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. MikeyMo
    Nov 18, 2011
    7
    The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great game in some aspects, but only a good game in others. I will start by saying that I'm not sure you can call this an RPG - or at least - a classical RPG. I believe TES V is among a new breed of 'modern' RPG games. I am perfectly fine with this. It is just not my preference, that is all. I say this for a number of reasons. For example, there aren'tThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a great game in some aspects, but only a good game in others. I will start by saying that I'm not sure you can call this an RPG - or at least - a classical RPG. I believe TES V is among a new breed of 'modern' RPG games. I am perfectly fine with this. It is just not my preference, that is all. I say this for a number of reasons. For example, there aren't stats. To level up a skill such as 'Two-Handed Weapons', you have to constantly use that ability. For every bit of leveling up in a skill, it will contribute to an overall level where in a traditional RPG you would boots stats here, but in TES V, you gain a perk beneficial to a particular skill. Also, there are no stat boosts to weapons or armour based on character stats. It is things like these that make TES V very very shallow compared to other RPG games such as Dark Souls. The UI could be better. I do not like that you cannot compare stats of your items, there is only a triangle showing your best item. This brings me to another complaint. There are only three aspects to an item. A weapon for example: Damage, Weight, and Value. Again VERY shallow for an RPG. The combat is very dated, this goes for both melee and magic, the archery is actually fairly good. To compare again to Dark Souls or The Witcher 2, both have perfect combat, which includes melee, magic and archery. Then to play TES V where there is regenerating health, many breaks in gameplay to pause and take potions and simply spamming destruction spells is a let down. ONTO WHAT IS GOOD. The world is very large. Often large scale games can get lazy. Skyrim is not lazy. Bethesda knew they wanted a very wilderness heavy, Nordic stylized game. Then achieved this. It is not my favourite style, but the fact they accomplished that detail exactly the way they wanted it is simply incredible. There is also many unique combat areas in the game. There are apparently 200 plus unique dungeons/caves. I have found some to be similar but no two the same so far. With that being said, I still have yet to find one Inn or Mill that looks any different from another. There are MANY MANY quests. So many you don't have to even touch the main storyline from the get go. I personally am twelve hours in and haven't played the main story past the tutorial. The voice acting is very good, but there is a problem that has nothing to do with the actors talent, but the frequency of the voices. The same actor can voice up to I estimate over 15 characters. I begins to get bothersome very early on. If you can look past this then you shouldn't be too annoyed. All in all, there is A LOT to do in TES V: Skyrim, but if you are looking for a traditional RPG this isn't it. HOWEVER, if you like to explore a seemingly never ending beautiful wilderness discovering something new to do almost every few minutes, then Skyrim is your game. I GIVE A 7.5/10. A GOOD/GREAT GAME.… Expand
  2. barbie
    Mar 12, 2012
    8
    love the new interface, love the streamlined perks system, love the graphics, even love the combat mechanics, what i hate though is the plot, it doesnt feel focused enough, and all the sidequests are rather boring. also i wish you could form deep relationships in the game like in Dragon age origins, make u sorta feel more attached to the wonderfully huge and impressive world. overalllove the new interface, love the streamlined perks system, love the graphics, even love the combat mechanics, what i hate though is the plot, it doesnt feel focused enough, and all the sidequests are rather boring. also i wish you could form deep relationships in the game like in Dragon age origins, make u sorta feel more attached to the wonderfully huge and impressive world. overall though i loved it, got a good solid 30 hours out of it before boredom kicked in.… Expand
  3. Yllems
    Dec 14, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Truly, a joy to play. Skyrim has a lot of great points and bad points that just can't be ignored. The Great. At first, the leveling and skill tree changes kind of bothered me, but I grew to like the changes, it's a little bit more simplified over oblivion for the leveling, moving to just magicka/health/stamina but the skill trees give a lot of room for diversification. There is a ton to do, so much so, it's hard to know for sure if you've done everything in an area. I particularly like the choices that are presented in some of the quests, for example, when joining the brotherhood. I liked the addition of the shouts in the game, gave a lot of the casting abilities for those who choose not to be a mage. I thought it was a cool idea to move the stars from what you were born under to the stones and I loved how they got rid of the greater and lesser skills and can level everything equally. I loved the enchants, as overpowered as they are, there's still a certain joy in completely destroying your enemy with gear that you've made.

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

    All in all, I know it sounds like I didn't like the game, but after putting in over 240 hrs, I just can't say that I didn't love it. The reply value is high, the entertainment value is high, the story is riveting, I just ended up having to gimp myself and not use certain skills to make it harder. (Currently playing through only using thief stone skills +1hd on master)    … Expand
  4. Verdan
    Apr 26, 2012
    8
    After i got this overhyped game, i had very high expectations. For me the graphics were very good, i was hoping the character i play to talk aswell and more choses in dialog´s. Story wise the game was letdown. General idea was awesome, but it took too long to get the general idea what is going on and side missions (Factions) gave cryptic ideals about their goals and how youAfter i got this overhyped game, i had very high expectations. For me the graphics were very good, i was hoping the character i play to talk aswell and more choses in dialog´s. Story wise the game was letdown. General idea was awesome, but it took too long to get the general idea what is going on and side missions (Factions) gave cryptic ideals about their goals and how you fit in em. Exploring the world and quick travels did make it simple, but you had feeling you are part of something huge. Sadly the main storyline was over pretty quickly and i lost interest doing side mission that led nowhere. Dragon fights were funny for a while, but then you are stuck just hoping the thing lands so you can keep going somewhere. Overall good game with awesome graphics (My standards).… Expand
  5. frast
    Dec 19, 2011
    9
    The game really great. It reminds of old times rpg'ów with a huge world and a large number of races, monsters, enemies, weapons, equipment. For this wonderful cool climate and as far as storyline and nice graphics. Very good game but not perfect by me and are annoying bugs in it that u are not really players can occur frequently (for example, you can see videos on youtube.) MyThe game really great. It reminds of old times rpg'ów with a huge world and a large number of races, monsters, enemies, weapons, equipment. For this wonderful cool climate and as far as storyline and nice graphics. Very good game but not perfect by me and are annoying bugs in it that u are not really players can occur frequently (for example, you can see videos on youtube.) My rating -8.5 / 10… Expand
  6. UNOCK
    Nov 15, 2011
    8
    A great game by all standards, but struggling with allot of flaws. The Elder Scrolls universe only grows with Skyrim, and it's great storytelling. Like it's predecessors, there is so much more than the main storyline to experience. There's a world to explore, and something that is waiting to happen around every bend, and over every hill. However, the game struggles in some areas.A great game by all standards, but struggling with allot of flaws. The Elder Scrolls universe only grows with Skyrim, and it's great storytelling. Like it's predecessors, there is so much more than the main storyline to experience. There's a world to explore, and something that is waiting to happen around every bend, and over every hill. However, the game struggles in some areas. Explanations for how certain stories got to end up in skyrim are lacking, and feels like they were put there for a convenient link to the past games, rather than as a new and thrilling story for you. The game also struggles from several techincall problems. Quests that can't be completed, and things flying left and right because you brushed past them. Still, this game is definitely the RPG of the year, and after 30 hours of gameplay, I've barely scratched the surface of the games full potential. Some patches, and this game will be a solid game, that can be enjoyed for years yet.… Expand
  7. randombanana
    Nov 15, 2011
    8
    I wish i could give this game the 10 it deservesl The problem is that an awesome concept is hold back by the same thing that hold back oblivion. And i refuse to give it more credit as its predecessor when it has not improved on these basic things. This is why i will take on all the bad parts first. I am talking about game breaking bugs (found at least 1 in the main quest), dragons flyingI wish i could give this game the 10 it deservesl The problem is that an awesome concept is hold back by the same thing that hold back oblivion. And i refuse to give it more credit as its predecessor when it has not improved on these basic things. This is why i will take on all the bad parts first. I am talking about game breaking bugs (found at least 1 in the main quest), dragons flying through solid mountains, NPC's floating around and way more. Then there also is the console designed menu thats horrendous on PC, slow loading textures and generally pretty bad texture work from up close. But now the good part. The game may have some bad textures from up close but the environment is beautifull, you will be stunned by all the amazing views this game has to offer. There is an insane amount of fun to be had while not even following the main story and i think this counterweights all the bad parts of this game. Dragonfighting is **** awesome and most of the times there will be some epic situation like finding a blood dragon attacking a village of enemies and another dragon joining in on the fun. I personally like the dragon shout system although i find it hard to find a good use for some of the shouts like frost breath that does allmost no damage but has a long cooldown. all in all good game but if you plan on buying it wait till it got some bug fixes by bethesda or the community.… Expand
  8. TheSleeve
    Nov 15, 2011
    8
    There are several shortcomings in Skyrim that keep it from reaching its full potential. First, the UI... It is painfully obvious that this game was designed to target the X360, and the PC version suffers as a result with a clunky user interface. Second, AI issues... I have played through the intro sequence only twice, and the second time through, there was a serious bug where my ally frozeThere are several shortcomings in Skyrim that keep it from reaching its full potential. First, the UI... It is painfully obvious that this game was designed to target the X360, and the PC version suffers as a result with a clunky user interface. Second, AI issues... I have played through the intro sequence only twice, and the second time through, there was a serious bug where my ally froze in place and left me to fend for myself. Third, the controls... It seems that very little care or caution was put into the PC control scheme, with awkward keyboard-only navigation of some menus, and Y-axis mouse sensitivity that scales with frame rate. - [][] - These three shortcomings aside, Skyrim excels in just about every thing it sets out to do. The main plot line is NOT the main attraction here. Skyrim is truly the spiritual successor to earlier games in the series such as Daggerfall, in the sense that it lets you simply exist in another world. Bethesda has created a virtual space for us to explore, experiment with, and spend time in, and it excels at keeping us entertained. - [][] - The character advancement system is interesting to explore, and the perks you can obtain are very satisfying. This system allows you to craft a unique set of skills for your character, and prevents you from simply from becoming all-powerful. - [][] - The difficulty scaling is implemented far better than it was in Oblivion. Everywhere you go, you get a sense that there are real threats to your safety, which keeps you in a constant state of alert. The perks, on the other hand, still give you a satisfying feeling that your character is constantly progressing. As a result, there is absolutely no reason to feel the need to level grind. I recommend playing the game on the hardest difficulty for maximum satisfaction. It's kind of like Left 4 Dead in that regard... playing on anything less than Expert is just boring... - [][] - I would like to give Skyrim a higher rating, but its shortcomings are difficult to forgive, especially considering how long this game has been in development. A great game, yes, but I kind of feel like PC gamers got the shaft, big time. I will therefore give it an 8.… Expand
  9. russellsw
    Nov 17, 2011
    10
    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) My total score for this game would be a 10
  10. Machinegon
    Nov 17, 2011
    7
    Not perfect but not bad either. I'm playing the game on xbox and I like the modifications they did for the inventory management. I can't believe its the exact same thing for PC thought because you just can't play a game on pc like you play a game on console. There's a couple of things that are annoying me, the fact that I can kill a dragon in like 4 blows but sometimes I will just run intoNot perfect but not bad either. I'm playing the game on xbox and I like the modifications they did for the inventory management. I can't believe its the exact same thing for PC thought because you just can't play a game on pc like you play a game on console. There's a couple of things that are annoying me, the fact that I can kill a dragon in like 4 blows but sometimes I will just run into a **** saber tooth cat that will one shot me or either a no-were mercenary equipped with some piece of **** that I can't get a quarter of his life backstabbing him with a 30x 17 damages blow. Good work with difficulty scaling. Some random glitches in AI here and there, like the time I tried killed a chicken in a town and everyone jumped on me. The fact that the guards are still extremely overpower. In fact, I think the town guards are the hardest mobs to kill in the entire game. Positives facts, I like the main quest scenario, its better than in oblivion. I also like the critical blows that triggers an animation its really fun. Alot of graphical improvements on the xbox if I compare to oblivion, they really managed to exploit the old console, its annoying for loading times tough but not to bad. Overall a good game, alot of content has always, I would recommend it.… Expand
  11. C-BAT
    Nov 17, 2011
    8
    Skyrim stays in the wave of Oblivion.... and that makes a masterpiece that deserve his price. Graphics are good enough to be convice by the world . Some people says that textures aren't very beautiful for 2011 but for me the gameplay and the open word are more important in this kind of game, and these parts are a great success. You are free to do what you want....and that's the spirit !Skyrim stays in the wave of Oblivion.... and that makes a masterpiece that deserve his price. Graphics are good enough to be convice by the world . Some people says that textures aren't very beautiful for 2011 but for me the gameplay and the open word are more important in this kind of game, and these parts are a great success. You are free to do what you want....and that's the spirit ! It's a game with huge potential. I was just dissapointed about the interface at first but you get used to it.… Expand
  12. zon21
    Nov 18, 2011
    10
    This game three times and expands the content of Oblivion or fallout. Immense and sublime ambience, I think is the best buy of the year. I give a 10 :)
  13. phoenixfire82
    Nov 18, 2011
    9
    Game of the year. I've played over 50 hours now and am nearing the soft cap of level 50 yet I just keep coming back for more. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of the game. There's just so much to do, it can feel daunting at times. The story is well done, not only the main line but many of the side quests have a life of their own. This beautifully rendered world pulls youGame of the year. I've played over 50 hours now and am nearing the soft cap of level 50 yet I just keep coming back for more. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of the game. There's just so much to do, it can feel daunting at times. The story is well done, not only the main line but many of the side quests have a life of their own. This beautifully rendered world pulls you in and doesn't let go. This is the title you want to soak up and savor, never rush or skip a dialogue or you'll be doing yourself a disservice. I rated Skyrim a 9/10 because it is a blatant console port with an awful PC interface to show for it; -0.5 points. The character models are unattractive and the game's textures close up leave something to be desired; -0.5 points. Do not be fooled though, the game as a whole is beautiful and can give my gtx 580 a workout on ultra settings. Sometimes I just stop and take in the scenery. Amazing game. If you get one single player game this year, get Skyrim.… Expand
  14. qwasm
    Nov 19, 2011
    8
    Great open world goodness with at least 100 hours of gameplay. My only complaints are:
    - Terrible UI. Its a shame to release a game in 2011 with such a **** UI.
    - Bad companion AI. They always get in your way and block the doors, or rush into dozens of enemies and die. You have almost zero control over them.
    - Spiders. I hate them.
  15. Charodei
    Nov 19, 2011
    10
    TES - is a world, which create a ethernal hope in our souls. Soundtrack, gameplay - all of this - perfecetally, devotion thing! All of fans of TES - this is our game.
  16. dardalen
    Nov 19, 2011
    10
    Thus far I have found this too be a great game that lives up too, even goes beyond what I expect from the Elder Scrolls. It is still the #1 single player rpg series out there.
  17. Jamai36
    Nov 19, 2011
    9
    I've sunk about 35 hours into the game so far. I wanted to play it for quite awhile before I attempted a review so I could be at least somewhat accurate about my claims.

