Developed By: Bethesda Softworks
Published By: Zenimax Media
Date of release: 06/04/3013
Price: $59.99
"But... there is one they fear. In their tongue... he is 'Dovahkiin' - Dragonborn!"
Over the last couple decades the PC has seen countless RPG series come and go, hailing from countries all over the world. From Poland's CD Projekt came The Witcher, from Canada's Bioware came Baldur's Gate, Knights of The Old Republic, Neverwinter Knights, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, and Japan contributed countless anime-inspired epics like the Final Fantasies and The Last Remnant. However all the while, one American company worked hard to bring their own style of RPG to the table. That company is Bethesda Softworks.
In 1994 after making various sports titles and action games, Bethesda Softworks released The Elder Scrolls: Arena, the first game in this epic series of first person RPGS. Though critics were harsh at first, the game quickly became a cult hit and spawned numerous sequels and spinoffs, including 1996's Dagerfall, 2002's Morrowind, and 2006's Oblivion. Morrowind and Oblivion proved to be so popular that they both spawned a couple of expansion sets each, extending their stories quite considerably.And now, 5 years after Oblivion hit the scene, a new chapter in The Elder Scrolls is born, Skyrim!
Skip forward to present time, and it's pretty obvious that Skyrim is the bees knees as far as RPGs go, winning SEVERAL game of the year awards. Now that the dust has settles and a few amazingly awesome expansion packs have come out, Bethesda has once again followed their tradition and released a compilation version, titled The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim legendary Edition. Let's take a look at what it has to offer, eh?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim continues the series long tradition of first-person roleplaying, with a metric crapton of new features. Gone is the decrepit and buggy Gamebryo engine, replaced with Bethesda's own in house Creation Engine. The Creation Engine allows for an infinitely more complex game experience with jaw-dropping new graphics and animation, and massive draw distances that are truly unrivaled in this genre.
The gameplay in Skyrim is largely unchanged from earlier titles, meaning it's a first-person RPG with swords and sorcery, cloak and dagger assassinations, sharpshooting archery, and the like. A massive variety of weapons and spells are at your disposal, with an amazing inventory system to keep everything organized. The ability to assign weapons and spell combos to hotkeys insures that you will never be caught in the heat of battle without an appropriate combat response. Speaking of battle, familiar foes return such as mudcrabs, horkers, bandits and wolves. However this time you have a new force to contend with: DRAGONS!
In the land of Skyrim, legions of once-dead dragons have begun to awaken from the grave, and it is up to you as Dragonborn to discover why they are coming back to life, and hopefully return them to the grave. Every time you kill a dragon you absorb it's soul, which you then use to unlock dragon shouts, powerful spells that let you harness the dragon language. You will have to find the words that make up each shout, they are scattered around the world on stone walls usually guarded by dragons.
As usual for the Elder Scrolls series the production values are astounding. Standing atop any of the games numerous vantage points you are treated to sweeping views of valleys and vistas, with little to no scenery pop-in. The voice work is top notch, with every line of dialogue perfectly handled. The sound effects are masterful, from the clinking of swords on shields, to the "thwpp" of an arrow taking flight. The music... oh my god the music. Jeremy Soule once again has crafted a masterful score, from the epic choral theme music simply titled "Dragonborn", peaceful ambient tracks played in town, playful tavern tunes, to urgent battle themes, the soundtrack is a treat to the ears. A massive 4-CD soundtrack set is available for preorder on Directsong.com for a modest $29.99, and all orders placed before December 23rd will be autographed by Jeremy himself.
In my experience playing Skyrim it has been nearly bug free, but I do have to mention one funny experience I had. I was making my way through an area full of geysers and hot springs, and there were herds of mammoths milling about in the warm waters. One mammoth trotted out of the hot spring and started up a small hill, and then simply flew off into the sky. If only there was a way to ride such an amazing beast, travel would take no time at all!
Back in November of 2011 when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim launched, it did so to great critical acclaim. Despite a few bugs here and there, it was quite a favorable experience and left many fans wanting more. Well the wait is over, the first expansion for Skyrim is here! Titled Dawnguard, it chronicles the long-fought struggle between mankind and the oh so recently over-popular children of the night: vampires. Though you may cringe in fear of angsty teen supernatural romance, this is an epic tale worthy of the Elder Scrolls name, not Twilight. These vampires do NOT sparkle.
When I first started playing Skyrim again after installing Dawnguard I took an hour or so to tie up some loose ends and finish some of the extra quests in my journal. I heard rumors of vampires and the return of the Dawnguard, however i decided to take my time and see to my own matters first. I was NOT prepared for a full-fledged vampire assault on my own hometown of Whiterun, (which sadly left Adrianne Avenicci dead). Choking back tears as the courier delivered my inheritance, I vowed to see this undead scourge wiped from the land.
I would imagine that the motives for each player's journey through Dawnguard will differ in how they first encounter the vampiric scourge, and whether they wish to side with them, or fight them. I for one immediately sought out the fortress of the dawnguard, and was quick to join their ranks. I really missed the antics of my glitchy npc blacksmith neighbor, and those undead bastards were gonna pay for her death.
However enough about me, let's talk upgrades! Three new blessings, four new shouts, and nine new spells! You want more friends and foes? Try 80 new NPC characters split between factions! Still not enough? Fine, have a werewolf skill tree, and the ability ro transform into a vampire lord! But wait, there's more! New areas to discover! 40 more quests! Crossbows! Sexy undead princesses! And ABSOLUTELY NO EMO TEENAGE VAMPIRES WHO SPARKLE IN THE SUN! You know we can't keep doing this all day folks, so place your order now!
All in all I had an amazing time with Skyrim. If you play straight through the main quest you can expect a decent length of about 16-18 hours, however you WILL get sidetracked by all of the amazing sidequests, and places to explore. Skyrim will will utterly draw you in to it's massively immersive world, and devour your spare time just as readily as Dovahkiin will devour the soul of a dragon. You have been warned!
