The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Xbox 360

Skyrim Review: An RPG Worth Shouting About

Andrew Reiner — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:01:00 GMT

The Elder Scrolls has always had a dedicated following, but given the success of Oblivion and the expectations for its sequel, I assumed Bethesda would play it safe and deliver a slightly enhanced continuation of the franchise. Instead, I walked away feeling I had played the next evolution of the series.

I wasn’t so optimistic as the game opened. Skyrim’s story begins with a political prisoner’s beheading at a public execution. This sequence is worrisome, not because my character was the next in line to feel the axe, but due to the choppy narrative flow. The intensity that is supposed to accompany this scene is stripped away by robotic character animations, confusion over who is talking at any given point, and uncomfortable lulls in the pacing. Making this scene feel real requires just as much imagination as a Dungeons & Dragons session. Cinematic storytelling has never been Bethesda Game Studios’ strong suit, and I find it surprising that the team decided to make it such a prominent component in Skyrim’s introductory moments.

This disappointing sequence concludes with an unexpected yet praise-worthy series of events. Before my character's head was permanently separated from his body, a dragon swooped in and burned as many of the poorly established characters as it could. This awesome moment transitions to an escape sequence that plays out similarly to a Call of Duty “follow” mission. As I ran in the opposite direction of the thrashing beast, it smashed through walls in pursuit, implying that I was the target all along. Again, this exacting approach seems out of place in an open world Bethesda production, but it ends up being a great transition that sets up the true heart of this adventure. After its rocky first steps, Skyrim’s story and gameplay find their stride.

From the moment the attack subsided and my character emerged safely onto Skyrim’s mountainous terrain, I found myself in awe of the world around me. All of Bethesda's releases this generation have given me that “I’m not in Kansas anymore” feeling once the open world is revealed, but not to the degree that Skyrim does. This world has that Rapture or Arkham Asylum allure, and is as much of a star of this adventure as any of the characters, dragons, or gameplay.

While Skyrim's landscape doesn’t have the fantastical elements of the aforementioned places, excitement and a true sense of discovery are tied to the secrets hidden within. I climbed a mountain to find a long-forgotten tomb, crossed a frozen tundra in search of powerful masked adversaries linked to one of this world’s greatest mysteries, and found myself riding my steed with haste toward a village under dragon attack. Much of the content the world offers is worth devoting time to, whether that leads to an enchanted sword or a settlement filled with side quests.

The frequency with which you obtain new quests is astounding. At one point, I had 14 main quests and 32 miscellaneous quests active at once. This huge list turned me into an antisocial outcast; I stopped approaching other characters for fear of getting more quests from them. Even this strategy wouldn't work, as messengers would hand me documents containing new quests, and some NPCs rewarded jobs well done with additional tasks. After completing the narrative quest and logging over 100 hours into the game, I still found myself overwhelmed by the amount of uncompleted quests, NPCs I neglected to talk to, and areas of the map that I hadn’t visited yet.

A story thread accompanies almost every quest. Some of these tales tie into the main conflict at hand (your character is the “Chosen One” tasked with cleansing the kingdom of dragons), while other side stories stand on their own or flesh out the world history. In a way, the game feels like a gigantic collection of short stories. The main campaign is superbly penned and is Bethesda's best effort to date. All of the scenes involving the greybeards are fantastic. I also thoroughly enjoyed Skyrim’s take on the Dark Brotherhood, and I got a big kick out of being a part of the Bard's Guild (my evil character had music in his heart all along). Even the books scattered across the kingdom, of which there are a dizzying amount, have great tales to tell.

Most of these story threads took me to new places on the map. Oblivion was knocked for its lack of variety in its dungeon designs. This isn't the case with Skyrim. Yes, there are repeated textures and rock formations, but the composition of each dungeon is largely unique and individualized – in some cases with one-off Indiana Jones-like puzzles or traps. The dungeon designs also factor in player convenience with easily accessible exits. That's right, you no longer have to endure extensive backtracking to return to the overworld.

I planned to create a tank character who relied on a sword and shield combination, but quickly became addicted to the brilliantly designed spell casting. It empowered me with the feeling that I was a medieval Emperor Palpatine, capable of decimating foes by blasting fire and electricity simultaneously out of two outstretched hands.

Since your character is Dragonborn (“Dovakiin” in the game’s ancient dragon language), he or she can also bellow powerful magic-like shouts. The fact that the simple act of yelling can engulf a handful of enemies in deadly flames is hilarious, bad ass, and an amazing new power added to the Elder Scrolls mix.

