity arise. But they do not! You can easily come to enemy's headquarters, put buckets on everyone's heads, steal everything, shout on everyone, ask "How's the war, dude? Does my actions screw your life much, eh?", and easily waltz outside like nothing happened. The multiple choices player makes does affect almost nothing. And sometimes those illusional choices are not even given (I don't want to kill anyone for that stupid Boethiah, but there is no option to buttkick her back to oblivion).

    But the worst of them all is one strong feeling that gets stronger with each quest done: the land of Skyrim consists only of dumb and lazy people. Nothing, I mean absolutely nothing happens without players involvement. Everything that is done in Skyrim - is done by player. From the moment you are given controls at Helgen, till the moment quit the game - nothing is happening here. Well wolfs do run after deers in woods, kill them and leave all that meat to rot. Necromancers sometimes kick bandit's butts if they meet them around you. And number of thieves die by the hands of local guards every night at Riften. Dragons sometimes attack guards, while completely ignoring anyone else. But that's all. There's WAR going on, but noone does sh*t! Why? This game have a time. Why not use it?

    It's not a surprise the AI's dumb. They do fight all right (looks ugly still). But when in peace-mode... I wonder if all Skyrim NPC's are actually lonely, despite living in cities full of same stupid NPCs. I mean everyone do talk to you as you pass by. And even if you just stand there, not looking at them, they talk to your back. There is a quest turn-point and some smart explanations are done by "immortal" VIP-NPC, but some old beggar-dude cuts in and asks for a coin, while completly muffing out the quest-NPCs speech. Sometimes there are even like 5 NPC's talking together. So ronery... And I won't talk about the aspects of path-finding, "follow-me" states, quest-scenes and other script-based AI stuff that always have at least a 20% chance of failing, what almost always leads to a game-breaking end.

    There is also a lot of other minor bugs, like shifted object spawn locations, mannequin's infinitely spawning armor pieces, lot's of places where player can completly stuck without "tcl", screwed animations, out-of-place effects, like paralysis that happens on enemy's death, or sneak-perk's brief-invisibility that can screw the nightingale powers, NPC's that spawn being half underground and a pack of other dumb stuff I can't remember right now. Come on, guys! Just play your own game once. It's not so hard to spot at least a half of those bugs in just a few hours of gameplay.

    I hear Elder's Scrolls series always had a habit of being released half-cooked, so the real score should be given only after the grand-patch will come out. But this time the amount of bugs is so big, I'm afraid not even this patch will deal with them all. So here's 10 for making big beautiful and detailed world, -3 for a 20% chance of any quest failing and making the game unplayable anymore, -1 for the gameplay balance which is simply absent after you max out few skills, and -2 for somewhat lame storyline and a bunch of lonely, lazy and utterly dumb NPCs, that swarm the land of Skyrim. That makes 4, which is bad, 'cause making a nice console-textured world with good weather effects is not enough for a good game. Let's hope the incoming patch will actually make this game worth it's price.    … Expand
  44. wm4l
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    Å
  45. Chrono
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    A true masterpiece, it's hard to say what RPG game will surpass it in 2012. The start is absolutely epic the build up is phenomonal once you have the world to your self, the world is alive and that's a good thing and even after you leave it, it will still feel alive that is a key point to a non-linear game and Bestheda have nailed it, The story and immersion are the things that are neededA true masterpiece, it's hard to say what RPG game will surpass it in 2012. The start is absolutely epic the build up is phenomonal once you have the world to your self, the world is alive and that's a good thing and even after you leave it, it will still feel alive that is a key point to a non-linear game and Bestheda have nailed it, The story and immersion are the things that are needed most in an RPG game and this game exceeds it, however there are a few glitches and bugs but they will eventually get fixed. DRAGONS FTW… Expand
  46. Fuzz
    Nov 26, 2011
    10
    Finally a game I've been anticipating for a long time doesn't disappoint me and, in fact, surpasses my initial expectations. Incredible game, a TON of content, engaging story and amazing gameplay choices. WARNING: Will cause sleep deprivation.
  47. Stimpy
    Nov 25, 2011
    9
    Like Morrowind and Oblivion before it, a damn good game. I could rave about all the things I love about this game, but will focus on the interface.

    It is an adjustment from the old way, and for the first day or two I thought it was a sacrifice to benefit the console players, but I have adapted and appreciated the change. One thing I appreciate, is that the E key not only picks up items,    Like Morrowind and Oblivion before it, a damn good game. I could rave about all the things I love about this game, but will focus on the interface.

    It is an adjustment from the old way, and for the first day or two I thought it was a sacrifice to benefit the console players, but I have adapted and appreciated the change. One thing I appreciate, is that the E key not only picks up items, but you hold down the button, to hold the item, a simple improvement. And the duel weapon/spell system is a great new idea, although I would like it a bit more polished, sometimes I need to go into my inventory to equip two of the same weapon and other minor issues. Hopefully that will change in a patch. Otherwise, no complaints.    … Expand
  48. nowandever29
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    Skyim, put simply, is a fantastic game, worthy of the undivided attention of any fan of role playing games. It is deep, well written and acted, well designed and beautiful. The game does have the occasional bug, and the characters still look fairly creepy, but those are quibbles - this is the best video game this year, and continually surprises. Honestly. thank you, Bethesda!
  49. wastelander75
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    Exceptionally well put together game. Breath-taking visuals, fantastic audio and music score. Probably the best Elder Scrolls, and the absolute best Bethesda game, to date.
  50. Murugan
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    I literally cannot remember the last time I played a game and was so embroiled in a fictional world. Let me begin by stating that this game is not perfect (melee combat still feels a tad floaty and some glitches exist) but I don't believe any game is flawless. TES V, though, comes close enough to warrant a perfect score. First, one must realize the sheer amount of improvement over theI literally cannot remember the last time I played a game and was so embroiled in a fictional world. Let me begin by stating that this game is not perfect (melee combat still feels a tad floaty and some glitches exist) but I don't believe any game is flawless. TES V, though, comes close enough to warrant a perfect score. First, one must realize the sheer amount of improvement over the previous installment. Graphically, this edition is clearly superior. Magic is far more entertaining and viable, dual wielding is an excellent addition, and the level design has been improved drastically. Quest lines range from moderately enjoyable to downright fantastic, and voice overs and animations have been worked on and improved. Perhaps most importantly, though, is the realization that this game offers a truly living, breathing world to explore and conquer. Throw in some dragons, loot, and a few houses to buy, and you have yourself a game that stands above the competition. Nothing is perfect. But this game shines in ways I haven't seen for a long, long time.… Expand
  51. Minderrx
    Nov 25, 2011
    9
    Been waiting for this game to come out for 3 years now. Ant i must say i got much much more than i expected. All thou this game requires good hardware to run on its true beauty i recommend this game to every one who loves previous Elder scrolls titles.
  52. murlochieftain
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    Skyrim gives you everything the old Elder Scrolls game lacked. The old Elder Scrolls, (3 and 4, specifically,) were amazing, by the way. The combat system is intense and fun, something you don't get tired of doing after hours of game play. The leveling is rewarding with perks and new items and monsters, (I, for one, do NOT want to find banded Iron armor at level 28, thank you.) The nonSkyrim gives you everything the old Elder Scrolls game lacked. The old Elder Scrolls, (3 and 4, specifically,) were amazing, by the way. The combat system is intense and fun, something you don't get tired of doing after hours of game play. The leveling is rewarding with perks and new items and monsters, (I, for one, do NOT want to find banded Iron armor at level 28, thank you.) The non player characters and the landscape around you is immersing and visually stunning, keeping you in their world instead of the real one. Bethesda truly produced a higher standard for the RPG genre, and with the addition of mods and expansion DLC I will be seeing myself playing this game for years to come.

