Welcome to Discount Reviews. Reviews on games that are on the bottom shelf at GameStop, titles that are in the $5 bin. The great games that are still playable to the uber gamers of the world. Enjoy these games because the fun they include doesn't have an expiration date.
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: PC, PS3, 360
Release Date: 11-11-11
[Played on 360][Reviewed on 11-19-11]
Skyrim boasts over 400 hours of gameplay but in fact the game never truly ends. You can continue to explore, guilds will continue giving you missions and assignments, caves and ruins will have newer enemies and denizens within them, and dragons are never-ending. The scope of Skyrim is awe-inspiring. The amount of work put into this game is astonishing. Bethesda has created a living, breathing, and functioning world. Escapism is what Skyrim prides itself on and it truly is a game of freedom.
PLOT and STORY
Bethesda’s invention of Radiant AI and Story-telling has opened up a plethora of options from deciding to stay on the straight path of the main mission or to neglect all your responsibilities as a “Dragonborn” to save the world from annihilation at the hands of mythic Dragons to pick flowers, snatch salmon out of the rivers, create potions, hunt wildlife, forge weapons and armor, mine for gold and silver, steal from houses, assassinate people of power, scour dungeons and crypts, and help your fellow Nords with their miscellaneous problems.
Bethesda gives you the challenge of choosing every single step you make. At the moment I have more than 35 active missions in my quest queue, but what do I do? I crawl around dungeons, raid pirate ships, fight dragons on the side of cliffs, steal and sell my merchandise, and enjoy the lovely scenery.
The plot throws you into a world full of turmoil as Dragons return to the province of Skyrim. Once thought extinct now they ravage towns and are trying to overthrow mankind, but you are Dragonborn; a warrior with the heart and soul of a Dragon able to wield powerful words of power that can take the shape of fire, frost, speed, sight, and fear. Only you can combat the Dragon horde, only you can save Skyrim, thus saving Tamriel.
SETTING and LEVEL DESIGN
Tamriel is the world of the Elder Scrolls. We’ve visited Hammerfell, High Rock, Morrowind, Cyrodil, and now we explore Skyrim; the home of the Nords. This cold, frigid, and unrelenting environment shows off the mountains and drastic weather changes that Bethesda has been able to show off with their Creation Game Engine.
Bustling towns, camps, cities, and taverns really immerse the player into the world and that fact that every NPC talks to you, acknowledges you, and interacts with the player creates a sense of reality that other games cannot match. Skyrim sets the bar high on graphics and real-time environments. Trees and plants sway with the breeze, waterfalls have adequate physics, and level terrain is drastically varied so that there is no dull moment.
In Oblivion dungeons, caves, and ruin became boring quickly. The same design was used in almost every blue-print for the underground levels. Now in Skyrim each crypt and tomb seem different, layouts are always changing, and the game will learn from your actions and play style.
Traps and puzzles are more prominent and the amount of detail in every wall, table, vegetable, weapons, and literature is amazing.
Bethesda has written over 250 real books for Skyrim and you can read then from page to page. What does this say about Bethesda, how about the other game companies how do not use this with their technology and games? The level of dedication to the lore and immersion make Skyrim stand out from all RPGs and all games period!
GRAPHICS and VISUALS
Simply put; Skyrim has the best graphics I've ever played with. It’s not that Skyrim has the best facial recognition (L.A. Noire takes the Cake) and Skyrim doesn't show off the best textures (Uncharted 3 has that Crown), BUT with the combination of how well everything fits together so perfectly Skyrim is ultimate gorgeousness.
Walking through town to see wood grain on a house, seeing grass grow up from the wood frames, as the breeze blows the hair of the Nord your talking to sways. Cave fungus that glows and reflects off the rocks, shadows that react to your location, and the Aura Borealis that’s near Windhelm is ridiculously mesmerizing!
The textures of books, ingredients, potions, weapons, and armor serves as a high point for any developer to admire and challenge. Bethesda shows off what kind of game they can create and says that they can still push out more power.