    + Insane amount of content. + Though dated, the graphics are still awesome. I just love the skies but everything is a little nicer. + Addictive and fun as all Elder Scrolls, maybe even moreso in some regards. - I've    I've sunk about 35 hours into the game so far. I wanted to play it for quite awhile before I attempted a review so I could be at least somewhat accurate about my claims.

    + Insane amount of content.
    + Though dated, the graphics are still awesome. I just love the skies but everything is a little nicer.
    + Addictive and fun as all Elder Scrolls, maybe even moreso in some regards.

    - I've had 3 crashes, a few glitches that messed up saves and a couple of quests broke for unknown reasons in really strange ways.
    - Console port hurts a bit, traitors! There are some UI inefficiencies like you have to use a keyboard to press ESC but then click to select say quests. Also in alchemy you are forced to use the mouse a bit when you should be able to just press Enter as everything else uses the keyboard. Stuff like that.
    - In the end it's really just a modded oblivion.

    Still, in the end I can't warrant anything less than a 9, as I've played this game more than most and it is still a truly magical experience in the end.
    -    … Expand
  18. Paraphis
    Nov 19, 2011
    10
    I only ever got to level 25 in Oblivion before I got bored, including the expansions. I've already far surpassed that and am still feeling as immersed as ever. It's absolutely stunning landscapes and diverse flora and fauna alone can leave you gasping in awe, wishing you could just stand there for hours and just watch. The quests are a colossal improvement on the last games; as well as theI only ever got to level 25 in Oblivion before I got bored, including the expansions. I've already far surpassed that and am still feeling as immersed as ever. It's absolutely stunning landscapes and diverse flora and fauna alone can leave you gasping in awe, wishing you could just stand there for hours and just watch. The quests are a colossal improvement on the last games; as well as the levelling up system; crafting; combat; main storyline; AI; just about everything. I have to say, having an open world with seemingly endless, different things to do popping up on a constant basis keeps you excited and enthralled. I could roll on for hours, what matters is that this is easily the best game I've ever played. My only complaint is how console-based the inventory is. 10/10, once they work out the bugs.… Expand
  19. TruthfulReview
    Dec 11, 2011
    9
    Firstly, I'm not going to lie and say this is the best game of all time, because it isn't. However, it is a bloody good one with its outstanding graphics and phenominal storyline. However it does have some of its issues like any other game.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    To tell you the truth, this game is almost faultless and you gain a real achievement from completing the game which takes you hours, if not weeks to complete. Unlike other games, you are guaranteed what you pay for with this game. A very enjoyable experience indeed.    … Expand
  20. colin_jack
    Dec 15, 2011
    9
    Excellent and huge game. Sure its buggy, very very buggy, but given the size and scope the bugs aren't a big deal. I'm also hopeful that there'll be DLC for it, but even if there isn't there's more than enough content to keep you happy.
  21. Runic12
    Dec 12, 2011
    8
    A pretty solid game but I feel it was lacking somewhat when compared to Oblivion in a few respects, first of it seemed a lot less complex in regard to levelling, there were fewer skill trees with some of my favourites missing such as unarmed combat. This is probably due to Bethesda trying to market the game to a wider audience but it just feels a bit dumbed down. Otherwise the graphicsA pretty solid game but I feel it was lacking somewhat when compared to Oblivion in a few respects, first of it seemed a lot less complex in regard to levelling, there were fewer skill trees with some of my favourites missing such as unarmed combat. This is probably due to Bethesda trying to market the game to a wider audience but it just feels a bit dumbed down. Otherwise the graphics were a vast improvement and the horrible Bethesda face has finally been removed from speech. It has been made more accessible and streamlined and the world felt a lot bigger. There is a lot to do and find and the freedom is immense like every elder scrolls, I'm still eagerly awaiting the DLC.… Expand
  22. Skilvalance
    Dec 14, 2011
    10
    I don't usually leave a review on a game, but in Skyrim's case it just has to be said. I've been gaming for nearly 27 years and RPGs are my favored type of genre. Skyrim takes everything that was incredible from Morrowind and the beauty and vastness of Oblivion and put's it together to create the most compelling and captivating game that i have ever played in all my days(seriously). NearlyI don't usually leave a review on a game, but in Skyrim's case it just has to be said. I've been gaming for nearly 27 years and RPGs are my favored type of genre. Skyrim takes everything that was incredible from Morrowind and the beauty and vastness of Oblivion and put's it together to create the most compelling and captivating game that i have ever played in all my days(seriously). Nearly 130 hrs later and i am still putting off the main quest as Skyrim take's me all over the land to the gorgeous city's then down into the ancient dwemer strongholds!. Theirs more content in this game that even an MMO would would have problems keeping up with. I do understand that some people will give it a low score, but due to content alone, Skyrim is well worth your money. if you play this game for even 10 hrs then that's more than you can squeeze from any other game made this year. my point is time/money with any game and in this case £39.99 is a frickin bargain ! One last point to make. The shear attention to detail this game delivers is awesome! If every company made their games with this much love and commitment like Bethesda has achieved then everybody on the planet would be Gamers by now. keep up the good work Beth, i take my slightly dented helmet off to you ;)… Expand
  23. Hirorir
    Dec 20, 2011
    10
    Skyrim is more or less, ridiculously fun. It is well worth the $60 I pre-ordered it with, and is a vast improvement over ES4:Oblivion. Taking the graphics side by side, Skyrim most definitely has a thousand times better and more beautiful picture.
    Although the game started out with some pretty weird bugs and issues, they are meant to be fixed, like any other game's issues. I have yet to    Skyrim is more or less, ridiculously fun. It is well worth the $60 I pre-ordered it with, and is a vast improvement over ES4:Oblivion. Taking the graphics side by side, Skyrim most definitely has a thousand times better and more beautiful picture.
    Although the game started out with some pretty weird bugs and issues, they are meant to be fixed, like any other game's issues. I have yet to wait for the hi-res textures and the crash fixes; but aside from so, the game is amazing.
    I would rate this a 9.5 (minus 1 point for unfixed bugs), round up 10 due to the ugly faces that Bethesda has decided to have the elves succumb to (the 0.5 pts).    … Expand
  24. rpmcritic
    Mar 4, 2012
    8
    Bethesda has done an incredible job at recreating the elder scrolls, the Havok game engine creates the huge and extraordinary world of which is Skyrim. The endless Items and beautiful graphics and textures gives the game an extraordinary feel. Improvements to the game could be an MMO on the PC version and patches on some glitches within the game. Overall a Great story line and plenty ofBethesda has done an incredible job at recreating the elder scrolls, the Havok game engine creates the huge and extraordinary world of which is Skyrim. The endless Items and beautiful graphics and textures gives the game an extraordinary feel. Improvements to the game could be an MMO on the PC version and patches on some glitches within the game. Overall a Great story line and plenty of creatures to battle. I'm happy to see that the developers have kept the same game play as the Fallout series, yet tweaked it a little to fit the medieval theme... I hope the developers make a sequel to this brilliant series.… Expand
  25. Rufsian
    Mar 6, 2012
    9
    Great videogame. Small dislikes but overall a true videogame experience. Sit back and let Bethesda make you feel rewarded for the money you spent on it.
  26. Atraiyu47
    Mar 6, 2012
    9
    The sheer scale of this game is overwhelming. The world is breath-taking and feels alive. My only complaint lies in a general lack of character development. But this game doesn't live and die purely on the quality of story telling like a Bioware game. The freedom to explore such a massive world with seemingly endless things to do is a welcome break from the railroading we get in nearlyThe sheer scale of this game is overwhelming. The world is breath-taking and feels alive. My only complaint lies in a general lack of character development. But this game doesn't live and die purely on the quality of story telling like a Bioware game. The freedom to explore such a massive world with seemingly endless things to do is a welcome break from the railroading we get in nearly every other title.… Expand
  27. ed103
    Mar 6, 2012
    9
    Superb game. Huge world where you can do whatever you feel like. Great story and fun combat (could be a bit better here). Skills and the tie with leveling is pretty cool. This is one of those games where you start playing, look up thinking 20 minutes passed but 4 hours really did. Very immersive.
  28. CMASC
    Mar 7, 2012
    9
    Yet another great installment of the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim improves all the great things we loved about Oblivion but yet it doesn't come close to Morrowind in storytelling and narrative, the main quest is rather short but the side quests makes it up for it, they are quite detailed and sometimes more interesting than the main quest itself, exploration is one of the greatest thingYet another great installment of the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim improves all the great things we loved about Oblivion but yet it doesn't come close to Morrowind in storytelling and narrative, the main quest is rather short but the side quests makes it up for it, they are quite detailed and sometimes more interesting than the main quest itself, exploration is one of the greatest thing about Skyrim, having breathtaking scenery and locations makes it one of the best looking game today without mentioning there are games with better textures and graphical details out there, the score is yet once again written by one of my favorites composers of all times Jeremy Soule, jumping to the gameplay section the combat is an improvement over oblivion, rpg elements are simplified but it has been added more depth with the perks, to end my review I have to say it's quite hard to find something wrong with Skyrim, Maybe the interface isn't really good at the PC platform but still... this is one game that benefits from community mods, if you're planning to buy this game don't stop to think it's worth every penny and you won't be disappointed.… Expand
  29. TheInquisitor
    Mar 8, 2012
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I think when talking about Skyrim we need to temper expectations with the reality of the gaming industry today. Gone are the days where the ACTUAL goal of the industry was to make really good games. The purpose now is to make money, so if we happen to get a really great game along the way, we should take the opportunity with both hands and let the industry know that's what we like. I think we've missed an opportunity with Skyrim, but at the other end of the spectrum. Nowhere near enough effort was put into the PC version (if the choice were up to me, I'd shaft the console versions completely and develop future TES games SOLELY for PC), as is shown by the terrible menus. The SkyUI mod looks much better and as soon as I finish this review I'm installing it myself. The menus on the PC version wreak of console and as a PC gamer I am offended by the utter contempt shown towards me in the way the menu system was essentially ignored.

