Preview The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Preview

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

<p>Eurogamer had some hands-on time with <strong>Skyrim </strong>at the QuakeCon. <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-04-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-hands-on-preview" target="_blank">Here are their impressions</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The best I can really do is to pick one path and see where it goes, so as soon as I exit the character creator &ndash; decked out as a smart but sexy male Khajiit cat warrior &ndash; I grab a fireball spell in one hand and a war axe in the other and make a beeline for the nearest mountain.<br /><br />It's not a long climb to the summit, but it's eventful enough. One of the first things that happens is I run into some bandits protecting a small tower outpost on the mountain road. My left hand's effectively a flamethrower and I drench them in magic, finishing them with the axe if they get too close.<br /><br />Switching magic out for a shield for a bit of variety, I block a couple of blows and respond with a flurry of slashes that send blood flying and culminate in a neat axe-through-skull finishing animation. These contextual finishers pop up a few times in the next hour and they always look snazzy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The game is most excellent by the sound of it.</p>

 

[baronjohn]

My left hand's effectively a flamethrower and I drench them in magic, finishing them with the axe if they get too close.

Ooooh god it feels so good

Can't wait till 11/11/11 to play Bethpizda newest infantile powergaming fantasy.

 

[MicoSelva]

(...) as soon as I exit the character creator (...) I grab a fireball spell in one hand and a war axe in the other and make a beeline for the nearest mountain. (...) I run into some bandits protecting a small tower outpost on the mountain road. My left hand's effectively a flamethrower and I drench them in magic, finishing them with the axe if they get too close. (...)

Instant gratification bullshit.

 

[M_I_C_K_E_Y_M_O_U_S_E]

Eurogamer previews skyrim and to nobodies surprise posts a disgusting write up with nothing but cock sucking.

 

[Menckenstein]

They left out all the details about the bandits attacking chairs, rocks, grass textures and their own feet.
Total immersion.

 

[Mastermind]

Great article. I'd have taken a peek at the perks and memorized as many as possible myself but otherwise good.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Todd Howard could very well be the antichrist rising....

Weird gnome boy-man he is.

In saying that:

I'm looking forward to Skyrim - will be playing it on xBawx however due to being a cunt in general.

 

[Darkion]

Todd Howard could very well be the antichrist rising....

Weird gnome boy-man he is.

Every time I see a photo of Todd Howard I'm reminded of Quark, that Ferengi from Star Trek:Deep Space Nine.

Coincidence?

I don't think so....

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Todd Howard could very well be the antichrist rising....

Weird gnome boy-man he is.

Every time I see a photo of Todd Howard I'm reminded of Quark, that Ferengi from Star Trek:Deep Space Nine.

Coincidence?

I don't think so....

Thou shall dual wield a staff and sword, yet be cursed with the body of a young boy for life.


Rule of acquisition : 145

 

[Clockwork Knight]

(...) as soon as I exit the character creator (...) I grab a fireball spell in one hand and a war axe in the other and make a beeline for the nearest mountain. (...) I run into some bandits protecting a small tower outpost on the mountain road. My left hand's effectively a flamethrower and I drench them in magic, finishing them with the axe if they get too close. (...)

Instant gratification bullshit.

Eh...you'd rather kill mudcrabs until you're strong enough to match Random_Unarmed_Peasant #452? I don't see a big problem with the magic-wielding hero being able to take shitbandits at the beginning of the game...

 

[Metro]

The new collector's edition costs 150 strips of gold pressed latinum.

 

[Rogue]

Since your typical Codexer came buckets when Oblivion was released, there will now be twice as many buckets filled and at the same time dragon shouts will be roared, because Skyrim is twice as awesome - now you can finally dual-wield everything!

 

[DragoFireheart]

Since your typical Codexer came buckets when Oblivion was released, there will now be twice as many buckets filled and at the same time dragon shouts will be roared, because Skyrim is twice as awesome - now you can finally dual-wield everything!

You have to admit: dual-wielding should have been in Daggerfall long before Skyrim "invented" it.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

decked out as a smart but sexy male Khajiit cat

So gamespot has a tranny reviewer, eurogamer has a furry one, what next?

 

[Metro]

Dunmer = emo goth?

 

[attackfighter]

(...) as soon as I exit the character creator (...) I grab a fireball spell in one hand and a war axe in the other and make a beeline for the nearest mountain. (...) I run into some bandits protecting a small tower outpost on the mountain road. My left hand's effectively a flamethrower and I drench them in magic, finishing them with the axe if they get too close. (...)

Instant gratification bullshit.

Eh...you'd rather kill mudcrabs until you're strong enough to match Random_Unarmed_Peasant #452? I don't see a big problem with the magic-wielding hero being able to take shitbandits at the beginning of the game...