    NOTE:
    Do not complain about the graphics if you are playing it on a console. A good pc will beat the crap out of console graphics any day. This game is NOT a console port, it was meant for the PC, with better graphics and adjustable controls. If you think this is a port, you have obviously not even bothered changing the controls, something very easily done in the menus. Bugs area problem, but they do NOT break the game for you, so please do stop complaining. The minor glitches will be fixed with a patch in a few days but the game is tons of fun regardless. (I actually enjoy exploiting glitches and bugs when I find them, they made Oblivion very interesting for me.)

    There was a lot of work put into this game, and it really shows. Good job, and thank you, Bethesda.    … Expand
  53. Appleman
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    A lot of reviews seem to be from people having issues with bugs (graphical or otherwise). Let me start off by saying these reviews do not represent the majority by any means. I've discussed Skyrim in real life with 8 of my friends thus far. All 9 of us, myself included, have had no issues. I bought Skyrim pre-release off Steam and started playing 25 minutes after midnight. I expected quiteA lot of reviews seem to be from people having issues with bugs (graphical or otherwise). Let me start off by saying these reviews do not represent the majority by any means. I've discussed Skyrim in real life with 8 of my friends thus far. All 9 of us, myself included, have had no issues. I bought Skyrim pre-release off Steam and started playing 25 minutes after midnight. I expected quite a few bugs to be present for the first two weeks or so. That was not the case. I've spent 198 in-game days thus far and have only encountered one quest-breaking bug, which I was able to fix myself with the console. If you don't like using the console, Bethesda will send out a patch to address such issues. The PC controls are confusing at first, but so far other reviews have been over-exaggerating. Play the game for three hours or so and you'll have the controls down no problem. If you're too set in your ways to get used to new controls, then Skyrim allows you to change them. That being said, you need an external mouse. Playing Skyrim on a laptop without an external mouse is too awkward; although, that's the case with a lot of games these days.

    Another common issue seems to be the menus. There are a few issues in that area. Navigating the perk tree is awkward using the arrows; however, if you use the mouse there really isn't any issue. Navigating the main menu, especially if you wish to see "General Stats" is downright impossible without the mouse. You aren't able to see item stats (weight, cost, etc) without first selecting the item. Items aren't at all organized in containers, such as chests. I believe Fallout 3 did a better job of the trading-with-NPCs screen. Overall they could be better, but there aren't any deal-breaking issues. Personally, I actually like spending time going through everything I've collected. "Ooo I didn't notice I collected such-and-such item! Cool!"

    I could go on and on about stuff other people have said, but instead I'll keep this short and end by saying overall Oblivion was a great game. Skyrim is even better. The only score that makes sense is 10/10.    … Expand
  54. TrickyC
    Nov 25, 2011
    0
    Oh boy was this game was a disappointment in The Elder Scrolls series whose downfall started with Battlespire and now continues with Skyrim. Where do I be begin? Let's start with the menus. The menus in Skrim can usually only be navigated with the keyboard and there is no notification or any type of feedback as to if you hit a menu item or not because all the goddamn menus are strictlyOh boy was this game was a disappointment in The Elder Scrolls series whose downfall started with Battlespire and now continues with Skyrim. Where do I be begin? Let's start with the menus. The menus in Skrim can usually only be navigated with the keyboard and there is no notification or any type of feedback as to if you hit a menu item or not because all the goddamn menus are strictly black, white, and grey! The inventory menu is an unintuitive mess. It's awkward to navigate, it doesn't show your character so you have no clue what the **** is on your character unless you go through every single goddamn menu with in the inventory screen. To make it even worse, menus overlap at times and its impossible at a single glance to tell which menu is active. As if all of this wasn't bad even enough, simply pressing "escape" will bring up the main menu screen over any other menu screen you have open but you can't save or load from it until you close what ever menu screen you had up under the main menu. The menus in Skyrim are the worst I've ever seen in a game hands down. -2 points

    Controls; The default controls can charitably described as: Passable. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but skyrim has a few 'holy grail' buttons that you CANNOT remap. Good examples of this are the left mouse button, F, E, R, and Q. Try remapping any of those functions and new key you mapped doesn't work AND what ever you mapped to any of those keys doesn't work! Outstanding programming here! Next the favorite menu has potential to be good, but fails miserably. The Favorites menu pauses the game has a list of all items/spells you want to be able to quickly equip without going through the cluster****ed inventory screen. You can also set the number keys 1 to 8 to quickly use or ready something, however that's it. You can't use any other keys than 1 to 8. What the **** Why cant you atleast use all of the keys in that row or atleast use keys other than the number keys for that **** As if this piss poor design wasn't already bad enough, You cannot block while; duel wielding or having magic ready in 1 hand. You cannot cast while having a bow, 2 handed weapon, or shield out. This **** wasn't a problem since Daggerfall and now it's back 15 years later? -4 points

    Graphics; Okay, so the graphics are mostly good in the towns and dungeons and around the main roads. Heaven forbid you go off the beaten path! Even with all settings maxed out, the mountain textures look like they were pulled from morrowind 10 years earlier! Using the excuse: no one goes there is a fallacy in that The Elderscrolls games have ALWAYS been about exploring. To salt the wounds, Skyrim also offers no option to turn off BLOOM or HDR, both of which are abused to the point that the UN would step if they were citizens of any 3rd world country. -2 points Next us the skill system which is an interesting but inherently flawed step forward. To make things more interesting bethesda decided to add perks to skills which is an amusing thought and certain adds some depth, but it fails to make up for the removing of several skills and attributes all together. What the **** were they thinking? There is no unarmed skills, no way to increase your jumping/falling abilities, no way to increase your movement speed, and for a final kick to your ribs while you're down; you can't fight or do anything while underwater anymore. -2 points

    Thanks for trying, better luck next time, game over! 0 out of 10. This game shows not only a lack of respect and care for the PC release of a game, but also pure enmity toward PC games as a whole. do not pay money for this monstrosity!    … Expand
  55. worldcitizen19
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    10/10. Terrific graphics!! Terrific gameplay!! Terrific Puzzles and story!! No crashes!! Movement as smooth as silk. Amazing that such a huge game with so much data and information can play so well. Feel like looking everywhere and searching everything. This is a CLASSIC. This is a Game of the Year without competition. I'm using an Intel i72600k@3.8ghz, Zotac GTX 580 AMP, Gskill 8gb memory10/10. Terrific graphics!! Terrific gameplay!! Terrific Puzzles and story!! No crashes!! Movement as smooth as silk. Amazing that such a huge game with so much data and information can play so well. Feel like looking everywhere and searching everything. This is a CLASSIC. This is a Game of the Year without competition. I'm using an Intel i72600k@3.8ghz, Zotac GTX 580 AMP, Gskill 8gb memory and an Asus Republic of gamers MB and it was worth getting this new PC just for this game which of course I didn't but it does it justice.… Expand
  56. shot-link
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    Game is fantastic!! Skyrim is a masterpiece!! pros - fantastic game over all 10/10 for game play and interesting and fun if you play the game with out rushing you have 100+ hours easy !its fantastic and outstanding (I HOPE THERE WORKING ON ALLOT OF DLC AND EXPANSIONS!!!!!) Cant wait!! woulds best single player RPG!!!!!!

    cons - few bugs and a few quests could be longer - using dx9 but    Game is fantastic!! Skyrim is a masterpiece!! pros - fantastic game over all 10/10 for game play and interesting and fun if you play the game with out rushing you have 100+ hours easy !its fantastic and outstanding (I HOPE THERE WORKING ON ALLOT OF DLC AND EXPANSIONS!!!!!) Cant wait!! woulds best single player RPG!!!!!!

    cons - few bugs and a few quests could be longer - using dx9
    but they say future patches will fix bugs and dx11 update sounds promising!

