E-REVIEW: Skyrim

Skyrim is just an amazing game, period. You don’t think so? Shut your mouth! Shut your mouth!!

With the upcoming release of Skyrim Special Edition, I believe this is a good excuse…I mean reason to review this game that was originally released in 2011. This review is for PC so don’t cry too hard, game console users.

Welcome to E-Review, where we take a critical look at Movies, Web and T.V shows, Video games and other forms of electronic entertainment. This week’s review is The Elders Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Imagine sprinting for your life down a steep embankment, the icy fjord in the distance gleaming the sun light back at you, temporarily blinding you. You worry your stamina may not last just as you realize that the mythical, scaled beast is inches away from devouring you. You’re in a tavern listening to idle gossip and chatter as you try to discern a hint of a nearby un-plundered tomb or bounty target as you are in dire need of gold for new equipment and supplies. Picture harnessing lightning in your left hand and crimson bands of life-draining energy in the other, these mystical energies dance around your hands as you prepare to annihilate your target.

This is but a small taste of what the world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has to offer.

You are the choosing one…

You are the long foretold Dragonborn, the mythical hero with the immortal soul of a dragon that will slay the evil boss-dragon and crush all those who oppose you. The all-powerful hero is a cliché we’ve seen countless times in books, movies and especially video games and Skyrim says “so what?”. No, really, if you don’t care to be the epic hero you can completely ignore the main quest and become an albino elven thief who fishes for salmon in his/her off time. The point of the Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim being no exception, is you can do whatever YOU choose. The main quest is there but like an eager and faithful companion will just wait patiently for you, whenever you decide to come home – nagging not included. It’s called an open world for a reason, because you can go anywhere and do anything at any time. Be warned, some situations will see the need to practice your skills and get better equipped. The game doesn’t stop you from running straight up to a giant who, in a rather friendly gesture, promptly begins to introduce his massive club to your face. Admittedly, the resulting view is to die for…

I can see my house from here!

Did I mention you can buy your own housES? – yes plural. If you acquire enough gold and booty from your time adventuring you can purchase a home in every major city. If you get tired of playing medieval real-estate tycoon you can even build your very own from scratch provided you have the expansion Hearthfire installed.

The fully-voiced main story and quests are fairly well done but perhaps the most enjoyable gameplay element is simply exploring and finding all the hand crafted details in the world. Venture up a mountain path and find a young woman willing to give you archery lessons in real time. You might sample the various herbal life to make better alchemical potions and come across special glowing and “singing” plants. You can slay undead and mighty dragons to improve your combat ability. You can even stumble upon a headless horseman riding the streets at night. One of the reasons this type of free roaming gameplay is so appealing is you get rewarded for doing in this game. The joy of discovery alone is worth ignoring all the people who keep telling you to save the world.

Each of these activities will improve your skills as you gain levels in them, not by killing monsters and gaining experience points as in most role-playing games, but by practicing the skills you want to improve. Fire an arrow at an enemy and you train archery, brew a potion or eat an ingredient and your alchemy skill advances. You want to be a sword master or magical healer? Slay your foes with sword in hand and cast your healing spell upon yourself or those who need it. You can even train two skills at the same time as you can equip a sword in one hand and magical spell in the other. You can also dual wield two swords or swing a really big axe with both hands or go sword and shield style or simply pummel things with your fists. The choice is yours.

The Dragons’ Litterbox

Another word for an open-world game is sandbox but with all the Dragons flying around, anyone who’s lived near pigeons or flocks of birds would have developed the habit of looking up… The point I’m making is that this is a sandbox game where you fight dragons. This is one of the main parts of the story ,if you choose to follow it, as the awesome showdown with the fire-breathing beasts can be very satisfying. Can be…which leads me to the only consistent complaint about Skyrim from players – summed up in one word: combat.

Alas, not even Skyrim is perfect. Words used to describe Skyrim’s combat are “clunky” , “bland”, “too easy”, “too hard” and when players just can’t find the words: “it just doesn’t feel like it should”. However, there is one word that fixes all of this and more, MODS! Sorry console users…I feel your pain. Fortunately, with the upcoming release of Skyrim Special Edition, console users on ,the X-box 360 at least, will finally be able to experience what PC users have enjoyed for years.

The vast majority of mods (or modifications) can be found on the PC and they are glorious. Mods can change or alter anything in the game and range from filthy-mouthed monocle wearing crabs to massive flyable airships to kung-fu style fighting; the possibilities are literally endless. With over 200 game of the year awards and tens of millions of copies sold, mods are what make this already outstanding game even better. There are already well over 50,000 mods for the game with new ones being released for Skyrim even today with no apparent slow-down in releases. That’s simply amazing. The best part by far is they are completely free. So if you don’t like the combat, just change it by downloading a mod of your choice, there are so many to choose from. Now…I just need to find a dragon’s dropping mod to add that extra dose of lethality to those gigantic winged monsters.

In all seriousness, if by now you don’t think Skyrim is the greatest game ever, you’re free to disagree with me… but you’re just wrong.

Final Verdict: Shut your mouth…times infinity.

Now this is just my not-so-humble opinion, we really want to hear what you have to say. Would you like to see more of these reviews? Perhaps you’d like to submit a review of your own? Send us an email or let us know in the comments section below.