Elder Scrolls V

afrocentricity · 10th June 2011, 12:11

Were there any really scary encounters? You know the type... you stumble upon a beast you had not seen before and it rapes you. Leaving you mentally scarred for a long period after, causing you to go as far as avoiding that area but training yourself with an intention of going back at a later date and returning the favour?

It's been a while since I played it but I cant remember anything like that...

Redlambs · 10th June 2011, 17:20

I think people are more defending the term 'dumbing down' than the actual game, because it sounds harsh.

However the truth is these games are dumbed down, and if you prefer them like that then you are obviously in the market they are looking for! Does that make you dumb for liking them? Of course not. Does it make you dumb for playing consoles? If it does then I'm probably the dumbest person on this site because I doubt anyone can match me for amount of consoles/games owned.

But the bottom line is, console games are made easier, less complex and nowadays shorter too, to appeal to people the publishers think have shorter attention spans. But we'll still all go out and buy them, then come on here and argue, so nothing changes

Dr. Dwayne · 10th June 2011, 17:21

Lambs, did you ever play Starcraft on the N64?

I thought it was a brilliant console port job.

Redlambs · 10th June 2011, 17:25

I've got it and it was. That was back in the days when we weren't all considered idiots though.

Peasplease · 7th July 2011, 06:56

For the aussies, I found a website selling Skyrim for $39 for PC, $57 for the consoles. Website is Video games for PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, DS, PSP, PC & Mac from ozgameshop.com. I bought Dragon Age from it for $16 and it was 100%, so I'm pretty sure this sites legit. For reference sake, EB games are selling it for ~$90 on PC and $108 on consoles, with Game and JB-Hifi having it listed for about the same, give or take $10.

Sky1981 · 7th July 2011, 08:18

The IV is shit, in a way that we're not playing it anymore, but more in terms of maxing everything out (which can be done easily with a simple grind and a spreadsheet), and the ability to set difficulty at the end of the day just ruined it for me

Dingledoog · 7th July 2011, 08:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peasplease

For the aussies, I found a website selling Skyrim for $39 for PC, $57 for the consoles. Website is Video games for PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, DS, PSP, PC & Mac from ozgameshop.com. I bought Dragon Age from it for $16 and it was 100%, so I'm pretty sure this sites legit. For reference sake, EB games are selling it for ~$90 on PC and $108 on consoles, with Game and JB-Hifi having it listed for about the same, give or take $10.

I can vouch for that site too. Free shipping too, amazing site. Only problem is the games take a while to arrive, longer than 2 weeks for me. They don't offer any express post options either. Still worth it imo, especially for single player games like Skyrim.

narnar · 7th July 2011, 09:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky1981

The IV is shit, in a way that we're not playing it anymore, but more in terms of maxing everything out (which can be done easily with a simple grind and a spreadsheet), and the ability to set difficulty at the end of the day just ruined it for me

You can set the difficulty in Morrowind, and max stats out too.

Peasplease · 7th July 2011, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dingledoog

I can vouch for that site too. Free shipping too, amazing site. Only problem is the games take a while to arrive, longer than 2 weeks for me. They don't offer any express post options either. Still worth it imo, especially for single player games like Skyrim.

Dragon Age was sent to me in about a week or less, so I suppose it's variable.

Lance Uppercut · 14th July 2011, 14:04

No demo.

Quote:

Bethesda has no intention of releasing an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim demo.

That's according to lead producer Craig Lafferty, who told Gameplanet in a video interview: "No, we won't be doing a demo.

"For a game of this size and complexity it's really hard to do a demo that represents the game truly, and it would be a gigantic demo, so we won't be doing a demo."

Having already waited five years since the launch the last Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion, we can just about hold out until Skyrim's November 11 release on PS3, 360 and PC.

Bethesda said earlier this month that it isn't dumbing down Skyrim in order to attract a bigger fanbase, with design director Todd Howard reasoning that the company has "found that we're getting a pretty big audience making a game that we want to make".

CVG

I am kind of glad, I don't need a taster for this game.

Plan M · 22nd July 2011, 20:13

Do you guys prefer the Fallout or Elder Scrolls games? I can't make my mind up. Although Morrowind is up there as one of my fave games of all times so probably The Elder Scrolls.