    Random answer for some people for problems with with favorites well u can quickly switch them with pressing "Q" hover over the item with the mouse and press a number ( 1 - 9 ) =D done!    … Expand
  57. bigboned
    Nov 25, 2011
    10
    It's hard to say anything negative when you actually realize the amount of work went into this game. The environment is masterfully designed, you just can't help yourself wanting to ride everywhere and take on whatever road brings you. But then, Bethesda has always been good at open world design. Their accumulated experience since Daggerfall is immense. But I think the real difference inIt's hard to say anything negative when you actually realize the amount of work went into this game. The environment is masterfully designed, you just can't help yourself wanting to ride everywhere and take on whatever road brings you. But then, Bethesda has always been good at open world design. Their accumulated experience since Daggerfall is immense. But I think the real difference in this game is the story telling which lacked in previous releases or even in Fallout 3. Morrowind and Oblivion were equally good games but they didn't necessarily invite you in. Skyrim on the other hand, sucks you in from the first minute. Achieving this kind of flow in an open world game is a big ask and Bethesda deserves all the credit for it. They achieved this with a a masterpiece map, with the quality and the quantity of voice acting and with the living npcs.. The character development is really rewarding and yes you do get really powerful if you spend enough time in the game. Some people are complaining about game being easy but that's the beauty of it. You get rewarded for every minute you spent in the game. There's negatives tho.. My henchman is a massive idiot or my horse can't reverse from the edges of the hills.. Some enemies cannot spot me even thought there's big ball of fire coming from my direction and yes I do like my dragons harder to deal with. It's all OK tho.. When you look at the sheer epicness of this game, all the little glitches seem to disappear.… Expand
  58. kozzy420
    Nov 24, 2011
    10
    Bethesda did a great job on this game here, I was a hue fan of there older games (Morrowind, Daggerfall and Arena), but Oblivion and Fallout3 did not impress me much at all.

    Now comes Skyrim and Bethesda has done an amazing job improving things since Oblivion. Nearly everything is improved, from the story to the combat to the controls and performance. Its almost like they heard all my    Bethesda did a great job on this game here, I was a hue fan of there older games (Morrowind, Daggerfall and Arena), but Oblivion and Fallout3 did not impress me much at all.

    Now comes Skyrim and Bethesda has done an amazing job improving things since Oblivion. Nearly everything is improved, from the story to the combat to the controls and performance. Its almost like they heard all my issues with Oblivion and fixed them for Skyrim, great effort Bethesda!

    The soundtrack is epic as usual and of course the gameworld and lore is extremely well made. This all came as a very nice surprise to me though as I was not expecting all that much, but whats here is an epic rpg.

    Skyrim joins The Witcher2 as the best rpgs of 2011, both extremely well made and awesome rpg's that I loved to death. Its great when companies can improve on past games as well as Bethesda has done here with Skyrim, which is the best game from the rpg giants since Morrowind!

    Buy this game now!

    Here is to Skyrim and the great job by Bethesda!    … Expand
  59. timeformime
    Nov 24, 2011
    10
    Metacritic users who rate this game below a 5 can suck it, because Skyrim delivers in every possible way for those of you who want to immerse yourself in a fantasy world. Buy it, you will have spent your money as wisely as possible this holiday season.
  60. Bradballanger
    Nov 24, 2011
    10
    Skyrim is not just a game - it is a critical step in the evolution of gaming as we know it. I have beaten the game's 'main quest' four days ago. Still cannot pry myself away from the incredible world development. I find myself interested in trivial characters' doings. I find myself just drifting with the ebb and flow of what seems to be an incredibly advanced simulation of reality. SkyrimSkyrim is not just a game - it is a critical step in the evolution of gaming as we know it. I have beaten the game's 'main quest' four days ago. Still cannot pry myself away from the incredible world development. I find myself interested in trivial characters' doings. I find myself just drifting with the ebb and flow of what seems to be an incredibly advanced simulation of reality. Skyrim isn't about a linear storyline - for you ADD queefs, GTFO. This isn't a quick fix. This is simply an incredibly gorgeous world with the closest to real characters I have seen in a game. I begrudgingly state that as a filmmaker, I may have tread in the wrong industry.… Expand
  61. vangoat
    Nov 24, 2011
    10
    If you like open worlds and rpgs this game is amazing in every way. Graphics, characters, stories, and sound are all amazing and feel next gen. I played Dark Souls quite bit and this game is a calming wonderful experience with all the satisfaction and accomplishment. I thought I would never sell dark souls because of how great it was (albeit uber hard), but now i don't know if I'll everIf you like open worlds and rpgs this game is amazing in every way. Graphics, characters, stories, and sound are all amazing and feel next gen. I played Dark Souls quite bit and this game is a calming wonderful experience with all the satisfaction and accomplishment. I thought I would never sell dark souls because of how great it was (albeit uber hard), but now i don't know if I'll ever play it again. Obviously, Skyrim is not for everyone, but if you've every like an RPG this is the quintessential experience...unbeatable. Freedom beyond any game before it....I like my freedom.… Expand
  62. xanell
    Nov 24, 2011
    0
    I cannot give this game a score as it does not run on my pc, even after reporting the problem and trolling through various forums for answers I have not found a solution as yet. It seems the game wasnâ
  63. djinn71
    Nov 24, 2011
    10
    I really can't understand all of these review that go against the graphics, I am sorry to say that this is because of your computer not the game. I had the graphics turned up to ultra and they look next generation easily. The dungeon design improves massively upon oblivion with proper dungeons taking anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and dwemer/dwarven ruins are back. I played for 60I really can't understand all of these review that go against the graphics, I am sorry to say that this is because of your computer not the game. I had the graphics turned up to ultra and they look next generation easily. The dungeon design improves massively upon oblivion with proper dungeons taking anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours and dwemer/dwarven ruins are back. I played for 60 hours before I finished the main quest line.… Expand
  64. Kirsteek
    Nov 24, 2011
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I play a lot of RPG games and this had to be the best of them all. You start the game and within 5 minutes, a dragon appears. The story line is brilliant. The amount of quests you can do without storyline is immaculate. The map size is incredible and the expanse of places you can explore is unbelievable. I've started my second save to explore the other side of Skyrim. For anyone thinking of buying this game, do it and enjoy.… Expand
  65. jj808
    Nov 24, 2011
    5
    Skyrim is a decent game that will provide hours of gameplay and fun BUT this is all a moot point for now. with the release of the 1.2 patch it seems that a vast majority of the players experience the dreaded "CTD" error or Crash To Desktop. This issues pretty much renders the game unplayable and a waste of money for now.
  66. prinnylaharl
    Nov 24, 2011
    8
    Either my eye sight is gone or people are talking out their ass when they say the graphics are bad. It's quite good for a game, certain people just have THE PERFECT GAME in their head and will down vote anything that does not match it. Yea the game isn't perfect, no game ever will be. Pros; Great open world, good graphics, good voice overs, good mod support. Overall it's a hugeEither my eye sight is gone or people are talking out their ass when they say the graphics are bad. It's quite good for a game, certain people just have THE PERFECT GAME in their head and will down vote anything that does not match it. Yea the game isn't perfect, no game ever will be. Pros; Great open world, good graphics, good voice overs, good mod support. Overall it's a huge improvement from previous elder scroll games. Cons; Dragons are too easy, Smithing/Enchanting are too powerful later on, ocassioal crash bugs, interface was designed for consoles and they had to actually patch in mouse support for PCs. Level Scaling; While it's true that enemies and items scale based off your level, it is not to the extent that it happened in Oblivion. Your stats scale faster than theirs and they do get progressively easier, even to the point of being able to instantly kill nearly anything. It's not like before where you were punished for leveling. Again, it's far from perfect and was obviously designed as a console port, but it still manages to pull passed that and comes into it's own as a great RPG.… Expand
  67. Helixeagle
    Nov 24, 2011
    8
    After reading some of the more 'harsh' reviews I have come to one conclusion, they are not playing the same game as me. While Skyrim doesn't deserve top marks (and I will explain why) it certainly doesn't disappoint.

