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. elhive
    May 7, 2012
    8
    You can say Skyrim's biggest advantage is also it's biggest flaw. I love sandbox games, and although I never really was a big fan of the Elder scrolls series I thought the freedom was certainly entertaining. But Oblivion was flawed on so many levels that I simply can't compare it to Skyrim. Yes, Skyrim is a much better game on every single way. Weapons and armor disintegration is gone andYou can say Skyrim's biggest advantage is also it's biggest flaw. I love sandbox games, and although I never really was a big fan of the Elder scrolls series I thought the freedom was certainly entertaining. But Oblivion was flawed on so many levels that I simply can't compare it to Skyrim. Yes, Skyrim is a much better game on every single way. Weapons and armor disintegration is gone and the dungeons are much more varied and interesting. Instead of repetative Oblivion gates you now have dragon fights but more importantly',the game looks and feels much better then it's laggy, buggy predecessor. The game has a ton of quests and will last for months,But here is the big problem: the game never has true high points. It's addicting, I'l give it that, but it doesn't have deep characters nor does it have an interesting story. It relies on it's endless replay value and sacrifices quality. It lacks focus and, as such, it was never memorable for me. Despite this, the game is fun and entertaining. The combat is excellent and the quests can be really grand and fun. The politics in Skyrim are actualy interesting and somehow held my interest of the story. The game is great, but it lacks focus, and Bethesda released it so buggy (let's not forget the broken PS3 version) that it's really a mixed bag here. People rave and praise it, and I can understand where the love is coming from, but it has it's flaws that shouldn't be passed by.… Expand
  2. IcoNat20
    Jul 17, 2012
    9
    All the great expansive game of Morrowind, and the artistic direction of oblivion, but... better? Every place is like a photo, or a work of art on a canvas. I shall not go into further detail.

