Dhruin
SasqWatch
Well, it's midnight down here and Skyrim has unlocked - and the review embargo has lifted and reviews are out. I'm going to post a selection -- and then go to bed.
IGN calls it "amazing", with a score of 9.5/10. They note some PC interface issues and minor bugs but it's also "utterly engrossing":
IGN calls it "amazing", with a score of 9.5/10. They note some PC interface issues and minor bugs but it's also "utterly engrossing":
PC Gamer calls it "vast and gorgeous" on the way to a score of 94%. On the variety of dungeons:I was stacking books on a shelf in my house in Whiterun, one of Skyrim's major cities, when I noticed a weapon rack right beside it. I set a sacrificial dagger in one slot, an Orcish mace in the other. They were on display for nobody but me and my computer-controlled housecarl, Lydia, who sat at a table patiently waiting for me to ask her to go questing. The chest upstairs was reserved for excess weapons and armor, the bedside table for smithing ingots and ores, the one next to the Alchemy table for ingredients. I'd meticulously organized my owned virtual property not because I had to, but because tending to the minutia of domestic life is a comforting break from dealing with screaming frost trolls, dragons, a civil war, and job assignments that never seem to go as planned. It's even a sensible thing to do; a seemingly natural component of every day existence in Skyrim, one of the most fully-realized, easily enjoyable, and utterly engrossing role-playing games ever made.
At CVG, they call it a "generation defining RPG" and the score is 9.5/10. On quests:It’s hard to walk for a minute in any direction without encountering an intriguing cave, a lonely shack, some strange stones, a wandering traveller, a haunted fort. These were sparse and quickly repetitive in Oblivion, but they’re neither in Skyrim: it’s teeming with fascinating places, all distinct. It was 40 hours before I blundered into a dungeon that looked like one I’d seen before, and even then what I was doing there was drastically different.
These places are the meat of Skyrim, and they’re what makes it feel exciting to explore. You creep through them with your heart in your mouth, your only soundtrack the dull groan of the wind outside, to discover old legends, dead heroes, weird artefacts, dark gods, forgotten depths, underground waterfalls, lost ships, hideous insects and vicious traps. It’s the best Indiana Jones game ever made.
Eurogamer go straight for 10/10:So, you have the world, but what about the quests? As expected, there are hundreds, all offering something different. Some are brief, some span hours. You might join the Thieves Guild and make a name for yourself as a notorious criminal. You might swear an oath to the returning Dark Brotherhood and become a ruthless assassin, killing in cold blood for gold. Or perhaps you want to get involved in the civil war that's tearing Skyrim apart, siding with the invading Imperials, or the rebel Stormcloaks.
There's so many more - like forming an uneasy alliance with a Daedric Prince and leading an army in the invasion of a city - but one of our favourites saw us leading the hunt for a serial killer. This is a game full of stories, of ways in which you can directly affect the lives of its citizens, and even the politics of its world, and the variety is astonishing and, at times, overwhelming.
In arcane combat, there's a tangible, almost physical sense of feedback from the hiss of a furnace just before those jets of flames engulf your enemies. Thunder echoes quietly in the aftermath of the electrical storm that flows from your fingertips. There's a tremendous sense of connection between caster and cadaver, and the effects themselves are breathtaking. Throughout one evening in the game I stood in the mountains beside a peaceful village, gleefully working through my repertoire of magic tricks while the locals slept below (uneasily, no doubt).
The melee combat is less perfected, but has nevertheless been evolved. Those who specialise in it may not be left feeling quite as satisfied as those who prefer to dabble in the darker arts, but it's still a sweeter deal than the rote, block-and-retaliate combat of Oblivion. Enemies will circle and prod at your defences more effectively, displaying a little more intelligence when exploiting your weaknesses. A similar degree of refinement has been made to Bethesda's famously floaty third-person animations.