Also, I hope they have more than just a handful of voice actors for Skyrim. In Oblivion the characters felt "wooden" to me which made the game get boring quickly i.e. I would notice that it was the same bloke doing voices for loads of characters all the way through the game. Same goes for Fallout 3 & New Vegas as well actually - the characters in those games lack personality and have too many of the same voice actors.

Mickey · 22nd July 2011, 21:02

Never played IV, hated fallout.

Redlambs · 22nd July 2011, 21:17

Fallout 1 and 2 are miles better than 3. Morrowind is the pinnacle of the Elder scrolls series and doubtful if it'll ever be topped.

I'm not sure I prefer one series over the other to be honest. Gun to my head, I suppose I slightly prefer the post nuclear setting to the fantasy land one.

RedMist99 · 22nd July 2011, 21:34

Elder Scrolls for me all the way. For me they are much more immersive games with better locations scenery and music

Badunk · 23rd July 2011, 18:56

Fallout 3 is the greatest game of all time.

To me anyway.

Lance Uppercut · 7th August 2011, 23:22

Quote:

Getting a firm grasp of Skyrim's scope in under an hour is an absolutely impossible feat -- I don't care what any other preview says, period. Bethesda has crafted such a large and all-encompassing realization of the Elder Scrolls universe in this newest installment, that dipping your toe into the pool only results in your entire leg being dragged into the water by the game's vicious undercurrent.

The character creation alone could easily clutch players within the intricacies of every single detail of their avatar. Ranging from a selection of races, each have received a considerable facelift not just in terms of fidelity, but in tone. The high arched brows of Elves now imply a sinister touch to their character; the slick scaled skin of the Argonians lavish a specular sheen unique to their race alone. The Khajiit emanate plumes of fur from every patch of their body, and Humans have distinct and recognizable features that separate them as races. This serves as an example of how every shortcoming that you could have thought of from Oblivion seems to have been fully addressed in its long awaited sequel.

Rather than discuss or spoil quests and the like, I'm going to touch on the fundamental of how the game actually plays. The combat in particular is probably what most people are interested in experiencing, and the added weight and sense of gravity -- thanks in a very large part to Skyrim's completely rehauled animation system -- constantly remind the player that they are firmly grounded in every engagement they take. A swing of your sword is an act of will and its weight -- whether it be a claymore or a simple dagger -- can be felt via the rattled perspective of your character in first person view, or the counterbalance of his stance in third. Each effort to try and connect a blow results in the drainage of the player's constantly recharging emerald-shaded Stamina meter. While tapping the trigger to slice at your foe marginally affects your gauge; charging your swing by holding down attack hits the meter in a big way which then results in a bigger payoff if your enemy has the misfortune of being caught in the arc of your assault. A strike is a decisive and fulfilling victory every time you connect a blow in Skyrim.

Extending into archery, the hollow clinks and sliding shaft of an arrow lining up on your bow as you take aim get heightened again by Skyrim's constant and conscious effort to make every action you perform have weight behind it. Releasing the arrow from the tightly pulled twine of your bow snaps the wooden bolt away from your view at such a realistic and accurate trajectory that you'll be tempted to shoot the bark off trees just to go retrieve your arrow and do it again.

Rounding out your ability set is Magicka, which gets given an entire quadrant on the game's cardinal-based options screen. Setting flames to the environment scorches both terrain and objects indiscriminately as you go about your own "scorched earth policy." Your Magicka meter goes through the same time/strength/risk/reward mechanic as its green counterpart (Stamina); if each fist is armed with a spell, then expect the results to be doubled, but your use of Magicka to be halved. Much like combat, the reward for playing big in Skyrim has its drawbacks that permeate across its systems of design.

But perhaps the biggest improvement is simply the way the game communicates all of its vast levels of information to the player. Taking its cue from the cardinal bearings of a compass; the directions of north, south, east, and west take on layered meanings in Skyrim's world. Skills, maps, weapons, and magic fill each direction respectively, and carry the player logically to the next subset of menus they can further deliberate on. From here, the process of accessibility is simplified again with the implementation of a "favorites" system. Tagging a favorite piece of gear, weapon, item, or spell ushers each selection into a dial of options easily accessible anytime during gameplay by using the D-Pad. Much like the rest of Skyrim's design, once you wrap your head around how the mechanic works, the appreciation for all the trimming of the fat seen in Bethesda's prior games quickly becomes evident.