    Downside, quests are short.
  3. UberGoat
    May 21, 2012
    10
    The most amazing game I have played in years. It is so immersive with so much to do. I am not the kind of person who enjoys playing single player games, but this game and Elder Scrolls in general is always an exception to that.
  4. madrigal
    May 16, 2012
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You get out of it what you put into it. If you're going to cry about the obvious stuff, then go play Sims. Go make real choices. Go get 1000 different voice-over people and re-write the dialogue. I'm about 20 hours into it. I've read some of the other user reviews and there is some valid stuff to be said about Skyrim. I've rarely played this D&D type genre before. Last D&D style game I played was on the 3DO. Just not my gig. I have no idea about the Elder Scrolls before this so I can't speak to it. But I know that in this genre, there are spells and dungeons and caves and kill the yellow dragon, kill the red dragon, use the blue key for the blue dungeon...etc. etc. etc. There is a proven formula for this genre and their own family of games and Bethesda is just sticking to it. I have no problem with it. The truth is, this game is absolutely enrapturing in it's beauty and form (if you have the right PC and mods to run it) and fun as heck to play...if you are playing on Master difficulty. Therein lies the problem for many of these critics. They play an easy game and expect genius. When it takes you an hour to kill a dragon because you are out of arrows and running for your life, then a game gets fun. If you want more out of Skyrim, kick it up a notch. And a last word on "making choices" in a story-driven game. If you haven't already learned from Mass Effect....there are no REAL CHOICES. No matter what the game devs say, there is NO WAY to make a story-driven game with real choices. So get over it.… Expand
  5. WaterWoman
    May 18, 2012
    9
    This game is definitely either an 8 or 9. It's just weirdly addicting, and it looks pretty amazing. Sure, Witcher 2 looks great also, but that game, for me, got old and I never finished it. Skyrim, well, I had to keep playing (only level 40 I think). None of the bugs bothered me, and the mods were great.
  6. Qwerto227
    May 21, 2012
    10
    I enjoyed this game hugely, is that not all you need from a game, I loved the characters, the atmosphere, the combat, the sneaking however what really makes it for me is the huge variety of awesome mods
  7. HumanMale
    May 21, 2012
    9
    A nicely balanced and well-crafted game. Many customization options and seemingly endless quests and locations to explore. In fact, it's only when you find the borders and small flaws (e.g. getting stuck in certain locations) that the charisma and immersion of the world that is Skyrim fades. Those minor errors and missing polish left behind, excellent RPG.
  8. teshia
    May 31, 2013
    10
    Wow. I really didn't like Elder Scrolls 3 or 4 and could never figure out what all the fuss was about. I always thought Gothic 1 and 2 were WAY better at implementing an immersive open world RPG. To me, Oblivion just seemed bland and repetitive (ie. tower after tower being closed and they all seem to be designed the same way it got tiring for me). Skyrim changed my mind though. IWow. I really didn't like Elder Scrolls 3 or 4 and could never figure out what all the fuss was about. I always thought Gothic 1 and 2 were WAY better at implementing an immersive open world RPG. To me, Oblivion just seemed bland and repetitive (ie. tower after tower being closed and they all seem to be designed the same way it got tiring for me). Skyrim changed my mind though. I think they finally figured it out. The world looks great, the quests are pretty good. It has a nice big playtime on it yet you still feel like you can play it casually in 30 minute chunks. The open world design is fantastic. Traversing the world just feels fantastic, believable, and fun. I haven't seen an open world this well designed since the Gothic games. The factions, races and classes are fun without seeming unnecessary. Yeah it's pretty hard to say anything negative about the game. I will say that as a PC player, I absolutely hated the menu system. It wouldn't have taken that much work to make a nice PC based menu system that doesn't feel like a console system. Or maybe it could have been added in as a menu option in case you wanted to play on PC with a controller. That said, their support of mods has allowed me to add in PC friendly menu systems to replace theirs, so at least I have options and can't really complain, as I'm not locked into it. Thank you Bethesda for a great gaming experience. All the accolades are well deserved.… Expand
  9. Adrianf84
    May 24, 2012
    10
    Most EPIC, GREATEST sand box game i ever played ! Despite its bugs, it is nearly a perfect game. The only things u would complain is definitely its bugs, but bugs can be fix in later patch. This game totally deserve to have 10 score.
  10. Plamotaku
    May 27, 2012
    9
    Brief: 93% score from Plamotaku.
    A brilliant game that provided 144 hours, and probably more, of enjoyment. Through lush and beautiful graphics, you set out to carve your way as the Dragonborn, a special blooded human that has the power to control, command, and outright kill dragons. Enjoy this healthily saturated RPG, full of deeply packed content, quests, and a boastable stats system    Brief: 93% score from Plamotaku.
    A brilliant game that provided 144 hours, and probably more, of enjoyment. Through lush and beautiful graphics, you set out to carve your way as the Dragonborn, a special blooded human that has the power to control, command, and outright kill dragons. Enjoy this healthily saturated RPG, full of deeply packed content, quests, and a boastable stats system that makes playing this game an addicting treat.
    There is not much to complain about in Skyrim, except for occasional spouts of minor lag and terrain clipping issues.    … Expand
  11. Indrigis
    Oct 12, 2013
    5
    I was initially hesitant to pick this up. Reported bugs and all.

    Well, after two years, three expansions and a number of patches... It still sucks, despite the rave reviews (note how like 80% of those are from 11.11.11-13.11.11 fanboys are so fan). The idea is kind of good an open world RPG with a lot of freedom to do and be done to. The implementation, however, is atrocious.    I was initially hesitant to pick this up. Reported bugs and all.

    Well, after two years, three expansions and a number of patches... It still sucks, despite the rave reviews (note how like 80% of those are from 11.11.11-13.11.11 fanboys are so fan).

    The idea is kind of good an open world RPG with a lot of freedom to do and be done to. The implementation, however, is atrocious.