    The combat mechanisms I can't really compare to any other TES because Skyrim is the first TES game I've played. What I can say is that if every blow dealt to, and by, the character was felt and had proper impacts then combat would just be annoying because as soon as you get hit, that's another second or two you're staggered and against more than one opponent it would simply infuriate most gamers, I suspect. As for people saying it's boring and bland...unless you want turn based strategic combat I think hack-and-slash is the best you're ever going to get.

    The tech tree are a bit of a worry as well because there are some I would simply never use. The alchemy tree, for instance, has been utterly useless to me. As has the Speech tree. On the magic side of things I've only used the Destruction and Restoration trees, but the other magic trees (Conjuration and Illusion) aren't in my sphere of playing interest so I can't comment on them. But destruction is well fun and blowing stuff up with Fireball or wiping out waves of Skeletons with Ice Storm is rather enjoyable. But Pickpocket and Lockpicking just seem like a waste of time in terms of spending perks on them when lockpicking only requires patience and pickpocketing only has to be done ONCE as a mandatory part of any quest in the whole game (as far as I know). The combat-based trees are pretty good I think and most of the perks are quite useful (not triggering pressure plates is a godsend in long dungeon crawls). Smithing and Enchanting, however are a problem. They are by far the most boring and costly to level up because of the sheer amount of raw materials needed to get your smithing to a high level. And enchanting items even purely as a means of increasing your enchanting level is time consuming and tedious. They should've been rescaled to allow much faster leveling than what is currently in place.

    The HUD (above and beyond the menu system) feels sluggish and slightly unresponsive to mouse movements ESPECIALLY in the menus and the world map. At times you can be just as prone to selecting the wrong fast travel destination as to selling the wrong weapon and finding yourself without your prized legendary-level Daedric bow.

    The difficulty levels in Skyrim seem to matter less and less as your character's strength increases. Currently as I play through on Adept difficulty, I might as well be playing on easiest for all the difficulty Trolls and Dragons are in the face of my Destruction magic but in earlier levels it does make a real difference in terms of whether you land that extra, and final, blow or whether you yourself get taken down by a finishing blow.

    As for the quests, I personally thoroughly enjoyed the main questline. I thought it was original, interesting, engaging and exciting, especially in some of the ruins. The main side-quests are also pretty good and were (and are) a lot of fun for me. The Dark Brotherhood and Thieves' Guild both return and equivalents of the Fighters' and Mages' Guilds also feature extended questlines. The complaints about most quests being "go here and kill this thing" or "go there and retrieve that thing" are unreasonable simply because it's not feasible to make a game where every side quest has a fleshed out plotline to it, especially in a game the size and scope of Skyrim. As for the lack of puzzles, I must admit that even I, a supreme fail at puzzle solving found so few puzzles to solve in this game that I was a little disappointed. Not only that, but all the puzzles were of the same type (more or less). On the topic of quests being linear, what else can they be? If they were totally open slather, giving free reign to players on finishing in whatever way they wanted, how would the game handle all the possible variables? I think linear dungeons is the ONLY way to make the game work.    … Expand
  30. Krell
    Mar 12, 2012
    9
    Skyrim is a great game, whether you're enjoying the great story to go alongside the main quest line, doing original, non-repetitive side quests, or just exploring the vast and wonderful world of Bethesda's creation. Flaws are few and far between within this game, but not nonexistent. Travel can be rather tedious, longer trips taking a good few play sessions. For PC gamers, lag exists evenSkyrim is a great game, whether you're enjoying the great story to go alongside the main quest line, doing original, non-repetitive side quests, or just exploring the vast and wonderful world of Bethesda's creation. Flaws are few and far between within this game, but not nonexistent. Travel can be rather tedious, longer trips taking a good few play sessions. For PC gamers, lag exists even in the very lowest possible graphics settings. Now that the problems have been gotten through, I'll list off a few positive features; There is an extreme amount of things to do other than the main storyline. You can even get married. the multiple groups available to join have a vast amount of sidequests, followers, and more to play around with. All around, this is a great game.… Expand
  31. BengalsfanAZ
    Nov 25, 2012
    10
    Absolutely amazing. This is the first game I have ever rated a 10 and it is justified. This game is everything you want and more. I am not even a fan of the whole fantasy genre but, having played Oblivion, I was completely sold once playing this game. First, the pure depth of the game is staggering. The map itself is massive and there are so many towns, caves, nooks and cranny's toAbsolutely amazing. This is the first game I have ever rated a 10 and it is justified. This game is everything you want and more. I am not even a fan of the whole fantasy genre but, having played Oblivion, I was completely sold once playing this game. First, the pure depth of the game is staggering. The map itself is massive and there are so many towns, caves, nooks and cranny's to enter it will take you forever to discover them all. My biggest complaint about Oblivion was the inventory interface and the combat and Bethesda addressed both of these issues in Skyrim. The inventory is much easier to use and the "favorites" option simplifies it even further. Combat is much improved, with blocking, striking and casting being much easier and more realistic.

    EVERYONE should play this game. It is amazing and all of the mods out there make it even more enticing. The only reason I rated it a 9 and not 10 was because my ultimate game would be set in space, not Skyrim...I know that is stupid but I will never rate a 10 unless it is that. Star Citizen has potential though...    … Expand
  32. TJD2
    Jun 15, 2012
    5
    meh, this wasn't a bad game, but the D A M N LOAD SCREENS took all the fun out of it. Seriously, when I'm exploring the vast lands of skyrim, I don't want to wait 30 seconds to 1 minute to enter a building....plus all the framerate and graphic glitches kept me from rating it higher. All this contributed to me getting bored of the game after a week and a half or so of playing it.
  33. sethdeath321
    Jun 11, 2012
    9
    In my opinion, skyrim is among the most remarkable open world games of the decade. The game provides a huge amount of creative content carefully produced over more than 5 years, and is certainly worth buying. Every aspect of this massive world is tailored to near perfection, and from deep valleys, to yawning, subterranean caves, to the shear mountain peaks, the game looks magnificent. InIn my opinion, skyrim is among the most remarkable open world games of the decade. The game provides a huge amount of creative content carefully produced over more than 5 years, and is certainly worth buying. Every aspect of this massive world is tailored to near perfection, and from deep valleys, to yawning, subterranean caves, to the shear mountain peaks, the game looks magnificent. In a game this large, there are going to be glitches, perhaps more so during the PC experience, but skyrim is just as immersive as any of the other TES games, if not more so. Even after hundreds of hours of play, i still found more quests and options, better even then the one before it. Perhaps even more enchanting than the actual game play was the achingly beautiful soundtrack that accompanied the quests. This and other sounds of skyrim, voices a noises, added a level of realism here-for unattained. Though the main quest line grew tiresome after a while, and was over before you knew it, there were many others to take its place, like the thieves guild quests, the companions quests, and the dark brotherhood quests, all of which take turns that keep you guessing. For me, however, the best part was seeing my character develop, to a warrior, mage, or thief. the game interface was, at times, clunky. when trying to change weapons rapidly, exiting to the menu took me out of the experience in an annoying way, and the favorite menu wasn't much of a help. However, the leveling system was excellent, and continued to give the rewards that were necessary to keep my interest. Whats more, you didn't have to make all your big choices at the beginning of the game; you could actively decide your characters path through your own play style and preference. I discovered early on that spells were not my forte, so i focused instead on leveling my archery abilities, and just didn't use spells. Skyrim grants more freedom than almost any other game, and if you have the money, spend it on Skyrim, because it is more than worth it. I don't want to give it a perfect 10, because there were some stale bits and bugs occasionally did interrupt game play, consider it a 9.5! Thank you for reading, don't hate, and have a nice day.… Expand
  34. jigme
    Jan 26, 2013
    10
    Why a 10? Clearly the game has faults (starting with the awkward animation, the even more awkward UI, and a fair share of bugs). Yet all of these are quickly forgotten. Even though I play lots of other games, Skyrim keeps pulling me back in. I think it is because I can do whatever I want. I am not chained to the path the developers arranged. I can make any kind of character, and doWhy a 10? Clearly the game has faults (starting with the awkward animation, the even more awkward UI, and a fair share of bugs). Yet all of these are quickly forgotten. Even though I play lots of other games, Skyrim keeps pulling me back in. I think it is because I can do whatever I want. I am not chained to the path the developers arranged. I can make any kind of character, and do anything at all with it. This is so refreshing and liberating, that Skyrim stands like a giant amongst hordes of others games that might have better graphics or features, but keep us in a box. Skyrim is what Dragonage should have been. Now let us see if Elder Scrolls Online can bring this same magic.… Expand
  35. Kyo
    Dec 17, 2012
    8
    Skyrim is a great game and my first of the elder scrolls series, but to me I feel like it was hyped more then it needed to be. My friends told me to get it that it was amazing, fun and just dumb not to own it. So I got it, at first I was very impressed but as I continued I found myself getting bored; after running into a dungeon for the millionth time it just lost my interest. I would findSkyrim is a great game and my first of the elder scrolls series, but to me I feel like it was hyped more then it needed to be. My friends told me to get it that it was amazing, fun and just dumb not to own it. So I got it, at first I was very impressed but as I continued I found myself getting bored; after running into a dungeon for the millionth time it just lost my interest. I would find myself just sitting there saying "Ill just finish this dungeon and go to bed" after forcing myself to pick it back up.

    Other then that that game is fun for the most part, the scenery and size of the world is amazing, the music is just beautiful and exciting, tons of quests, you can explore for hours and find new things and places it is worth the money.