The variety of spells and shouts is extensive and fun to experiment with (try rocking fire, ice and electricity at the same time). I also found myself experimenting more with my skill types than I have in any other Elder Scrolls game, thanks to the rewarding new perk system.

All of the game's spell and weapon management is handled exceptionally well through a streamlined menu system that is the most user-friendly solution I’ve seen in an RPG. Any spell or weapon can be added to a favorites list and magic weapons can be recharged with soul gems with just a few button clicks. I wish inventory management were handled better in a broad sense, since I had to spend too much time finding vendors who would accept certain items and have the adequate funds to buy them. Not being able to sort items in the chest is also a time-consuming pain.

Combat showcases just as much improvement as the spell functionality. In Oblivion, I exploited enemy AI by backpedaling and firing spells as foes haplessly tried to reach me. This tactic no longer works in Skyrim. Enemies on the offensive move faster than your backpedaling character. While their pathfinding can still be exploited in certain situations – such as an enemy being unable to navigate a table successfully – combat is largely a test of skill. Every facet of the combat system works well. Swords clang violently, shields are the lifesavers they should be, and thanks to your ability to multitask, healing spells can be cast at the same time as striking.

As terrifying as it is to see a dragon rain fire down on people fighting to save their homes and families, early fights with these beasts don’t pack much excitement or challenge. Despite their menacing appearance, dragons don’t have much defense for sword or spell strikes to the leg or wing. These flying pigs are easy to cheese...early on. More powerful dragon types come into play as the game goes on, even after the critical path's conclusion.

The biggest problem Skyrim runs into has plagued every Bethesda-developed game I’ve played: It’s buggy. Not to the degree that Oblivion was – Bethesda makes headway in delivering a more stable product, but I ran into numerous bugs that forced me to reload previous saves. The auto-save system charts several recent points, which can be a relief, but losing progress is annoying and can erase significant victories and character development. If you play the game for dozens of hours, you’ll likely run into setbacks like these a few times. Some of the glitches can be quite funny. For instance, one of my followers floated behind me horizontally like Han Solo trapped in Carbonite. I also killed a dragon in one hit, yet its skeleton remained alive and invincible in the world (I named him Broken, the fearsome).

These problems, as unwanted as they are, don’t hold Skyrim back from being Bethesda Game Studios’ finest release to date. This is one of those games that I go into with a clear idea of what I want to accomplish, but somehow along the way find myself on the other side of the continent with eight hours of gameplay under my belt and no checkmarks next to my planned tasks. Skyrim ruled my life for two straight weeks, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes a fixture in my gaming rotation for the remainder of the year. It's one of the biggest, most content rich games I've had the pleasure of playing.

Review Stats:
I spent 11 days within the world of Skyrim. Here are a few of the stats from my playthrough:

Time: 105.08.59
Quests Completed: 126
People Killed: 847
Animals killed: 354
Creatures Killed: 225
Undead Killed: 467
Daedra Killed: 13
Automatons Killed: 67
Dragon Souls Collected: 43
Shouts Learned: 19
Shouts Unlocked: 20
Shouts Mastered: 9
Times Shouted: 855
Words of Power Unlocked: 46
Favorite School: Restoration
Favorite Spell: Fast Healing
Favorite Shout: Fire Breath
Total Lifetime Bounty: 48,111
Largest Bounty: 14,080
Locks Picked: 137
Potions Used: 309

The Ending
If you think you completed the story campaign, but the credits didn’t roll, trust your gut. Given the expansiveness of the side quests in Skyrim, Bethesda chose to throw you right back into the game world rather than force you to watch 25 minutes of credits. If you want to see who made the game, there’s an option to watch the credits in the main menu.

The PS3 and PC Versions
Bethesda Softworks did not have PlayStation 3 or PC code to send us in time for our review. Reviews for these versions will be posted in the following days.

Get A Peek At The Skyrim Making-of Documentary

Jeff Cork — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:45:09 GMT

Back at QuakeCon, Bethesda revealed that the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim would be getting collector's edition. One of the goodies contained in the bundle is a making-of DVD, and we've got a little sample of it today.

Since it's a teaser, there's not a whole lot of information in the video. Here are some highlights:

Skyrim is a big game
Making big games is hard
Bethesda wants Skyrim to be a good game

If nothing else, the clip below is solid proof that the documentary won't be a shaky-cam production thrown together at the last second.

