Skyrim is the kind of game you lie to your girlfriend or wife just to play, the kind of game you skip work for because nothing else matters apart from Skyrim until you are satisfied about clearing a particular cave of necromancers.

TES V Skyrim

Every Elder scroll game starts with a downtrodden given a chance to change the face of the entire game world and Skyrim is no different but the sheer amount of content will knock your socks off. Whatever expression I write down will not be enough because you have to play the game in order to understand where I am coming from. I have 3 other new games that I am putting on hold because of Skyrim.

You play as a prisoner caught in the middle of an uprising between the stormcloaks and the Imperial legion. Ulfric, the head of the stormcloaks shouted the High King of Skyrim to death and he was captured along with you to face execution. In the middle of the execution, a dragon disrupts your beheading with a shout causing chaos and I decide to flee with Ulfric. A lot of RPGs claim to be open world with distant scenery that you can explore but fail miserably. Skyrim is a true open world RPG. The main quest is only a small fraction of what you will be doing in skyrim. There are so many storylines in the game and factions to join, it would be a crime not to try at least playing through the factions.

Fighting a dragon

In order for you, the prisoner to confront this new threat, learning how to shout is essential and shouting down dragons and collecting souls never gets old and there are lots of dragons in the game. Encountering a dragon for the first time can be daunting but when progressing, it gets easier.

Skyrim is to the north of Tamriel and it is cold and the overall tone of the game is darker than Oblivion was. There are new scarier foes, scarier caves and sometimes funnier dialouge than its predecessor. It is the same kind of exploration like in any previous Elder Scrolls game but done better in Skyrim. Almost everything is improved and some others left out for good reasons. Combat is far better than Oblivion and it has a more fallout 3 feel to the menus and in game information display. For instance, if you discover a cave, the display pops up similar to fallout 3 display. The menu system is a little weird and unPC-like. Saving game during combat is Godsend. Level-up user interface is the best I have seen with constellations and stars which make it look pretty. Some skills have been dropped like Athletics from Oblivion and everything has been made simpler. You now focus on particular skills and you are given perks every time you level up. In Oblivion, you get stuck until you decide to advance 3 main skills that had sub skills, it was annoying.

Equipping both hands with weapons or using them both for magic is spectacular and the best for me is weapon on right hand and magic on the left which makes for a potent combination. Get too close, I chop off your head and if you are far away, a fireball will knock you right out. Crafting, alchemy and enchanting are easier to accomplish and also essential if you want to survive on the highest difficulty. The landscape is not as colourful as in oblivion but it is far more varied. In Oblivion, the game did not permanently mark landmarks unless you downloaded a mod for that. Skyrim has solved this problem and there are various landmarks that are just awesome to look at. Every cave or house, landmark is different and unique. Caves are now lively unlike the dull look and feel of Oblivions. They now feel like someone is actually living in them. Lacking co-op mode or any multiplayer, Bethesda has opted for companion system where you can find NPCs that will help fight with you. The easiest way to find a companion is by paying a fee and the hard way is completing city quest where the Jarl will give you a companion. The other way is by completing quest for these NPCs and sometimes brawling with them does the trick.

Oops !!! Wrong Cave folks

The new creation engine certainly does justice to the landscape which is rendered beautifully. Caves are not dull anymore with shimmering light coming through cracks in the wall, trees also grow in caves and many more eye popping scenery. Everything is meticulously crafted except for the various bugs you encounter here and there like backward flying dragons, dragons with corrupted physics when landing, broken quest, things floating in mid-air, etc. But I digress because any game that gives me 150+ hours of super quality gameplay at $50 is a winner in my book. Ice on mountain tops are rendered beautifully with the occasional ice storms blowing past you.

Let us not forget that Skyrim is still in DX9 and the sound, voice acting and dialogue are exceptional. I am going to get the Skyrim soundtrack so I can play it in my car because it has one of the best soundtracks in a game I have ever heard. People still walk stiff but not as stiff as in Oblivion. Your character has a funny way of recovering from a shout when knocked down; the animation is so downright funny and at the same time shocking to see how he or she stands up.

My review of various storylines in the game:

• Main Quest – 95%: Better than in Oblivion
• Thieves Guild Quest lines – 90%
• Mages Guild Quest lines – 90%
• Dark Brotherhood Quest lines – 92%
• Companion Quest lines – 85%
• Imperial Legion – 85%
• Bards College – 70% : Too short
• Daedric Quest – 88 %
• All City Quest – 90%
• All Settlement Quest – 85%
• Miscellaneous Quest – 94%

I choose the imperial legion in my first play through and I am sure the stormcloak’s are just as awesome.

Everything about this game screams PLAY ME NOW and after spending 165+ hours, I feel like I can go back and put in another 140+ from the beginning meaning I will be efficient.

Whiterun