    The PC version's interface is STILL limited to the capabilities of a console and the keyboard/mouse is STILL pretty much being shoved aside. I can't even use any keyboard/mouse controls unless I unplug the x360 gamepad. But entering the character name no, can't do THAT with a gamepad. Not allowed! Bad gamer! Get up from your chair and TYPE!

    The in-game UI is bad. I mean, seriously bad. The compass shows a number of weird symbols with no indication of what they are or how far they are. So, there's this... barbed spear ahead. Okay, let's go see. Oh, joy, I've discovered the Dreaded Asswind Glade. What do I do with this discovery? Is it somehow useful? Now, my character is weakened by the sunrise. Yeah, I know, I've been bitten by a vampire fledgling, I reckon. But... No character status page. Where do I verify my suspicions and find a cure? Right, under "Magic Active effects" oh, ok. And a cure? Google that, Prisoner.

    The melee combat is so uninspired it hurts. I mean, the whole idea of having first-person view combat without auto-aim using a gamepad is a perversion but whatever. I can swing a sword, it might hit someone, they will grunt maybe and then they'll swing back. The level of combat interactivity is sooooooo amazing. Battletoads on SMD had a similar one. And if you want to be able to block with a one-handed weapon, you'd better forget about using an off-hand weapon or magic spell. No point in having an empty hand there grab a shield for blocking (and blocking doesn't even do anything a lot of the time. Backpedaling while slinging arrows or spells is a LOT more effective). I know this is not Devil May Cry, but god forbid melee combat was actually fun to do or watch.

    But wait, there's magic. It's also pretty meh. You have a right spell, a left spell and a shout (with a huge cooldown). If your spells are identical, you have a special perk AND you manage to press both triggers at once you get a stronger version of the spell. Combining different spells for a variety of effects? NO! THIS IS NOT SOME ANIME CRAP! GET BACK INTO YOUR SEAT, PRISO... GAMER! Summon familiar costs 89 magicka. But I can't get it to work. It drains my magicka bar and does nothing. I know, I must have less magicka than is necessary to cast that. Hi, I'm Tellah, anime crap reporting for duty! Nope, my max magicka is 100, so?..

    Speaking of combat in general no numbers. So have fun guessing if your weapon/magic is ineffective against the target or they just have a boatload of health.

    I'm not touching the story because it's more or less an industry standard open-world games must only have an excuse plot so that the player is not inhibited in their actions by some stupid story advancement or anything. And Skyrim is no exception meet people, kill people, go on randomly generated quests... Much like a single player MMORPG. Just without the MMO part that could give the player some really big and challenging fights.