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Behold The Skyrim Map

Matt Bertz — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:13:00 GMT

This is the territory where you'll spend hundreds of hours uncovering Daedric artifacts and slaying dragons.

Thanks to the folks at ElderScrolls.net and Lexmirnov.ru, we now have a glimpse at the land mass filled with dragons, wooly mammoths, and trolls where I'll be spending the majority of my winter. Not a ton of details can be extracted from the map, but it does feature nine cities – the same number of major settlements that were found in Oblivion. For comparison's sake, here is an image of Cyrodiil, the setting of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Though these two maps may not be the same scale, the territories don't appear to be radically different in terms of square footage. I can't wait to explore all the nooks and crannies of this unforgiving, mountainous terrain when Skyrim ships on November 11 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Check Out Skyrim's Race and Perk Skills

Matt Bertz — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:09:00 GMT

Thanks to the hard work of Bethesda forum poster Sammutehgreat, we now know the finer points about some of Skyrim's race and perk skills.

Sammu spent some time during a hands-on session at the Eurogamer Expo perusing the available perks for some skills and the special racial perks. Take a look for yourself below.

SPECIAL SKILLS BY RACE

ORCS: Beserker
REDGUARDS: Adrenaline rush
WOOD ELF: Resist poison, resisit disease, command animals
NORD: Battlecry
KHAJIIT: Night-eye, claw attacks
IMPERIAL: Voice of the Emperor, find more coins when looting
HIGH ELF: Regenerate magicka more quickly
DARK ELF: Ancestor's Wrath (surround self in fire), resist fire
BRETON: Dragonskin (absorb spells), resist shock
ARGONIANS: Histskin (regenerate health quickly), resist disease 50%, breathe underwater

Nothing too earth shattering here, but the perks system is much more exciting. Like Fallout 3, players in Skyrim can choose two new perks each time they level up. Many of the perks can be upgradable multiple times. Here is the list of what Sammu was able to check out.

Speech
- Buying and selling price 10% better (5 ranks)
- 10% price buying from opposite sex
- Invest in shops and increase available gold permanently in invested stores
- Master Trader - every merchant in world gains 1000 gold for bartering
- Buy and sell from any merchant regardless of what they normally buy and sell
- Intimidation attempts twice as successful
- Persuasion attempts more likely successful

Alchemy
- Potions 20% stronger (5 ranks)
- Potions for restore health, magicka or stamina are 25% more powerful (maybe ranked)
- Poisons 25% more effective (maybe ranked)
- Poisons last for twice as many hits
- Two ingredients are gathered from plants
- 50% resistance to all poisons
- All negative effects removed from potions and all positive removed from poisons
- 2 effects of an ingredient are revealed when testing it for the first time (instead of just one)
- Another (unclear recording, sorry!)

Illusion
- Dual casting overcharges effect for more powerful spell
- Cast Novice spells for 50% less magicka
- Cast Apprentice spells for 50% less magicka
- Cast Adept, Expert, Master etc spells for 50% less magicka (more levels this time around)
- Spells work on higher level animals
- Spells work on higher level people
- All spellcasting (from ANY school) is done silently
- Spells work on undead, daedra and automatons
- One I genuinely didn't understand, and it wasn't clear on the recording either - something about "Kindred Mage" or something.
- Fear spells work on higher level enemies

Conjuration
- Novice for 50% magicka etc (up to Master)
- Dual casting overcharges --> greater spell effect
- Bound weapons do more damage
- Bound weapons cast Soul Trap on target
- Bound weapons banish certain creatures (and I think summon creature in their place, not 100% on that though, dodgy recording)
- Reanimate undead with 100 more health
- Summon 2 Atronachs or reanimated zombies
- Summon Atronachs at twice the distance
- Summoned Atronachs twice as strong

Destruction
- More damage for each school (fire, frost and shock) - ranked
- Novice for 50% magicka etc.
- Shock damage chance to disintegrate targets if their health is under 10%
- Frost damage chance to paralyse targets if health low
- Fire damage chance to make low health enemies flee
- Place runes 5x farther away

Restoration
- Healing spells also restore stamina
- Novice for 50% less magicka etc
- Healing spells do 50% more healing
- Something about recharging healing spells (sorry about poor recording quality, it was in my pocket!)
- More is recharged with each hit with healing spells (again, sorry not 100% sure what this means!)
- Spells more effective against undead
- Once a day chance to autocast 250HP restoration when health drops low
- Magicka regenerates 25% faster

Alteration
- Novice for 50% less etc
- Alteration spells have greater duration (probably ranked)
- Absorb 30% magicka that hits you
- Another couple - bad recording again

