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. Ghostrider
    May 8, 2012
    5
    Some of the game is excellent, some is ok, some is quite bad.

    The good: World design. The world is huge, detailed (it even has ants) and beautiful. It is well worth the effort to walk the world of Skyrim from end to end in every direction. This is where the game really shines. Lots of places to exlore. There are hundreds of locations in the game. Most with their own small story.    Some of the game is excellent, some is ok, some is quite bad.

    The good: World design. The world is huge, detailed (it even has ants) and beautiful. It is well worth the effort to walk the world of Skyrim from end to end in every direction. This is where the game really shines. Lots of places to exlore. There are hundreds of locations in the game. Most with their own small story.

    Sadly this is where the good ends...
    The OK:
    While the story is not too horrible, it is not great either. It didn't engage me. It doesn't stand any comparison with Witcher series. But overall main, side quests make sense.

    The bad:
    Skill system. Bad, bad, bad. The idea behind Elder Scrolls series is an original one compared to your average RPG (quests->XP->level up->skills). In Skyrim you level up by using your skills. Completing quests doesn't earn any XP. Skills level very slowly. After 80 hours of playing I only have one of the skills maxed out to 100. Overall leveling a skill is long, boring and tedious work that involves a lot of grinding and/or using exploits (that are abundant in the game). Good news is that you donâ    … Expand
  2. Kelu
    Dec 25, 2011
    5
    Tremendous fun at first, but the game's charm wears off quickly. Each subsequent installment of TES series removes more of the RPG elements, and Skyrim is pretty much just a FPP hack'n'slash. The main plot is a cookie-cutter sub-par heroic fantasy dragon slaying "adventure" and side quests are rather disappointing too - kill, exterminate, assassinate, murder and fetch. Playing a warriorTremendous fun at first, but the game's charm wears off quickly. Each subsequent installment of TES series removes more of the RPG elements, and Skyrim is pretty much just a FPP hack'n'slash. The main plot is a cookie-cutter sub-par heroic fantasy dragon slaying "adventure" and side quests are rather disappointing too - kill, exterminate, assassinate, murder and fetch. Playing a warrior archetype will get you bored to death, sneaky rogues and mage might fare better though. The world is big, but compared to, for example, Morrowind, it's bland, default north of the default fantasy setting. Exploration isn't really worth the effort, random dungeons litter the landscape, filled with random baddies to murder, bearing random, level-scaled loot. There's barely anyone to talk to outside of main cities - not saying that's a bad thing, since the dialogues are quite badly written and uninteresting, voiced by about 10 actors at that. Not to mention the interface, which was designed for consoles and is agonizingly annoying to use on the PC, and the outdated graphics. This game jest needs mods to be decent, and without them it's a solid 4/10. Skyrim made me look more favourably on Oblivion.… Expand
  3. Dariune
    Jan 17, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been a fan of TES series since DaggerFall. (I havent played Arena.) I loved Dagger Fall for its complex open world and advanced game mechanics. Of course it had its faults but they were undermined by the huge myriad of features the game had. Morrowind cut the features down a little bit but the incredibly detailed and interesting world it gave you to explore, the complex story line and still relatively complex character mecahnics more than made up for that. Oblivion dumbed down the character mechanics even further and even its pretty graphics couldnt hide the very generic game world provided. WHich leads us on to Skyrim. Well its both better and worse than Oblivion in many ways. The game world is visually stunning, very diverse in encounters and quickly becomes tedious. After several hours of walking through the varied locations you soon realise that although one place looks different from the other, they all act and behave the same. The character mechanics have been dumbed down to a horrible degree. Attributes are as good as gone with only three remaining. Instead they have given us the Fallout 3 style perks. You get to go up one attribute and one perk per level. This makes it VERY hard to care about leveling or the character you are creating. The quests are generally the same, go here, kill this, get that, come back. After 7 - 8 of these you will start to discover boredom at its best. The quest storylines are also far too "Awsome".[spoiler] For example, the mage questline has you saving the world as an apprentice and then suddenly rising to Archmage [/spoiler] I would say that after not too long, you will have saved the world at least a dozen times. Skyrim, on the surface is a great game, well worthy of the praise it has received. But as soon as you explore the game a little further, it quickly shows the lack of depth or longevity this game has to offer. All in all, I would say this game is on par with Oblivion which is not a good thing. I would personally buy this game at a low price or wait for one of its competitors to see if they are able to offer a better experience.… Expand
  4. Elmiq
    Nov 13, 2011
    5
    After like 6 hours i have stopped playing as i was just bored. It is almost the same as Oblivion, but we have rocks and snow instead of grass. Stupid dialogs, stupid tutorial (there is a bear ahead, lets sneak or take this bow - then one shot and bear is dead. So simple, but still my companion had to cry). Graphics are average - nothing special about it. Is dragon from start trying to killAfter like 6 hours i have stopped playing as i was just bored. It is almost the same as Oblivion, but we have rocks and snow instead of grass. Stupid dialogs, stupid tutorial (there is a bear ahead, lets sneak or take this bow - then one shot and bear is dead. So simple, but still my companion had to cry). Graphics are average - nothing special about it. Is dragon from start trying to kill us ? Then he should wait one more second - dragon idiot, that's all. I would give it 5, as game is not that bad, it is just nothing more than average experience.… Expand
  5. TruthIsOutThere
    Jan 5, 2012
    5
    5/10 it's all i can give. Old graphic engine, art styl is good, you can feel nordic climate but from technical point of view it sux, less complicated RPG gameplay compared to Morrowind. And no spears, my favourite weapons, again like in Oblivion everything seems to be simplified for idiots, who have trouble counting to 10.