    The combat is kind of lack luster it feels very clunky and awkward most of the time like when you try to slash at someone it doesn't feel like you hit them, yet the kill cams are pretty amazing if not funny at times. To me Skyrim is a great game that was over hyped by fans. I went in expecting to have so much fun and an exciting experience, but got an average one instead much like a fantastic disappointment that was enjoyable. I know that sounds like I hated it, but I did enjoy it, it's just not my favorite game.    … Expand
  36. LethalThreat
    Dec 29, 2012
    10
    Skyrim, I love this game. I only wish my computer would be able to run this on high settings so it isn't laggy, but I'm not lowering my score because I can't play on good settings. The quest, the atmosphere, the people.. everything is great I have nothing bad to say about this game I haven't even come across a bug yet. There is defiantly more than enough places to explore I don't evenSkyrim, I love this game. I only wish my computer would be able to run this on high settings so it isn't laggy, but I'm not lowering my score because I can't play on good settings. The quest, the atmosphere, the people.. everything is great I have nothing bad to say about this game I haven't even come across a bug yet. There is defiantly more than enough places to explore I don't even think I explored half of them, seriously. Mods also make this game better, even though there isn't much more to add to make it better!… Expand
  37. Flaka
    Nov 24, 2012
    10
    Except the interface, rather adapted for console, the game is absolutely amazing. But don't worry, there is already a great addon to perfect it for PC (Bethesda is with the serie The Elders Scrolls, like Mojang is with Minecraft, very mind opened, allowing fans to design mods with a special API).
  38. Namredel
    Sep 29, 2012
    7
    Skyrim looks amazing, that is honestly the best thing I can say about it. Boy does it lack Good Content. When I play an RPG I expect good story telling and this game came up short. I don't know if it's just Elder Scroll combat or what but I just found it boring for the most part. The thieves guilds story line was pretty good but unfortunately I did that first so the rest of the game justSkyrim looks amazing, that is honestly the best thing I can say about it. Boy does it lack Good Content. When I play an RPG I expect good story telling and this game came up short. I don't know if it's just Elder Scroll combat or what but I just found it boring for the most part. The thieves guilds story line was pretty good but unfortunately I did that first so the rest of the game just seemed stale. I've dappled with the mods which breath new life into Skyrim which make it enjoyable. It's a well done game especially visually and they did a lot of technical touches that make it well polished. But I honestly don't understand why it lacks good story telling. Skyrim is a massive game with a huge world. It will take you many places however, they may be places you don't want to go to. If you're a fan of Elder Scroll games you'll most likely enough this one. But Oblivion had better story telling. imo.… Expand
  39. Obogo
    Oct 29, 2012
    9
    This game is absolutely stunning, it is by far the greatest RPG I have ever played and probably is the best out there today. This game isn't dumbed down for the console or for the modern gamer but it takes its roots from a true RPG, the world is giant and the amount of items and story this game has is ridiculous, there are thousands of caves and dungeons to be explored here, so many questsThis game is absolutely stunning, it is by far the greatest RPG I have ever played and probably is the best out there today. This game isn't dumbed down for the console or for the modern gamer but it takes its roots from a true RPG, the world is giant and the amount of items and story this game has is ridiculous, there are thousands of caves and dungeons to be explored here, so many quests to be accomplished, so many enemies to kill. The combat from previous games have been improved so much it made me feel like I was in true combat, every hit affects your enemy in a different way, staggers them or if their blocking you will staggered and fall back allowing you enemy to swing at you. The story is also more vast with 2 main quest lines to follow, one of them is for your Dragonborn roots, the other is for the freedom of Skyrim, these 2 story lines aren't the greatest but they are better than most on the market, but that doesn't even matter because it is everything else Skyrim is that does, the story is deep through the entire game, there are thousands of books you can read, different story lines that last for hours and give you more bite. The graphics also look fantastic, even without the HD texture pack, this game looks great throughout even though bad code early on did make this game quite laggy. With the addition of mods this game becomes the greatest there ever was for me. The quick travel is also another great addition but has been around for many years in the Elder Scrolls series, so it is nice not to have to run all over this huge map.
    Hats off to Bethesda, they have made a great game that all RPGs should be measured against.    … Expand
  40. D4rkAByss
    Dec 24, 2012
    10
    Amazing game. I have played nearly all of Bethesda's free roam games, all of them with mods and all of them good. Skyrim alone (without mods) is an amazing game, always something to do, huge amounts of quests, and Bethesda has made it Modder friendly by releasing the Creation Kit, so now easy to make mods, with Steam Workshop, easy to upload and download mods. Overall, a game worthAmazing game. I have played nearly all of Bethesda's free roam games, all of them with mods and all of them good. Skyrim alone (without mods) is an amazing game, always something to do, huge amounts of quests, and Bethesda has made it Modder friendly by releasing the Creation Kit, so now easy to make mods, with Steam Workshop, easy to upload and download mods. Overall, a game worth getting, a game worth playing.… Expand
  41. Tripnip14
    Jul 3, 2013
    9
    my complaints are that absolutely broken stealth system and the face that it is too easy to get rich quick in the end I merely adjusted my gameplay and purposely made it financially harder for my self). The "Epic" battles are pitifully small, and the plots are rather short, other than that the game is pretty good, with solid gameplay and an immersive atmosphere that makes it easy to getmy complaints are that absolutely broken stealth system and the face that it is too easy to get rich quick in the end I merely adjusted my gameplay and purposely made it financially harder for my self). The "Epic" battles are pitifully small, and the plots are rather short, other than that the game is pretty good, with solid gameplay and an immersive atmosphere that makes it easy to get into. It gave me many hours of enjoyment.… Expand
  42. s1mo
    Jan 5, 2013
    10
    Best game That i have ever played. Perfect graphics, AI, Realism and very detailed items. I recommend to purchase also DLC Hearthfire and Dawnguard. With hearthfire you will be able to build a house and adopt a child. You will have minecraft-like skyrim.
  43. Wills661
    Jan 12, 2013
    10
    I agree. i have played all editions of this series and loved every minute of them.Oblivion,Morrowwind and now i am partway thru Skyrim. Skyrim has better graphics and characters in the world of Skyrim . I would recommend this game on all platforms,PC,XBox Buy an enjoy.
  44. Pureray
    Dec 5, 2013
    10
    This game is alot of fun and I'm a low spec pc gamer, so I never review by graphics, just by how the story is, sound, combat, etc. I haven't been getting any bugs that would break the game or that would make horses fly backwords lol, pretty sure it's there pc that's the problem, also my friend showed me a few neat glitches that you could do in the game.

    The combat is wonky, like could    This game is alot of fun and I'm a low spec pc gamer, so I never review by graphics, just by how the story is, sound, combat, etc. I haven't been getting any bugs that would break the game or that would make horses fly backwords lol, pretty sure it's there pc that's the problem, also my friend showed me a few neat glitches that you could do in the game.

    The combat is wonky, like could you display the hitbox and my range that my weapon would be able to make contact with the enemy like how you get from those mmorpg games, which i'm used to so I'm alright with it. The bows however were okay, the melee with it seemed to me to be not very effective like I'm expecting a stagger when I hit someone with it, it would sometimes work tho. Let's not forget about those finishing blows and kill cams which made the combat glories!

    I couldn't hear the sound very well since the volume was set on it's low default setting, the music however was unexpectedly great like I didn't go into the tavern just to hear a bard sing, later requesting more from him or her. Also when I started to fight a dragon I began to get all confused at first from the music like is there someone else there with me, it was badass tho once I realized it was just the music playing.

    When I first looked at the map I thought it was small, but later kept running into a bunch of quest and caves that would take hours to complete, so now I don't know if I'll ever get anywhere. Awesome exploration easy 10 out of 10 there.

    The story was ehh, straightforward. I just focus on what I'm going to around skyrim so I don't really look at the main quest so much.

    Gameplay is great, I get to lockpick, steal from people pockets, adopt, and I don't know what else. The races would have there own special talent and the npcs would address you as that race, well I have only done the argonian so I'm unsure about the others.

    The score is a 10! Now I may have been to quick to judge since I haven't gotten to far into the game, but this world is just so luminous and you're even able to use mods with would make the fun endless so this game deserves a 10 since this was able to even get my friends addicted.