Enchanting
- Enchants are 20% stronger (ranked)
- Enchanted armor 25% stronger
- "Soul gems provide extra magicka for recharging" - again, dodgy recording but that's what I heard, even if it doesn't make much sense
- Death blows to creatures but not people trap souls for weapon recharge
- Health, magicka and stamina enchants stronger
- Extra effect on already-enchanted weapon can be applied
- Shock, Frost and Fire enchants 25% stronger (individual perks for each element) (probably ranked)

Heavy Armor
- Increase armor rating 20% (5 ranks)
- Unarmed attacks with heavy armor gauntlets - damage increased by gauntlets' armor rating
- Half fall damage if all in heavy armor
- Heavy armor weighs nothing and doesn't slow you at all
- Additional 25% armor if in matching set
- 25% armor bonus if all in heavy armor (not necessarily matching)
- 50% less stagger if all in heavy armor
- 10% damage reflected back to enemy if all in heavy armor

Two-handed weapons
- Two-handed weapons do 20% more damage (5 ranks)
- Attacks with warhammers ignore 25% armor (ranked)
- Attacks with battleaxes do extra bleeding damage (ranked)
- Attacks with greatswords do extra critical damage (ranked)
- Power attacks cost 25% less stamina
- Standing power attacks do 25% bonus damage, chance to decapitate
- Sprinting power attacks do double (critical) damage
- Sideways power attacks hit all targets
- Backwards power attacks have 25% chance of paralysis

Archery
- Bows do 25% more damage
- Zoom in
- Zooming slows time
- 10% crit chance
- Move faster with drawn bow
- Recover twice as many arrows from dead bodies
- 50% chance of paralysing for few seconds (might be 15%, can't really hear...)
- Draw bow 30% faster
- Another about arrows - can't hear

Sneak
- 20% harder to detect (ranked)
- Sneak attacks do 6x damage with one-handed weapons
- Sneak attacks with bows do 3x damage
- Sneak attacks with daggers do 15x damage (end perk on skill tree)
- Noise from armor reduced 50%
- No longer activate pressure plates
- Sprinting while sneaking performs silent forward roll
- Running does not affect detection chance
- Crouching can make hostile enemies lose sight of you and search for a target

To read more about Sammu's impressions, check out his forum post. Hopefully we'll have the perk list for all the skills sometime soon.

Bethesda Unleashes 20 Minutes Of Gameplay

Jeff Cork — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:45:00 GMT

Betheda realizes that not everyone was able to check The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim out at E3, so they've released footage of that demo today. It's an extended look at the game's world, with about 20 minutes of gameplay footage, including exploration and plenty of combat.

The demo has been split into three parts, which you can check out below. After you've watched it, read what Joe took away from it when he saw it in June. The game is due out on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 11.

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Lazy? Here's Who You'll Be Playing As

Jeff Cork — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:31:59 GMT

The Elder Scrolls series boasts one of the best character-creation systems in the business, allowing players to design the avatar of their dreams. Or a dopey looking catman with dreads. Bethesda realizes that not everyone enjoys wading through menus to determine the precise level of eye rotation or optimal lip protrusions. With that in mind, the studio has released a gallery of images showing off the default characters for each of Skyrim's races and genders.

As shown in the gallery below, the default creations run the gamut between perfectly acceptable and absolutely ghastly. They certainly look better than Oblivion's glowing mannequins, however. Even if you plan on creating your character from scratch, the images are a great way to get a peek at some of the haircuts and facial adornments that are available. Yes, this is truly great time for beard lovers. When you're done looking at the picture, check out our Gamescom preview on the game.

A New Beginning

Jeff Cork — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:03:00 GMT

We’ve had a lot of Skyrim coverage lately, and for good reason: It’s kind of a big deal. Few developers do open-world games as well as Bethesda, and the Elder Scrolls series has a huge following. At Gamescom today, Bethesda’s Pete Hines took the controller and gave us an hour-long look at what Skyrim has to offer.

While I’ve seen demos of the game before, this was the first time that I’ve had a chance to see a character built from scratch. I was a little surprised to see how quickly the process can go. Unlike previous versions of the game, where you have to navigate through options such as your character’s birthsign and skills immediately, your main task in Skyrim is to choose your race, gender, and appearance. Every character starts off with a couple of spells—an offensive fire spell and a healing spell—and you can choose to continue along that path or focus on weapons-based combat.