  6. karmasleeper
    Dec 3, 2011
    5
    Skyrim follows in the vein of its predecessor Oblivion in providing an even more streamlined open world RPG experience. Attribute points are no more with racial traits the only factor defining a starting role for your character. Character progression is so streamlined that soon even these racial bonuses will mean little as the way you choose to play defines your character. This approachSkyrim follows in the vein of its predecessor Oblivion in providing an even more streamlined open world RPG experience. Attribute points are no more with racial traits the only factor defining a starting role for your character. Character progression is so streamlined that soon even these racial bonuses will mean little as the way you choose to play defines your character. This approach truly gives players the greatest freedom in how to approach the game but perhaps unintentionally lessens the replay value of the game. There is no reason to replay the game as a different character since you can grow your skills however you want. I can be a mage with a two handed battle axe or sneak effortlessly in full plate armor while picking pockets in broad daylight. There are fewer spells, fewer skills, fewer weapon types, and fewer armor slots than ever before. Like Fallout 3, players receive one point to invest in perks each time they level up. These perks are very bland compared to Fallout 3, however, and usually provide passive bonuses in the way of reducing the madicka required for spell casting or increasing weapon damage by a certain percentage. The UI is atrocious and designed around a console controller. It requires way too much scrolling and unnecessarily interrupts the flow of combat. "Favoriting" an item in your inventory reduces the amount of screens you have to mull through, but as your character progresses, results in another length list you have to scroll through to access what you want. The main quest is reasonably interesting but anyone who has played an Elder Scrolls game will find it recycled and painfully short. Fighters, thieves, and mages guild exist in various forms as does the Dark Brotherhood. Daedric quests are back and most towns have one or two side quests to explore. There's a lot to do in Skyrim, and the world is fairly big, but like previous games in the franchise suffers from repetition. The landscape varies only in token ways and dungeons feel bland and samey after a short while. From a performance strandpoint, the game runs well but things could be so much better. The game doesn't use more than 2gigs of RAM (though there is a mod to address this), it uses DX9, and it's the same engine as Oblivion contrary to Bethesda's claims. Once again, a developer has chosen to allow ancient console hardware to dictate what they can and cannot do with their game rather than innovate and explore new ways of doing things in the franchise. If you are a hardcore Elder Scrolls fan, wait for a price drop. This is not work $60.… Expand
  7. Thothistox
    Mar 25, 2012
    5
    If you want to be convinced that you're too old to enjoy RPGs anymore, this is your game. The world is huge, and though the graphics aren't as good as some games, it's tastefully done (someone really applied their geology degree). But the fun of exploration wanes fast and as you're filled with brief excitement upon discovering another location there follows that invariable sinking feelingIf you want to be convinced that you're too old to enjoy RPGs anymore, this is your game. The world is huge, and though the graphics aren't as good as some games, it's tastefully done (someone really applied their geology degree). But the fun of exploration wanes fast and as you're filled with brief excitement upon discovering another location there follows that invariable sinking feeling upon realizing it's filled with wooden Skyrim characters, and they are *very* wooden: no montages during the dialogue sequences, inexpressive faces, they look similar and are voiced by around 6 actors. Conversations rarely have C&C. The dialogue writing is so perfunctory and self-conscious it's like hearing someone read an ESL textbook. There is a rebellion brewing, but the NPCs don't seem to care. They have no sense of humour, no love lives, no jobs (that aren't related to things you can buy, craft or kill) and they usually greet you by mindlessly explaining what they can do for you, like some sort of talking user interface or airport security announcement. I still don't remember any names (except one). There are very many quests, but they're of poor quality. A few examples of absurdity: Around town, I once met an escaping thief who asked me to take something