this game is the rest of your life. when you fall you fall far and deep.

User Rating: 9 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim X360
At this point nothing I say to you will make much of a difference.

Most of you anyway, to that one guy still over there on the fence about skyrim, read this and if your still not sure buy it anyway.

If you have played Oblivion or fallout over the last couple of years and have enjoyed your visit to those worlds feel free to get your passport ready for a trip to skyrim. Sure you may have had what you thought was your fill of those open-ended open world games before but trust me skyrim is so big and so full of life, adventure and things to do that nothing you have played before will match up to it.

Not to say this is the worlds greatest game, perfect in every way. Far from it. It does do what it does better than any game before it though. As with past open world rpgs from bethesda the sheer amount of things available is at both times it best feature and its biggest problem.Theres a brilliantly crafted game world here, teeming with life and adventure to be had. The downside that comes with it is two-fold, what the hell are you supposed to do when your just dropped into a world so vast and how long will this world hold up before it starts tearing at the seams. Quite literally on some occasions.

Ok the amount of technical issues that rise up are far less pronounced than in past games and they don't really make any appearance untill a long way into the experience. were talking 40 – 50 hours in before there's any notable problems. although using the same game engine as past releases the whole thing has been refined to minimise issues while also creating a good-looking game world, even on console.

At the time of writing a patch has been released to address some issues you may see in the game, but on the whole these games are constantly well supported and its going to be a long time before you run into something that hasn't been addressed already.

what ya buyin, er.... sir knight.

The "issue" with the sheer vastness of the game world also quickly dissipates. You become acclimatised to the land of skyrim, its people and places. It's always throwing up new places to go and people to meet / smite. At 80 hours in ive not yet finished the main quest on my main save file & that's alright. The amount of jobs, quests and places keeps this game alive long after you first set out.

The main quest can still easily be completed in a short space of time, although unlike fallout or oblivion it doesn't really end.

Combat in the game is daunting at first. Uncomfortable to those used to fps games and clunky to look at while viewed in the third person (something that's still better than it has been) . You quite quickly become accustomed to the mostly melee combat and are slaying dragons with the best of them.

Ah yes, dragons. The over arching theme of the game is the return of dragons to the world, these needed to be brilliantly crafted action moments if the game were ever to work and thankfully despite the limitations of the games design they are always a joy to partake in. Each feeling tough to take on but not unfair or cheap. Every player has the opportunity to tackle these great beasts (much like anything in the game) any way they like. Say a mix of magic and swordplay or clear-cut brut force with a war hammer to its head. The freedom of choice is reflected in the leveling up and career trees.

Every skill you use in skyrim is leveled up literally by using it. Want to be a good archer, then use a bow and arrow. In time you'll get better and so unlock new skills or perks relating to that skill. Unlike past games though there is now much more freedom to experiment and level up different skills.

If there's one truly big flaw with the game its with its story scripting. On the whole the world is quite believable, its internal events (a civil war, feuding families, dragons and dark gods ) all being touched on just enough to give the world its own identity or truth but it's too large a world for there to ever be any real depth in any of the individual stories here. It's a patchwork quilt world. Lots of snapshots of life that can make the world feel like it could come apart at the seams at any point. Also the use of npc characters (like guards in towns) that spout the same 4-10 lines of dialogue in 2 – 3 different actors voices is something that adds to the cracks in the game worlds reality. Tiny fissures that don't disrupt the worlds strength overall but that reveal its falseness and shallow existence too easily.

Thankfully the sheer number of scripted characters helps to over shadow this.

As I said before skyrim isn't perfect, it's not going to change the world, but its going to make you more than happy enough for a good 100 + hours while you visit another one.

dont mess with him dude

Now if you don't mind I need to go enchant my pants before bed.