The funny thing though, is that Bethesda knows they have lightning in a bottle with Skyrim. They know that even in the alpha build the press were allowed to play -- in its buggy and often crash-riddled condition -- that anyone with a controller in their hand would merely grimace at the event of a crash and immediately restart the game with anticipation for their return to the evergreen thickets of Skyrim's mountains. The only thing Bethesda didn't know, was that Skyrim would blow a fuse in the suite they had rented out, causing everyone in the room to exhale a large sigh as they realized that this time, there wouldn't be a return to the snow encrusted bluffs of Tamriel's northern territory. This time, the umbilical cord to Bethesda's fantasy RPG really was cut.

1UP

Probably the game I am most looking forward to this year.

Badunk · 8th August 2011, 00:45

Oh, yeah!

Badunk · 8th August 2011, 14:01

Stomping Across the Snows of Skyrim - PC Preview at IGN

In an age where role-playing titles are increasingly about perpetual social connectivity, obsessive online competition or are frustratingly linear, there's something comforting about playing an open-world, single-player role-playing game. There's no threat of ganking by malicious players, no worry about PvP ladder rankings, daily guild obligations or a pressing need to level to keep up with friends like in MMOs. It's Bethesda's world, but not long after starting a game it becomes mine. I slash at innocent chickens and shoot fire at pursuing guards as they try to chase me down for breaking the law. I talk with townsfolk to acquire quests or ignore settlements and roam the misty, mountainous countryside in search of treasures and, in Skyrim, dragons. I only have to follow a set path if I want to. Otherwise I can dig in and, unfettered by any influence but my own, truly play a role.

It starts with the character creator, offering the standard Elder Scrolls race options for journeying through Skyrim. The lizard-like Argonian is there, the cat-like Khajiit, as well as Wood Elves, Redguard and, the one I selected, the Dark Elf. As expected, after selecting a race there's a spread of sliders that pop up onscreen to tweak appearances. These can be basic, like selecting nose height, to detailed, like adding 'laugh lines', coloring cheeks and giving the Dark Elf one red eye and one grey. Then it's off into a world that looks, at least on Xbox 360, miles better than Oblivion did back in 2006.

To a large degree that's because of the draw distance. The view from a snow-choked cave mouth to distant mountains wreathed in a drifting cloak of cloud is clear and detailed. Stop moving and stare closely and it's possible to see the mountain clouds shifting, swirling slowly around the distant craggy spires that ring the entirely of this particular piece of the environment.

In the middle of the mountain range is a town called Falkreath filled with imposing buildings made more ominous as rain and fog move across the sky to soak the scene. There dour NPCs drag themselves through inns and complain of conflicts far beyond their power to alter, so naturally they ask for help. In a dusty corner of an inn is an alchemy apparatus where I can mash together reagents, flowers and plants plucked from fields to form potions. All the combinations I try fail, so I steal a few things out of frustration and am promptly met by a guard that wants to escort me to jail. I go and, instead of sleeping off my jail sentence, put two picks in the cell door lock. One pick moves along the top of the lock and at any point in an arc I can stop it and test the bottom pick. If the bottom pick turns the lock turns 90 degrees, the door opens. If I repeatedly pick the wrong spot to test, the pick snaps.

I can improve this skill over time, along with pretty much everything else in Skyrim. Leveling unlocks a point to allocate to one of numerous skill trees, from lockpicking to schools of magic to light and heavy armor, bows, blacksmithing, block, pickpocketing and a lot more. Points don't need to be used immediately, so it's possible to store them up across levels in case, at the outset, I haven't yet decided the type of character I want to be. There's certainly a lot of choice, as each skill tree features multiple nodes that trigger bonuses when activated, and most nodes can be upgraded multiple times for enhanced effects. I chose to upgrade my one-handed sword skill to do more damage, but it's clear that when Skyrim eventually ships on November 11 I'm going be spending a lot of time staring at this screen in agony as I decide which paths to follow and which to forsake.

Outside of town are sprawling snowy fields crawling with bandits and wolves and other beasts. The favoriting system makes it especially easy to switch around armor sets and magic abilities. In the inventory any apparel – shields, heavy and light armor pieces, weapons – as well as offensive spells and healing abilities can be set as favorites. This attaches them to a pop-up menu accessible without having to dive into the main menu system, making gear-swapping to adapt combat situations a fast process. Equipping a one-handed mace and dagger to quickly slice at enemies, then switching to a heavy two-handed axe before dropping in a healing spell to recover from attacks is all easily accomplished in a few seconds.