he'd stolen. I said no and killed him in front of two guards. Then, with the dead thief lying right in front of them, the guards asked me where he went. My dialog options were "he went that way" or "I didn't see him". Another example, I'm asked to rescue a woman's son. I use the arrow in the map view to locate where he is (no thinking here), clear out the castle and find him in the dungeon. He thanks me and goes away. I then find a few more people who are also locked up and free them and they stay in their cells and tell me to leave them alone. I then meet his mother, whose dialogue is so wooden she doesn't convey the slightest bit of relief. Another time I fought a dragon and a guard joined in the fight. After the mindless fight was over (aim, shoot, heal in a loop) the guard immediately arrested me. Apparently I once accidentally hit E while pointing to the wrong thing and inadvertently stole a wooden plate from a shopkeeper instead of talking to him. A different dragon battle was followed with the guards attacking me because one of my fireballs landed on them. After yet a different battle, my companion character attacked my dog repeatedly and killed him. The quests are generally sloppy. You're given dialogue options referring to people you haven't met yet, and what you have to do is sometimes spelled out for you in excessively simple terms and other times left so obscure you need the journal and map. Most involve going into a cave or fortress and fetching something in exchange for a reward you don't need from a wooden character you don't care about and will never see or hear from again. You're able to master every clique and become everything at once. I became archmage, and then leader of the Companions. I found myself not caring about this at all. Then I read the diary of the former leader of the Companions, who praised me for being such a wonderchild and then mentioned that he disapproved of magic, ignoring my status as robed magic-casting archmage! Oh, and reading that diary was purely aberrational. The books strewn throughout the game are written by someone astoundingly talentless. Other times the quests make me cringe. From Azura's mission in jarringly ugly Oblivion to going into a dead king's dream where he wouldn't shut up about how insane he was, and where I had to zap his "self-doubt" with a rod. At other times the quest writers seemed inspired by 80's sitcoms. I had to create a diversion at a party by encouraging a man to proposition (gasp!) one of the waitresses, and because this is puritanical Skyrim she was really offended. (How I missed the Witcher!) Main story: your character progresses from budding wonderchild to the prophesied Bestest Persun Evar. The story is neither personal nor heroic, and what you do and when you do it doesn't matter. You don't need to do any of the things you can do. There are no overwhelming odds to beat, no grand story to unravel. There's no suspense, sense of urgency or reason to invest in what's going on. Levelling involves buffering talents you learn elsewhere. Money is mostly useless. In 60 hours I changed armor 3X, and sold many useless sets of armor for unneeded money. Combat is mindless. No combos. I didn't need the poisons or scrolls. Whenever I met a difficult opponent I spammed health potions, which I made very effective with alchemy talents (typical talent: improve effectiveness of X by 20%). Your follower/dog gets in the way between your attack an the enemy. Death physics are well done though. There are many things I still haven't done in Skyrim, but I won't bother. This game is addictive, but unfulfilling, and the more I play it the more embarrassing it is too.… Expand
  8. KuriousJorj
    Dec 10, 2018
    5
    This is a boring, hugely OVERRATED game. Other than a large world, there is nothing special, noteworthy, or new about this thing. (even the world is monotonous, as the caves/dungeons are the same thign over and over)

    The combat movement and physics is unbelievably clunky. Magic is a joke. The quests are unbelievably tedious and quickly become meaningless. The world is full of    This is a boring, hugely OVERRATED game. Other than a large world, there is nothing special, noteworthy, or new about this thing. (even the world is monotonous, as the caves/dungeons are the same thign over and over)

    The combat movement and physics is unbelievably clunky. Magic is a joke. The quests are unbelievably tedious and quickly become meaningless. The world is full of boring, depressed NPCs.

    The game quickly becomes a chore. A grind. And SO BORING.

    Apparently the only way the neckbeard fanbois can play this is modding it into an entirely different game.