After a short walk through an underground passage, our female Khajiit was free to explore the world of Skyrim. We walked down a path, picking up flowers along the way. The game’s world is gorgeous. The snowy mountains and pine forests were a nice departure from the beautiful but bland world of Oblivion.

Eventually, she came upon a mine, which was guarded by a bandit. After fending him off with an ax, she stripped his corpse of loot and his shabby armor, and ventured inside.

Hines says that the development team wanted to make sure that every dungeon in Skyrim had its own personality and didn’t feel the same—another of Oblivion’s faults. That means that players will encounter different puzzles, traps, and architecture in different lairs. In this case, a shackled skeleton hung near the entrance, with a backpack at his feet. Reading a note from inside, we learned that the deceased was once a fisherman. While looking for a new fishing spot, he learned of this mine, which was supposedly haunted by creatures who stole children. Whatever was in there, it didn’t seem to like him.

Moving deeper in the mine, Abby, our character, picked off bandits with her bow, and demonstrated the effectiveness of dual-wielding melee weapons. While she couldn’t block as she held a sword and ax, enemies rarely lasted long enough while facing her flurries of attacks to make it much of an issue.

One of the treasures she found while exploring was a tome that teaches a clairvoyance spell. Hines says that this is a low-level spell that anyone can learn that will come in handy for explorers. If you’re looking for an NPC for a mission or are trying to find a way across a mountain, casting the clairvoyance spell creates a glowing path for your character to follow.

Abby also found some ore and ingots, which she took to a series of smithing stations to make a sword.

Eventually, we came upon the source of those horrible rumors: necromancers. These magic users are deadly when they’re in groups. If you kill one, their partners are likely to resurrect them if you’re not fast enough. Sure enough, Abby had to kill several of the foes multiple times before they fell for the last time. Looting one of the corpses, Abby found a staff that summoned a wolf companion.

After working our way back out through the passageways, our bulging inventory made one thing clear: This beginner-level dungeon should probably be one of the first stops you make when you play the game on November 11.

UPDATE: More Skyrim Character Races Revealed

Matt Miller — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:08:00 GMT

Three more screens join a batch of screenshots that reveal the dramatic variety of character options available to players. We've compiled them all in one place.

UPDATE: Bethesda sent over three more as yet unseen screenshots created by journalists at QuakeCon, including another Argonian female, an Argonian male, and a female Redguard. We've placed the three new screens at the front of the gallery below. Enjoy!

ORIGINAL STORY: As we inch closer to the November 11th release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda continues to roll out new screenshots that show off the many races players can adopt in the new game.

This time, the images are coming from various sites as game journalists each take the character creator for a spin, including Reiner's Khajit that he described a few days ago.

We've compiled many of the images that have shown up publicly in the gallery below, so you can start deciding which direction you want to take your character when the game releases in a few months.

[via G4TV, Destructoid, JeuxVideo, Eurogamer, EpicBattleAxe, Ripten, Kotaku, VideoGameWriters]

I Used Skyrim's Character Creator And This Is Who I Made

Andrew Reiner — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:34:00 GMT

I often spend way too much time in any game's character creator. I usually surf through all of the options, make weird looking characters to laugh at, and then hone in on the character that I really want to make. At this year's QuakeCon, I had the chance to tinker with The Elder Scroll V: Skyrim's character creator. Since I only had one hour of total time with the game, I only spent a few minutes with the creator.

This is the feline abomination I made...

His name is Reiner (clever I know), and he's from the Khajiit race. I gave him a three-clawed scar under his right eye to show he's so tough that he doesn't even get along with his people. The character creator allows for every aspect of the Khajiit's face to be altered. I selected his ears, nose, mouth, cheek hair, eyes, as well as smaller details like eyeliner and hair stripes. I'm going to pretend that I love this character. Feel free to bash him in the comments below.

Bethesda Drops A New Skyrim Screenshot

Matt Helgeson — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:02:00 GMT

Get your first look at the Dunmer thief!

Bethesda polled the community on their Skyrim Facebook page about what race/player class people wanted to see revealed, and the Elder Council has spoken. Click below to get a larger view of the screen.

Source: Bethblog

Skyrim Hands-On Impressions

Andrew Reiner — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT

After years of waiting, the next installment of The Elder Scrolls finally lands in our hands. Follow my journey from Riverwood to Whiterun.