    Knowledge: 2nd Elder Scroll Game (1st was ESO but for a short time) I just started to play the game, 35 hours in so far as an argonian archer w/ only a mod that removed that suffocating sound when emerging from the water.    … Expand
  45. kevinhooks
    Jan 19, 2013
    9
    The game is not perfect, by any means. Glitches and bugs exist all over the longer you play it. However, the graphical design of the game is amazing, especially in HD. The game play mechanics have improved greatly over it's predecessor, and the quests seem to be more engaging. That's enough to invest more than 200 hours sitting and playing on your sofa.
  46. hades6969
    Jan 20, 2013
    10
    TES V : skyrim is the most beautiful game I played for a long time.
    it's really a game that has a history and that we never get tired of playing. for me it really deserves the maximum mark
  47. MorganFreeman
    Jan 28, 2013
    10
    Exploring, crafting and challenging: These are the words i use to describe Skyrim. Last game of TES series; Skyrim, despite doesn't have an epic beginning it has incredibly long and exciting mid-game. About the end; well, literally it doesn't have an end! Above all, Skyrim has several main stories, not only one, besides optional missions. Maybe that's the best part of it. Because,Exploring, crafting and challenging: These are the words i use to describe Skyrim. Last game of TES series; Skyrim, despite doesn't have an epic beginning it has incredibly long and exciting mid-game. About the end; well, literally it doesn't have an end! Above all, Skyrim has several main stories, not only one, besides optional missions. Maybe that's the best part of it. Because, seriously how long do you play a video game? 5 hours? 10 hours? 20 hours? Mostly 40 hours? I have played Skyrim over 200 hours and with new mods coming out day by day, it never becomes boring. Yes! Mods are the second good part of it. With the mods, all atmosphere becomes real, almost comes alive. What makes a game perfect is only the players. And how much you are a good gamer, that much Skyrim is good. If you complain about Skyrim, no offence but you are a bad, impatient and obsessed gamer. If you don't know about the mods, you better learn them immediately. Because with them, a masterpiece of Bethesda, turns out masterpiece of yours. Probably that's what Bethesda wish: Give the chance to players for showing their imaginations. So, if you do have some imagination, you should definitely try Skyrim even though you didn't play previous TES games.… Expand
  48. skorzeny44
    Feb 16, 2013
    8
    good overall game but your player is a nobody throughout game a thane of all holds but no gratitude for saving world twice if your dragon blood shouldn't you have a new emperor quest. Post civil war there is no moot to name high king, plot holes everywhere dlc not so good should have been in original skyrim except for dragonborn so dragonborn should be the first dlc.
  49. askewreviews
    Sep 2, 2013
    6
    In its own right, Skyrim is a shallow but passable RPG, but compared to previous Elder Scrolls titles it's a huge disappointment. The level of casualization is simply depressing less equipment slots, more linear dungeons, no stats besides health/mana/stamina, less skills etc. The combat is actually a step up from Oblivion, and yet is still very basic and mindless. The first two or threeIn its own right, Skyrim is a shallow but passable RPG, but compared to previous Elder Scrolls titles it's a huge disappointment. The level of casualization is simply depressing less equipment slots, more linear dungeons, no stats besides health/mana/stamina, less skills etc. The combat is actually a step up from Oblivion, and yet is still very basic and mindless. The first two or three dragon fights blew my mind, but it didn't take long to notice the looping patterns every single dragon would follow and how easy it was to exploit that. They soon became a chore. The main questline had a ton of potential but it's just so lacking and by the end I couldn't care less about it. I didn't care for many of the sidequests either, and the much-hyped infinite quests where nothing more than fetch quests. All in all, Skyrim is a nice-looking but barren and shallow sandbox that makes modding a near necessity.… Expand
  50. moslin
    May 10, 2013
    5
    it is a shame that because of the lack of open world large scale games and this being many peoples first rpg warrants a near 100 for a score. This game cannot even be called an RPG and deserves maybe a 75 at best. There is no decision making just like in oblivion, terrible dialogue and linear boring quests and repeatable quests that were even worse, poor loot variety once again includingit is a shame that because of the lack of open world large scale games and this being many peoples first rpg warrants a near 100 for a score. This game cannot even be called an RPG and deserves maybe a 75 at best. There is no decision making just like in oblivion, terrible dialogue and linear boring quests and repeatable quests that were even worse, poor loot variety once again including recycled enchanted weapons from previous elder scrolls games. I expected so much more.. this was the biggest disappointment in gaming of 2011 for me bigger than the massive failure that was star wars the old republic. If your a hard core elder scrolls fan this game is a must. I still played the game for over 60 hours but then grew bored as opposed to my hundreds of hours spent in oblivion. I am an objective rpg fan and the elder scrolls series falls a little short for me with including Skyrim. This game is average at best not stellar.… Expand
  51. kingdomofomins
    Jun 25, 2013
    5
    Ok lets get to the pros and cons of this game
    Pros: Good Landscapes, Some interesting perks, improved combats, arrows shoot further away unlike Oblivion, lots of places to explore, good lore, lots of things to kill, and you get to make your own stuff.
    Cons: Not that good dlcs, guilds are boring, npcs treat you like even though your saving the world from the dragon crisis, boring side    Ok lets get to the pros and cons of this game
    Pros: Good Landscapes, Some interesting perks, improved combats, arrows shoot further away unlike Oblivion, lots of places to explore, good lore, lots of things to kill, and you get to make your own stuff.
    Cons: Not that good dlcs, guilds are boring, npcs treat you like even though your saving the world from the dragon crisis, boring side quests, there's three decisions you make in the game join dawnguard or the Harkons vampire cult thingy, join the stormcloacks or the Legion, and kill or not kill Paathurnax), companions don't give you perks or anything which is pointless to have them unlike in fallout new vegas where companions do give you perks and xps, they made arrows weight like nothing but flowers weight more, swords and armors last forever apparently which is stupid, removed lots of spells, and puzzles, difficulty are too easy (expect for legendary mode), you get to live in a dumpy ass house with an annoying follower instead of living in a stronghold or a castle, those bandits are weak when you get in higher levels and don't look so scary or try to intimidate you unlike raiders and bandits for the previous elder scrolls, and you cant fail quests and the quest don't give that much details all its says is go to that place and so forth and they even remove class systems as well and lots of skills what the ****
    Despite most the cons i ll give skyrim a 5/10 and i'm pretty sure there lots of good rpg games out there    … Expand
  52. The_Tony
    Aug 21, 2013
    1
    never feel like i am playing a game it's like doing work ...not enjoyble
    very very boring game....point to be notice here
    1. very dull animation
    2. lots of bug &technical error
    3. graphic is not so good too
  53. fittuner
    Dec 31, 2013
    9
    Bethesda once again proves why it dominates western RPGs with the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The world of Skyrim is a beautiful place that makes it easy to get lost in and just dissolve into the world and events. Having played both the console and PC version to great extent, it is obvious that the PC version comes out on top. Not only does the PC version look and perform better, it alsoBethesda once again proves why it dominates western RPGs with the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The world of Skyrim is a beautiful place that makes it easy to get lost in and just dissolve into the world and events. Having played both the console and PC version to great extent, it is obvious that the PC version comes out on top. Not only does the PC version look and perform better, it also has a nigh endless amount of content due to mods that can change things as small as ropes or chains in the environment or as big as making your character a lightsaber-wielding, Elven-armored badass. But, like most Bethesda games, Skyrim has its fair share of bugs and glitches that can sometimes prevent quests from being completed. Overall, though, Skyrim is a must play for any PC gamer.… Expand
  54. Look444
    Nov 13, 2015
    8
    This game has a lot of flaws that Bethesda games tend to have, being immersion the most notorious in my opinion. Magic system feels bland, most perks are boring, especialization tends to always be either sword and shield or sneak based. Combat is dull and difficulty is very artificial, and graphics weren't that good even for 2011.
    And despite having quite a lot of flaws, it's still a very    This game has a lot of flaws that Bethesda games tend to have, being immersion the most notorious in my opinion. Magic system feels bland, most perks are boring, especialization tends to always be either sword and shield or sneak based. Combat is dull and difficulty is very artificial, and graphics weren't that good even for 2011.
    And despite having quite a lot of flaws, it's still a very fun game, with hours and hours of gameplay and different stories. It's a must play if you like RPG's. Sadly Bethesda games don't age well and nowadays it remains fun if you mod it    … Expand
  55. Vamrem
    May 27, 2015
    8
    Skyrim is the hugest TES and Bethesda has continued improving its toolset making the Creation Kit the best of the whole saga, there are more than 30.000 mods to improve each single aspect so if you don't like the game, no problem, change it! and you will have the game of your dreams. I have only one gripe and is a big one: outdated graphics; it basically looks like Oblivion with mods...Skyrim is the hugest TES and Bethesda has continued improving its toolset making the Creation Kit the best of the whole saga, there are more than 30.000 mods to improve each single aspect so if you don't like the game, no problem, change it! and you will have the game of your dreams. I have only one gripe and is a big one: outdated graphics; it basically looks like Oblivion with mods...

    We know that mods can do everything but improve graphics is the hardest job, of course Skyrim has the best graphics enhancer mods but could be even better with a solid game-base. I really hope Fallout 4 and TES VI with, literally, outstanding graphics. Bethesda must understand that their sandboxes worth for modding, history is literally secondary and RPG system is just not solid, but when you start to feed it with mods... oh man... the game shines in each corner, I don't get tired to walk those gorgeous landscapes, fight better random encounters, make my own home, armor and weapons... Great game Bethesda, just keep in mind that if you provide us with a great graphic base, we can do the rest much easier with mods to have the game of our dreams.    … Expand
  56. falloutjerk
    Nov 10, 2015
    10
    Better graphics then Fallout 4 69/10 . a
  57. SirFatPants
    Nov 14, 2015
    10
    This game has its flaws, but gameplay, world design, quests, modding, etc. sends it right back up to a 10! It takes some time to get into it, but when you do, it's the best game ever. I have 650+ hrs logged, and it's my favorite game of all time!
  58. Myon-Neutrino
    Nov 1, 2016
    5
    Since Skyrim´s coming back via the remastered version, I wanted to share my experience with the original here. I don´t get the overwhelmingly hype around that game. It´s ok, it´s playable. It had its moments. But that´s it for me. I´ve played Morrowind, Oblivion and the Fallout Games and I´m aware of Bethesda´s way of life, that´s for sure. Skyrim managed to impress me at first. ManySince Skyrim´s coming back via the remastered version, I wanted to share my experience with the original here. I don´t get the overwhelmingly hype around that game. It´s ok, it´s playable. It had its moments. But that´s it for me. I´ve played Morrowind, Oblivion and the Fallout Games and I´m aware of Bethesda´s way of life, that´s for sure. Skyrim managed to impress me at first. Many improvements compared to its predecessors. There were many good things about Skyrim - but as many bad things as well. I liked the story and the graphics design, well and lovely designed. I liked the quest system. But the overall graphics? White, white and more white (and pale brown), kinda monotonous, lifeless and depressing world/colors. There were some major bugs which prevented me from progressing the main quest (some door couldn´t be opened, and a vampire bit could only be undone by starting a completely new game/char) The controls/menu were poorly ported to PCs and it took time for a good menu-mod to be available. Just like the Fallout 4 PC controls - they simply suck. One of Bethesda`s big issues... graphical improvements mods required a high end rig. I´ve sat through the game once, it was entertaining enough not to stop before. I never intended to play it again.… Expand
  59. bramon
    Jun 15, 2017
    0
    I tell it simple, Bethesda created great world, with awesome quests and good lore. I spent hundreds hours in game, but real joy is modding. Thanks them you can improve your gameplay thousands times. I thought that idea of paid mods was abandoned but E3 show us that this idea is still alive !, Supporting creators of big mods is nothing bad (i gave small amount of money them by patreon) butI tell it simple, Bethesda created great world, with awesome quests and good lore. I spent hundreds hours in game, but real joy is modding. Thanks them you can improve your gameplay thousands times. I thought that idea of paid mods was abandoned but E3 show us that this idea is still alive !, Supporting creators of big mods is nothing bad (i gave small amount of money them by patreon) but firstly it must be freewill. Moreover it should be good quality, big mod not just armor or patch (yes, skyrim is still bugged and modders created patch to fix it) because fixing game is developer job. If paid mods will be very good quality, big and very compatible, i am not against but if paid mods will be expensive and silly (like armor or something similar), this will be end of good product.… Expand
  60. Blainetrain
    Jul 20, 2017
    3
    If you are an elder scrolls fan you won't like this incredibly large yet boring game. All you do is get lost exploring side content that never has a decent reward. Elder scrolls games haven't been good since morrowind. Skyrim is the first one to actually have decent visual appeal though. You CRAFT daedric armor in this game. Nothing is worth achieving in this game because its too mundaneIf you are an elder scrolls fan you won't like this incredibly large yet boring game. All you do is get lost exploring side content that never has a decent reward. Elder scrolls games haven't been good since morrowind. Skyrim is the first one to actually have decent visual appeal though. You CRAFT daedric armor in this game. Nothing is worth achieving in this game because its too mundane and the payout is bland.… Expand
  61. GantzX
    Oct 20, 2017
    0
    I love this game a lot, but the entire community is being ruined by paid mods on the Steam Workshop.Skyrim is only mediocre when played without mods. Skyrim was an amazing game, and now Bethesda have abused this by introducing payments for modding the game.

    Don't let companies ruin the PC gaming market.
  62. canceRnya
    Oct 30, 2018
    1
    Лучше обливиона, ну и действительно открытый мир, на этом хорошее заканчивается.
    Теперь о плохом, это ведь игра от беседки, значит тут только плохое: бездушный мир, ноль интэрактива, в нормальных игорах побочный пяти минутный квэст интереснее основного здеся, не успел прийти в деревню, а все ужэ знают, что ты тот самый довокин, хоть ты сам узнал об этом пару минут назад, разобравшись с    Лучше обливиона, ну и действительно открытый мир, на этом хорошее заканчивается.
    Теперь о плохом, это ведь игра от беседки, значит тут только плохое: бездушный мир, ноль интэрактива, в нормальных игорах побочный пяти минутный квэст интереснее основного здеся, не успел прийти в деревню, а все ужэ знают, что ты тот самый довокин, хоть ты сам узнал об этом пару минут назад, разобравшись с братьями буриимперией энписи продолжают искать на них управу и винить фракциянэйс во всех бедах, нельзя открывать замки, будучи вором 99 лэвэла, ибо тебе туда не положэно, бессмертные энписи, ну или их нада бить больше 2 часов, все квесты в пещерах, в конце которых лежит нужный тебе предмет, который тебе нада будет отнести тому, у кого ты брал квэст. Продолжать можна до бесконечности, но доступно всего лишь 5ка символов, так что просто 110.    … Expand
  63. MrFunDuk
    Mar 8, 2022
    0
    Фашисты. Почему? Запрет на продажу исключительно россиянам это уже акт фашизма.
  64. ADEGaming
    Oct 1, 2020
    2
    Let's start with the graphics -- compared to oblivion, there's not much of an upgrade.
    The gameplay of oblivion and skyrim was basically the same.
    Story, Skyrim's Main story is utter sh8. Like it has no direction at all, the world doesn't even respond to your heroic acts. The side quest, unlimited fetch quest simulator. Overhyped and too bugy. Combat is too funny, it's basically    Let's start with the graphics -- compared to oblivion, there's not much of an upgrade.
    The gameplay of oblivion and skyrim was basically the same.
    Story, Skyrim's Main story is utter sh8. Like it has no direction at all, the world doesn't even respond to your heroic acts. The side quest, unlimited fetch quest simulator. Overhyped and too bugy.
    Combat is too funny, it's basically oblivion -- a 2006 game! hahaha!
    The only good side of this game is the music. Even up to this game, I can still remember the lyrics of "the dragon born comes".
    I'll take oblivion all day compared to this skyrim, I'm looking at you unilmited bugs!    … Expand
  65. BFG-1337
    Mar 30, 2021
    4
    I played this game for 50 hours, that is 25 x 2 because i made 2 characters.
    I tried vanilla and with mods
    This game is just dull, the world is very uninteresting, I mean yes it has lots of locations (that are copy pasted) and it has lots of characters you can speak with, but why? This game exists and everything inside of it just because, just for the sake of existing. Its trying to be    I played this game for 50 hours, that is 25 x 2 because i made 2 characters.
    I tried vanilla and with mods

    This game is just dull, the world is very uninteresting, I mean yes it has lots of locations (that are copy pasted) and it has lots of characters you can speak with, but why? This game exists and everything inside of it just because, just for the sake of existing. Its trying to be the best RPG ever by cramming into it a lot of bland content.
    Id rather read a book than play this any more.
    Story is boring i really didn't pay attention, that might be my fault.
    So there you go, if you want this kind of game, here it is.