    Another Bethesda fail.    … Expand
  9. Xextreem
    Nov 21, 2011
    5
    Ok dont get mad but i have the pc version yes its a good game but for people that have problems to even run this game or crashing like every 5 min its not and no not my pc have problems i have a high end system with 3x27 inc monitor and 2xhd5970 in crossfire and 16gb 2000mhz ram and SSD3 drive. And every other game out there have never fail to run. This game however was bugged before iOk dont get mad but i have the pc version yes its a good game but for people that have problems to even run this game or crashing like every 5 min its not and no not my pc have problems i have a high end system with 3x27 inc monitor and 2xhd5970 in crossfire and 16gb 2000mhz ram and SSD3 drive. And every other game out there have never fail to run. This game however was bugged before i even play it. I need to change my sound system to even let me run in the main menu of the game !!! ok now easy fixs easy go you will say? no the first day i was hook at it no crashing nothing just some random flicking screen glitching and some purple texture failing but well the game keeps running so fine by me. Next day and 4 days later the game crash every time when you fast traveling.!!! so i get piss and i get mad i stop playing this now i found the bug but i not going to tell you fixs it because people need to understand that a bugged game is not a game. But a crap. If the game was stable in the begin i give it a 10 for sure. But with all the bugs and crashing and anoying texture bugs i gave it a 5. Till the fixs it and repost this post with a 8 for fixsing this game.… Expand
  10. Bas92
    Nov 19, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Skyrim is a game that looks absolutely great from the outside. The quality could be a lot better though.
    The game starts in a village and as I looked around, everyone was either a Nord or an Imperial. The character creation is incredibly simple, all you have to do is select a race. It's purely cosmetic anyway because any race can be an equally skilled mage/thief/warrior. The game starts quite promising with a dragon who attacks the village, but sadly this is the only instance in the entire game where a dragon actually destroys something. There's no character progression in the entire game so you can already imagine what the ending of the main quest will be. You're the dragonborn after all, whether you like it or not. Personally I'd rather have a main quest like in Fallout New Vegas, with the Stormcloaks and Imperials as the two major factions. Currently you're just the boring "chosen one" and there are no choices or different outcomes in the MQ. The MQ is also quite short, it took me only 10 hours to beat it.
    But hey, you don't buy TES just for the MQ. By far the best part of this game are the dungeons and the world. The world is, as we've come to expect from Bethesda, huge. It feels bigger than Cyrodiil because it has more mountains. There are more unique places and the cities look a whole lot better than the cities in TESIV:Oblivion. The dungeons are linear but brilliant. They all look unique, most dungeons have a story to them and they're full of surprises. I've had the most fun in this game by randomly exploring dungeons.
    Sadly the game suffers from many other problems. The user interface was made for the consoles and is absolutely terrible. You do get used to it but I think it's quite an achievement from Bethesda that I'd rather get Oblivion's UI back.
    The graphics are a major improvement but not up to today's standards. Many textures, especially rocks, are very outdated and would even look bad in TESIV:Oblivion. Games like The Witcher 2 and Two Worlds 2 look much better than Skyrim.
    The combat hasn't changed much since Oblivion. There's dual-wielding now (and dualcasting) and killing moves. The first-person killing moves are pretty cool, the 3rd person ones are annoying and can't be turned off. Melee combat is still simple hit&block where you're hitting air. If you're an archer, expect a lot of fights against a bandit with an arrow sticking out of his head.
    The dragons are a wasted potential. They look great but they're pathetically weak at lower levels. It shouldn't be possible to even kill a dragon at level 5-10 imo. They get better at level 20+ but they're still not that hard to kill, especially when they land so you can easily reach them. As I said, there's no destruction model in this game, so the dragons never feel as terrifying as they should. The guild quests and side quests are a mix of good and mediocre quests. Most are poorly written and almost all quests are simple fetch or kill quests. Don't expect any meaningful choices or different outcomes. The quests are mostly an excuse to explore the dungeons in this game and fight enemies.
    While the world itself is huge, it looks more like Oblivion than Morrowind. You won't find any big mushrooms here or other unique fantasy stuff. The Nordic theme is pretty good but there are so few elven/animal NPC's in this game that it's almost sad. I feel like I'm playing in the medieval era instead of a fantasy universe. Some people might like that but it's a big change from Morrowind. To sum it all up: Skyrim is a pretty good action game. If you liked Oblivion, you'll love this game. You can easily spent hundreds of hours playing this game. Just don't expect any good RPG elements, a memorable main quest, meaningful choices, well written quests, epic dragon encounters or a great combat system.    … Expand
  11. 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.