As we mentioned in yesterday's quick look at the QuakeCon Skyrim demo, my experience started in the character creator. My Twitter followers wanted to know about the Argonian race, the reptilian race that hails from the Black Marsh swampland. This race looks much like it did in Oblivion and Morrowind, with green scaled skin that sometimes gives off a bluish tint, and yellow, cat-like eyes. For my character, however, I chose the cat-like Khajiit race. The level of customization with this race was impressive. I could alter the eyeliner, change the color of the speckles on the nose, add earrings, and even apply a hairdo on top of my Khajiit's furry dome. As in the previous games, the Khajiit have long, humanoid-like legs and a tail.

My journey started with my character bound in a dreary cave, which Todd Howard said is roughly 30 minutes after the start of the game. When I exited the cave I immediately equipped a destruction spell on one hand and a restoration spell on the other. The button layout is very similar to the previous Elder Scrolls games. The X button sheathes and unsheathes your weapon, the B button gives you access to the menu system, the Y button jumps, the A button interacts, and pressing L3 triggers stealth mode.

While the general controls are familiar, the combat controls have evolved considerably. If you have shield equipped you can bash enemies with it to cause them to stagger, opening them up for attack. If you hold down the attack button with a melee weapon, you trigger a powerful attack that is often accompanied by a cool animation. When I stabbed a wolf with this attack, my character drove the sword deep into the beast and then used the shield as leverage to pry the sword out of the dead animal. You also must actively block oncoming attacks.

The spells also have varying attacks. As I walked down a path toward the village of Riverwood, I spotted two wolves on a nearby hill. When they caught my scent they came charging down the hill and I met them with a powerful flamethrower attack by holding down the spell button. It didn't take long to burn these gorgeous animals, which look much more lifelike than the animals in Oblivion.

Since Riverwood was in the previous Skyrim demos, I didn't spend much time in the village. Instead I headed north alongside a babbling stream that had salmon jumping out of the water and stumbled upon a small farm populated by a cow and hen. I watched the hen for a bit as it walked around aimlessly while clucking, and then stole the egg that was sitting in its nest.

I then made my way into the farmhouse, which only took a couple of seconds to load. Judging from the spread on his table – goat cheese and Nord mead – this farmer is living the good life. When I went back outside I met a woman named Sigrid, whose first words to me were "I'm spoken for, don't get any ideas." She kept on farming while telling me about herself and her daughter. After she shared five or so details, she started delivering the canned responses of "Yes?", "Good Afternoon", and "What do you need?"

Leaving Sigrid and the farm behind, I made my way further north to a large murky river. I could have crossed using a bridge, but I decided to test out the swimming instead. The animations are a little rough, but as I swam across to the other bank I was able to grab a few salmon as they passed by. Who needs a fishing rod when you can just grab them with your fist? As I approached the bank I saw a large elk wade into the river. When I moved in too close for the beast's comfort, he made a run for it.

Continuing down the path on the other side of the river, I stumbled across a group of Stormcloak soldiers escorting a prisoner. When I approached the group a hostile soldier blurted out, "Citizen, I'm warning you." Then I was presented three of choices. I could do nothing, free the prisoner, or free the prisoner and give him an item, which I assumed in this case would be a weapon so he could defend himself against his captors. Considering that there were three guards with their swords drawn and I was a mere level one character, I opted to stay out of it. As soon as I moved away, the soldiers returned their weapons to their sheathes.

Heading north again, I ran into another farm. This was a much bigger plot of land, with several gardens. In the middle of this farm a group of three humans were battling a massive giant. Rather than joining the fray, I decided to just sit back and watch. The battle raged back and forth, but eventually the humans prevailed. Afterwards I met Alea the huntress and her sidekicks Farkas and Ria. My first interaction with her was a statement about the battle – I could say "You don't look like you need any help," or "I tried to help." When I chose the flattering option, she thanked me and explained that her band was a part of the Shield-Brothers. I was then prompted to inquire about joining the group or wryly responding "Sounds like a waste of time." Alea told me that if I wanted to join the group I would have to ask the leader of the Companions.

After going our separate ways, I ventured north again, picking items like lavender and tundra cotton on my way toward Whiterun, a large walled city on the hill. Before I walked up the hill, I stopped by a stable and talked to the stable-hilt named Skulva. I asked to buy a horse, he replied that his horse was seven years old and in fine health. His asking price? One thousand gold. Rather than pay the outrageous fee, I jumped on the horse and galloped up the hill to the city with Skulva cursing and running after me. Since there were no guards in the vicinity, I got off scot-free.

