Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC) Review

Intro
I dismounted from my horse and left him by the path to scout ahead. After a short while I spotted someone in the distance, not sure whether they were a friend or foe I quickly saved the game before approaching them. That someone turned out to be an old orc who, to my surprise, had no interest in me. Instead he was only concerned with one thing, receiving a proper death. Being the selfless soul that I am, I told him that I would attempt to provide him with that which he so deeply desired, and our duel ensued. I opted to use my frost enchanted axe and my iron banded shield to compliment. My strategy was to make sure to block as many of his attacks as I could while countering whenever I saw an opening and I stuck to it. While the orc put up a respectable effort, in the end his old age had caught up to him and I emerged victorious. I healed my injuries after equipping my healing spell to both hands and left my defeated adversary to be buried by the bilzzard as I retrieved my faithful steed.

Game Overview

After each level you're given the choice of increasing
any of the 3 main stats

Skyrim (sky-rim) is the fifth chapter in the well known Elder Scrolls series. In Skyrim, you have 10 different races to choose from when creating your character, all of which have a unique ability (an actual skill that can be used once daily) and bonus traits (for example: +10 to beginning archery skill, 50% bonus resistance etc, you can check out the full list for each race here). After choosing a race, your 'class' is what you make of it, over the next 69 levels you can became as specialized in one area as possible (for instance, if you know you want to solely focus on being a magic user, or the case of Skyrim, a 'magicka' user, you can spend the majority of your stat upgrades each level on increasing your magicka pool and your skill upgrades on the different magic school trees) OR you can take the Jack of all trades approach (which will likely be the case no matter what as you reach the higher levels).

Main stats - Health (red bar) is health, you know the deal when you run out of it you die. Magicka (blue bar) is used for spells whether it's for shooting fireballs, healing yourself or allies, or for reanimating the dead. Your magicka pool and its regeneration rate can be significantly increased by the use of cloth armor. However, it provides minimal protection from physical attacks. Stamina (green bar) is used when you sprint, use a power attack (holding down the mouse button with a melee weapon equipped) or bash (holding down the mouse button with a shield equipped). The amount of weight that your character can carry depends on your stamina. If you're carrying more than your limit then your character moves very slowly and you are unable to fast travel.

Perhaps the most important part of the game, leveling, is also the most different aspect you will come across in Skyrim. Unlike in your typical rpg, simply slaying wild boars and completing quests in Skyrim does not grant 'experience'. Instead you level up by increasing any of your 18 skills (archery, 2-handed weapons, heavy armor, restoration, etc.), through specific use of that skill. For example, absorbing an enemy's blows while you're wearing heavy armor has a chance to increase your heavy armor skill and of course, your level. Another way to increase one's skills is through literature...

Who would've thought you could learn something from
reading??

Tips

Word Wall's are often accompanied by some sort of
guardian

- When stealing or pick pocketing just looking at the contents of a container or a person's inventory is perfectly legal. Just don't get caught if you see something you can't resist
 - Reading books is by far the easiest way to increase   your character's skills, they can also give quests
- After you kill a dragon whose location shows up on your map be sure to visit their Word Wall to learn another word in dragon language
- Remember to use your shouts, sometimes it's easy to forget you have them. They can be used frequently and can easily be the difference between life and death
- Pressing ' r ' while you have an arrow nocked or are channeling a fireball allows you to reset without losing your arrow or magicka. It also sheaths or readies your weapon
- I should have learned to watch out for traps from playing Fallout 3. In Skyrim there are a lot more than just bear traps so be sure to keep an eye out whenever you're in a cave or dungeon. That is, until you have the light foot perk. Then all you need to worry about are the bear traps...

Pros

- I'll get the easiest one out of the way... Dragons, dragons, dragons.. they didn't disappoint

- Enthralling and creative quests kept me wanting more
- The favorites list, which allows you to quickly switch between different weapons, abilities or apparel with the QuickKeys (#s 1-8) that you assign to them. Anything that isn't assigned by keys 1 through 8 can be easily equipped with a click of the mouse
- Soundtrack is awesome, as if killing a dragon by itself wasn't enough... just wait until you do it to the sounds coming out of your headphones/speakers
- General stats tab in your journal keeps track of just about every statistic you can think of
- After exploring the endless drought stricken wasteland in Fallout 3, Skyrim was truly a sight for sore eyes. The world is incredibly diverse and the environmental graphics are excellent.
- There is SO much to do. No matter what you might want to do, explore, quest, craft, talk to people? it doesn't matter, the possibilities are endless

Dynamic terrain ... quite a skid mark

Cons
- Bugs (See bugs section below)
- No minimap
- Spectators sometimes get in the way during brawls (see other thoughts/suggestions)

Other Thoughts/Suggestions
- As previously suggested, a minimap of some kind would be a real time saver. The world is so enormous and when you're always exploring it becomes a hassle to have to open and close the full-screen map over and over
- Fast Travel, lockpicking and the slow motion kill camera view are all copy and pastes out of Fallout 3. I also think Bethesda made a good choice in doing so
- Many disputes in Skyrim are resolved through a brawl (fist-fight) with the opposition. Which is fine by me, I love a friendly boxing match every now and again. The problem I have is with the spectators that inevitably gather round for these events. Some of which have run right between me and my opponent and taken an inadvertent jab to the face from me. I'm not sure why this happens but when it does it usually ends with me dead or in jail  : (
- Bethesda must have been listening when I asked for another form of transportation in Fallout 3 (other than walking or using fast travel) because now I can ride my horse instead

I definitely did NOT fall off the mountain after taking
this picture.. 

Bugs
- It definitely didn't bother me but I don't think this was intended...

Floating cart

..And now it's on fire

- There was one instance where I dismounted from my horse on a bridge I fell off the side to my death. Now I'll admit it wasn't the widest bridge but if I'd known my character lacked the survival instinct I would've stayed on the horse...
- Mob pathing can get a little funny at times, but with a game this large I can't really fault anyone. As long as you don't mind the rare cases of an AI getting stuck momentarily on environmental objects (rocks, steep inclines, etc.), taking what may seem like the longest path possible to reach you or sometimes just wandering around aimlessly then it shouldn't be a problem
- It was both confusing and annoying  at times to have my arrows blocked by an 'invisible' barrier an inch or two from an actual 'visible' one. Check out the picture to see what I mean.

Score - 94
Bethesda delivers, with a new, stunning world that is overflowing with possibilities. Skyrim is without a doubt the best game I've played all year.