  12. MagusGrandios
    Nov 17, 2011
    5
    Hurray sandbox, but it's all handled horrifically. You can fight! But it's the worst fighting engine in any game! You can steal! But it's just picking stuff up! You can housebreak! But it's a terribly done minigame. You can ride a horse! But it handles like you're on foot, just with a horse model stuck to your butt. You can talk to 1000s of NPCs! But they all say one of 4 things andHurray sandbox, but it's all handled horrifically. You can fight! But it's the worst fighting engine in any game! You can steal! But it's just picking stuff up! You can housebreak! But it's a terribly done minigame. You can ride a horse! But it handles like you're on foot, just with a horse model stuck to your butt. You can talk to 1000s of NPCs! But they all say one of 4 things and nothing you say to them will impact anything. And so on...… Expand
  13. uns3en
    Nov 13, 2011
    5
    This gets a solid 5 and even that feels a lot more than it should have been. Where do I start? Bugs everywhere, from immortal NPCs to crime-reporting chickens(!!!!!) . The controls are just horrible and unresponsive. The so-acclaimed UI is a joke - stinks of console, no mapping to numbers, mouse doesn't work in half the containers, and I'd rather have mouse wheel scroll through myThis gets a solid 5 and even that feels a lot more than it should have been. Where do I start? Bugs everywhere, from immortal NPCs to crime-reporting chickens(!!!!!) . The controls are just horrible and unresponsive. The so-acclaimed UI is a joke - stinks of console, no mapping to numbers, mouse doesn't work in half the containers, and I'd rather have mouse wheel scroll through my favourites than do what it does. The whole interface screams 'use a controller!!!', but I don't even own a console because I HATE THOSE THINGS! The graphics are weird in a way that there are great high-res details present and then you see a blurry low-res texture sitting right next to it (guess that makes it easier on console graphics units, BUT I'M NOT PLAYING A CONSOLE!!!!!). AI and pathing are just plain retarded. No point in levelling at all, because your enemies level with you. AND WHERE ARE MY REGULAR STATS? You no longer need to sleep to level, and to make it even more retarded you have now a choice of whole 3 (three!) stats to improve... and a perk (what is this? Fallout?). Dungeon-crawling quickly becomes monotonous and boring. Overall, it feels like a poor Oblivion 2.0 port packaged in recycled gift-wrap. Bethesda managed to take everything that made Morrowind great and... flush it down the drain, because there's non of it in Skyrim.… Expand
  14. Demonbox
    Nov 12, 2011
    5
    Ok my first review was a 7 and after 2 hours of gameplay
    now after about 10 have to drop it to 5, like someone else already mentioned
    why are my weapons invincible? and why do i regenerate health so quick? fights are already pretty easy , this way you're a demi-god... Lore is nice, but yes have to agree take Morrowind make it a bit more classic fantasy and remove some of the weird    Ok my first review was a 7 and after 2 hours of gameplay
    now after about 10 have to drop it to 5, like someone else already mentioned
    why are my weapons invincible? and why do i regenerate health so quick?
    fights are already pretty easy , this way you're a demi-god...
    Lore is nice, but yes have to agree take Morrowind make it a bit more classic fantasy and remove some of the weird interesting stuff (Silt stride -> dude on a cart)
    After a few hours menus became a bit more easy to use, but they still are console menus, and yes the fights look horrible, especially when you manage to start a "finishing move", which , don't ask me why happens 80% of times, making fights even more easy.
    A bit of a delusion , was expecting something more, even if i was aware Bethesda is not my kind of RPG game developer.    … Expand
  15. Ythumb
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    Holy ****
    This is TRULY A TERRIBLE GAME.
    DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP!
    Please save yourselves the time and dont support devs that make terrible games like this!
  16. CorporateGreed
    Nov 11, 2011
    5
    Terrible controls for the PC. Remapping buttons causes some features to simply not work at all such as stealing books or crafting. Gotta admit it does run stable, but really doesn't look much better than oblivion did 5 years ago. The mouse Y sensitivity is somehow controlled by the frame rate, so you'll never have the controls exactly as you want them. The good thing is I have had noTerrible controls for the PC. Remapping buttons causes some features to simply not work at all such as stealing books or crafting. Gotta admit it does run stable, but really doesn't look much better than oblivion did 5 years ago. The mouse Y sensitivity is somehow controlled by the frame rate, so you'll never have the controls exactly as you want them. The good thing is I have had no stability issues or crashes of any kind, which makes sense since it's basically Oblivion with a worse UI and menu system. Looks a bit better, but nothing like the screenshots from Bethesda on any settings. Would rent only, and then use a console as the PC version is an afterthough.… Expand
  17. whitewi666
    Feb 3, 2012
    5