    - This game is the equivalent of eating bread for dinner, just bread nothing else.    … Expand
  66. Falcon88
    Feb 6, 2012
    3
    Just an overrated game. The old graphic engine unfortunately is not the worst feature: AI is 15 years old and the level of challenge of this game is zero. In fact enemies can't do anything else except to run to you in straight line, eventually throwing arrows or spells which are too easy to dodge. The easiest and worst adventure against decrepit zombies NPCs I've ever played.
  67. marcelism
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    Skyrim is an incredible game. It offers millions of choices in what you want to do, who you want your character to be, and where you want to go. Ive happily spent my first 5 hours breaking into many npc houses and stealing all their ware's. And ive been able to level up on just sneaking, lockpicking, and pick pocketing alone. It is very similar to oblivion in the sense that you get betterSkyrim is an incredible game. It offers millions of choices in what you want to do, who you want your character to be, and where you want to go. Ive happily spent my first 5 hours breaking into many npc houses and stealing all their ware's. And ive been able to level up on just sneaking, lockpicking, and pick pocketing alone. It is very similar to oblivion in the sense that you get better at what you want to do by doing it. You feel very in control of your character's strengths and weaknesses. No choosing a spec, if you want to be better at archery, then shoot some arrows at stuff. I have no problem whatsoever with the games visuals. Not quite witcher 2 but they look far better than oblivion did . Sure if i zoom in all the way i can see the textures are lowish. but as i move through the world the entire environment the grass, trees mountains and mist. the overall world is the most imersive and believable gaming world i have ever seen and runs at a steady 60fps. Skyrim was not a game i was really that excited for but it quickly became one of my favorite games ever.… Expand
  68. Extremo
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    Just a beautiful, much more polished game than Oblivion. A joy to play that gives the feeling of great freedom. Really makes you want to explore everything and all the character possiblities. Magic is much more entertaining and appealing now. Thanks Bethesda for creating a timeless game once again. I can´t imagine how good it is going to be once the modders start doing their thing.
  69. xefmel
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    Game plays well. Combat feels solid. A few minor animation glitches here and there but does nothing to harm the experience followers of the series have come to expect. The visuals are stunning and if you are playing on PC and have a high powered machine they are even better. The audio is well done and the voice acting is better than it was in Oblivion. The main storyline is engaging andGame plays well. Combat feels solid. A few minor animation glitches here and there but does nothing to harm the experience followers of the series have come to expect. The visuals are stunning and if you are playing on PC and have a high powered machine they are even better. The audio is well done and the voice acting is better than it was in Oblivion. The main storyline is engaging and there are a lot of side quests to do. Just like the previous entries in the series, Skyrim is more than a game, it is an immersive experience. It is impressive and the best game of its ilk since Oblivion.… Expand
  70. Stylus
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    Bethesda continues to re-release Daggerfall with fewer features and better graphics. I could talk at length about the boring combat, the poor levelling system, the stupid quest lines, the horrendous UI, the gruelling first two hours of play and other flaws but I could forgive all of that if Bethesda learned to write a single interesting character. Everything about the characters from theirBethesda continues to re-release Daggerfall with fewer features and better graphics. I could talk at length about the boring combat, the poor levelling system, the stupid quest lines, the horrendous UI, the gruelling first two hours of play and other flaws but I could forgive all of that if Bethesda learned to write a single interesting character. Everything about the characters from their voice acting and dialogue trees to the way we see them interacting is just plain boring. It's really hard to give a damn about the world when it's populated by soulless robots and the combat/grinding experience just isn't good enough to redeem the terrible world building.

    Skyrim is nothing but a fad and whilst there aren't many things I can point to as being physically painful there really is no reason to play this game. Props to Bethesda's marketing department.    … Expand
  71. kha0sman
    Mar 7, 2012
    3
    Story could be better, combat is extremely slow paced compared to the other TES series, didn't even give me 100+ hours of gameplay. Really this game is too repetitive, I don't see how others can stand this game. The TES series have been going downhill, hopefully Fallout 4 won't be a failure like Skyrim; I don't think even 1000 mods can save Skyrim.
  72. Philip0544
    May 8, 2012
    4
    Skyrim, for me at least, is not worthy of the praise it gets showered. Yes, you get a huge overworld with a character that you customize your way, and do whatever you want, whenever you want. yes, there is a ton of sidequests. However, there are a few glaring problems that i have with this game that i just could not ignore, and that prevented me from getting any real enjoyment out of it.Skyrim, for me at least, is not worthy of the praise it gets showered. Yes, you get a huge overworld with a character that you customize your way, and do whatever you want, whenever you want. yes, there is a ton of sidequests. However, there are a few glaring problems that i have with this game that i just could not ignore, and that prevented me from getting any real enjoyment out of it. First and foremost, the game's central story and characters are severely lacking. this means that no matter how hard i tried, i just could not care about any of the characters, because they're not developed in the story, and most characters only serve to be either a quest giver or a punching bag. This made the whole game just kind of bland and uninteresting for me. Next, the combat is not all that great. lets be honest here. the combat system alone is not gonna win any awards here. Lastly, yes the world is huge and there is a lot to do, but it gets very repetitive, very quickly. quests essentially consist of going into a dungeon, finding a certain thing, killing a certain monster, or other such things. In other words, the game creates the illusion of being expansive, when in actuality is very shallow.So, what does this all amount to? it amounts to the game being boring. very, very boring. and i dont play games to be bored. Probably the best analogy I've ever heard for skyrim, and indeed, most of the elder scrolls series, is that when you first start playing, its like coming out into a huge, shimmering, beautiful lake. Enticed, you wade out into the lake. You think, gee, this is great! i cant wait until i get to the deeper part of the lake! This is going to be great! however, to your surprise, the depth goes up very little, if at all. confused, you wade on, hoping for it to get deeper, so you can immerse yourself in it. however, it never comes. Disappointed, you leave. You may go back a few times because of how pretty it is, but always end up disappointed you can not immerse yourself in the waters of the game.… Expand
  73. Kuarlos
    Dec 16, 2011
    0
    REASON FOR SCORE- 0 as this is just another bethesda game, nothing special, no extra effort and its metacritic score is waaaay too high. To rub salt in the wound this is a PC port. Wonder what I mean? You will know if you buy.
    GAMEPLAY- Oblivion. Enough said. GRAPHICS- think crysis 2/battlefield 3. Graphics that look like they could be sharp but were limited to consol standard, however if    REASON FOR SCORE- 0 as this is just another bethesda game, nothing special, no extra effort and its metacritic score is waaaay too high. To rub salt in the wound this is a PC port. Wonder what I mean? You will know if you buy.
    GAMEPLAY- Oblivion. Enough said. GRAPHICS- think crysis 2/battlefield 3. Graphics that look like they could be sharp but were limited to consol standard, however if your gpu is below or at 9800gt this will look nice and run well.
    LEVEL DESIGN- Stunning, but I would trade half those unwalkable slopes for gameplay.
    AI- there is AD as in artificial dumbness but no, there is no ai. UI- worst I have ever seen in an pc game, leaves you wishing you had a pad..
    ATMOSPHERE-epic, the best, but the ui breaks it up awfully. LEVELING- Cant conclude on this but it just doesnt engage me, as in oblivion you arent specialising, you arent engaging the enemy, you just toss about pausing, running back and forth, wondering if you have hit anything, the world cant be faulted though. QUESTING-One quest in and it was cool.    … Expand
  74. TellNoLies
    Mar 26, 2012
    10
    Absolutely the best RPG in terms of technical achievement to date. Don't mind the haters - notice how on all the best YouTube videos, there are always a couple hundred dislikes? Those are the same morons who give Skyrim a bad review.
  75. Truesteel
    Dec 1, 2011
    10
    Incredible graphics, great story, fun combat, immersive environments, what can I say that you don't already know? It has its fair share of bugs and problems as any Bethesda game does (and really any game of this magnitude) but it more than makes up for it in creativity, depth, and the sheer amount of content included in in the game.
  76. Kabstract
    Nov 11, 2011
    10
    I don't know where the complaints are coming from. I'm playing on PC and it has been flawless for 6 hours. Weapon switching is fine. If you have a problem with it, you probably aren't using the favourites menu. There is so much to do in this game. Graphics are great, and perform great on my slowly aging once-awesome computer. NO MORE TOMATO-HEADS. I really don't see any signs of it being aI don't know where the complaints are coming from. I'm playing on PC and it has been flawless for 6 hours. Weapon switching is fine. If you have a problem with it, you probably aren't using the favourites menu. There is so much to do in this game. Graphics are great, and perform great on my slowly aging once-awesome computer. NO MORE TOMATO-HEADS. I really don't see any signs of it being a bad port. Controls are just fine. Some people just LIKE to complain I guess. Oh well, no one really gives a s___ about Metacritic community reviews. Everyone outside of this community know that you all complain about stupid things.… Expand
  77. MusAddict
    Nov 20, 2011
    9
    Simly put: the pros outweigh the cons. Biggest pro: Aesthetics. Biggest con: Magic Constrictions. Theres more if you're willing to read. I will start by saying my vote is based on a scale of 0-10, 0 meaning "unplayable", 5 equal to Oblivion (not inherently bad, just to compare Skyrim respectively), and 6+ is an overall improvement from Oblivion. Voice Acting (+1) has been greatly improvedSimly put: the pros outweigh the cons. Biggest pro: Aesthetics. Biggest con: Magic Constrictions. Theres more if you're willing to read. I will start by saying my vote is based on a scale of 0-10, 0 meaning "unplayable", 5 equal to Oblivion (not inherently bad, just to compare Skyrim respectively), and 6+ is an overall improvement from Oblivion. Voice Acting (+1) has been greatly improved from 12 to 70+ actors, meaning you can play longer before you are driven insane by the repetitive voice of Jauffre. Aesthetics (+2) are greatly improved over Oblivion. The map itself is slightly smaller than Oblivion, but it's designed to feel 4x bigger, and it does. Filled with flowing creeks, ice caps, mountains, snow, and A LOT more. Graphics (+1) are improved, not by much tho. It looks better, for sure, but that's thanks to the aesthetics. As for clarity and detail of models, it's only a slight, but noticeable improvement. Skills (+1) have a better setup. Many people like that the skills were directly related to your use of them like in Oblivion, but perks make the game feel more survival/strategic based. They're done nicely. Professions (+1) are a wonderful addition that are a tie between skills and aesthetics, but is prominent enought to be listed as its own plus. While the only real mechanical upside of professions relates to smithing, it's still wonderful to be able to chop wood, mine ores, smelt ores, and so on to improve your gear. Dragons (+0) are an interesting replacement to Oblivion Gates. That's exactly what they are, a replacement. While epic within the story line, and fun to battle with their random characteristics, they are also as repetitive as Oblivion Gates. No matter how epic they are, I find myself only wanting to kill them only for their souls, but after the first 10, it starts to get old. That's why it's a plus zero, cause they're epic, but repetitive. Number of Places (+1) have been increased by about double, and to top it off you never feel like you explore the same place twice, unlike Oblivion. Magic (-2) has been drastically reduced... I'm not sure the number of spells in either game, but I do know they REALLY trimmed magic. They completely did away with Mysticism, and got rid of the ability to craft spells. Bethesda combated the lack of spells with the ability to dual wield spells, but it's not enough... They dropped the ball on this one. User Interface (-1) has always been a core downside for Bethesda's most recent games, even on consoles. Now I have a gamepad, so this isn't a personal downside for me, but I will say that I only use the gamepad because I could not get used to the controls on my keyboard. So, to summarize, Oblivion is a 5 on the scale (not inherently bad, just to compare Skyrim respectively), and the improvements include Voice Acting +1 (6), Aesthetics +2 (8), Graphics +1 (9), Skills +1 (10), Professions +1 (11), Dragons +0 (11), Places +1 (12), and the downsides: Magic -2 (10), and UI -1 (9), so overall Skyrim is a +4 compared to Oblivion.… Expand
  78. deuxieme
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    *Foreword*: I must observe that those other User Reviews which are denigrating Skyrim mostly consist of complaints as to the game's supposed inoperability or bugginess: To those poorly-worded souls I wish a fortunate encounter with basic PC maintenance knowledge. / This game is an achievement in both richness of narrative and environmental ambience. The Elder Scrolls franchise comes*Foreword*: I must observe that those other User Reviews which are denigrating Skyrim mostly consist of complaints as to the game's supposed inoperability or bugginess: To those poorly-worded souls I wish a fortunate encounter with basic PC maintenance knowledge. / This game is an achievement in both richness of narrative and environmental ambience. The Elder Scrolls franchise comes complete with a 4 Era back-story, and Skyrim takes full advantage of it, providing a truly immersive first person experience. The story is fluid enough that a player can wander into sidequests freely, and yet with an engaging momentum which means you'll soon be back at it. Without giving too much away, the player is Dovahkiin, Dragonborne, with the special ability to weild The Voice of dragons. It feels exhaustive to repeat the praise that the Internet has been declaring for days now, so I'll let's move on to the tech. I've had the fortune to avoid any such problems with playing the game on my PC, except in its functionality with Steam-- Steam's screenshot function seems to crash the game during execution animations (which by the way, are quite lifelike). Even the XBOX 360 version, said to have lower resolution in-game textures, looks great. And all at a neat 5.5GB Harddrive space. I think I've stated my case, so I'll close in saying that if you want to play, you ought to pay. Cash, folks, Bethesda has earned yours.… Expand
  79. OzShinDig
    Nov 12, 2011
    9
    Skyrim is brilliant. It improves on Oblivion in every way possible. I really like the new menus and while they may not be perfect, they're still unbelievably better than the ones in Oblivion. I've played 20 hours so far. Mostly the main story with a minimal amount of side quests and almost no exploring. The story so far (reckon I'm getting towards the end) is brilliant and even better thanSkyrim is brilliant. It improves on Oblivion in every way possible. I really like the new menus and while they may not be perfect, they're still unbelievably better than the ones in Oblivion. I've played 20 hours so far. Mostly the main story with a minimal amount of side quests and almost no exploring. The story so far (reckon I'm getting towards the end) is brilliant and even better than Oblivion's fantastic story. Gameplay is amazing, with the new spellcasting system seeing the largest improvement. Melee combat hasn't really changed or improved much but duel-wielding is a big plus. The new levelling and skills/perks system is fantastic. Classes and skills seem so pointless now and it makes far more sense to just naturally develop your character as you play. There are some bugs here and there but they're small and nothing really breaks the game. I've encountered about five crashes and a few instances where talking to an NPC to hand in or start a quest didn't work and I had to reload. These should get patched and they're not so bad. I'd say the only thing that really is sub-standard would be the graphics. Pete Hines of Bethesda said the PC graphics would "blow your mind" and they haven't at all. Bethesda also said that they author their textures really high res. The textures are terrible and are really the only downside to the game. Most of them aren't much better than Oblivion and look like a game from years ago. The snow textures on rock or stone are by far the worst and look like they're 100x100 pixels. The lighting in non-dynamic so interiors are lit by non-existant light sources. Object meshes are also pretty bad and look extremely dated and jaggy. On a positive note, the art design is absolutely fantastic. Everything about the world is immersing and the environmental effects are so damn good. The best environmental effects are the snow and fog. It makes you feel cold and the graphics of these effects are actually very very good even compared to other games. The engine doesn't perform very well and I have a suspicion that it doesn't support mutiple graphics cards. I have an i7 930, GTX 460 1Gb SLi and 6Gb DDR3 RAM and I couldn't run this game at maximum settings without some lag. I had to drop shadows down to high plus a few other things. Considering my computer can run Battlefield 3 on high/ultra at 1080p this is pretty badly optimised imo. People's faces are a huge improvement over Oblivion, but NPC running/combat animations can sometimes be terrible and their pathfinding and overall intelligence isn't very good. Despite all the bad things I've mentioned, it's the gameplay, and not the graphics, that count. It is in my opinion the best RPG made to date, partly because it's my style of RPG, but also because the story, gameplay and art/level design are so well done.… Expand
  80. Yatagan
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    This game is everything I thought it would be and then some. It has amazing gameplay, far improved from Oblivions hack and slash/rinse repeat tactics. Magic is actually fun now, the people no longer look cartoonish. The world feels so real and alive. Radiant story randomizes quests. Me and my friend discussed our travels to the same area, and we had very different experiences. WonderfulThis game is everything I thought it would be and then some. It has amazing gameplay, far improved from Oblivions hack and slash/rinse repeat tactics. Magic is actually fun now, the people no longer look cartoonish. The world feels so real and alive. Radiant story randomizes quests. Me and my friend discussed our travels to the same area, and we had very different experiences. Wonderful combat. Plenty of quests. Not the best graphics in the world, but definitely good enough to give some amazing looking landscapes. There are quite a few bugs, but BGS is kind of known for this. Luckily, they are also known for patching and fixing all of those bugs. Within a week, I see this game running smooth as butter. You can fish, smith armor, tan hides, cook, make potions and poisons, enchant things, help out random townspeople, catch butterflies, hunt game, and kill dragons. You can do anything. 10/10 Oblivion was my favorite game before this, and just as I expected this has blown past and is now in 1st by a long shot.… Expand
  81. Tompops
    Feb 13, 2012
    2
    This is for the starting out gamer, Who have come out of there camp hole and decided "i will expand my horizon". They get told play skyrim, And believe wow nothing is like this at all.

