Skyrim

Played this last night at a mate's house. Possibly the most epic game I've ever played. Am  huge fan of Bethesda because of their Fall Out series, but this is probably even better.

Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Official Gameplay Trailer

IGN Reviews - Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Game Review

Probably one of the best games to come out this quarter. 95%+ rating, just behind Arkham City.

Might get it around next year, though, when it's cheap.

I just started playing Oblivion

Liking it so far though, and I'm sure this is way better with the upgrade in graphics and what not. Will wait on it being cheap though.

Its not as good as Oblivion or Fallout 3 so far, but still a great game.

Although I never got into Oblivion, that's because it came with my xbox along with PREY and Moto GP so I spent my time on them and didn't give Oblivion the chance it perhaps deserved. Skyrim has really captured my imagination though, I'm dying to try this game.

I just started playing Oblivion

I have it, and haven't even started playing it yet!

Obviously massively looking forward to this one, though, as others have said, will be waiting for it to come down in price before giving it a try.

Looks quality, though!

Been playing it for a couple of days now. Was terrible when I first got it (PC version). Altering the ini files sorted out the mouse lag and the FOV problems, altering my sound sorted out the crashing and now the game is playable.

Fantastic game, great quests and really enjoyable puzzles. Frustrating loading times (every time you enter or leave a house), horrible UI screens and the first 20 mins of the game is terrible.

After that it is just awesome. Worth the time and trouble getting it to work properly. Highly recommended to anyone who liked Morrowind or Oblivion.

Possibly may be worth paying extra and getting on consule if you have the choice and you don't Mod your games.



 

Been playing it for a couple of days now. Was terrible when I first got it (PC version). Altering the ini files sorted out the mouse lag and the FOV problems, altering my sound sorted out the crashing and now the game is playable.

Fantastic game, great quests and really enjoyable puzzles. Frustrating loading times (every time you enter or leave a house), horrible UI screens and the first 20 mins of the game is terrible.

After that it is just awesome. Worth the time and trouble getting it to work properly. Highly recommended to anyone who liked Morrowind or Oblivion.

Possibly may be worth paying extra and getting on consule if you have the choice and you don't Mod your games.



 

Agree with you on a couple of these issues. The PC version is extremely consolised, to the extent that controlling some of the UI menu's, specifically the level up screen, is a F***ing nightmare. Hopefully mods will be fixing this. As you mention too the .ini could use some editing.

Nonetheless this is a freakin awesome game. If you like fantasy, or role playing or just open world games, GET THIS! Bethesda are true masters of the open world game, they've crafted by far one of the best, most atmospheric and downright coolest gameworlds I've ever played in. Been going for 32 hours since Friday and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.

For all the complaints of bugs, lackluster combat and a terrible UI, you can't forget the pure awesomeness oozing from everything. Argghh it's just so beautiful! I barely did anything in the first hour but wander around gazing at the scenery. Stunning stuff, even if some textures look poor close up.

Can't wait for all the brilliant mods to come out either. There's already some texture mods and a couple of misc ones, but we have to wait for the release of the Skyrim SDK for the serious work to get started. If anyone is interested in modding their Skyrim game (only possible on PC unfortunately) then check out www.skyrimnexus.com. It's the main mirror site for all downloads.

Agree with you on a couple of these issues. The PC version is extremely consolised, to the extent that controlling some of the UI menu's, specifically the level up screen, is a f**king nightmare. Hopefully mods will be fixing this. As you mention too the .ini could use some editing.

Nonetheless this is a freakin awesome game. If you like fantasy, or role playing or just open world games, GET THIS! Bethesda are true masters of the open world game, they've crafted by far one of the best, most atmospheric and downright coolest gameworlds I've ever played in. Been going for 32 hours since Friday and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface.

For all the complaints of bugs, lackluster combat and a terrible UI, you can't forget the pure awesomeness oozing from everything. Argghh it's just so beautiful! I barely did anything in the first hour but wander around gazing at the scenery. Stunning stuff, even if some textures look poor close up.

Can't wait for all the brilliant mods to come out either. There's already some texture mods and a couple of misc ones, but we have to wait for the release of the Skyrim SDK for the serious work to get started. If anyone is interested in modding their Skyrim game (only possible on PC unfortunately) then check out www.skyrimnexus.com. It's the main mirror site for all downloads.

I think they have got the balance just right at the moment. First time since Morrowind that I have had to leave and then go back to defeat a boss. Tried about 20 different ways to defeat him (level 8 ) before admitting defeat and beating a temporary retreat (went in a cave without any health potions after unexpectedly meeting a Dragon). Got some potions, then went back and kicked his and his metal golem's ass. Had Lydia as my companion too.
 

Played Morrowind and Oblivion and loved them. This is a whole new level.

Played Morrowind and Oblivion and loved them. This is a whole new level.

The amount of hours I've already put into this one is embarrassing. I can't even think what it'll be like if the modding is as strong in this one and I keep playing for years like I did with Oblivion!

The amount of hours I've already put into this one is embarrassing. I can't even think what it'll be like if the modding is as strong in this one and I keep playing for years like I did with Oblivion!

I have even done many quests or missions and I've already played well over 30 hours.

I now have this game! It's kind of an early Christmas present.
I didn't really want another game after only just getting Battlefield 3 but I was sick of hearing people banging on about Skyrim and every time I logged in to Xbox Live, I could see people were playing it.