    Man, was I wrong when I gave this game 8 points. It's not what I thought it is. I have played tones of hours just by assuming it should get better but it never did. I will never buy Bethesda game again until they start to innovate and make more story driven games! Because Skyrim is Big Empty world full of same characters with same crappy lines. Main quest is joke as many others. No matterMan, was I wrong when I gave this game 8 points. It's not what I thought it is. I have played tones of hours just by assuming it should get better but it never did. I will never buy Bethesda game again until they start to innovate and make more story driven games! Because Skyrim is Big Empty world full of same characters with same crappy lines. Main quest is joke as many others. No matter what you do you never feel the difference in outcome. Very dull game!!!!! I regret that I spend 60 dollars on it.… Expand
  18. Bingo74
    Nov 21, 2011
    5
    Sadly... i'm not trolling and the 5 i give this game is pretty lenient. I was super pumped up for this game one of their die hard fans but i'm sad to say that the quests in this game feels pretty weak. Finishing the Main, College of Winterhold, and Dark Brotherhood quests i feel that the quests in Skyrim doesn't have the same spark they did in Oblivion. Which really depresses meSadly... i'm not trolling and the 5 i give this game is pretty lenient. I was super pumped up for this game one of their die hard fans but i'm sad to say that the quests in this game feels pretty weak. Finishing the Main, College of Winterhold, and Dark Brotherhood quests i feel that the quests in Skyrim doesn't have the same spark they did in Oblivion. Which really depresses me considering i had such high expectations for this game but truly the quests in this game did not entertain me at all. While i do have to say Dark Brotherhood while not having that much of an entertaining questline they did have quite a great story. The main quest and College of Winterhold quests however feel very bland and after considering how much time was put into the game i would have thought that they would "wow" me sadly after i finished them i didn't feel any sense of accomplishment and while their is more to do in this game just by doing the College of Winterhold quests and Main quests has just brought down my expectations for the rest of the game. Sorry if this sounds like trolling but it is my honest opinion i hope this helps people that are about to buy Skyrim.… Expand
  19. 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
  20. 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.
  21. kabbi
    Dec 2, 2011
    5
    When I first started this game I was like **** 10/10... as I progressed through further, I started noticing lots of bugs, a sincere lack of momentum in plot (lots of forgettable gopher quests). About half way through the game I realized that none of the stats matter. The game is so damn easy anyone can beat any mission pretty much with any character set up. I found the AI challenge to beWhen I first started this game I was like **** 10/10... as I progressed through further, I started noticing lots of bugs, a sincere lack of momentum in plot (lots of forgettable gopher quests). About half way through the game I realized that none of the stats matter. The game is so damn easy anyone can beat any mission pretty much with any character set up. I found the AI challenge to be as rewarding as shooting fish in a barrel. If you turn up the difficulty your health drops so fast that you have to pause every 5 seconds and drink 8 health potions. Very little room for role-playing beyond deciding what cool armor you want to wear. Dialogue especially of wandering NPC's gets so annoyingly repetative the only thing they're missing is a pullstring when u walk by. Did I mention there's no story nor do your choices have any effect on the outcome? You're pretty much just killing mindless ragdolls and calling yourself the Dragonborn somehow imagining that quests you did/didn't do are going to make a difference. When you complete a quest NPC's go on talking about it over and over again til you want to **** kill everyone. This game sucks. Some of the reviews I've read on it are extremely questionable. But then again I was totally hot for it the first week so I'll shut up.… Expand
  22. Manomama7
    Jan 14, 2012
    5
    While there are millions of bugs and the combat, textures and animations suck this game is still great! There are tons of hours of playtime.Bethesda could've done more on the 4 years of development. Anyways i think Skyrim deserves a 5
  23. breslin
    Dec 19, 2011
    5
    "Freedom without Purpose": I was seriously disappointed by Skyrim; I choked on insignificant options, undirected freedom followed by quick deaths, the confusing UI, the confusing map, and poor combat mechanics. But I have read that if you play it in a certain way it's more enjoyable:

    http://www.oxm.co.uk/36533/features/skyrim-nine-ways-to-make-it-the-worst-game-ever/ I suspect that this    "Freedom without Purpose": I was seriously disappointed by Skyrim; I choked on insignificant options, undirected freedom followed by quick deaths, the confusing UI, the confusing map, and poor combat mechanics. But I have read that if you play it in a certain way it's more enjoyable:

    http://www.oxm.co.uk/36533/features/skyrim-nine-ways-to-make-it-the-worst-game-ever/

    I suspect that this writer is correct, but it's a shame that you ruin the game unless you do X, Y, and Z, particularly if the game presents itself as a "free play"/sandbox game. Again, undirected freedom isn't a good thing in and of itself, particularly if it's achieved by simply removing the signposts.

    I think Skyrim's success has to do with all the fancy graphics and media hype.    … Expand
  24. HappyWolfie
    Dec 15, 2011
    5
    Skyrim is not really an RPG game. It is adventure-quest game. RPG system is so simplified event retarded children can master it. When i played the game, character race were mentioned only once or twice, and had absolutely no effect on gameplay. Story is nice but most quests very linear and lack choices.