    Then the usual players of such games as Morrowind and Oblivion and fallout 3, Come out of the anticipation hole and are in dying need to love this game, And say they do. Well don't it repetitive, boring    This is for the starting out gamer, Who have come out of there camp hole and decided "i will expand my horizon". They get told play skyrim, And believe wow nothing is like this at all.

    Then the usual players of such games as Morrowind and Oblivion and fallout 3, Come out of the anticipation hole and are in dying need to love this game, And say they do.

    Well don't it repetitive, boring and dam right rubbish. I did not feel my character got better or did i feel he had gained 16 levels. Felt like some kind of unfinished game. As for the bugs well, I won't go into that.

    I felt it was not for me, If you love it keep loving, But in reality against other games of its genre and even alot older games. It's terrible.    … Expand
  82. NerV-0-sol
    May 5, 2012
    4
    Advantages: 1. Fresh storyline. 2. Nice landscapes and one breathtaking, huuuuge cave. 3. Nice animations. Disadvantages: 1. Becomes boring after a few hours. 2. Morrowind was more interesting, attractive and mysterious. 3. Fewer and fewer skills etc. makes it too simple. 4. Too easy (every character, also wrong-trained can easily finish almost every quest). 5. Bad skill balance (stealthAdvantages: 1. Fresh storyline. 2. Nice landscapes and one breathtaking, huuuuge cave. 3. Nice animations. Disadvantages: 1. Becomes boring after a few hours. 2. Morrowind was more interesting, attractive and mysterious. 3. Fewer and fewer skills etc. makes it too simple. 4. Too easy (every character, also wrong-trained can easily finish almost every quest). 5. Bad skill balance (stealth and short blade is much stronger that the most powerful magic). 6. I had an impression that 80% of games music was Morrowind remakes and remixes. 7. Too little variety of... everything? 8. Console-like interface (irritating as hell!). 9. Bugs, bugs, buuuuugs! 10. ... and chips with cola to crown it all.… Expand
  83. goettel
    Nov 22, 2011
    10
    Looked at dispassionately, Skyrim offers a by-the-numbers fantasy experience: you're a questin' hero looking to pick fights with dragons, slaying bandits and randomly spawning beasts, casting spells, and wielding a range of medieval weapons, all while listening to reams of mildly interesting dialog. At first glance, it doesn't offer the highly imaginitive and truly otherworldly feelingLooked at dispassionately, Skyrim offers a by-the-numbers fantasy experience: you're a questin' hero looking to pick fights with dragons, slaying bandits and randomly spawning beasts, casting spells, and wielding a range of medieval weapons, all while listening to reams of mildly interesting dialog. At first glance, it doesn't offer the highly imaginitive and truly otherworldly feeling landscapes of Morrowind. Its console roots are evident. And, it being a Bethesda game, you were expecting some bugs. Right ?

    Even after the broad praise on release, I wasn't convinced Skyrim could topple Morrowind as my #1 RPG on the PC, and initially held off on buying it.

    Now, 30 hours play crammed into three days later, its obvious to me that Skyrim has raised the bar for PC RPG's well above the competition: this is a remarkable game. Not so much for its choices, but for how beautifully it implements those choices. The landscapes are truly remarkable, perhaps for the first time offering a world which feels real instead of like a semi-random patchwork of locations. This really is a small country in a box, and it is a remarkable achievement in itself. Idylic villages, huge and imposing castles, haunted burial mounds, standing stones and impromptu altars to various gods, dungeons big and small, dreary plains, towering mountains and narrow mountain passes: all of it great to look at, travel through and explore. The main quest so far has been solid and quite engaging, offering just the right mix of challenge and hero (you) worship. You feel important, but not overpowered.

    Character progression is great, focussing on (the use of) skills, not on simply leveling (even though you do level), and the number of available options is staggering, offering a talent tree on all the many skills and schools of magic which really gives you the option to craft a character to your tastes.

    Sound is top-notch, including the dynamic soundtrack.

    Sure, I have some criticisms: the GUI could stand a couple of major and minor improvements, although I don't find it quite as bad as others have made it out to be. The voice acting is mostly competent, even pretty good in places, but it's also tacky in others - and some NPC's I wouldn't mind murdering just to get rid of their repetitive and trite oneliners. There are some graphical glitches. I've had a couple of crashes to the desktop - nothing so bad as Fallout 3 / New Vegas, though - in fact, I find this to be the most stable Bethesda game to date. Also, character animation is far from perfect.

    So is Morrowing finally surpassed ? In a word: yes. Even though the world might appear less imaginative than Morrowind's, this one simply feels more real and offers a ton of rewards to the intrepid explorer. It's hard to get anything done, because it's so very easy to get distracted by any number of things found en route to a quest objective. Many of the quests have an adult theme, require an uncomfortable compromise, or simply offer irresistibly 'evil' choices with enjoyably disturbing consequences.