The feel of combat is still far from that of an action game, but doesn't feel quite as floaty as Elder Scrolls games past. Weapon strikes rebound off of enemy shields with a noticeable springiness, and because of how the camera moves when readying a heavier weapon strike, it feels as though there's more force behind each swing. Magic in the demo area was limited to three spells at the start, but each had cool effects, particularly the flame spell that shot a jet of fire forward, capable of setting the ground and trees alight or cooking bandits before they even had a chance to land a hit.

While some of the adventuring resulted in random combat, and some directed me through easy to follow labels on the world map and compass to quest goals, at other times I wound up discovering the bizarre and unexpected. Take for example the black door adorned with a skull I found near a frigid pond in a rocky recess. When I approached the subdued soundtrack of a tranquil forest was joined by a faint, menacing drum beat. The door spoke to me in an otherworldly whisper while shimmering faintly, and asked if I knew the music of life. I ran through the conversation tree to exhaust all options, answering drums, screaming, some kind of choir. The door promptly declared me to be unworthy and refused to open. I don't know what the correct course of action was, but knowing that oddities like this exist in Skyrim is just as exciting as the knowledge that I'll eventually be able to fight dragons.

Lance Uppercut · 8th August 2011, 14:03

There is a 30 minute gameplay video up. It will probably be taken down.

News: Over 30 minutes of Skyrim gameplay - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Solius · 8th August 2011, 14:45

Won't be watching the video though, don't want anything spoiled.

Badunk · 8th August 2011, 14:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solius

Won't be watching the video though, don't want anything spoiled.

That's not gonna stop me!

Badunk · 8th August 2011, 14:52

News: Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Collector's Edition revealed - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

£129!!!!

Badunk · 8th August 2011, 15:01

The crowd are absolute bellends. But that coup de grace was

RedKaos · 8th August 2011, 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badunk

News: Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Collector's Edition revealed - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

£129!!!!

People will buy it though. I know plenty of folk who've lashed out over £100 for the Halo 3 collectors edition just so they can own that Master Chief Helmet which is too small for any normal human being anyway.

Lance Uppercut · 8th August 2011, 15:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedKaos

People will buy it though. I know plenty of folk who've lashed out over £100 for the Halo 3 collectors edition just so they can own that Master Chief Helmet which is too small for any normal human being anyway.

If they were willing to pay that, I suspect it is probably a perfect fit.

RedKaos · 8th August 2011, 15:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance Uppercut

If they were willing to pay that, I suspect it is probably a perfect fit.

Lance Uppercut · 8th August 2011, 15:17

Anyone holding off and waiting on reviews? I know, I know, humour me.

Badunk · 8th August 2011, 15:18

Watch the video. At about 14.30, he walks past a female NPC in a village and someone in the crowd shouts "Rape!"

Plan M · 9th August 2011, 00:35

It's been taken down

Did it look good lads?

Badunk · 9th August 2011, 11:34

It was basically the video they showed at the E3, but longer. And with Americans cheering every 5 seconds. It looks fucking class. The perks and skill trees are like a cross between Fallout & Oblivion: so there's a 'one-handed weapon' skill like Oblivion but it has loads of other perks branching off it. So it's not a case of one-handed weapon skill increasing by one, but more like it opens up more options for you to specialise your character.

cesc's_mullet · 9th August 2011, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badunk

Watch the video. At about 14.30, he walks past a female NPC in a village and someone in the crowd shouts "Rape!"

I can't fucking wait for this game. It's going to be the end of my life.

Plan M · 9th August 2011, 19:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badunk

It was basically the video they showed at the E3, but longer. And with Americans cheering every 5 seconds. It looks fucking class. The perks and skill trees are like a cross between Fallout & Oblivion: so there's a 'one-handed weapon' skill like Oblivion but it has loads of other perks branching off it. So it's not a case of one-handed weapon skill increasing by one, but more like it opens up more options for you to specialise your character.

Thanks for the info mate. It's looking pretty good, found a few new pics when Googling for the 30 min video:

Spoiler

14 Minute Skyrim Gameplay Video - NeoGAF

afrocentricity · 9th August 2011, 21:05

[whisper]any new links?[whisper]

and why are your spoilers not workin plan m?