  25. notacarebear
    Dec 16, 2011
    5
    I was going to write about the non existent player and profession progressions, the underwhelming spell progression , the ridiculously easy difficulty at master level, the broken spell exp gain, the unappealing race choices, the big dead world, the dragonball clashes, the ui, the feeling of emptiness once you realize you are not making progress or making any difference etc, but i thinkI was going to write about the non existent player and profession progressions, the underwhelming spell progression , the ridiculously easy difficulty at master level, the broken spell exp gain, the unappealing race choices, the big dead world, the dragonball clashes, the ui, the feeling of emptiness once you realize you are not making progress or making any difference etc, but i think this phrase sums what Skyrim really is by a developer's point of view: "we can't implement our visions so we dumb down our expectations, ideas and pride because of that black thing that plugs on that money-maker box".… Expand
  26. trublmaker
    Dec 22, 2011
    5
    Pros: Large open world, Strong modding community, An abundance of quest/game information available online. Cons: UI leaves much to be desired, Females are butt-ugly without mods, Washed out textures, Fails to hold interest.
  27. Stewartale
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    Oh, where to begin... Well, I'm a long-standing Elder Scrolls fan, who fell absolutely in love with Morrowind, and spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on Oblivion,also. I found both games had amazing replay value, for me at least, and I know neither of those games met some criteria for some people, but most of those were fans of other genres. If you like fantasy/RPG games, you playOh, where to begin... Well, I'm a long-standing Elder Scrolls fan, who fell absolutely in love with Morrowind, and spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on Oblivion,also. I found both games had amazing replay value, for me at least, and I know neither of those games met some criteria for some people, but most of those were fans of other genres. If you like fantasy/RPG games, you play fantasy/RPG games, right? Well, simply put, with all of the attention Skyrim was getting, I was expecting it to be absolutely amazing. Full of lore, adventure, replay value, sophisticated puzzles, warring factions in which you chose a side, but no. Sadly, they decided to make it one faction warring with another unplayable one, that you can join, play through to the end, and gave absolutely no choice in what you did. To say the least, I was disappointed. Now, that is forgivable, especially since Oblivion was the same, but that was still a great game, right? Ah, well... I played through, did most of the main quest lines, and then... became very bored. Who wants to do dungeons you've seen a thousand times before? It gets quite boring, I assure you. And that's actually all there is to do. Sure there's side quests, but they almost always involve going through dungeons. Even the Daedric Shrine quests follow that pattern, in general. The puzzles are meek, the game is almost entirely hack and slash, which is good in some games, but in those games you generally have a specific skill set for whatever class you have, and in this, if you're any form of melee, it's the same thing over and over again. A child could play this game quite easily. Oh, and the game-breaking bugs... I won't bore you with the details, but I've had to restart three times now. I'm sure there's plenty of people complaining about that. Basically, my main annoyance is the lack of replay value. It's slim to none. Once you've done the quest lines, you're through. I'm disappointed in this game, mostly for not living up to it's predecessors. Hopefully next time they'll revive the Elder Scrolls for what it was originally.… Expand
  28. Crimsonking58
    Dec 26, 2011
    5
    Ah Skyrim. Outside of the CoD series, I have never heard so many people going insane over a game before it's launch. Sadly, if you ever played Oblivion, you've already played this game. There are literally only 4 changes; Graphics (slight improvement), UI (Which I loved but for some reason the majority of the PC community despises), Dragons (Which are interesting enough but not gameAh Skyrim. Outside of the CoD series, I have never heard so many people going insane over a game before it's launch. Sadly, if you ever played Oblivion, you've already played this game. There are literally only 4 changes; Graphics (slight improvement), UI (Which I loved but for some reason the majority of the PC community despises), Dragons (Which are interesting enough but not game making), and the leveling system. Oh the leveling system... The use of perks is the most game-breaking aspect in my opinion. In Oblivion, if you maxed out every single skill, every single skill was at its maximum ability. In this game, however, only the 3-4 choice skills that you decide to put your perks into are actually worth a damn at the end of the game. I couldn't just toss on some robes, ready some spells, and deal massive damage even with 100 skill like I could in Oblivion, because all of my perks were in melee skills. But, if you don't put perks into a few choice skills, you're stuck with a bunch of mediocre abilities. This kept me from playing once I reached level 50 (when leveling slows drastically). At that point, I stopped caring about my character, felt no compulsion to complete the sea of mostly identical quests, and just wrapped up the main plot and never touched it again. But what about the experience of getting to 50 in the first place? As I said, if you've played Oblivion, you've played this. There really is nothing different here except dragons, and in the end the whole game just feels like a collection of mods for Oblivion. In the end, I liked the UI, and the game was fun while it lasted, but in the long term it doesn't hold up as well as Oblivion did, especially if you've already put 100+ hours into Oblivion. If it's your first Elder Scrolls experience, however, I'm sure you'll have a blast for the time being. It just didn't hold up for me.… Expand