    Starting Skyrim up for the first time is like visiting an old friend who you haven't seen in a while, it's heading into the unknown and yet that familiar excitement starts to    After reading some of the more 'harsh' reviews I have come to one conclusion, they are not playing the same game as me. While Skyrim doesn't deserve top marks (and I will explain why) it certainly doesn't disappoint.

    Starting Skyrim up for the first time is like visiting an old friend who you haven't seen in a while, it's heading into the unknown and yet that familiar excitement starts to flow back, finally you are given the chance to customize your looks and this is where the fun begins.

    First, the graphics. I'm really not sure why people say they are dated, and even comparing them to oblivion, they are more advance, I would say looking back that Oblivion was too bright and colourful which made it much more cartoony, but I can accept that, Cyrodiil was a completely different region to Skyrim. Skyrim is just grittier and darker due to a change of climate and a more realistic colour tone.

    The game has kept me interested for 30+ hours over the week, and I'm still going, I haven't even touched the main quest out of interest on exploring and side questing, each character you talk to has his own personality, and sometimes I find myself going out of my way to teach people a lesson for insulting me because I have felt a connection to my character, the game is rather addictive once you've settled in the world, and there is plenty to do (plenty is an understatement)

    One particularly cool feature is that sometimes a dragon will descend upon you, and the music kicks in and you are soon fighting this thing with just a sword and a bow, it all becomes rather epic as you weave and slash away at this beast that has come from nowhere, the music only entices the adrenaline as you feel like a true warrior. Great job on the music, it really draws you in and makes the game feel more complete.

    But with good points, there are also bad, and this game seems to bring a slight disappointment to the PC gamer in me, since this appears to be a console port, the game plays well minus a few bugs, however it is the menus and interface that it falls rather flat on. Text that you have your mouse over isn't necessarily the text highlighted and can create some rather annoying â    … Expand
  68. kenjara
    Nov 24, 2011
    9
    A great game. Well structured quests, a massive area to explore and improved gameplay over previous games. Skyrim is a big improvement over oblivion but still does not live up to the might of Morrowind.
    The new interface is a big improvement but still needs some work. Saving is buggy and there are still random CTD that I have come to expect from Bethesda games. Graphics are also a bit dated.
  69. dosse91
    Nov 24, 2011
    9
    this game is great. i mean, don't get me wrong, it's far from perfection but it's great: the story is interesting, the graphics are good (most of the time) and it doesn't have many bugs (for bethesda's standards). exploring skyrim is simply fantastic, going through woods, finding caves, towns, side quests. simply amazing how HUGE this game is, it takes hours to explore the whole gamethis game is great. i mean, don't get me wrong, it's far from perfection but it's great: the story is interesting, the graphics are good (most of the time) and it doesn't have many bugs (for bethesda's standards). exploring skyrim is simply fantastic, going through woods, finding caves, towns, side quests. simply amazing how HUGE this game is, it takes hours to explore the whole game world. the soundtrack is also kick ass. fighting dragons is fun, and most fights provide a good challenge even on normal difficulty. i also love how they didn't use the usual point-and-click controls typical to rpgs like wow, dragon age, etc., IMHO, those are the worst controls ever. speaking of control, skyrim has a huge defect: it has no quick keys. seriously? even console ports like mass effect have them! it's a waste of time that i have to go through my whole inventory or favourite list just to use a potion or change weapon/spell! another drawback typical to most rpgs is that you can accept quests and start playing them with no clue that your character is not enough skilled to complete the quest: that's a real pain in the ass, you can literally go fight dragons with a level 1 character, and get killed in 2 microseconds. most of the times, of course you have no idea what you're gonna fight, it's like "can you get my sword back?", and then the cave has bears, trolls and giants in it.
    in conclusion, i'd give this game a 8.5, rounded up to a more realistic 9 because the good aspects of this game really compensate the bad ones    … Expand
  70. gravothermal
    Nov 23, 2011
    7
    My main gripe, just like in every other Bethesda game I've played, is the low quality of NPC facial expressions and character development. All the NPCs just stare at you as if they're zombies as they talk.

    The NPC personalities are wooden, one-dimensional, and there isn't any personal satisfaction to be gained from interacting with them. It's as if Bethesda hates writing, personal    My main gripe, just like in every other Bethesda game I've played, is the low quality of NPC facial expressions and character development. All the NPCs just stare at you as if they're zombies as they talk.

    The NPC personalities are wooden, one-dimensional, and there isn't any personal satisfaction to be gained from interacting with them. It's as if Bethesda hates writing, personal relationships, and drama---as if it was their C programmer that had to write the dialogue instead of an actual writer.

    Nevertheless, compared to the other Elder Scroll games, Skyrim has added features that make it possible to live with this fundamental Bethesda flaw. Chiefly: zoom out! I can finally play in true 3rd person mode almost the entire game. If I zoom out enough, the facial expressions are blurred out enough that if the voice acting is OK, my imagination can fill in the rest. So, for the first time for me, playing a Bethesda game is actually not revolting!

    At least on high settings, the world itself is beautiful (butterflies and beetles receive more loving graphics treatment than human faces), so I'm not sure what the others are complaining about as far as the environmental graphics. Technically, the engine is impressive in how fast it renders given the number of polygons here. Exploring the world genuinely is fun (otherwise the game would have gotten a 3/10 from me).

    It is true that melee combat feels like a 1990s Gold Box D&D game. But magic and archery are really well done. If you restrict yourself to magic and archery, you will have fun in combat.    … Expand
  71. Zherneboh
    Nov 23, 2011
    9
    Skyrim is a rich world filled to the brim with content to explore. At first I felt guilty to fast travel, walking around and checking out the sites was awesome. The graphics aren't over the top, but the atmosphere immerses you into a living, breathing world. The quests are enjoyable, I don't want to put down any potential spoilers, but I'm already deciding how I would like to play throughSkyrim is a rich world filled to the brim with content to explore. At first I felt guilty to fast travel, walking around and checking out the sites was awesome. The graphics aren't over the top, but the atmosphere immerses you into a living, breathing world. The quests are enjoyable, I don't want to put down any potential spoilers, but I'm already deciding how I would like to play through the next time I play through it.

    Now for the reasons I won't rate this game a 10. The menus feel uninspired, like they were designed to be more streamlined but it gets annoying to scroll through a list that can only be sorted alphabetically. There is much potential with companion AI, but as it stands it feels pretty outdated. Having some tactical options would be nice. There are a few game breaking bugs that are ridiculous. The worst one I've encountered is the shield perk "Quick Reflexes" would put the game into slow motion, but would never get back to normal speed, the only solution that worked for me was removing the perk with a console command. As big as Skyrim is, it's kind of a shame how shallow certain features are like cooking and home decorating. I know I'm not expecting Animal Crossing here, but it would be nice to choose what I want in my house instead of stuffing hundreds of dragon bones in an end table and my pile of un-enchanted weapons in a burlap sack. The crafting is alright. I kinda wish there was something you'd do other than click create to make things though. It also makes you feel unaccomplished crafting a few hundred iron daggers and getting smithing leveled to 100 for it, that's just too easy.