    In conclusion: Skyrim is not a bad game. It's just not worth the money or the time.    … Expand
  12. Urillusion
    Jun 7, 2012
    9
    RPG? Check! Filled with countless tales of lore in the world of Tamriel. Sandbox? Check! There is no linearity unless you want to experience a particular story line from start to end. It is a visual and auditory masterpiece! The UI is different than past TES games, but I can not call the new leveling system or the UI sub-par compared to its older siblings. Add the thousands of Mods outRPG? Check! Filled with countless tales of lore in the world of Tamriel. Sandbox? Check! There is no linearity unless you want to experience a particular story line from start to end. It is a visual and auditory masterpiece! The UI is different than past TES games, but I can not call the new leveling system or the UI sub-par compared to its older siblings. Add the thousands of Mods out there capable of making your Skyrim experience that much more immersive, and you have a champion! The only reason I do not give Skyrim a perfect score, is because of a fair amount of bugs, many of which are comical. Also, the game may not be friendly to some PC hardware, but it will still play on any system.… Expand
  13. Hadrian
    Jul 13, 2012
    10
    I love the game. I have been a huge TES fan for a while. I liked Oblivion better but would have to say that this game is very, very good. Pick it up for sure!
  14. Indomidable
    Aug 8, 2012
    10
    Unmodded I'd call it a 8/10... Without Sky UI this wasn't a PC release just a console port.... I have a lot of fun playing this game. Particularly modding it. I find it interesting with some of these people reviewing a sandbox RPG... like it was a purely story driven one... It's open ended you don't have to do the quest lines an any particular order. Adding in the radiant AI (quest on theUnmodded I'd call it a 8/10... Without Sky UI this wasn't a PC release just a console port.... I have a lot of fun playing this game. Particularly modding it. I find it interesting with some of these people reviewing a sandbox RPG... like it was a purely story driven one... It's open ended you don't have to do the quest lines an any particular order. Adding in the radiant AI (quest on the fly) it's very well done!… Expand
  15. Dazaras
    Aug 12, 2012
    9
    A great improvement over previous Elder Scrolls games. The faces weren't creepy, and the dungeons felt suitably different. The enormous world has a lot of fun things no matter where you start looking, and the level system makes it possible to build a large variety of characters without the risk of making an inept character that existed in previous games. The main reason why this didn'tA great improvement over previous Elder Scrolls games. The faces weren't creepy, and the dungeons felt suitably different. The enormous world has a lot of fun things no matter where you start looking, and the level system makes it possible to build a large variety of characters without the risk of making an inept character that existed in previous games. The main reason why this didn't get a 10 from me was because of the bugs. It was almost impossible for me to complete all but the most simple questlines without encountering one or several. A lesser reason, although one which I hear far more people complaining about, was the huge number of NPCs that were considered "important" and therefore could not be killed. There were many situations in which an annoying or outright evil NPC could not be killed, at least until a certain point in a questline. This may just be an instance of a larger problem, as there are a large number of points in the game where the player is forced into a single course of action, or an event is triggered regardless of how you attempt to avoid it. This was annoying, but did not prevent me from enjoying the game.… Expand
  16. Karnos
    Sep 24, 2012
    10
    Skyrim is one of the legendary games, the games of the decade. Until this moment i believe it's the best of its time ou there. The graphics are phenomenal, as is the beautiful music and sounds. The map is huge and you can go wherever you like right from the start. There is a huge plethora of quests and a very small amount of them is boring "kill those", "fetch me that" style. There areSkyrim is one of the legendary games, the games of the decade. Until this moment i believe it's the best of its time ou there. The graphics are phenomenal, as is the beautiful music and sounds. The map is huge and you can go wherever you like right from the start. There is a huge plethora of quests and a very small amount of them is boring "kill those", "fetch me that" style. There are also a lot less bugs than in the previous elder scrolls games. The inventory needed improvement, but who cares! skyUI mod takes care of that. And now i'm getting to the point. The best part about this game besides making your character from scratch and besides your ability to do almost anything you can imagine is the mods. There are countless of mods and expansions that take the game to a whole new level literally. This really is a game that is hard not to enjoy. I urge you to try it! FUS RO DAH!… Expand
  17. Gamecritic0111
    Sep 22, 2012
    9
    An amazing experience. Great graphics, storyline, and attention to detail. There are so many different ways to play the game. Even after the ending of the game, the game still doesn't actually end. So many side quest to do, and a variety of weapons and armor. A great game, definitely worth $60.
  18. Paulo-Maciel
    Oct 20, 2012
    10
    There are people writing user reviews that are complete idiots! A big and complex fantasy world like I never saw in other games, and better that I thought possible in this hardware generation. This game is awesome!
  19. treedude
    Jun 1, 2013
    6
    Perfect games do not exist, idiots only give out 10s.

    This game is good, but it is ruined by a couple of things, vampires are really weak in this game. There aren't alot of quests only about 100, a small amount of random events. They did a bad job balancing level enemies ratio. I do like the Daedric artifacts however it was a nice touch. The fact that Dragonbone weapons was    Perfect games do not exist, idiots only give out 10s.

