The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Description official descriptions
Two hundred years after the events described in Oblivion, the continent of Tamriel is in turmoil. The Emperor's throne remained without heir; the Blades, Empire's elite guards, have been disassembled; elven nations began capturing territory from the Empire. The assassination of the King of Skyrim, Tamriel's Northern-most province and home of the Nord race, led to a civil war between those who wish independence for Skyrim and those who wanted it to remain under the Empire's control.
A prisoner is brought to a small town, awaiting execution for alleged involvement with the Stormcloaks, a group that was founded by the king's assassin Ulfric Stormcloak. Just before the executioner's axe lands on the prisoner's neck, a dragon attacks the city, forcing most people to flee. The unexpected freedom leads the ex-prisoner into the snowy Skyrim, where the rumors of the dragon begin to circulate.
Like its predecessors in the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim is an open-ended role-playing game with action-based combat. The player may explore the vast environments of Skyrim from either first- (default) or third-person perspective, being unrestricted in his or her travels and free to undertake any side quests in any order, or follow the main quest. It is possible to fast-travel to previously visited locations directly from the world map. The player can also opt to buy (or steal) and ride a horse.
There are ten races to choose from: Altmer (High Elves), Argonian (reptile people), Bosmer (Wood Elves), Breton, Dunmer (Dark Elves), Imperial, Khajiit (cat people), Nord, Orc, and Redguard. Each race has their own perks and limitations, such as Nord being resistant to cold, Khajiit being weak with magic, etc. Unlike the previous games in the series, the player cannot choose a class for the main character; rather, the latter evolves into any class-like combination gradually, according to the play style. When the protagonist reaches a new level, the player may increase his or her Health, Magicka, or Stamina and a new perk may be added to one of the skills. There are eighteen skills altogether, and each skill has several levels and perks which may be obtained. Most perks are only accessible after a certain level has been reached in said perk. For instance, in order to reach higher perks with Destruction, destructive spells must be leveled up. Skill levels can increase either through extensive use, skill books, or even paying for training from certain non-playable characters.
The game contains some features that were introduced in Fallout 3. Enemy level-scaling is done in a similar way, as opposed to the more intrusive system of Oblivion. The player may hire other fighters to follow the hero around and lend a helping hand in combat. Also, the lockpicking system of the previous installment has been replaced by the lockpicking methods of the recent Fallout games. Conversations with NPCs now occur in real time rather than "freezing" time as in Oblivion.
Players can craft, cook, or build any number of items depending on ingredients and skill levels. Alchemy allows players to make potions, Enchanting allows players to imbue armor and items with magical abilities (such as increasing the effectiveness of magic resistance), and Smithing allows players to either craft or improve weapons and armor. Smelting, tanning and cooking are also a part of this mix as well: Smelting is the skill of turning raw mined mineral ores into usable ingots for smithing; Tanning is the process of drying animal hides to make leather strips, useful in creating or improving armor and weapons; Cooking allows players to turn otherwise minimally useful food ingredients into much more beneficial meals.
Melee attacks can be performed using either two or one-handed weapons. Blocking reduces damage and allows for the opportunity to bash an opponent with a shield. Archery is also available for some ranged attacks, as is quite a bit of magicka. Each race also has a distinct magic-like power ability; only one power may be equipped at a time. For instance, a Nord power is to frighten enemies away for a while. New to the series is the Shout ability, which is a special power based on Dragon language. These require a special set of circumstances to unlock: first, the ancient words must be learned from Word Walls hidden all over Skyrim; secondly, they can only be activated by acquiring a dragon soul (from slaying a dragon).
Crimes may be committed by stealing, pickpocketing, murder or attacking innocent people, or even by trespassing. Generally this puts a bounty on the head of the player character, unless said character is quick enough to eliminate all witnesses. Fines and jail time, or a beat-down from authorities, are likely to ensue if the hero commits too many crimes or merely ends up getting caught. The protagonist can serve out his or her sentence on the jail bed, or pick the lock and escape; however, going to jail is likely to cause current skill progress to be lost.