SOUND, MUSIC, and DIALOGUE
Running through the snow with a fire spell at the ready never felt so good when you’re having ambient Nordic chanting in the background. Sneaking through caves to hear your footsteps, your breathing, and the hint of whistling from the cracks in the walls could send chills down your spine. The music of Skyrim is just as motivating as Oblivion’s was. Listening to a full male choir chanting the Dovahkiin name makes you seem invincible…until you attempt to take down a giant and get thrown away like a used XboxLive code.
Dialogue is completely improved; now NPCs will walk, work, and keep the conversion active. Mouths still don’t always follow the audible words but the way the body language of the characters move it adds to the immersion that you’re there and not just looking at a NPC stand there and stare at you.
GAMEPLAY and CONTROLS
Bethesda always have problems in the movement department. Games like Brink, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Oblivion, WET, and Hunted: Demons Forge have had problems with controller lag, action mechanics, and just all-out hobknobbery. Skyrim is no different although a patch to improve problems and bug is releasing the week after Thanksgiving 2011.
Players are still able to be trapped inside pieces of the environment such as boulders, houses, trees, and in some extreme cases the ground itself. Remember people; game design is extremely hard, time consuming, confusing, and very hard to master. Even the pros mess up sometime. It’s part of the atmosphere and adventure so don’t hate on a game just because it may have some hiccups.
Combat is greatly improved with the addition of Dual-Wielding. Now characters can wield a sword and a frost spell, Two different spells for added damage, two daggers, a mace and a short-sword, a war axe and a shield, two magical staffs, the combinations are up to you! Fighting sometimes have cinematic finishing moves seen from a 3rd person’s perspective and are entertaining to watch; especially when giving a Dragon a curb stomp.
The sneak action is a bit annoying. In Morrowind and Oblivion the player could easily stand up and return to crouched with no lag or hesitation, but in Skyrim there is a minuscule amount of lag between hitting L3 (xbox360) from a sneak position to standing straight. This may seem like splitting hairs but I need to be agile and on my toes while I’m an assassin and thief.
Climbing hills and mountains is still a challenge and a headache every player has to endure. The Elder Scrolls series has always had hard to traverse terrain but Skyrim takes the cake. Huge cliffs and bluffs that make the player have to shimmy his/her way from left to right up a sheer wall of rock and snow to reach the peak.
Conversations, smithing weapons, enchanting armor, mining silver, lock picking chests, and notching arrows are simple, easy to understand, and very RPG heavy in the customization aspect. Leveling up has improved with the addition of perks and added boosts to skills. Every level will give you a new perk and will never let you down to entertain you and keep that controller in your hands.
DIFFICULTY, REPLAYABILITY, & ENTERTAINMENT VALUE
Skyrim never ends. Even after the 400+ hours of gameplay you can still steal for the Thieves guild, assassinate for the Dark Brotherhood, cave dive, and explore the world. Missions will still appear and people will always ask for your help.
The difficulty of Skyrim has levels but the game itself evolves how you play. If you decide to use Heavy Armor and a huge Claymore sword the game will pick on your weakness and send enemies that attack from a distance. If you’re a bow-wielding thief the game will give you harder locks to pick and change the way enemies attack you. Enemies are leveled to you and will progress and get stronger when you do. Remember to save often and NOTE that in the settings you can use the auto-save feature to save at different intervals for you; I chose every 5 minutes.
Replayability is extremely high. Players are unlikely to even try to see everything there is to see in Skyrim let alone experience every mission and task. You can be an Orc, Nord, Breton, Argonian, Kahjiit, Redguard, Dunmer, Bosmer, or Altmer and you can completely change up your play styles and weapon favorites.
Entertainment Value is monumental. There is no limit to what you can do in Skyrim.
Skyrim gets 5/5. The best game I've ever played.
Downloadable content
Dawnguard
On May 29, 2012, Bethesda announced Dawnguard, the first downloadable add-on for Skyrim. The Xbox 360 version of Dawnguard launched in English-speaking territories on June 26, 2012, and in France, Italy, Germany and Spain in mid-July 2012. It was released on Windows (via Steam) on August 2, 2012. Due to performance issues, the PlayStation 3 version of Dawnguard has been delayed indefinitely, and Bethesda has expressed concern that future Skyrim DLC may not be able to be added to the system as well.