    This game is good, but it is ruined by a couple of things, vampires are really weak in this game. There aren't alot of quests only about 100, a small amount of random events.

    They did a bad job balancing level enemies ratio.

    I do like the Daedric artifacts however it was a nice touch.

    The fact that Dragonbone weapons was dlc is just bad, since shields were already in the base game.

    I think it's kind of idiotic that dragon is the highest lvl armor but daedric is 2nd highest but way more effective.

    This game needed some PC love, it's a sloppy console port to spell it out for ya. 1 core low resolution textures. The characters look a bit inhuman at times, some of the women's faces look entirely geometrical at times.

    Dragons scale horribly in this game, once you reach lvl 40 it becomes too hard to fight normal monsters even if you upgrade your weapons.

    You must rely entirely on exploits if you want to kill anything at high levels, like using the Fus Ro Dah shout because single enemies deal too much dmg.

    Voice actors are recycled.

    Only a couple of quests are good like the thief's guild quest and the vampire bloodlines dlc.

    Smithing is unpractical in this game since theres no mining woodcutting skills, things weigh too much and you usually find yourself finding equipment off of dead bodies anyway.

    This game is mediocre at best, nothing close to a masterpiece.

    All guards sound the same, many nice looking areas of the game have no quests at all, like the abandoned mill with 1 lady tending to the mill. A room full of cobwebs nothing.

    You can't decapitate anyone unless it's scripted with a skill, These scripted finishing moves don't even touch the enemy, it seems like experimental finishing moves. You can jump while you are knocked down, clearly not tested that well before release.

    I like archery in this game, except not on horses because they messed up there....

    Shield Bashing looks ridiculous they just sped up the animation it is lazy.

    No polearms spears.

    Lack of Amulets

    Only a limited number of magic spells, making melee weapons the strongest in the game.

    The dual magic spells stun ruin the game.

    Story was bland dungeons are entirely recycled with the exception of 10% of them.

    Animations are very stiff for mages enemy taunts.

    I am bugged that you can only be a werewolf vampire only once.

    This game lacks so many features that Oblivion had, fast travel ruins the game.