As before, there are several groups, guilds, and the like that the player may encounter and join, each with their own advantages or disadvantages, each with their own views on the current events of the world, and each with their own quests. The abilities to become a werewolf or vampire are also present and have been somewhat streamlined: for instance, sunlight is not instantly deadly to vampires, and lycanthropy can be spread around.
Groups +
- 3D Engine: Creation Engine
- Animals: Cats
- Elder Scrolls series
- Fantasy creatures: Dragons
- Fantasy creatures: Elves
- Fantasy creatures: Goblins
- Fantasy creatures: Orcs
- Fantasy creatures: Trolls
- Gameplay feature: Alchemy
- Gameplay feature: Auto-mapping
- Gameplay feature: Blacksmithing
- Gameplay feature: Cannibalism
- Gameplay feature: Character development - Repetition
- Gameplay feature: Character development - Skill distribution
- Gameplay feature: Drowning
- Gameplay feature: Equipment quick slots
- Gameplay feature: Goldsmithing
- Gameplay feature: Horse riding
- Gameplay feature: House ownership
- Gameplay feature: Hunting
- Gameplay feature: Interior decorating
- Gameplay feature: Lock picking
- Gameplay feature: Mining
- Gameplay feature: Pickpocketing
- Gameplay feature: Survival cooking
- Gameplay feature: Transformation
- Games for Windows releases
- Games with nobility titles
- Green Pepper releases
- Middleware: Bink Video
- Middleware: FaceFX
- Middleware: Scaleform GFx SDK
- Physical Bonus Content: World Map
- Physics Engine: Havok
- PlayStation 3 Greatest Hits releases
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Protagonist: Visually customizable character
- Software Pyramide releases
- Technology: FaceGen
- Video games turned into board / card games
- Xbox 360 Classics releases
Screenshots
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Videos
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Credits (Windows version)
810 People (782 developers, 28 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 91% (based on 73 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 188 ratings with 8 reviews)
I used to like Elder Scrolls, but then I took an arrow to the knee
The Good
It is big and pretty. After the nauseating mess that was Oblivion, I enjoyed playing Skyrim much more than I expected to. In fact, looking back, I wish I had played a bit slower, and taken more time to appreciate the details. I will definitely replay it in a couple of months when mods start shaping up and certain bugs are fixed.
The Bad
The world is generic. Trees, wood houses, stone ruins, bears, cats, foxes, mammoths, giants, skeletons, dragons, ... where have I seen this before? Oh yeah. Everywhere.
The main quest is poorly designed. If you happened to live in a cave during the Skyrim media promotion, then don't worry. Everything is revealed in the first ten minutes: Alduin, the eater of worlds, has awoken again, and you are the dragonborn destined to defeat him! Still, unlike the guild quests, the main quest is relatively okay.
Guild quests are very poorly designed. Everything is Epic and Extreme! Day 1 in the mage's guild: five minute lecture on how to cast spells. Day 2: I'm crawling through a dungeon killing epic undead left and right and discovering epic artifacts. Epic! Day 5: I became the chosen one for an ancient order of super wizards, saved the world and became the arch-mage, even though my skill and knowledge of magic is far less than anyone else's in the guild. Extreme! This is probably the best guild quest in the game too, the others are far worse. The Stormcloak/Empire quests aren't even funny, they're just plain bad.
After you achieve something great, nothing in the game changes. Defeated Alduin? Dragons are still flying around just like before. Defeated the Stormcloaks? There are still respawning Stormcloak outposts just like before. I guess in Morrowind it made sense because it was all hush-hush. You could boasts about your deeds but nobody would believe you. In Skyrim everyone seems to be perfectly informed about everything. Guards will randomly tell you that they know you are in the Dark Brotherhood for example. Or that you're a conjurer, or that you are good at lockpicking. They even comment about artifacts you have equipped. It's incredibly incoherent too. You can kill a dragon and absorb its soul in front of a guard and he'll still say "I got to thinking, maybe I'm the dragonborn and I just don't know it yet". No, bro. I'm the dragonborn, as you damn well know.
It's like Bethesda put no thought into the logic of the world at all. They just made content for content's sake.