    The bugs, at least the major game breaking ones, will most likely be fixed rather soon. Unfortunately the other stuff is most likely left to the modders. Still, I think a game boils right down to how fun it is, and this surely does not disappoint.    … Expand
  72. CollegeGamer
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    I hardly play any RPGs. I played and loved Witcher 2, as well as Mass Effect 2. Never played previou Scrolls games. Yet, this game is amazing. I truly enjoy the combat, though it has its flaws. I love the fact that you can say screw the main quest and take off on your own. The side quests are better than the main quests in 90% of the games out there. Great music. Decent graphicsI hardly play any RPGs. I played and loved Witcher 2, as well as Mass Effect 2. Never played previou Scrolls games. Yet, this game is amazing. I truly enjoy the combat, though it has its flaws. I love the fact that you can say screw the main quest and take off on your own. The side quests are better than the main quests in 90% of the games out there. Great music. Decent graphics (poor compared to Witcher 2,) but the art design in this game causes moderate graphics to look unique and beautiful. Without any fanboyism, truly one of the best games ever made. ALSO, dude...this game is endless, and it is always interesting. How many games today are geared towards single player, and are worth playing? Hardly any these days. Skyrim is one of the few games I can say is truly worth the money.… Expand
  73. Ghosx
    Nov 23, 2011
    9
    Absolutely brilliant. Apart from a few minor glitches with the AI and the inventory menu, the game is flawless. A huge world to explore with the freedom to create your character the way you want to. A true RPG.
  74. darkecharlie
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    'I'm not gunna lie, this game is amazing, brilliant, outstanding, a masterpiece.'
    ^this :) is exactly how i feel about the game. now a few more characters :D
  75. shintsurugi
    Nov 23, 2011
    9
    TLDR: Skyrim > Oblivion, buy it, play it, quicksave. Awesome.
    I'm just gonna put it out there. Skyim is awesome. As for why, well, that's a much longer statement.
    This game does not need my praise as it's gotten overwhelming support from game critics and the community, but I'm gonna put my own two cents out there anyway. To be upfront, I did not like Oblivion. Something about how that game    TLDR: Skyrim > Oblivion, buy it, play it, quicksave. Awesome.
    I'm just gonna put it out there. Skyim is awesome. As for why, well, that's a much longer statement.
    This game does not need my praise as it's gotten overwhelming support from game critics and the community, but I'm gonna put my own two cents out there anyway.
    To be upfront, I did not like Oblivion. Something about how that game began, the lack of direction, the clunkiness of the combat and the bugginess of the game engine put me off three separate times.
    Skyrim fixes a lot of those issues. I feel the start of the game is stronger than Oblivion's (if you remove Sir Patrick Stewart from the equation)., in that it remains fast-moving and gives you a good primer on many of the systems (although some more explanation about magic and the favorites system would be nice). I found the town of Riverwood much more inviting than the monstrosity that is the Imperial City. My own personal preference of course. Some people complain about the compass and the plot arrows, but I think they're a great addition from the Fallout series of games. They may make things a bit easier, but they just add to the wanderlust you get going through the immense world of Skyrim. Also, I don't know about other people, but I don't like to get lost, so having a convenient plot arrow is a bonus in my book.
    To be honest... I can't really tell you what's different about Skyrim's combat from Oblivion's. It's still swinging a sword, backpedaling and blocking every now and then. Maybe the animations are smoother, or the timing is looser (or maybe it's just those awesome kill animations...), but I really do enjoy the combat in Skyrim. Not the game's strongest suit, but when has that ever been Bethesda's strong point? And it's definitely not a weak point in this game.
    I am proud to say that Skyrim has only crashed on me once during my 60-odd hours of gameplay (apparently it didn't like a chest I looted). A massive improvement over Oblivion's constant instability. I can't speak to the graphical improvements, as I have it turned all the way down to the ass-end of the spectrum because my laptop is, well, a laptop. But the environment design is more varied than you'd expect from a winter-y continent and some of the dungeon designs are just flat out awesome.
    I feel like I don't need to speak too much about the story, other than it's pretty sweet. Bethesda remains strong in this respect and every side quest is given just enough attention to make you feel like you're not doing yet another side quest for yet another sum of gold and XP. Speaking of XP, the leveling system. Oblivion's leveling system was... weird. The scaling brought all sorts of craziness to your character's performance, which put off a lot of people, including me. Skyrim simplifies the leveling system a bit further than an RPG-geek like myself would have wanted, but I feel like I still have a good amount of control over the direction of where my character goes (except for leveling Restoration to 40 to get that damned perk...). Everything in it is fairly intuitive and almost every time you level up, I feel like you get a tangible benefit.
    Oh, right, one more thing. The interface. It's obviously been designed from a console perspective, which would normally annoy me, but that also means almost every menu can be navigated through WASD and E, which I personally find a helluva lot more accurate than using a mouse pointer. Favorites are an interesting idea, if a bit hard to get used to. Reading the manual helps. Scrolling through items gets tedious at times, but something akin to that issue probably would remain regardless of the interface. The one complaint I do have (and this is horribly nitpicky) is that you should be able to select OK with E and not the mouse. Consistency, people.
    All in all, again, Skyrim is awesome. It's the best game Bethesda's put out so far, and despite its few flaws, it remains an immensely enjoyable experience all the way through. (Just keep quicksaving!)    … Expand
  76. jonbravo2
    Nov 23, 2011
    5
    This game was fun. Graphics, interaction, and just the way you could do things is amazing, but I got bored of it really fast. This would be one of those games that I love for the awesome game play. I think the only thing I absolutely hated about this game was the unbearably dull main story. I played through it once and thought, "I'm not wasting my time on that again." I also did not likeThis game was fun. Graphics, interaction, and just the way you could do things is amazing, but I got bored of it really fast. This would be one of those games that I love for the awesome game play. I think the only thing I absolutely hated about this game was the unbearably dull main story. I played through it once and thought, "I'm not wasting my time on that again." I also did not like the fact of random quest being added by just walking around the streets. I would be walking through a town, and have 10 new quests activated right before my eyes. It was a pain in the butt to get a house too, in order to buy a house, you have to beat half of the main storyline. I think it is a game worth getting, but don't be suprised if you find yourself bored of it within 3 days of beating it.… Expand
  77. Onyblade
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    Great game: awesome atmosphere, great sounds in couple words its a masterpiece of Bethesda. Its just awesome. Filling the rest becouse i need 150 characters.
  78. SylarHRG
    Nov 23, 2011
    9
    From the moment you dive into Skyrim, from the opening sequence and beginning your journey through this beautiful world, you can already see the creative genius at work behind this game.
  79. ConnorMcCauley
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    I have played over a hundred hours of Skyrim if my steam's accounted time spent is anything to go by and after all this I will say, Skyrim is leaps and bounds an improvement over Oblivion and a great successor to its Elderscrolls heritage, the graphics are gorgeous and while not next gen, next gen was never what the developers were going for, they were going for an improvement overI have played over a hundred hours of Skyrim if my steam's accounted time spent is anything to go by and after all this I will say, Skyrim is leaps and bounds an improvement over Oblivion and a great successor to its Elderscrolls heritage, the graphics are gorgeous and while not next gen, next gen was never what the developers were going for, they were going for an improvement over Oblivion which they certainly obtained. While there are some flaws, graphical bugs and a GUI that is oddly taken right out of the console even though it's a game so clearly made for the PC, these are all however relatively minute issues and really amount to nothing more than little annoyances for me and what's more as this is a Bethesda game they are all completely and entirely mod-able and changeable, further the game is leagues more stable than Oblivion or it's spiritual successor Fallout 3, after hours and hours of gameplay I only experienced crash to desktops on rare occassions or occasions where I'd abused alt tabbing.