Persian-Fred · 9th August 2011, 21:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plan M

Thanks for the info mate. It's looking pretty good, found a few new pics when Googling for the 30 min video:

Spoiler

14 Minute Skyrim Gameplay Video - NeoGAF

Those graphics...

Zarlak · 9th August 2011, 21:22

For some reason, and I have no idea why I've always thought this game was called Eldar Scrolls like the Eldar from Warhammer. Until I just noticed how it was spelt in this thread.

Plan M · 9th August 2011, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by afrocentricity

[whisper]any new links?[whisper]

and why are your spoilers not workin plan m?

They are for me mate.

Lance Uppercut · 9th August 2011, 22:22

Me too.

rcoobc · 10th August 2011, 01:27

I can't wait for this game but i'm not optimistic about it running on my PC

Cina · 10th August 2011, 09:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcoobc

I can't wait for this game but i'm not optimistic about it running on my PC

If it can handle The Witcher 2 I don't see any problems.

afrocentricity · 10th August 2011, 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plan M

They are for me mate.

Yup tried again and it worked, have that 30 min video popped up again yet?

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10th June 2011, 12:11	#161 (permalink)
afrocentricity First Team Regular Join Date: May 2005 Location: Thinking up a new location... Posts: 10,196	Were there any really scary encounters? You know the type... you stumble upon a beast you had not seen before and it rapes you. Leaving you mentally scarred for a long period after, causing you to go as far as avoiding that area but training yourself with an intention of going back at a later date and returning the favour? It's been a while since I played it but I cant remember anything like that...

10th June 2011, 17:20	#162 (permalink)
Redlambs First Team Regular Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Officially the best poker player on RAWK. Your cash has been donated to the Gary Neville for Prime Minister fund, cheers you scouse twats. Posts: 11,279	I think people are more defending the term 'dumbing down' than the actual game, because it sounds harsh. However the truth is these games are dumbed down, and if you prefer them like that then you are obviously in the market they are looking for! Does that make you dumb for liking them? Of course not. Does it make you dumb for playing consoles? If it does then I'm probably the dumbest person on this site because I doubt anyone can match me for amount of consoles/games owned. But the bottom line is, console games are made easier, less complex and nowadays shorter too, to appeal to people the publishers think have shorter attention spans. But we'll still all go out and buy them, then come on here and argue, so nothing changes

10th June 2011, 17:21	#163 (permalink)
Dr. Dwayne Slacker Join Date: May 2006 Location: Back where I don't belong Posts: 46,404	Lambs, did you ever play Starcraft on the N64? I thought it was a brilliant console port job.

10th June 2011, 17:25	#164 (permalink)
Redlambs First Team Regular Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Officially the best poker player on RAWK. Your cash has been donated to the Gary Neville for Prime Minister fund, cheers you scouse twats. Posts: 11,279	I've got it and it was. That was back in the days when we weren't all considered idiots though.

7th July 2011, 06:56	#165 (permalink)
Peasplease Reserve Team Player Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Melbourne, Oz Posts: 2,030	For the aussies, I found a website selling Skyrim for $39 for PC, $57 for the consoles. Website is Video games for PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, DS, PSP, PC & Mac from ozgameshop.com. I bought Dragon Age from it for $16 and it was 100%, so I'm pretty sure this sites legit. For reference sake, EB games are selling it for ~$90 on PC and $108 on consoles, with Game and JB-Hifi having it listed for about the same, give or take $10.

7th July 2011, 08:18	#166 (permalink)
Sky1981 Fending Off the Urge Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Liverpool Football Club : One of the greatest football club... in the PAST. Posts: 7,679	The IV is shit, in a way that we're not playing it anymore, but more in terms of maxing everything out (which can be done easily with a simple grind and a spreadsheet), and the ability to set difficulty at the end of the day just ruined it for me

22nd July 2011, 20:13	#171 (permalink)
Plan M First Team Regular Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: ★ ★ ★ Posts: 10,055	Do you guys prefer the Fallout or Elder Scrolls games? I can't make my mind up. Although Morrowind is up there as one of my fave games of all times so probably The Elder Scrolls. Also, I hope they have more than just a handful of voice actors for Skyrim. In Oblivion the characters felt "wooden" to me which made the game get boring quickly i.e. I would notice that it was the same bloke doing voices for loads of characters all the way through the game. Same goes for Fallout 3 & New Vegas as well actually - the characters in those games lack personality and have too many of the same voice actors.