    Skyrim is Bethesda's best yet and easily takes a spot amongst the best RPG's ever.    … Expand
  84. sclark13
    Jun 4, 2013
    3
    The important thing to remember before you purchase this game, is that it is the exact same game experience as Morrowind and Oblivion. If you eventually got tired of how repetitive those games were, you will probably not get much value out of this game. The one thing this game does offer is tons of repetitious quests, creatures, dungeons, and scenery. You can really feel the age of theThe important thing to remember before you purchase this game, is that it is the exact same game experience as Morrowind and Oblivion. If you eventually got tired of how repetitive those games were, you will probably not get much value out of this game. The one thing this game does offer is tons of repetitious quests, creatures, dungeons, and scenery. You can really feel the age of the basic gameplay system and interactions when you compare it to modern games like Assassin's Creed, Dark Souls, and Dragon's Dogma.

    I do not recommend a purchase unless its at bargain prices or you are completely new to Elder Scrolls.    … Expand
  85. Stormcrow666
    Nov 13, 2011
    10
    Fantastic~!!!! Great Graphics(ultra of course). Amazing story with an almost unlimited amount to do and see. I have been playing for a few days it just keeps getting better. The side quests are original and fun with twists and turns~! I am a die hard RPG guy and this might beat my favorite all time; Baldur's Gate, for the new best game title~! Well done Bethesda. Well done.
  86. Talos84
    Nov 12, 2011
    9
    this game is so awesome. great improvements all around. yeah a few bugs but i am sure the bugs will be worked out. such an awesome game. love the new combat and crafting system
  87. dc42
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    Most of the complaints people here are spouting out don't really seem to be justified (or accurate). Yes, Skyrim has some bugs but not nearly enough to take you out of the game experience. Due to the shear scope of games today, bugs are bound to happen but at least Bethesda will patch them and if not, the modding community is huge. It works perfectly on my PC and I've had very littleMost of the complaints people here are spouting out don't really seem to be justified (or accurate). Yes, Skyrim has some bugs but not nearly enough to take you out of the game experience. Due to the shear scope of games today, bugs are bound to happen but at least Bethesda will patch them and if not, the modding community is huge. It works perfectly on my PC and I've had very little issues in terms of game bugs. The graphics are good and the environment is great. After spending over 15 hours playing, I can safely say I spent my money wisely.… Expand
  88. Contemptible
    Nov 15, 2011
    10
    Fantastic game. It deserves GOTY in my opinion. It does has some bugs and limited dialogue but everything else seems great to me. It is heaps better Morrowind and Oblivion which I didn't like at all. Give it a chance and it can be an addictive and highly enjoyable game.
  89. mattycakes13
    Nov 14, 2011
    10
    In what other game could you be fighting off two polar bears on an ice cap in the far north only to be interrupted by a dragon which swoops down, picks up one polar bear, flies 100 feet in the air and drops it on the other and then attacks you but loses because you are Dovahkiin.

    That's what I thought
  90. Alcapwn
    Nov 14, 2011
    10
    Yes the game is buggy, has outdated graphics, and a pretty bad weapon/spell switching system that feels like it was designed completely for consoles with no thought of pc in mind.........The question is, does any of this matter when I'm running around dual wielding flames of death? Or turning into a werewolf and biting the heads off my foes? Does it matter when I'm running for my life fromYes the game is buggy, has outdated graphics, and a pretty bad weapon/spell switching system that feels like it was designed completely for consoles with no thought of pc in mind.........The question is, does any of this matter when I'm running around dual wielding flames of death? Or turning into a werewolf and biting the heads off my foes? Does it matter when I'm running for my life from a pack of wooly mammoths and the angry giant herders? Do you think a crappy interface matters when I call down a dragon to snatch up that very same giant and drop him from 500 feet in the air? Do you think the tiny bugs really matter when I'm exploring a huge underground area that has a town full of enemies and pretty glowing mushrooms? You still don't know????? WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU GO BUY THIS GAME.… Expand
  91. FreeAgents
    Nov 11, 2011
    10
    I am a long-time fan of the Elder Scrolls games, so I was naturally a little cautious about Skyrim since it was being developed primarily for a console. But, despite the obvious console bias in terms of UI and controls, I think this is an excellent game. The atmosphere and art direction coupled with the ambient sounds and music are used to great effect, really immersing you in this coldI am a long-time fan of the Elder Scrolls games, so I was naturally a little cautious about Skyrim since it was being developed primarily for a console. But, despite the obvious console bias in terms of UI and controls, I think this is an excellent game. The atmosphere and art direction coupled with the ambient sounds and music are used to great effect, really immersing you in this cold northern landscape full of beautiful vistas and .hidden dangers. Many game-play elements have been simplified and improved on, although I was kind of disapointed that spell crafting never made it into the game. Nevertheless, spell-casting feels more spontaneous and intuitive than before. The only bugs I've experienced were a little bit of unexplained lag and some trouble with dual-casting spells, but now everything is fine. Compared to Oblivion, Morrowind and Fallout 3, Skyrim really doesn't have many bugs at launch.
    Any of the so-called problems with the pc version can and mostly likely will be dealt with in the growing number of mods being released in the following weeks. What is already a great game at the core will just get better and better over time for pc users.

    Oh, and fighting a non-scripted dragon out in the plains on a dark night with the beautiful northern lights overhead is one of my best gaming moments of 2011. Thank you, Bethesda.    … Expand
  92. spinn72
    Nov 14, 2011
    10
    Skyrim improves on all the shortcomings of Oblivion -- the combat system feels a bit more involved, with melee combo's being a key focus, but the main improvement has been in the way magic plays out. The options are limitless and leaves the player with the ultimate choice of how they would like to play the game. Levelling system is a direct reflection of this too! This is a completelySkyrim improves on all the shortcomings of Oblivion -- the combat system feels a bit more involved, with melee combo's being a key focus, but the main improvement has been in the way magic plays out. The options are limitless and leaves the player with the ultimate choice of how they would like to play the game. Levelling system is a direct reflection of this too! This is a completely different game to the woeful Oblivion.… Expand
  93. CanadianBacon
    Nov 11, 2011
    10
    I just want to say that this game is head and shoulders above Oblivion. Part of the reason I love this game so much is the fact that I've died numerous times already. I started playing this game like I played Oblivion or Fallout 3, just charging through, trying to tank dragon's like I did Behemoths, and it's not working, it's forcing me to step it up! I feel ENORMOUS satisfaction afterI just want to say that this game is head and shoulders above Oblivion. Part of the reason I love this game so much is the fact that I've died numerous times already. I started playing this game like I played Oblivion or Fallout 3, just charging through, trying to tank dragon's like I did Behemoths, and it's not working, it's forcing me to step it up! I feel ENORMOUS satisfaction after taking down a dragon: definitively the highlight of my playthrough so far.

    I have only one problem with it. The PC version doesn't have enough tweaks to the graphics settings for my liking (I feel Fallout 3 and New Vegas had more.) I had to go into the .ini file itself to tweak it. I have to do this because I don't have that great of a graphics card, but even on these tweaked low settings, the game still looks and plays amazing!

    After the fiasco that Bethesda had with Id's RAGE, they certainly delivered big to keep up their own great reputation! I've also encountered far less bugs than in previous Gamebryo engined titles, so the Creation Engine rocks!
    Thank you Bethesda for delivering on your promises!    … Expand
  94. LMW
    Nov 12, 2011
    10
    I never liked TES series (except Daggerfall). It seemed to me these games didn't have enough atmosphere, dynamics and storyline depth. I almost entirely skipped Oblivion - it wasn't "my" game, let's say. I was pretty sceptical about Skyrim - first-person orientated RPG from the same game developer in the same universe...bah. But everything dimmed when I dived into the depths of Skyrim. II never liked TES series (except Daggerfall). It seemed to me these games didn't have enough atmosphere, dynamics and storyline depth. I almost entirely skipped Oblivion - it wasn't "my" game, let's say. I was pretty sceptical about Skyrim - first-person orientated RPG from the same game developer in the same universe...bah. But everything dimmed when I dived into the depths of Skyrim. I was amazed from the very beginning by dynamical combat system, gorgeous and enormous world, full of events that happen regardless of player, marvelous dungeons and many, many other things. Doing one of the first quests I was told to go to the snowy mountains and investigate the dungeon. I took a horse (horses animation is great, by the way) and galloped to my destination point. When I was near, blizzard has started and it became harder to follow our path. It was quiet high up in the mountains and I was impressed how scary it was to look down. At the same time, it was magnificently spellbinding to watch so realistic and epic picture! What a marvelous view! Then I left my horse near the entrance and deepened into the dungeon...But that is another epic story! Once again, I was sceptical about this title from the very beginning. But don't let prejudice and stereotypes hold you from trying this masterpiece. Just try it and you would not regret it. It is worth every single $.… Expand
  95. DZ302
    Nov 14, 2011
    10
    If you are an idiot who can't figure out how to shortcut hotkey items and spells in Skyrim, please refrain from rating this game, sell your PC and go buy an Xbox 360.
  96. KentuckyWindage
    Nov 15, 2011
    10
    Hard to give anything other than a ten for a game I have already put over 40 hours into. The only grumble I have is with the UI which is console friendly but there will be mods released if they have not done so already to rectify this. Next time though Bethesda should make a little bit of effort to do a separate PC UI. Other than that Skyrim is utterly engrossing and to call the game bigHard to give anything other than a ten for a game I have already put over 40 hours into. The only grumble I have is with the UI which is console friendly but there will be mods released if they have not done so already to rectify this. Next time though Bethesda should make a little bit of effort to do a separate PC UI. Other than that Skyrim is utterly engrossing and to call the game big is a massive understatement. I have only scratched the surface and I have not even joined one of the guilds yet as I have yet to find them. If there is one game worth the money then this is definitely it. Literally hundreds of hours of game play is here so be prepared to say goodbye to the outside world.… Expand
  97. CRIPLEDPRIEST
    Mar 6, 2012
    0
    A complete snore fest after the first hour with dejavu around every corner for players of oblivion and morrowind at the uninspired quests the cookie cutter characters and the ugly textures and animations poor effort bethesda you showed you can do great things with your gamejam video why cant you make a game with all that variety instead next time?
  98. Mike_Morhaime
    Jul 30, 2012
    0
    I simply cannot understand all the Hype with this game and Oblivion and similar games like Mass effect 1+2.. The story is so boring and there are so many side stuff that u simply get lost past the 4-5 hours of playing it.

    It's games like this that i really wanna play when i see the trailers, and then get terribly disappointed, Thank god for piratebay! Heavily Overrated boring Game
  99. Mor0
    Oct 19, 2013
    6
    The game is very easy, full of bugs, the main story line isn't interesting. The game-play is rather relaxing than demanding, it's also unbalanced. The animations looks rather cheap. Combat system is so simple and not difficult. I don't remember any characters (I even forgot the name of our character's alter-ego!). At least land of 'Skyrim' is very big, you can play this game for dozens ofThe game is very easy, full of bugs, the main story line isn't interesting. The game-play is rather relaxing than demanding, it's also unbalanced. The animations looks rather cheap. Combat system is so simple and not difficult. I don't remember any characters (I even forgot the name of our character's alter-ego!). At least land of 'Skyrim' is very big, you can play this game for dozens of hours (if you're RPG amateur I uninstalled the game instantly after ending main story line). One of the most overrated games of all time.… Expand
  100. Welder
    Apr 26, 2015
    8
    With the Elder Scrolls series becoming more streamlined it got more shallow with the focus on questing and less about exploring and immersing yourself into the gaming world.
    Combined with mediocre writing and loaded with bugs the series had one redeeming quality that made it a great game well deserving of the praise it got.
    The modding community. With the community torn apart the    With the Elder Scrolls series becoming more streamlined it got more shallow with the focus on questing and less about exploring and immersing yourself into the gaming world.
    Combined with mediocre writing and loaded with bugs the series had one redeeming quality that made it a great game well deserving of the praise it got.
    The modding community.
    With the community torn apart the lifespan of this product will be way shorter than it's predecessors Morrowind and Oblivion to which you can still add freshly made content up to this day.    … 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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