    Too easy for a RPG. Lack of weapons. Speechcraft is a joke, intimidation is a joke, game is just too easy. You can push dragon priests off cliffs and instant kill them with gravity FFS. Jumping 8 feet in the air will instant kill you. ADD MINING AND WOODCUTTING FLETCHING SKILLS TO MAKE A REAL GAME. AND NO MORE CONSOLE PORTS. 6.8/10    … Expand
  20. Klewer
    Nov 15, 2012
    8
    One of the best modern RPG's released recently. Interesting quests and a strong story make it a must have for any RPG fan. Only falls down in the general nerfing of the gameplay compared to previous Elder Scrolls to cater to a console/casual gamer crowd.
  21. Derpy_hooves123
    Nov 27, 2012
    10
    I personally have put over 400 hours into this game and still enjoy it! to solve all the graphical "problems" which kill the game, get mods! to fix lack of excitement, get mods! with the right combination of mods this game looks better than crysis AND has incredible gameplay! *TES GAMES ARE MADE TO BE MODDED THERES A REASON ALL THE GAMES COME WITH A MODLOADER*
  22. YazzleDazzle
    Dec 9, 2012
    6
    While many people hail this game as one of the best games released for PC, i simply cannot agree. The world is huge and the number of choices in how to spend your time is staggering. The land is beautifully carved and the enemies are incredibly varied and fun. However, the dungeons all feel the same, the story is poorly delivered and game play is incredibly flat and dull. The game boastsWhile many people hail this game as one of the best games released for PC, i simply cannot agree. The world is huge and the number of choices in how to spend your time is staggering. The land is beautifully carved and the enemies are incredibly varied and fun. However, the dungeons all feel the same, the story is poorly delivered and game play is incredibly flat and dull. The game boasts hundreds of hand crafted dungeons. What they don't mention is that they all look the same, have similar enemies and will be where you spend most of your time. The open world is beautiful but its hard to appreciate that when you've just defeated your thousandth skeleton and can't see more than a few meters away from you in a cave. When you do get to spend some time outside, the game is incredibly fun. Running around the countryside is enjoyable and often my favorite parts are traveling between quests. Outside is where you'll find all the fun enemies and where the open area makes combat much more enjoyable (Although still note fantastic). The beautifully crafted world can't count for much when you spend so much of your time under it. As far as quests go, Skyrim has a huge amount to do. Most of them are well designed and do a fairly good job at engrossing you in the world. However, there are a few that will frustrate you to the point where you resort to walkthroughs or a few where you're forced to save and reload so many times that you just can't get into the game anymore. The different guilds provide neat stories with pretty nice rewards. A few of the missions are, as mentioned before, frustrating, but overall fun and a good thing to check out. The story is... pretty lame. There are no plot twists, almost no character development and pretty little to do as far as the main story line is concerned. That being said, I won't gripe on it too much since im fairly certain the main focus of the game is the open world, do what you want, thing and a lengthy, twist ridden plot would interfere with that. Just don't expect much from the storyline. Now for my biggest issue with Skyrim and the biggest reason I gave it as low a rating as I did. The gameplay... sucks. The combat feels incredibly clunky and while it may have worked for previous Elder Scrolls games, it needed to be revamped. This becomes especially apparent if you choose a pure melee character. This is nothing compared to how poorly balanced the game is. I'd go as far as to say that it is broken like no other. Leveling up is trivial once you find a few tricks. Crafting daggers makes getting the highest level armor a breeze. You can spend hours playing the game properly and gain maybe a level or two. If you have enough of the most common crafting materials, make a few hundred daggers and boom, you're a Skyrim god. The crafting isn't the only unbalanced thing in the game. The combat needs some balancing as well. As a pure mage, any other non-melee unit would slay me in seconds while melee units would drop like flies. This makes the mages guild incredibly difficult and the legion incredibly easy. Additionally, the enemies don't scale well either. The game scales almost all the enemies to make sure you never get bored flicking enemies away, however, this gives you no sense of progression. You can go back to the very first dungeon you went to and you'll have only a slightly easier time with the enemies. Sure a few more new types of stronger ones will probably appear but still, the sense of overwhelming strength you expect isn't there. On the flip-side, there were cases where i'd run into a new enemy that made me fear my chances of defeating it, only to kill it in seconds. Here is a perfect example of this:

    I was skipping along through a dungeon i had stumbled upon and was delving deeper and deeper to discover its treasures. The floors were littered with skeleton corpses (redundant?) and i was looking forward to finally finishing it up. I approached a gate and opened it and strolled through carelessly. I was ambushed by a skeleton that appeared behind me as i walked through the door and after quickly dispatching it, i turned to face the center of the room. There was a bone dragon. The first i'd seen. It was a towering skeletal beast that made me turn around, book it through the gate and shut the door. I was paniced and had no idea how to take on this dragon. I spent minutes searching through my arsenal of spells and weapons while checking regularely to make sure the dragon hadn't somehow figured out how to get at me. I finally decided to take the cowards way out and test the waters safely. I summoned an elemental, opened the door, let the elemental walk through.... and shut the gate behind it. Then the dragon died. Wait... WHAT?! Just like that, all this build up, all this suspense, the sense of panic and the the dragon i was looking forward to defeating was dead. Very anticlimactic

    Overall, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone but a devout Elder Scrolls fan.    … Expand
  23. Sneetches
    Dec 19, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. TL;DR I would say that Skyrim IS better than Oblivion, but as soon as you begin, you realize its simply Oblivion with a cool looking cover on it.