    I therefore conclude that this game is 'very' deserving of my rating of 10.    … Expand
  80. Azgaard
    Nov 23, 2011
    0
    Skyrim is another horrible example of quantity over quality. Bethesda is more than aware of what was good and bad in their previous games. They could easily have picked all the things that worked very well in Morrowind, Oblivion (with mods) and the Fallout games and made a truly amazing legendary rpg. Bethesda have the power and money to do just that. But it seems they lack the integritySkyrim is another horrible example of quantity over quality. Bethesda is more than aware of what was good and bad in their previous games. They could easily have picked all the things that worked very well in Morrowind, Oblivion (with mods) and the Fallout games and made a truly amazing legendary rpg. Bethesda have the power and money to do just that. But it seems they lack the integrity and logic to make an truly amazing game. They have removed lots of good things from the other games and continued with the flawed ideas and put in lots of new flaws as well.
    The level scaling on enemies are bad enough, but they chose to go with level scaling on loot. That is one of the worst concepts in gaming history and Bethesda uses it again :( The UI is also a total mess to use. Really....what were they thinking?? It looks tidy at first glance, but it is really cumbersome and unpractical to use. There is a good reason why most rpg's have very similar UI set up you know.....IT WORKS WELL! The game looks ok, but compared to most other games released for the pc these days it is look very dated. Skyrim is not a terrible game, but Bethesda really annoys me when they release a console optimized game for the pc, and they annoy me when implementing so many flawed ideas from previous games. After 20+ hours in the game I am bored to tears. Level scaling broke the point of progress once again.    … Expand
  81. rcuhljr
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    Wanted to drop off my two cents to counter act the hyperbolic zero score reviews for people who don't like the graphics or control scheme, or even better the people who are blatantly wrong in their reviews(Re: no hot-keys). There are valid complaints about the PC version of this game, namely the interface and the limited number of voice actors at the fore front. I won't touch the graphicsWanted to drop off my two cents to counter act the hyperbolic zero score reviews for people who don't like the graphics or control scheme, or even better the people who are blatantly wrong in their reviews(Re: no hot-keys). There are valid complaints about the PC version of this game, namely the interface and the limited number of voice actors at the fore front. I won't touch the graphics issue because I wasn't bothered by them in my playing, but I then I've never been obsessed with them. Even with these caveats, I've still spent almost 80 hours in a game that's been out less then two weeks at this point. Bethesda created an incredibly immersive world and a truly entertaining game, I'm on my second play through on master difficulty and I'm looking forward to at least two more because I've only explored 15-20% of the world.… Expand
  82. Lady_Chloe
    Nov 23, 2011
    0
    As a console game, it might be acceptable. As a PC game (and an RPG with great heritage to boost) it is like a bad joke. I was able to "play" it for about 20 minutes before giving up due to the horrendous GUI system obviously ported from consoles. Hello Bethesda, I have a MOUSE connected to my computer! Can I use it for anything besides looking around? No? That's too bad... because withoutAs a console game, it might be acceptable. As a PC game (and an RPG with great heritage to boost) it is like a bad joke. I was able to "play" it for about 20 minutes before giving up due to the horrendous GUI system obviously ported from consoles. Hello Bethesda, I have a MOUSE connected to my computer! Can I use it for anything besides looking around? No? That's too bad... because without a mouse managing inventory and doing other tasks is a big pain, a big, time-consuming pain.
    The graphics look absolutely disgusting. While graphics in Oblivion seemed a bit outdated, this is completely disgusting. I even heard a developer or who was it, talking about "improved graphics" in a video. I did not know that "improved" meant making everything look like it was made out of plastic. Resolution of textures is terrible, everything is muddy, murky, without life. And the game mechanics at the beginning seemed like Call of Duty without guns. I do not know if the story is good because I simply could not force myself to play it with such terrible controls and disgusting graphics. One thing is to create dated graphics and something different is to create graphics so disgusting that it deters from playing the game itself.
    If you do not mind the graphics and console controls, you can give it a try but I would not expect much from it anyway.    … Expand
  83. Flavorzoul
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    Skyrim is a very addicting game, with hours of gameplay, im probably never gonna finish it. But i am sure gonna try, my advice is that you run to the nearest store and buy it, no matter the price
  84. panokia75
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    This game is a true marvel. Visually it is stunning and gameplay is, well how can I put it, absolutely massive and a 99% joy. The change in the weather and lighting is ofen mesmerising and whilst the graphics could be better no normal PC would be able to cope, so by todays standards the graphics have been I feel underrated. They are often gorgeous. The characters and buildings are notThis game is a true marvel. Visually it is stunning and gameplay is, well how can I put it, absolutely massive and a 99% joy. The change in the weather and lighting is ofen mesmerising and whilst the graphics could be better no normal PC would be able to cope, so by todays standards the graphics have been I feel underrated. They are often gorgeous. The characters and buildings are not quite up to perfection but the lighting and effects are tremendous as is the feel for a large 3D environment which is what makes the game immersive. I think they have got this right as the envoronment looks fantastic. Gameplay is similarly epic with one or two niggles but the variety of play with having a choice of weapoin and magic in either hand is great. The favoutites quick selection is not as fluent as some systems but the game stops allowing time to think. Whether it slows the game down too much is personal preferance. I quite like it as it often reminds you to check inventory or level up magic etc or decide what attack/defense method will be used. The combat system is solid and great but doesnt rely on realism too much but it is solid and enjoyable. This game is about choice not just fighting and the game really is unique where it will drag you in an impress you time after time. I have aging PC with a AMD 955 BE which easily copes on max settings as does my 6950. Anything less than this may struggle a touch at 1920 x 1080 resolutions and above. Technical issues with me However are a slight ghosting and rendering issues expecially with fabrics but are observed infrequently. I picked the cat type race (kitjiit I think), which can see better at night. A very good choice I think.… Expand
  85. defive
    Nov 23, 2011
    8
    Good but not great. Bottom line is that this is still a TES game and has fundamentally all the same pluses and minuses of both Morrowind and Oblivion. On the upside the scale of it and the immersion in the world is amazing. On the downside however, the combat is still floaty and lacks any real sense of impact, the skill system is totally unbalanced and exploitable and some of the questGood but not great. Bottom line is that this is still a TES game and has fundamentally all the same pluses and minuses of both Morrowind and Oblivion. On the upside the scale of it and the immersion in the world is amazing. On the downside however, the combat is still floaty and lacks any real sense of impact, the skill system is totally unbalanced and exploitable and some of the quest lines (*cough* mages *cough*) are really very very bad. Again. Bottom line is that it's a slightly updated version of Oblivion. Oh - and the PC UI is an abomination, possible the worst UI I've seen with the exception of Final Fantasy XIV.… Expand
  86. Endrevius
    Nov 23, 2011
    8
    Quite good game. Surely recommended, bears same addiction that rest of TES series had. Same funny bugs as well ;]. The main disadvantage is the graphics. Looks so outdated that heavily modded Oblivion looks a lot prettier. Cause of that, if You finished Oblivion, Skyrim gets boring after 50-100 hours of playing, its like a huge DLC, but nothing more. Pretty high time of playthrough as forQuite good game. Surely recommended, bears same addiction that rest of TES series had. Same funny bugs as well ;]. The main disadvantage is the graphics. Looks so outdated that heavily modded Oblivion looks a lot prettier. Cause of that, if You finished Oblivion, Skyrim gets boring after 50-100 hours of playing, its like a huge DLC, but nothing more. Pretty high time of playthrough as for modern cRPGs, but compared to The Wither 2 (Ultra++ settings), that after 4th finish (4x~30h) still gives me the same "Oo-ooh" graphic wise and still makes me want to play again with massive sightseeing and eye orgasms, still wont make me change wallpaper gallery made from thousand of screenshots, its not impressive anymore. Game surely worth finishing + exploring most of its content but thats it. Finish and forget. The Witcher 2 made a lot better impression on me TBH.… Expand
  87. Clams_n_Roses
    Nov 23, 2011
    7
    Beneath Bethesda's usual sloppy laziness lies the makings of a fantastic game. The world, the lore, the culture, and the atmosphere of the game are very rich, but the many flaws and bugs hold it back. The textures are extremely poor, the animations are pretty awful (good luck shooting things with magic or arrows, since the enemy models tend to float around quickly, independent of anyBeneath Bethesda's usual sloppy laziness lies the makings of a fantastic game. The world, the lore, the culture, and the atmosphere of the game are very rich, but the many flaws and bugs hold it back. The textures are extremely poor, the animations are pretty awful (good luck shooting things with magic or arrows, since the enemy models tend to float around quickly, independent of any realistic or predictable movements), and while the combat is far less "floaty" than in FO3 or Oblivion, and generally feels quite satisfying with a sword and board, the floatiness is still present when using magic, bows, spell and sword etc. The lack of any blocking mechanism with most of the combat options, ease and speed of floating around in circles, and high amount of damage required to defeat a lot of enemies, mean a lot of fights will revolve around the you and your adversary floating in circles around each other mashing the attack button. The AI is still dreadful too, and you can happily shoot someone in the face with an arrow from a few feet away, only to hear them loudly exclaim "WHO'S THERE", shrug their shoulders, and return to what they were doing.