22nd July 2011, 21:02	#172 (permalink)
Mickey Banned Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Stop paying attention to this a while ago Posts: 13,119	Never played IV, hated fallout.

22nd July 2011, 21:17	#173 (permalink)
Redlambs First Team Regular Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Officially the best poker player on RAWK. Your cash has been donated to the Gary Neville for Prime Minister fund, cheers you scouse twats. Posts: 11,279	Fallout 1 and 2 are miles better than 3. Morrowind is the pinnacle of the Elder scrolls series and doubtful if it'll ever be topped. I'm not sure I prefer one series over the other to be honest. Gun to my head, I suppose I slightly prefer the post nuclear setting to the fantasy land one.

22nd July 2011, 21:34	#174 (permalink)
RedMist99 Reserve Team Player Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: South Manchester Posts: 3,350	Elder Scrolls for me all the way. For me they are much more immersive games with better locations scenery and music

8th August 2011, 00:45	#177 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	Oh, yeah!

23rd July 2011, 18:56	#175 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	Fallout 3 is the greatest game of all time. To me anyway.

8th August 2011, 14:01	#178 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	Stomping Across the Snows of Skyrim - PC Preview at IGN In an age where role-playing titles are increasingly about perpetual social connectivity, obsessive online competition or are frustratingly linear, there's something comforting about playing an open-world, single-player role-playing game. There's no threat of ganking by malicious players, no worry about PvP ladder rankings, daily guild obligations or a pressing need to level to keep up with friends like in MMOs. It's Bethesda's world, but not long after starting a game it becomes mine. I slash at innocent chickens and shoot fire at pursuing guards as they try to chase me down for breaking the law. I talk with townsfolk to acquire quests or ignore settlements and roam the misty, mountainous countryside in search of treasures and, in Skyrim, dragons. I only have to follow a set path if I want to. Otherwise I can dig in and, unfettered by any influence but my own, truly play a role. It starts with the character creator, offering the standard Elder Scrolls race options for journeying through Skyrim. The lizard-like Argonian is there, the cat-like Khajiit, as well as Wood Elves, Redguard and, the one I selected, the Dark Elf. As expected, after selecting a race there's a spread of sliders that pop up onscreen to tweak appearances. These can be basic, like selecting nose height, to detailed, like adding 'laugh lines', coloring cheeks and giving the Dark Elf one red eye and one grey. Then it's off into a world that looks, at least on Xbox 360, miles better than Oblivion did back in 2006. To a large degree that's because of the draw distance. The view from a snow-choked cave mouth to distant mountains wreathed in a drifting cloak of cloud is clear and detailed. Stop moving and stare closely and it's possible to see the mountain clouds shifting, swirling slowly around the distant craggy spires that ring the entirely of this particular piece of the environment. In the middle of the mountain range is a town called Falkreath filled with imposing buildings made more ominous as rain and fog move across the sky to soak the scene. There dour NPCs drag themselves through inns and complain of conflicts far beyond their power to alter, so naturally they ask for help. In a dusty corner of an inn is an alchemy apparatus where I can mash together reagents, flowers and plants plucked from fields to form potions. All the combinations I try fail, so I steal a few things out of frustration and am promptly met by a guard that wants to escort me to jail. I go and, instead of sleeping off my jail sentence, put two picks in the cell door lock. One pick moves along the top of the lock and at any point in an arc I can stop it and test the bottom pick. If the bottom pick turns the lock turns 90 degrees, the door opens. If I repeatedly pick the wrong spot to test, the pick snaps. I can improve this skill over time, along with pretty much everything else in Skyrim. Leveling unlocks a point to allocate to one of numerous skill trees, from lockpicking to schools of magic to light and heavy armor, bows, blacksmithing, block, pickpocketing and a lot more. Points don't need to be used immediately, so it's possible to store them up across levels in case, at the outset, I haven't yet decided the type of character I want to be. There's certainly a lot of choice, as each skill tree features multiple nodes that trigger bonuses when activated, and most nodes can be upgraded multiple times for enhanced effects. I chose to upgrade my one-handed sword skill to do more damage, but it's clear that when Skyrim eventually ships on November 11 I'm going be spending a lot of time staring at this screen in agony as I decide which paths to follow and which to forsake. Outside of town are sprawling snowy fields crawling with bandits and wolves and other beasts. The favoriting system makes it especially easy to switch around armor sets and magic abilities. In the inventory any apparel – shields, heavy and light armor pieces, weapons – as well as offensive spells and healing abilities can be set as favorites. This attaches them to a pop-up menu accessible without having to dive into the main menu system, making gear-swapping to adapt combat situations a fast process. Equipping a one-handed mace and dagger to quickly slice at enemies, then switching to a heavy two-handed axe before dropping in a healing spell to recover from attacks is all easily accomplished in a few seconds. The feel of combat is still far from that of an action game, but doesn't feel quite as floaty as Elder Scrolls games past. Weapon strikes rebound off of enemy shields with a noticeable springiness, and because of how the camera moves when readying a heavier weapon strike, it feels as though there's more force behind each swing. Magic in the demo area was limited to three spells at the start, but each had cool effects, particularly the flame spell that shot a jet of fire forward, capable of setting the ground and trees alight or cooking bandits before they even had a chance to land a hit. While some of the adventuring resulted in random combat, and some directed me through easy to follow labels on the world map and compass to quest goals, at other times I wound up discovering the bizarre and unexpected. Take for example the black door adorned with a skull I found near a frigid pond in a rocky recess. When I approached the subdued soundtrack of a tranquil forest was joined by a faint, menacing drum beat. The door spoke to me in an otherworldly whisper while shimmering faintly, and asked if I knew the music of life. I ran through the conversation tree to exhaust all options, answering drums, screaming, some kind of choir. The door promptly declared me to be unworthy and refused to open. I don't know what the correct course of action was, but knowing that oddities like this exist in Skyrim is just as exciting as the knowledge that I'll eventually be able to fight dragons.