I'll start with the few negatives :

The first part isn't that great because you have to follow other people so you don't immediately get that sense that you can explore the land. Also (I'll be careful not to include any spoilers), a character tells you that you need to split up but then won't piss off. When I finally shook him off and went elsewhere, my housemate informed me that he would have led me to those stones where you choose your skills... or whatever .

As standard with these gmes, when you walk up to, for example a chest, a prompt pops up telling you to press A to open it. I found that in some cases you have to be in exactly the right position to get the prompt.

A lot of people want a fight for no apparent reason. I walked into an inn and a couple kicked off at me.

Although the scenery is stunningly detailed, the way that characters move around it can be a bit odd, with them changing position by walking in a small circle or sliding to one side.

I've heard people moaning about load times but you only get the load screen when you move from one area to another, not every time you walk through a door and it's not excessive anyway (note that I have it installed on my Xbox HDD).

All of those points pale into insignificance against the positives :

The landscape is stunning and the land of Skyrim is HUGE. Apparently it's more or less the same size as Oblivion from one end to the other but it has much more height and depth to it.

Character interaction is vastly improved, none of this hanging about to wait for a conversation to end, walk off if you want.

After the first section, you are free to move where you want, when you want.

The menu system is excellent, making it easy to assign weapons, apparel, magic and potions to your 'favourites' so that you can access them quickly via the D Pad.

I played it for about 4 hours last night and I've already fought countless bandits, villains, undead, giant spiders and finally a fire-breathing dragon.

The villages are 'living and breathing'. During the day there are lots of people going about their daily routines, working away. You can talk to them, work with them, have a go of their machinary, rob them or of course, stab them to death!

Obviously in that amount of time, I haven't even scratched the surface of this game but I can't wait to get back to it!!

As soon as you get out of the Keep you're in after the opening cinematic, you can pretty much go where you like. If you follow the path, or wander down with whoever who escaped with, you'll pass three standing stones. They let you choose one of three options (Warrior, Mage or Thief) which gives a 20% bonus to the gaining of skills under that particular tree. So for instance picking warrior means you'll level up in one hand, two hand, block etc 20% quicker with that 'blessing' active. There are many other similar stones, shrines and altars that you can get similar 'blessings' (bonuses vary from +health, more stamina, faster magicka regen etc) from. Generally you can only have one active blessing, though I've found you can have the 20% bonus to skill learning, as well as a blessing from one of the 'gods'.

NPCs attacking you is often because of your past actions. I've read of people who have stolen from a village shop, and a while later in their game they'd have mercs sent after them by the shop owner to exact some retribution. The guy went back to the woman who owned the shop after dealing with the mercs and killed her as revenge, only to get more men sent after him by the shop owner's son!

Funny you say the menu system is excellent, I know you're playing on Xbox or PS3!

Yeah I've heard that a lot of PC users are complaining about the menu system but it works brilliantly for consoles.

I've upset villagers by doing stupid things like shooting their chickens with a longbow but the 'altercation' in the inn was before that. Maybe I did something else I'd forgotten about.

As for those standing stones, are they marked in any way so that I can navigate to them or is simply a case of stumbling upon them? I tried going back to the first area and looking around but I couldn't find the exact route I escaped via and therefore couldn't find the path down to the stones. I seem to be doing ok but obviously a 20% boost would be very useful!

Reviews :

1UP.com A-
Computer and Video Games 9.5/10
Edge 9/10
Electronic Gaming Monthly 10/10
Eurogamer 10/10
G4 5/5
Game Informer 9.5/10
GameSpot 9/10
GamesRadar 10/10
IGN 9.5/10
Official Xbox Magazine 10/10
Machinima 9.5/10
Wired 10/10
Destructoid 10/10

= Pretty conclusive!

If you follow the path leading out of Riverwood toward the west, follow the river along for a minute or two and you'll see three standing stones as the path turns on itself and continues up the mountain. You can see the standing stones from the river, if you get lost. They'll appear on your compass once you're close as a tall-ish stone statue type icon, but they're literally on the path so just follow that out of Riverwood, stay on it, and you should see them.

And yep, we can conclusively conclude that this game is awesome

Cheers. I'll have a look for them later. By the sound of it, I've walked right past them .

Yeah I think they were deliberately placed there, in a nice and easy to find spot, so most newcomers to the game would find them easily!

Yeah, probably     

 

Hi, I just bought the game, but when I start it on steam it puts the built in Intel graphics card as the adapter, how can I change that option to my second card in the laptop which is 6770 Radeon HD DDR5 (dedicated), because the game set it on low graphics and I know I can put it at least on medium.

I have an HP dv6 laptop btw

Hi, I just bought the game, but when I start it on steam it puts the built in Intel graphics card as the adapter, how can I change that option to my second card in the laptop which is 6770 Radeon HD DDR5 (dedicated), because the game set it on low graphics and I know I can put it at least on medium.

I have an HP dv6 laptop btw

Go to 'Start, right click on computer and select properties, click device manager, now look for your display adapters, you should see the integrated and the 6770. Now try and disable the integrated one, cant use it if its not appearing

That didn't work at all ! but thanks anyways, it turns out I can manually set the game to ''max performance'' that would switch the graphic card to the 6770, and it worked really well! playing it on medium/high settings. enjoying the game so far, just learned a lesson too never go head to head with a mammoth