    The good things are the fact that the graphics have been improved, the engine is improved, and... that's about it. The gameplay does not feel improved, but rather, it feels "cooler" to do things than it did in Oblivion. First off, the game has been simplified to the point of being dumbed down, which is very apparent. Combat has been molested by kill cams, which will force you to watch almost every and any enemy get executed. Its "cool" at first, but the problem arises that combat has also been reduced to "swing/shoot arrows/spam mage spells until you get the kill cam at half health". Your inventory interface was designed by Apple it would seem. The map would be great with its current design if it felt like I wasn't looking at an inaccurate 800x600 looking texture.

    The new "talent trees" have also been simplified, and honestly, some of them do not belong. Smithing, for example, seems so out of place as a talent tree. The choices for combat are basic "10% more damage", "10% chance to bleed (utterly useless because enemies die quickly enough before the bleeds even work) or the good old "Your power attacks do 25% more damage and have a chance to decapitate", which should read "keep power attacking until someone dies or gets decapitated, 50/50 chance. Mages have it worse in a sense that every new tier of spells requires the corresponding talent. Overall, the trees were a good idea that failed in execution.

    The story, oh god what a travesty. Alduin is arguably one of the worst "world ending ancient evils" i've seen in a while. This ancient dragon, with knowledge to destroy the world and the power to easily wipe out Skyrim, Cyrodil, and beyond, LETS YOU PROGRESS ALONG UNTIL YOU CAN KILL HIM. The story is one of these things that feels like it was the last minute addition, like "Well we got this RPG, and we have 7 days for release, now we just need a story". Hell, at least you could have some attachment to the fight between Martin and Mehrunes Dagon, it felt great at least. At no point in Skyrim's story will you go "wow, I feel so immersed in this!" Dragons were also hyped up and failed because there will be multiple times where you'll have more than 1 "random dragon" attacking, resulting in them being some "supposedly special but actually very common monsters" that end up being more of an annoyance.

    The NPC's and their "radiant AI" have not been improved, but character models are at least much much better. I could go on and on, but i'll keep these last complaints short...Skills can be abused for unlimited gold, armor design goes from normal -> dark, spikes -> spikier grimdark. Skills are still grinded in the same way as Oblivion. Combat difficulty has 2 settings, murder everyone, and then come across a mage that one shots you. The world is nice but seemingly empty, save for certain quest dungeons. Quests are no more than they were in Oblivion. There are many others, but i'll stop there.

    Overall, Skyrim seems to appear as though it would be Oblivion's big brother. Under close inspection, it is simply a prettier looking Oblivion, plagued with its own problems, built on hype, and marketed to the "casual" gamer. I guess you can say that some things can easily be fixed with a couple mods though, right?    … Expand
  24. itwasthatguy
    Dec 23, 2012
    4
    Skyrim is a very ambitious game, just like the other Elder Scrolls games. Once again, I'm amazed by the main concepts of the game. The combat system is a very nice concept. The ability to wander the world and do whatever you feel like is another amazing concept. The item creation and enchanting are great concepts.

    Unfortunately, that's about where Skyrim stops being amazing. When    Skyrim is a very ambitious game, just like the other Elder Scrolls games. Once again, I'm amazed by the main concepts of the game. The combat system is a very nice concept. The ability to wander the world and do whatever you feel like is another amazing concept. The item creation and enchanting are great concepts.

    Unfortunately, that's about where Skyrim stops being amazing. When the concepts become reality, everything falls apart. Overall, the game is incredibly buggy. Between the constant crashes, several broken/incompletable quests, some minor glitches, and game balance, the game is a complete wreck. I'm really impressed with the concepts of this game. The raw ideas for Skyrim are truly brilliant. The actual execution is so bad, I'm often physically sickened.

    Let's start with the glitches. First of all, the game won't stop crashing. Enough said. The menus are very unresponsive and overall poorly designed. Often, my character will say something despite the fact that I chose a different dialogue option. I've had several quests become impossible to finish due to bugs. Again, enough said. Enemies are often able to attack again while in mid-attack. They can also attack backwards now and then. This is just a very very small fraction of the bugs in Skyrim.