8th August 2011, 14:03	#179 (permalink)
Lance Uppercut First Team Regular Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: NOBODY, calls Dugan a turd. Posts: 19,765	There is a 30 minute gameplay video up. It will probably be taken down. News: Over 30 minutes of Skyrim gameplay - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

8th August 2011, 14:45	#180 (permalink)
Solius Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Fucker shits Posts: 40,566	Won't be watching the video though, don't want anything spoiled.

8th August 2011, 14:52	#182 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	News: Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Collector's Edition revealed - ComputerAndVideoGames.com £129!!!!

8th August 2011, 15:01	#183 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	The crowd are absolute bellends. But that coup de grace was

8th August 2011, 15:17	#187 (permalink)
Lance Uppercut First Team Regular Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: NOBODY, calls Dugan a turd. Posts: 19,765	Anyone holding off and waiting on reviews? I know, I know, humour me.

8th August 2011, 15:18	#188 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	Watch the video. At about 14.30, he walks past a female NPC in a village and someone in the crowd shouts "Rape!"

9th August 2011, 00:35	#189 (permalink)
Plan M First Team Regular Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: ★ ★ ★ Posts: 10,055	It's been taken down Did it look good lads?

9th August 2011, 11:34	#190 (permalink)
Badunk First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Kagawacafe.net Posts: 5,779	It was basically the video they showed at the E3, but longer. And with Americans cheering every 5 seconds. It looks fucking class. The perks and skill trees are like a cross between Fallout & Oblivion: so there's a 'one-handed weapon' skill like Oblivion but it has loads of other perks branching off it. So it's not a case of one-handed weapon skill increasing by one, but more like it opens up more options for you to specialise your character.

9th August 2011, 21:05	#193 (permalink)
afrocentricity First Team Regular Join Date: May 2005 Location: Thinking up a new location... Posts: 10,196	[whisper]any new links?[whisper] and why are your spoilers not workin plan m?

9th August 2011, 21:22	#195 (permalink)
Zarlak 3-0 and you messed it up! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: 'I see the line, in the sand.... time to find out, who I am...' Soccer Manager - Manchester United. Posts: 15,826	For some reason, and I have no idea why I've always thought this game was called Eldar Scrolls like the Eldar from Warhammer. Until I just noticed how it was spelt in this thread.

9th August 2011, 22:22	#197 (permalink)
Lance Uppercut First Team Regular Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: NOBODY, calls Dugan a turd. Posts: 19,765	Me too.

10th August 2011, 01:27	#198 (permalink)
rcoobc Not as crap as eferyone thinks Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Corrupting West Brom Posts: 17,197	I can't wait for this game but i'm not optimistic about it running on my PC