Finally, the gameplay itself feels better, it has lost something. It's become far too easy and monotonous. In Morrowind, mages had to invest some thought into what they would cast because magicka didn't just regenerate in a couple of seconds, and the spell selection was bigger. In Skyrim you can let loose everything you've got in every encounter. This is just one example out of many of how the gameplay was dumbed down.
The Bottom Line
It's Fallout 3 with swo... I mean, it's a new TES game.
It's much better than Oblivion, but lacks the artfulness, consistency and weirdness of Morrowind.
However if Bethesda improves in the next game as much as they have improved from Oblivion to Skyrim, then perhaps there is hope yet.
Windows · by dorian grey (243) · 2011
По суті, Скайрім - це така екшн-РПГ пісочниця, яка живе за рахунок модів.
The Good
Атмосфера,
Імерсивність,
Бойова система,
Моди,
Дракони,
Пересування верхом на коні.
The Bad
Нецікаві квести,
В діалогах недостатньо вибору для відігравання ролі,
Варіативність на низькому рівні,
The Bottom Line
Команда Тода Говарда завжди старається наповнити свої ігри максимальною кількість контенту та зробити їх настільки масштабними, наскільки їм це позволяє бюджет та технології, але якість цього контенту завжди під питанням. Це ігри, які багатьом подобаються, але водночас їх мало хто проходить до кінця. До того ж, без модів Скайрім вважається дуже сирим навіть серед фанатів.
Windows · by Oleh Wixel · 2023
cool freaking skyrim where is skyrim 2?????????
The Good
Skyrim has such a large world to explore with characters to interact with, dungeons with unique items and treasures, and an interesting story.
It's fun to go in and build up your own character, whether you want to be a good character who is helps others, or an evil guy who kills people or whatever evil people even do nowadays.
The Bad
It's a Bethesda Studios game, there are bugs that ruin everything.
Sometimes, the combat will feel finicky. When you run and do a charge attack-- or at least when I do-- you will continue running into the enemy until you get past them. The hitboxes for double-handed weapons also seem to reach to far and hit you way too easily.
The Bottom Line
It's Skyrim.
Windows · by sinisterhippo (23) · 2019
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
New animations | Indra was here (20756) | Feb 11, 2013 |
Some thoughts about Skyrim | The Fabulous King (1332) | Jan 23, 2012 |
Low sound? | Unicorn Lynx (181780) | Dec 20, 2011 |
Trivia
Awards
- 4Players
- 2011 – Best Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- GameSpy
- 2011 - Game of the Year
- 2011 – RPG of the Year
- GameStar/GamePro (Germany)
- 2011 - PC Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- 2011 - Console Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- 2011 - PC RPG of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- 2011 - Console RPG of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- 2013 – Community Favourite of the Year (Readers' Vote)* PC Games (Germany)
- Issue 01/2012 - Best Game in 2011 (Editors' Choice, together with Batman: Arkham City and Portal 2)
- Issue 01/2012 - #2 Best RPG in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
- Issue 01/2012 - #2 Best Game in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
- Issue 01/2012 - #3 Surprise in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
- Issue 01/2012 - #2 Best Graphics in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
- Issue 01/2012 - #2 Best Sound in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
- Issue 01/2012 - #2 Best Sound in 2011 (Readers' Choice)
- Steam Awards
- 2016 — The 'Test of Time' Award — Won
- Xbox 360 Achievements
- 2011 - Game of the Year
- 2011 - Best Original Score
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Related Sites +
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FAQs, Walkthroughs and Guides for Skyrim
from GameFAQs.com -
Skyrim - The Elder Scrolls Wiki
The Skyrim wiki website on wikia.com -
Skyrim Walkthrough
includes news, guides, quest information, mods -
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Hints from UHS - Not Your Ordinary Walkthrough
includes tips & tricks, strategies and guides for the game -
Week of Madness
A gimmick diary with a Skyrim packed full with mods. Written by Richard Cobbett on PC Gamer (Part 1/5) -
Wikipedia: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Article about the game in the open encyclopedia
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by ResidentHazard.
Additional contributors: Jeanne, Havoc Crow, Yearman, Patrick Bregger, Kennyannydenny.
Game added November 16, 2011. Last modified March 14, 2024.