  29. Sephet
    Mar 24, 2014
    5
    One of the most compelling RPGs I've played in a long time, Skyrim presents players with all they could ask in this genre: good story, wonderful graphics and ambience, immersive and non-repetitive quests, beautiful and diversified environments, attractive game mechanics (casting spells has never been so fun) and a highly appealing theme (vikings and dragons can't go wrong). I must admitOne of the most compelling RPGs I've played in a long time, Skyrim presents players with all they could ask in this genre: good story, wonderful graphics and ambience, immersive and non-repetitive quests, beautiful and diversified environments, attractive game mechanics (casting spells has never been so fun) and a highly appealing theme (vikings and dragons can't go wrong). I must admit it's hard to stop playing, even after completing the whole game twice. BUT, there's the feeling that something is missing. What could it be? Well, once you get past the distractions, you will realize how utterly broken this game is; it's highly unbalanced in every possible aspect, and it favors exploiting the game's leveling mechanics instead of actually playing in order to level up your skills. If you choose to be a wizard, you will soon realize that magic is pretty weak once you reach a certain point in the game or select a higher difficulty, because the only way to increase magic damage is picking two perks that will (together) boost it by 50%, and that's it. As for the weapons, skill value and perks will increase it's damage by 215% or more (depending on the weapon), and it can be improved with smithing to give over 800% it's initial damage, without cheating. This can be achieved by using your alchemy skill to make potions that increase enchanting, then drink it and enchant your equipment to boost alchemy, repeat the process several times until you have the best possible enchantment potions, then use it to enchant armors which will boost your smithing skill, wear it, drink a smithing potion made with your best alchemy boosting equipment, and, finally, improve your weapon at the grinstone. Then you drink another potion to boost your enchanting and put enchantments on your armor that will increase damage output from weapons. This is the formula for power in Skyrim. I know, it sounds crazy. Anyway, while a Mage will start the game dealing 8 damage with initial spells and improve to a maximum of 80 damage with the top spells and perks, a Warrior or Archer will begin dealing about the same ammount of damage with inferior weapons and skills, but will have his damage improved to over 650 with top enchantments and weapons. And this is only a small example of how unbalanced and exploitable Skyrim is. Once you have your enchanted equipment, all other items you find in the game are just useless and inferior. Skyrim allows the player to save/load at any time, another exploit that takes the fun out of the game; what's the point of having the thrill of being caught pickpocketing when everyone saves the game before such actions to prevent failure? You will save before doing anything in this game to assure your success, because the game allows it. I can't give Skyrim a higher score because, even though it is awesome, it was not tested and balanced before it's release nor patched later, it is broken and will always be.… Expand
  30. Loco
    Jan 9, 2012
    5
    I love my PC version of Oblivion. It's modded to hell and back and still gets a lot of my time. However, there are niggling issues with that game that I hoped would be resolved in Skyrim. Alas, they haven't. ....... Combat is still clunky and unbalanced, dialogue is awful, the UI is appalling, quests are linear and forgetful, the game engine (Gamebryo not 'Creation'!) is as buggy and weakI love my PC version of Oblivion. It's modded to hell and back and still gets a lot of my time. However, there are niggling issues with that game that I hoped would be resolved in Skyrim. Alas, they haven't. ....... Combat is still clunky and unbalanced, dialogue is awful, the UI is appalling, quests are linear and forgetful, the game engine (Gamebryo not 'Creation'!) is as buggy and weak as ever, and the animations in the game are 2004-spec. What's more, this is a very weak port from X360, with very little effort made to optimise it for PC users (DX9? Really?)........ The music and sound, however, are VERY strong, the world is well realised (Bethesda actually had art direction this time!), and the allure of the big open gamespace is as strong as ever. Dragons are fun, if easy to kill and repetitive. Dragon-shouts differentiate the PC from the NPCs, which is important. These are the plus points, but there should really have been more........... Besthesda are not pushing themselves. Oblivion 1.5 is nice, but where's the innovation, guys? Deep inside i'll always know that this is not yet the RPG I know this dev can make.......... Next time- get a new engine (a REAL, new engine), redesign combat entirely, come up with decent stealth mechanics, hire new writers and build a better connection between the game world and the people that inhabit it (better AI, animations etc.). Because as much as I love the Elder Scrolls, I can't pretend forever that this isn't a bit of a mess. -Loco… 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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