"The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" Review

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (or Skyrim, for short) is a medieval-fantasy roleplaying game that was released in the United States of America on November eleventh, 2011, for the Xbox: 360, the Playstation 3, and the computer. Skyrim is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls series, which was created (and being continued/developed) by Bethesda Games Studios. The game was a complete smash hit with both longtime fans of the series and people new to the series. This article will review the gameplay mechanics, a small portion of the story, and my personal rating.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim starts out with the main character being brought to Helgen, a small town in the northern kingdom of Skyrim (one of several provinces of the continent of Tamriel). After the player chooses their race, gender, physical appearance, and name, the main character is about to be executed, when a dragon (which were thought to have been nothing but monsters in mere fairy tales) flies overhead and assaults Helgen with a barrage of flames. The main character grabs some gear in the armory, then escapes the town. He/she travels to the city of Whiterun, where the Jarl (a political leader that is a mixture of a chieftain, a king, and a lord) and his court mage send the main character off to an ancient sanctuary at the top of a mountain after hearing his/her tale of Helgen and the dragon. When the main character reaches the final room of the sanctuary, he/she discovers glowing words of an unknown language on a mysterious wall. The main character suddenly seems to absorb the energy from the words, and he/she feels something stir within her/him. That is where I will leave off on the story, as I do not want to spoil any of the major plotline.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has some amazing game mechanics that I simply cannot leave unspoken of in this review. First off, the "freedom of choice" mechanic makes the player feel like their actions have an impact on the game's world- and indeed they do. You see, Skyrim allows the player to interact with the NPC's in the world at an extreme level. For example, a dragon that happens to fly over a small town may attack the people and the buildings in the town, based on the way the dragon's AI is structured. If the player chooses to fight the dragon alongside the town guards, then the players reputation with that town and any nearby major city will increase if they succeed. If the player chooses to do nothing -or possibly even attack the townspeople while the dragon attacks, knowing that their will be no more witnesses afterwards- then the town could very well be destroyed, causing certain shops and quests to become inaccessible, as well as having a courier come to the main character with a few letters concerning the main characters inheritance of money from any deceased NPC's that were close friends to the main character. Another interesting game mechanic is the law/criminal system works. If the player were to be caught picking pockets, stealing from a merchants stand, or breaking into peoples homes at night, then a bounty would be placed on the players character. The bounty usually takes effect only in the town/hold/capitol that the crime occurred. If the bounty is minuscule, then a guard will let the player go, but will still be wary of them. If the bounty is high enough, guards will attempt to arrest them, or give them an option to pay an amount of money (gold pieces/coins) equivalent to their bounty. If the bounty is excessively high, then guards will attack the player on sight. In this situation, the player can either flee from the area, pay the bounty (but only if they can afford it) or can sheathe their weapon (called a "yield") and willingly go with the guards to the prison. While in prison, the player can either pick the lock of their jail cell, or they can serve their time by selecting the bed and waiting until they are released. Some players choose to be a criminal in many (or even all) of the nine Holds (major cities), and even choose to kill all NPC's in a town. Personally, I do not recommend this, as it will deny the player access to certain quests, items, shops, skill trainers, resources (such as ore that can be crafted into materials, such as metal), and the like.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an incredibly game with breathtaking landscapes, a wonderful story, highly developed characters, and groundbreaking game mechanics that make the player feel like they have an impact on this already incredible world.

MY PERSONAL RATING: 10 / 10 STARS