Bethesda released a trailer for Dawnguard on June 1, 2012, revealing that the add-on would focus around the return of Lord Harkon, the ruler of an ancient Vampire clan named the Volkihar. Harkon wishes to use the powers of the Elder Scrolls to blot out the sun, allowing Vampires to overwhelm Tamriel.
Players are given the choice to either join forces with the Vampires, or fight them alongside an order of Vampire hunters known as the Dawnguard. Depending on the player's choice, they will be granted access to one of two home bases, Castle Volkihar or Fort Dawnguard, respectively. New armors, perks and weapons, including a crossbow for the Dawnguard, have been introduced. Additionally, in the case of the Vampires, a transformation into a "Vampire Lord" is available, working in a similar way to the existing Werewolf transformation, with the exception that it may be used repeatedly, rather than once a day. The Vampire Lord has a new skill tree to level up, as well as a separate skill tree implemented for Werewolves, with both leveling up seperately from the regular skill trees.
New locations are featured in Dawnguard, including the player character journeying through a rift into a realm of Oblivion called Soul Cairn. A "face sculptor" character is introduced in The Ragged Flagon in Riften, allowing players to change the facial appearance of their character at will, unless the player character has chosen to become a Vampire. "Legendary" Dragons are also present in Dawnguard, appearing randomly throughout the environment, and can be slain by the player character and absorbed like any other Dragon. Three new Dragon Shouts have also been included, exclusive to Dawnguard.
Hearthfire
The second add-on for Skyrim, Hearthfire, was released on September 4, 2012 for Xbox 360 and October 4, 2012 on PC. The add-on allows the player character to purchase a plot of land and build their own home from raw materials such as lumber and clay, with the option of adding greenhouses, bee hives and alchemy/enchanting facilities. Hearthfire also introduces the option to raise a family by adopting children. Hearthfire received mixed to negative reception, due to a number of bugs that kept new gameplay elements from being unlocked, such as not being able to obtain the deed to Lakeview Manor because the seller is in a Dark Brotherhood contract, amongst others. There have been no patches announced as of yet.
Dragonborn
Dragonborn is the third add-on for Skyrim. It was released on December 4, 2012, for the Xbox 360; the PC version is scheduled for release on February 5, 2013 with the PlayStation 3 version also releasing in February. The DLC's first trailer, released on November 5, 2012, revealed that it will allow the player to ride Dragons, and that the plot will revolve around the return of the first Dragonborn/Dovahkiin to the island of Solstheim (previously featured in Bloodmoon, an expansion of Morrowind, the third game in the series). Solstheim is a Dark Elf territory, given to them after the eruption of the Red Mountain forced them to flee Morrowind. Players will have the chance to explore locations from Morrowind, such as Raven Rock, Fort Frostmoth and a village belonging to the Skaal, a wild tribe of Nords.
PS3 Players will finally get all the DLC, for 50% off on launch, in Feb 2013.
My Character Stats as of 11-19-11
Race- Bosmer
Level- 30
Time Played- 45 hours 54 Minutes
Locations Discovered- 114
Game Days Passed- 113
Gold Found- 105,835
Chests Looted- 486
Skill Increases- 382
Skill Books Read- 35
Training Sessions- 90
Quests Completed- 33
Misc Objectives Completed- 36
Thieve's Guild Quests Completed- 9
Dark Brotherhood Quests Completed- 9
People Killed- 212
Animals Killed- 193
Creatures Killed- 21
Undead Killed- 214
Daedra Killed- 8
Favorite Weapon- Ebony Bow
Critical Strikes- 248
Sneak Attacks- 183
Spells Learned- 18
Favorite Spell- Flames
Favorite School of Magic- Destruction
Dragon Souls Collected- 8
Words of Power Learned- 13
Times Shouted- 94
Favorite Shout- Fire Breath
Weapons Made- 3
Armor Made- 46
Potions Mixed- 97
Potions Used- 191
Poisons Mixed- 100
Poisons Used- 31
Ingredients Harvested- 263
Nirnroots found- 15
Locks Picked- 106
Pockets Picked- 25
Items pickpocketed- 132
Items Stolen- 840
Assaults- 48
Murders- 7
and I've killed 2 companions...
This review is old. I'm sure I've tripled those numbers by now.
-Daniel, Jedi Editor
daniel@thetechfixation.com
-Daniel, Jedi Editor
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