    I've heard a lot of people argue that mods will fix the huge amount of bugs in the game (almost constant crashing, giant purple crystal looking trees/objects/characters loading up, etc), as well as the many other problems, however Bethesda's recent actions suggest they will do everything in their power to stop this- for those of you who don't know, for some bizarre reason, Skyrim is capped to use only 2GB of RAM (about as much as a basic laptop has), resulting in constant stuttering, framerate drop, and crashes. Some helpful fellow made a fix to bypass this; allowing the game to run without so many hiccups, but Bethesda patched the game to add more DRM (which of course only affected those that had already bought the game anyway) which broke this fix. A new fix has been made by someone, but it begs the question of why Bethesda not only didn't fix this themselves, but then prevented others from fixing it.    … Expand
  88. Leros
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    Countless hours of gameplay, a huge beautifully detailed world to explore, great elderscrolls lore, tons of quests, the dark brotherhood, what's not to like?

    Well if you are playing on PC the textures are what bother me most, the ui is not good either, but I can deal with it. Other than that I hardly get any problems game runs very smooth on ultra settings. There are also a couple of    Countless hours of gameplay, a huge beautifully detailed world to explore, great elderscrolls lore, tons of quests, the dark brotherhood, what's not to like?

    Well if you are playing on PC the textures are what bother me most, the ui is not good either, but I can deal with it. Other than that I hardly get any problems game runs very smooth on ultra settings.
    There are also a couple of bugs, I even ran into one that broke a questline.

    All those problems make the game an 8, I have no doubts that as soon as the modkit is released the game will be the 11/10 it deserves to be.

    I will still rate the game with 10 to counter all those people handing out 0s to complain about problems they either exaggerate or cause themselves.    … Expand
  89. Lesstat
    Nov 23, 2011
    10
    Total free open world. Amazing views. Hand made locations. I want not just play there - I want to live there! This game is a masterpiece in all time RPG world.
  90. MrSniker
    Nov 22, 2011
    8
    If it wasn't for The Witcher 2, this would definitely be Game of the Year but it has several shortcomings. The UI is definitely a console port mess, switching weapons, spells and shields during battles is often times a nightmare. You'll often get things mixed up, spells on the wrong hand, or weapon it's really a nightmare. Yes there are hotkeys but generally they don't help much whenIf it wasn't for The Witcher 2, this would definitely be Game of the Year but it has several shortcomings. The UI is definitely a console port mess, switching weapons, spells and shields during battles is often times a nightmare. You'll often get things mixed up, spells on the wrong hand, or weapon it's really a nightmare. Yes there are hotkeys but generally they don't help much when you're switching from spells to sword and boarding. Another problem is crafting is a pain, especially enchanting with the UI in place. Leveling up enchanting on weapons you've found is a pain. The level scaling system is back and it creates some odd problems. If you spent your first levels leveling up crafting trees before combat you'll often times face opponents far stronger than you because of your lack of combat skills. It's really annoying and I noticed this from the jump to 20-->30 because I spent around 5 levels crafting. It's annoying and they should really just ditch the idea, it doesn't promote exploration. It's annoying when you open a master safe and only get 12 gold. Really 12 gold for a master safe? The pros are well the skill system has been simplified now to perks on a little tree. It's simple and easier to understand than past Elder Scrolls. Dungeons have been vastly improved from Oblivion and are fun to just go exploring in for fun. Combat is a huge jump and the story is your typical DnD experience, it's predictable but your so lost in exploring you don't really care. Overall the game is great, it takes all the problems of Oblivion and fixes most, save for the annoying console UI, and I stress ANNOYING.… Expand
  91. juanjuan
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    It is a vast understatement to call this an "Improvement" over Bethesda's previous installment in the series. Almost every feature has been improved upon, from the quick use menu and favourites list, to the graphics and stat system. It is almost difficult to believe that this game is running on the same hardware as Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, as you take in the breathtaking scenery andIt is a vast understatement to call this an "Improvement" over Bethesda's previous installment in the series. Almost every feature has been improved upon, from the quick use menu and favourites list, to the graphics and stat system. It is almost difficult to believe that this game is running on the same hardware as Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, as you take in the breathtaking scenery and character design. From giant, amazing and beautiful creatures such as Dwemer robotic golems, mammoths and of course, dragons, to the small insect life, and birds flying overhead. This game is teeming with life, and features some of the most beautiful creature animations i have seen to date. A couple things bothered me greatly about the still fun and amazing elder scrolls oblivion, such as an extreme abundance of glitches, as well as a horrible stat system, which discouraged playing the game freely without pruning each skill specifically, as to raise your stats to be the highest possible. Skyrim changes the around perfectly, with a system that encourages you to play exactly how you want to, and become exactly who you want to be. I personally chose a heavy armor specializing Khajiit, with a focus on restoration magicka and talents in smithing, alchemy, enchanting and speech. In addition, it is appealing to find a lack of glitches in the game, after experiencing how common they were in previous installments. I have found a handful in perhaps over a hundred hours of gameplay, which is to be expected with any game, none-the-less such a massive open world experience.

    So far I have played 100+ hours, and I am still finding creative, entertaining, and often awe inspiring scenes, quests, and situations in the game. I expect to play at least a hundred more hours, not including the guaranteed extra play-though or two in my future.