When I approached the gates of the city, the guard told me, "the city is closed with the dragons about." From here I had a few options to try and get into the city. I could offer him news about the dragon attack at Helgen, bribe him with 56 gold, or intimidate by asking him to stand aside. I chose to pay him off, and soon I was behind the comforts of the city wall.

The loading takes a bit longer when entering a big city like Whiterun, but as the screen loads you're given gameplay tips, bits of lore, and can even tinker with a three-dimensional object on the screen. Once the city loaded, I took a brief tour. Whiterun looks to be a wealthy city in good shape – the beautifully designed A-frame homes have nice brickwork and look pristine. A large courtyard I stumbled upon served as home to a giant tree and a gazebo. A large outdoor market offered several opportunities to buy or trade gear, and there was plenty of stuff laying around for those who prefer five-finger discounts.The city guards, who have black rams on their shields, would prefer you didn't.

I made my way into a beautiful manor, where all walks of life were sitting around eating and drinking. One guy was eating a large sweet-roll that looked like it could put a man out of commission with a food coma. I spoke to a musician named Mikael, who played a unique stringed instrument. After conversing, he switched to a wooden flute. In the back of the manor I came across a ledger. When opening it up I was busted by the citizens and apprehended by the city watch. To avoid imprisonment I paid a 44 gold fine.

With only a few minutes left before the demo concluded, I decided to leave the city to head toward a place called Dawnstar. Night had fallen, and the world took on a new personality with new creatures like a torchbug and luna moths that I collected. Stumbling upon Lorieus Farm, I walked in the home to find two people sleeping. Before I could steal the couple's valuables, Bethesda's Pete Hines tapped me on the shoulder and told me my time was up. All of my pleading to "play a few minutes more" was met with a shaking of the head.

Overall, Skyrim played great. The framerate was fluid, the combat satisfying, and the world beckons more exploration. After the demo concluded, I chatted with Todd Howard and he confirmed that the Dark Brotherhood is returning in Skyrim. As if we needed another reason to be excited about this game.

For more Skyrim details, check out yesterday's quick look at the demo, Joe's impressions from E3, these screenshots, or a month of exclusive features from when we first revealed the game.

New Skyrim Info Bursts Out Of QuakeCon

Joe Juba — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:15:00 GMT

Time seems to slow down when you're excited for a big game, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim feels like an eternity away. To help fill the long hours until Skyrim's November release, here are some brand-new details straight out of the QuakeCon demo of Bethesda's sprawling RPG.

Reiner is our man on the show floor at QuakeCon, and he just passed on a few interesting details from the 45-minute hands-on demo of Skyrim being shown. He was watching several editors play at once, so the details are scattershot. Come back to read his hands-on impressions tomorrow.

Players started out the demo in the character creator, where Reiner glimpsed a few of the 10 races included in the game, including the Nords, three varieties of elves, and Khajiit. The tools available for tweaking the look of your character are much more robust, so like Tiger Woods you should be able to create a rough approximation of your mug if you so choose. This is where you name your character as well, and adhering to Elder Scrolls tradition your character's default name is Prisoner.

Once players exited the character creator, they found themselves with their hands bound wearing tattered rags for clothing, and limping through a gloomy cave. For the sake of the demo, however, the players were freed from their chains and given a healthy selection of gear, including iron armor, several swords, and a bow. On the magic front, players had access to a healing spell and a destructive fireball spell.

Emerging from the cave gave everyone a new breathtaking view of Skyrim's expansive world. The environment immediately outside of the cave is a lush forest. The attention to detail in this region is staggering; both the high canopies and dense foliage make you truly feel like you are in a giant forest. Some players chose to interact with the flora, raiding a beehive for honey combs and picking mushrooms. Others moved straight into combat.

When a strange, imp-looking forest creature approached, the battle began. Judging by the performances of the players, this enemy is not to be underestimated. Many went for the standard Oblivion tactic of shooting fireballs while backpedaling to soften up the oncoming attacker. Unfortunately, the imp creature's closing speed cut off this strategy from the get go. The fights were physical and draining, with several players coming to the brink of defeat only to cast a healing spell at the last minute.

Many chose to play in the standard first-person perspective, but the impressive third-person drew most of Reiner's attention. The characters move much more fluidly than in past Elder Scrolls games, as new animations like naturally reaching for a bow and arrow indicate. Reiner says this may be the first Elder Scrolls game in which he stays in third person.

One person in the demo stumbled upon a solitary cabin amidst the forest, but its tenants – two charred corpses laid next to a smoldering firepit – were too dead to offer proper hospitality. Another player found a small, rundown village consisting of a handful of buildings. Though not as bustling as a big city, here you could converse with NPCs. One player asked the blacksmith if he could borrow his tools and did some crafting.