    Now let's get to game balance. The dungeons are a complete cakewalk until you get to the boss. Once you find the boss, you MUST exploit the game in some way to win. Otherwise, you simply lack the health and damage output to even have a chance of winning. An example of this would be a draugr boss which I was fighting. I would injure him to about 9/10ths of his health, and he would immediately heal himself back up to full health. An impossible fight. (I never ended up beating him, by the way). Basically, the enemies are either too easy or too hard. Most fights aren't even very fun. Even the dragon fights turn into cover based shooters, as dragons are often capable of 1-hit kills.

    Once again, I applaud whoever was smart enough to come up with the concepts of this game. That said, Skyrim didn't even touch its potential. It's such a shame how it turned out.    … Expand
  25. vectranon
    Feb 22, 2013
    10
    "EPICKA FANTASY POWRACA" i się nie mylili. Gra posiada 75 osiągnięć Steam i 94 ze skali od jeden do stu. System: walki i kamery mnie zaintrygował. Jednym słowem polecam Wam kupno tej epickiej fantasy!
  26. SergioEngles86
    Apr 21, 2013
    9
    Skyrim is by far the best single player first person perspective RPG on the planet.

    This game offers a ton of freedom to play your character how you want to play it.

    I am so glad to have play Skyrim even though I am from Spain and dont speak so good english.
  27. judgefx
    Mar 12, 2013
    9
    How many awards, accolades, reviews?
    This really is a work of art with only a few minor flaws.
    Menu system could be better. (Just mod it)
    Some errors in quests. (Just mod it)
    An open world but a little too guided at times while playing "follow the marker". (Just mod it)
    Buy it, then mod it, and love it. At over 1100 play hours I can say it is a good game.
  28. Clementines
    May 28, 2013
    6
    How to play Skyrim: Accept a quest, fast travel to an area, do one of three things (kill someone, talk to someone, get an item), return to the quest-giver, and get a leveled item and another quest. Repeat.

    A nice followup to Oblivion. Fun, but nothing innovative or special.
  29. Pillz4111
    Sep 14, 2013
    9
    This is no doubt, absolutely the best game I've ever played. The visuals look beautiful, the scale of the world, the number of quests, which is MILLIONS. There is absolutely no way to stop playing this masterpiece. And with the two additional DLCs, there is absolutely NO WAY you'll sleep at all! However, there are a lot of bugs, and glitches, so I'm rating it a nine. I wish I could rate it a 10.
  30. Nerokin
    Nov 24, 2015
    9
    Discover An Awesome Open-World Fantasy RPG

    Overall: 85% (119.4/140) Atmosphere: 9.5/10 Graphics: 9.4/10 Level Design: 9.8/10 Sound: 9.8/10 Balance: 7.1/10 Controls: 7.5/10 Fighting System: 8.6/10 Mysteries: 9.3/10 Animations: 8.4/10 Artificial Intelligence: 6.7/10 Replay Value: 8.8/10 Story: 7.3/10 Tutorial: 3.5/5 Variety in Items: 9.7/10 Cost-Benefit Ratio: 3/4    Discover An Awesome Open-World Fantasy RPG

    Overall: 85% (119.4/140)

    Atmosphere: 9.5/10
    Graphics: 9.4/10
    Level Design: 9.8/10
    Sound: 9.8/10

    Balance: 7.1/10
    Controls: 7.5/10
    Fighting System: 8.6/10
    Mysteries: 9.3/10

    Animations: 8.4/10
    Artificial Intelligence: 6.7/10

    Replay Value: 8.8/10
    Story: 7.3/10
    Tutorial: 3.5/5
    Variety in Items: 9.7/10

    Cost-Benefit Ratio: 3/4
    System Requirements: 1/1    … 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

All reviews »
Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

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