    In my opinion, the improvements made, and complete mass of quality and quantity in this game should put to shame some of the other recent games to come out, such as Skyward Sword, and Modern Warfare 3.
    Same genre or not, it should be easy to see which of the series' titles outshines the others in improvements made and overall quality.    … Expand
  92. thetinx
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Although I have never had any experience with previous elder scroll games, this is by far my favorite game of all time. The map is HUGE, bigger than fallout 3. The graphics are superb, and quests are... well I cant keep up with all my quests, so many it makes you want to slow down and "enjoy" the game. I must say this game has an infinite amount of "replay" value since you wont everAlthough I have never had any experience with previous elder scroll games, this is by far my favorite game of all time. The map is HUGE, bigger than fallout 3. The graphics are superb, and quests are... well I cant keep up with all my quests, so many it makes you want to slow down and "enjoy" the game. I must say this game has an infinite amount of "replay" value since you wont ever need to start a new game. If you choose to be a mage in the beginning it doesnt mean you dont get combat, and you can quickly change into combat. For me I was iffy on the 60$ for a game, however I must say I am hooked beyond belief. The only con is you might get so addicted you start falling behind on school work. But I just have no self control. The only thing I would improve are controls, however you quickly get used to them and it turns out amazing anyways.… Expand
  93. 1010101
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Wow! This is a fantastic game, and there's so much content! The quests are entertaining, the world is beautiful, what more could you ask for? I honestly think I'll need to play the game 2-3 times in order to experience all of the content.
  94. blackwolfrise
    Nov 22, 2011
    9
    This is a big step in the right direction for the Elder Scrolls series. It improves so many of the things that have plagues the series. The writing is better, graphics are a little more natural, voice acting is decent, and the combat is better. There is still room for improvement. The facial animations are still rough. The map and path finding need work. There are a myriad of other littleThis is a big step in the right direction for the Elder Scrolls series. It improves so many of the things that have plagues the series. The writing is better, graphics are a little more natural, voice acting is decent, and the combat is better. There is still room for improvement. The facial animations are still rough. The map and path finding need work. There are a myriad of other little glitches that need to be ironed out in future patches. Even with all the negative it is still a fantastic achievement in gaming. The story from what I have experienced is great, the dragon fights are gripping, the graphics are jaw dropping at points, and it is simply loaded to the brim with hundreds of hours of content. It is a simply amazing value at $60. You will be playing this great game for months to come.… Expand
  95. spydercanopus
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Best game I have ever played. I was a huge fan of 3, and I liked 4, but 5 is the BEST EVER! I have played for about 200 hours and still haven't beaten the game.
  96. Redeemer65
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Most amazing Role-playing game up to date. This game lets u be whoever u want. I've spent about 50 hours in this game since it's released and I've barely done anything related to main quest because Skyrim's world is simply filled with dozens of quests. And awesome thing is these quests aren't generic, they're pretty much all different.
  97. Kubix
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Skyrim is simply amazing. First off, any QQ about the game not running properly, LEARN TO UPDATE YOUR HARDWARE and DRIVERS. The PC is not a console. I'm running an i7, gtx570, 8gb of mediocre ram and the game runs PERFECT and max graphics. If you can't run it on high, then DON'T, its really as simple as that. As usual the TES franchise has an excellent mod community offering tons ofSkyrim is simply amazing. First off, any QQ about the game not running properly, LEARN TO UPDATE YOUR HARDWARE and DRIVERS. The PC is not a console. I'm running an i7, gtx570, 8gb of mediocre ram and the game runs PERFECT and max graphics. If you can't run it on high, then DON'T, its really as simple as that. As usual the TES franchise has an excellent mod community offering tons of content and more will be coming out, power to the PC. I love the new weapon system(the default mouse controls are just strange), finally it is viable to play a battlemage, unlike Oblivion. The simplification of the attribute system is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but the new system works very well and I no longer need my spreadsheets :P The world is simply huge, I've had more fun wandering the vast land of Skyrim than completing the main quest line. If you're looking for a great offline RPG to play then look no further than Skyrim. "Once M'aiq got in trouble in Riften, and fled to Windhelm. It is good that nobody there cared." - M'iaq the Liar… Expand
  98. RoMeJo
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is amazing. Earlier this year I was calling for Portal 2 to be GOTY. I take that back. It is now between this and Arkham Asylum. Skyrim is an immensely immersive experience. From the beginning you are drawn into the storyline. There is enough content to keep a compulsive explorer like myself playing this game for the rest of the year. The Lore in this game is amazingly in depth. This is to be expected however it is Elder Scrolls after all. The story is amazing. Play this game with a free spirit. Skyrim begs to be explored.The game play is solid in first person and third person. I myself can recommend the stealthy Bow approach as well as the over powered mage approach. Both of these builds are highly entertaining and fun. They fixed alot of the Oblivion problems. I have yet to find 2 identical dungeons in the entire game. In oblivion it was always 'this tower that tower'. In Skyrim, each instance feels well thought out and inspired. Almost everything you stumble across has its own story. I have refused to read any FAQ or walkthru or anything since I began this game because it deserves to be explored by each individual. To research it would just ruin the experience. The difficulty curve may bother some folks. If you dont gear up and specialize early, dragon battles can be a serious pain. If you throw points all over the place and somehow make it to around level 30 without maxing out anything, you will have some difficulty. A lot of love went into this game. Prepare to be amazed when you finally stumble into Black Reach. It is truely breath-taking. Now I don't wanna go full blow fan boy so lets talk about the problems. I have to mention the problems with the UI. At first it is horrible. It is obvious that they were leaning towards the console version of the game in this regard. However, a few tips. A combination of your mouse, Tab, E, and Q is all you really need in regards to the menu. To be completely honest now that I have the hang of it, it is actually pretty functional. My only true disappointment with the UI is my inability to rotate items that I look at in my inventory. No matter what I do they just won't zoom or spin or anything. This can make certain useful items hard to use. I won't say anymore for fear of spoiling. This is a flaw that must be addressed. I haven't ran into any other problems myself but I have heard of a few instances of texture tearing, horses running straight up cliff faces etc etc, but in the end the good outweighs the bad 99999999999999 to 1. Do not miss this game. Its a must have. If you are a FPS fan boy who hates magic and elves etc etc you can still enjoy this game as an archer. Think of it as sniping in slow mo once you are upgraded. If you like beat em ups then go full on melee werewolf . There is something for everyone here. One of the best games ever made. Regardless of genre.… Expand
  99. gary72
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Wow, I feel like Bear Grylls in this game! I love exploring the wilderness, climbing up rocky hills - and killing stuff! You won't have to drink your own urine either. Love this game!
  100. ebonized
    Nov 22, 2011
    8
    Skyrim is a good game. But let's stop right there for a second - anyone claiming that the game is 'perfect' and 'the best game of our generation' are really exaggerating the game's strengths and massively downplaying its weaknesses. This game has MANY flaws, especially on the PC version. To deny them makes your review biased, one thing that a lot of people just don't understand (or don'tSkyrim is a good game. But let's stop right there for a second - anyone claiming that the game is 'perfect' and 'the best game of our generation' are really exaggerating the game's strengths and massively downplaying its weaknesses. This game has MANY flaws, especially on the PC version. To deny them makes your review biased, one thing that a lot of people just don't understand (or don't want to). You have to step back and look at the game from an objective perspective. So that's what I'm going to attempt to do right now. ::::PROS:::: 1.massive world 2. open ended 3. decent storyline and sidequests 4. well-designed and fun to explore dungeons 5. relatively immersive 6. highly customizable (playstyle, weapons, spells, etc) 7. PC version can be modded 8. some decent voice acting 9. magic is extremely satisfying (looks cool too) 10. easy to change difficulty allow you to change it to scale with your character 11. established lore that really sucks you into the world of Skyrim ::::CONS:::: 1. repetitive fetch/kill quests with no meaning 2. bad UI on PC - going through your "Misc" items with all the bugged and non-stacked soul gems is a nightmare 3. several immersion breaking problems 4. misplaced NPC dialogue (ie. being told by an NPC not to 'leave my stuff lying around' after they just killed me, or having an enemy say 'that was only a scratch!' AFTER I just chopped his head off - seems a lot of the dialogue triggers at the wrong moments) 5. feels too much like Fallout 3 and Oblivion - Bethesda does not seem to be really improving or changing too much of the same formula they've been using for years now -many sounds/textures are the exact same from Fallout 3) (eg. picking up ingredients/'ash pile') 6. graphics are good at a distance, but terrible up close > poor textures 7. many bugs - graphical glitches, crashes, quest bugs, getting stuck 8. horrible NPC AI (especially companions) - another thing Bethesda has not really improved upon 9. some poor voice acting/too many reused voice actors (ie. that one Slavic woman that seems to be cloned at least 3 times in every town) 10. crafting is generally not very fun - alchemy is overly diluted with 10 different ingredients that do the same thing, smithing requires you to create 5000 iron daggers to level, enchanting is ok 11. poor inventory management system (something that could have been improved for the PC) that makes 'the inventory game' a pain 12. The whole game in general sometimes feels more 'mechanical' rather then 'organic' By no means am I saying that Skyrim is a bad game. It can be incredibly fun and immersive and it offers countless hours of pure entertainment. However, its flaws are numerous, and I can't rightly give this game more than 8.0 out of 10. Thanks for reading!… Expand
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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

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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.
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  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.
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  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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