Skyrim - Magazine Review @ Atomic MPC

Atomic MPC has reviewed this game in their magazine. It is not online, (sorry). But courtesy of Gamebanshee, I'll quote a snip from the review's conclusion.

Ultimately, Skyrim is a lot like Fallout: New Vegas - there are some flaws but they pale into insignificance compared to the sheer scope of the game. Despite the many, many hours we put in, it felt like we’d barely scratched the surface at times, and our quest log was always full. It's a beautiful sprawling world that’s incredibly fun to be in, and the gameplay lets you get the most out of it. This is a very successful game that will be much loved by the RPG fans out there - and for people who've never really got the whole role-playing thing before, Skyrim might well be a great place to start. It’s a fantastic game on its own right, but also manages to be a very worthy addition to the Elder Scrolls family. A must-play.

In other Skyrim news, in their latest podcast, the Official Xbox Magazine offers a 45 minute interview with Todd Howard. Topics include the lessons Bethesda has learned while making Fallout 3 and Oblivion as well as if Skyrim was the place they wanted to bring alive from the very beginning and much much more. Follow the link above to listen to the interview which start around the 46 minute mark.
More information.

I read the review earlier today before the scans were removed. Quite lengthy, but not very in depth. I will wait for more "serious" sites to review it, as well as the opinions of people on RPGWatch, before I decide whether to buy it straight away or wait.

I've been careful to avoid seeing/reading too much about the game during the last 11 months. But I've read enough and seen enough to know that I will enjoy this game, no matter what the inevitable gameplay facets exist that I might not like so much.

Ultimately, Skyrim is a lot like Fallout: New Vegas

In case, by mistake, someone, somewhere wasn't convinced by Beth's hype machine this is meant to be the killer quote.

Not like Fallout 3? I thought it was the other way around…

Originally Posted by Kostaz
In case, by mistake, someone, somewhere wasn't convinced by Beth's hype machine this is meant to be the killer quote.

LOL it's actually somewhat true, at least in terms of how the PC interacts with various factions. In this regard it is closer to New Vegas than Oblivion, Morrowind, FO3.

But this is no New Vegas with Dragons, of course.

But with more exploration than New Vegas, like FO3?

If Skyrim is even half as good as FNV then I am totally stoked for it. I loved FNV but have always preferred a more fantasy setting. FNV with Dragons and Swords is pretty much top of the line for me.

Like CountChocula I am about ready to burst

If it's as funny as F:NV, then it's definetly a good game for me.
At this point I care more or less about the RPG component, I know that it won't be great, but in Elder Scrolls game it's not what I'm looking for.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
But with more exploration than New Vegas, like FO3?

My friend, there is one freaking ginormous dwemer dungeon that has got to have at least 15 hours of content, depending on your playing style.

I watched this guy play through it for around 10 hours over the course of 2 days all in the same dungeon, and he skipped a lot of the content. It had several completely different environments within the same dungeon, even a massive lake that probably contained underwater content, but the guy playing didn't explore it at all. It was gorgeously designed.

All the dungeons I saw were seriously hand crafted. I didn't see anything as big as that one, but they all seemed to have a lot more character than the dungeons in previous TES games.

Ah, then it sounds like Skyrim has them both (and Morrowind) beat for "dungeon" exploration.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Ah, then it sounds like Skyrim has them both (and Morrowind) beat for "dungeon" exploration.

and unlike Oblivion, there is a major motivation to check out every dungeon because you never know where you might find another word to unlock a new dragon shout.

Well there were a couple dungeons in Oblivion that had some useful items (rings and armor/weapons, I believe) that re-spawned with loot level scaling, but it was pretty grindy. Not something I care to repeat.

Must be strong… must not buy for a few months… must… be…. strong!

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Well there were a couple dungeons in Oblivion that had some useful items (rings and armor/weapons, I believe) that re-spawned with loot level scaling, but it was pretty grindy. Not something I care to repeat.

I remember one in Shivering Island that was tilted. That was fun. Unfortunately, it was only a few rooms.

I'm surprised so many people here are going to wait to pick this up. As a huge rpg fan I knew at the beginning of the year that I was buying tw2, da2 and skyrim. I admit dxhr sneaked up on me. (if you want to put that in rpg's)

Da2 was the only disappointment. If skyrim pans out I will be 3-1 on AAA rpg's this year. Pretty good year I think. It's not like there are so many good AAA RPG's that you need to pick and choose.

I would think with this audience and this being an rpg site that skyrim would be a no brainer. Tough crowd I guess.

As for the review is it spoilerish? I don't want to read it if it is.

I know it is kind of shocking at some of the people waiting to buy this….it is probably the biggest release of the year for RPG's.

I believe it has a lot to do with Oblivion style combat. I may be wrong, but I don't seem to be the only one who wasn't happy with it.

That said, I'll buy the game and play a pure mage. I normally like to do a fighter/mage combo, but if the melee combat is like Oblivion then it will bore me very quickly. At least with magic I know it's supposed to hit if I aim correctly and there is still a chance of missing. It's totally up to my reflexes, but I'll take what I can get.

What is with the whole marriage thing in Skyrim? Why does it need it? I hated the whoel marriage thing in Fable games too.

I believe the reluctance is coming from the gamers experience with Oblivion. Additionally, when Skyrim released tid bits of this game last year I was not sold on it at all. One of the so called features they bragged on early was how some of the dungeons would level up with you. It wasn't until hey started talking about making the game more like Fallout 3, that turned me around.

Originally Posted by skavenhorde
I believe it has a lot to do with Oblivion style combat. I may be wrong, but I don't seem to be the only one who wasn't happy with it.

That said, I'll buy the game and play a pure mage. I normally like to do a fighter/mage combo, but if the melee combat is like Oblivion then it will bore me very quickly. At least with magic I know it's supposed to hit if I aim correctly and there is still a chance of missing. It's totally up to my reflexes, but I'll take what I can get.

Oblivion is actually one of the main reasons I see for getting skyrim. Not because I liked it I actually didn't at first. Tried 3 times to play it and lost interest. Combat wasn't great and the main story, mainly the oblivion gates was a real drag.

On the forth try I added a few mods and did none of the main quest. I then spent 60+ enjoyable hrs in oblivion. That's the beauty of elder scrolls games there's so many different ways to play and things to do if you don't like one thing do something else.

If they actually had some meaningful quest in just half of those dungeons and tweak the combat then I see no reason why I can't double or triple the play time I had in oblivion.