Unfortunately dragons never made an appearance during the demo, but even without the menacing beasts or a dedicated mission to follow, Skyrim shines. This game looks very far along in development, and has the current level of polish is a great sign that this game will be ready to go on November 11.

For more Skyrim, check out my impressions from E3, or these screenshots, or a month of exclusive features from when we first revealed the game.

My Favorite Things About Skyrim

Joe Juba — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:50:25 GMT

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of the year's biggest games, in terms of both scope and anticipation. As someone who has poured hundreds of hours into the Elder Scrolls, I understand the excitement. While lots of things about Skyrim sound cool, here are a handful of moments that struck me as particularly awesome when I saw Bethesda's upcoming RPG in action.

Shouts Look Like Fun
I love playing mages, and with the addition of Dragon Shouts, the magic system in Skyrim looks to provide even more options. Even though I think the concept of yelling as a weapon is dumb, I can't argue with the results I saw in the demo. From breathing fire to calling down a storm (not just a tiny one; it covered sky as far as I could see), these abilities promise to add some awesome options to combat.

Dragons!
The monstrous creatures roam the world in Skyrim and act as the boss fights for the game. I saw the hero square off against two of these things, and it doesn't look like they pull any punches. They soar overheard, breathe fire, and look like they can completely wreck you if you aren't prepared.

Radiant Story?
This is one of those things that sounds too good to be true. The locations of various quests and plot points can change based on the things you've done and the people you've talked to. In other words, if you've missed a cool dungeon, the game can move your quest activity to that area...though those tasks might be elsewhere if you already explored that particular dungeon. It will be difficult to see how exactly this plays out without getting extended hands-on time, but I'm excited about the possibilities.

Who likes menus?
As much as I love Oblivion, the interface isn't exactly elegant. Once you start getting lots of items and spells, navigating the menus is a sluggish. In Skyrim, the team is clearly trying to minimize the time players spend in the menus, with a cleaner layout and the ability to set various options as favorites for easy access.

Messing With People
With the ability to dual wield spells, I see the hero equip Detect Life and Frenzy. First he casts Detect Life, which displays the aura of two hostile guards standing by a tower (one of which is inside). Then he casts Frenzy on the one outside, which causes the guard to go berserk. He quicklky runs inside and out of view, but I see the two auras clash behind the tower wall, and then one of them fades out. I love taking enemies out like this instead of straight melee combat.

Riding Horses Looks Better
While I loved my horse in Oblivion, I was less fond of the way it actually controlled and moved thorughout the world. From the small bit of horseback time I saw today, I feel like that concern is being well addressed in Skyrim. No word on whether you'll be downloading any horse armor this time around, though.

Third-Person Is Still There
To be clear: I never play Elder Scrolls games in third-person. I think they look weird and feel even worse from that perspective. However, some people clearly like playing that way, the team continues trying to refine this control scheme for the (probably few) people that use it. I swear I'm not being sarcastic when I say I like this; I've been known to play Oblivion in some strange ways, and I'm glad Bethesda keeps its fans' bizarre tastes in mind.

So, that's my perspective on what I saw. I can't wait until November so I can start uncovering even more folds in the gameplay. While we're waiting, though, don't forget to check out these new screens and visit our hub for even more Skyrim info.

Shots From The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Matthew Kato — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:58:00 GMT

A new batch of screens for Skyrim have arrived, and you can't look away.

The game comes out on November 11, and these impressive new screens range from ranging mammoths to getting knifed in a dark tavern (check out the gallery at the bottom of the page). Player-created characters will show no less breadth due to the game's 85 spells and 280 perks with 50 levels.

For more on Skyrim, check out the excellent stories from our Skyrim Hub.

Bethesda BFG Skyrim Showcase

Meagan Marie — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:00:00 GMT

We had the honor of revealing the next installment in Bethesda’s epic Elder Scrolls franchise – Skyrim – to the world back in January. Our exclusive cover story provided an extensive look at what is in store for fans when the anticipated game releases this fall.

A second chance to view the demo was provided at the recent Bethesda BFG event. While the footage was the same, a handful of new screens have emerged. Check out the fresh gallery of images below, featuring a Draugr Swarm, the town of Riverwood, several scenic expanses, and more.

Make sure to visit Game Informer’s Skyrim hub for any information you may have missed during the month-long showcase.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim hits retail on November 11 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.