Our Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Hand-On Verdict is here. We all want to live inside of Skyrim I know what you’re going to say who want to live with deadly dragons and assassins plus the weather is sucks.
The best thing about Elder Scroll games is that every time one comes out it’s like if you entered into a whole new world and Skyrim is bigger, better and brighter than before. Besides Skyrim universe being beautiful and marvelous its more than that Bethesda has overhauled the their engine and all the games mechanics to where the hand combat system will be similar to Bioshock's. With all the new tweaks and its beautiful landscape it looks like it can make a run at gamer of the year.
Skyrim will take about 300 hours of playing time while the 300 hours makes for a catchy title to any Elder scrolls player. We all know that it’s not a matter of how long it takes to get from point A to point B but it’s about the journey of getting there and getting to the point where you totally forget about point B and get lost in amazement on how beautiful the Skyrim world is. Gone are the endless brown tunnels and circular caves here everything feels bespoke, from the shape of the caverns to the lighting and all the objects inside the area. One cave has a shaft of light streaming in from the world above, the next has a stream running through the middle. Bethesda is using ambient devices like water and light to guide player through some dungeons presumably the ones expected to clock in at over an hour each and where there's no natural light there are new ways of brightening each dungeon up. As Dovakin fires a globe of light from his staff, which sticks to a wall and illuminates a generous portion of the tunnel ahead. Will this be used to distract enemies and create diversion? Bethesda has made it clear that no two areas are or will be alike, and the organic feel of the dungeons we've seen provides hope it's more than an idle boast.
Inside the next dungeon a more open ruin with a waterfall we get our first look at some of Skyrim's more common fiends. A Dragon Pries rises from the coffin to reveal a skeletal face and tattered robes the animation is slick and eerie, but Dovakin wastes no time in lighting the abomination up with a quick-fire spell. Skyrim's combat works on a two-handed principle. You fight with what you've got in your hands, and this can be any combination of swords, shields, two handed weapons, blades, staffs and spells. The cool thing is that Weapons can be combined dual stabs with daggers, combined spells for increased damage of extra effects. Anyone who tinkered with the spell crafting in Oblivion will see the potential here. How about Invisibility plus a fiery dagger? Paralyse plus lightening? Get creative. How you deal with the enemy is souly up to you on your preferences and the skill setup. Although there are fewer specializations in Skyrim than Oblivion, customization remains just as deep there will be Fallout style perks, a fistful of dragon shouts to use in combat and vast number of weapons to equip. Those streamlined menus should make it more of a pleasure to micro-manage theme, too, and once you've finally nailed your character setup, there are the Guilds to consider.
Continue Skyrim’s Guilds Overview
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Hand-On gets a 5 out 5 Verdict.