A level one mage being able to drench a group of bandits with his flamethrower spell sounds pretty instant gratificationy to me. Ideally your starting spell would be a little more modest, like being able to hurl bolts of fire.

Also I don't like how effortless the fight sounded. In Morrowind there was a bandit lair right next to Seyda Nean and it was also intended for first level characters. However, unlike the bandits in the review, Morrowind's bandits were tough and if you didn't equip yourself well with your starting money you'd almost certaintly lose. Walking up to a random mob right off the bat and casually engulfing them in an inferno whilst finishing them with an axe doesn't sound difficult at al. If a 1st level character with starting equipment is able to dispose of them so easily one has to wonder why they're included in the game.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

iirc spells are a little different now. Holding down the spell button makes a flamethrower, tapping it hurls bolts of fire. Besides, it's a matter of opinion - I consider a close range attack to be a more modest spell than being able to hit people with flaming bolts from afar, for example. The former is like a sword, the latter is like a gun. And while I'm not a big fan of using game mechanics as justification, "on touch" spells in TES are cheaper than "on target" ones, which suggests they require less magic skill to use.

"Nearest mountain" could be understood as "starting area / dungeon". Or perhaps to have some weaker enemies in the world for you to grind on show that you aren't that pathetic, just like the mudcrabs walking around Seyda Neen.

Besides, he doesn't really say anything about the difficulty of the fight, only that he used ranged attacks first and switched to melee when they got close, which is so... typical and obvious that I wonder why he thought it was worth writing down.

I don't wanna pull the YOU GUYS ARE JUST TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING TO HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE card, but I find it weird that "When the game started, I walked a little and killed some enemies" sounds that outrageous to you. I mean, he didn't kill a troll in a remote cave with his rusty dagger, it was a group of generic thugs guarding a small building near the starting area. Does "Yeah, I was able to kill them with relative ease" seem such an absurd outcome?

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

I don't wanna pull the YOU GUYS ARE JUST TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING TO HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE card, but

More than 6 months' worth of blunt weapons under the VD regime, pull ahead.

 

[attackfighter]

I don't wanna pull the YOU GUYS ARE JUST TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING TO HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE card, but I find it weird that "When the game started, I walked a little and killed some enemies" sounds that outrageous to you. I mean, he didn't kill a troll in a remote cave with his rusty dagger, it was a group of generic thugs guarding a small building near the starting area. Does "Yeah, I was able to kill them with relative ease" seem such an absurd outcome?

I guess my impression is that the review sucked and made the game sound more banal than it probably was.

it was a group of generic thugs guarding a small building near the starting area. Does "Yeah, I was able to kill them with relative ease" seem such an absurd outcome?

Well, I don't like the idea of humanoids being killed so easily. As far as I know the PC in Skyrim doesn't start with any superhuman attributes (asides from his birth sign and possibly an ability to talk to dragons), therefore he shouldn't be able to engage other humanoids in a 3-1 fight and win. At least, not at level one.

Level one is implied to be the default template endowed on all unexceptional characters, whether they're farmers, beggars or inexperienced bandits. If a level 1 PC is able to beat 3 NPCs without the use of any extraordinary equipment or abilities, that's indicative that the 3 NPCs were somehow gimped to be weaker than they would otherwise be if they had been randomely generated as level one characters.

Now, in some instances I'm fine with that, say if there's some sort of logic involved in it, ie if they're old men or they're cripples it would be fair to gimp them. But in the case of randomely generated, anonymous bandits, there's no explanation given. Both them and the PC are untrained, generic humanoids, but somehow the PC is able to take 3 of them on at a time.

This essentially ruins the immurshun and suggests that the game tweaks enemy stats based on the players level (which is just as bad as level scaling imo) since if it just randomely generated enemies of a certain level (in this case level 1) then the bandits wouldn't have been as weak as they were.

 

[Grunker]

WTF is this faggotry?

 

[Konjad]

Don't touch grunker's face, you dirty newfag.

 

[FatCat]

Dunmer = emo goth?

No....

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Both them and the PC are untrained, generic humanoids, but somehow the PC is able to take 3 of them on at a time.

You believe that being "Level 1" means that the only reason the PC isn't farming the land with the locals is because he's holding a sword instead of a hoe, but I don't see it that way. PCs in TES are a blank slate, but at least you know they were already adventurers before the game starts. Remember how the Census Office guy asks you about your class? "I'm an Assassin....well, I never really killed anyone, but you get the point".

Then again, I see levels as merely a game mechanic that exists to give you the feeling of progress in a RPG, and aren't trustworthy when the Player "Zero to Hero" Character is involved, so I can't really relate to your immersion problem (If I'm thinking about stats and levels, then immersion has already gone out for a smoke - it's the difference between avoiding a strong monster because I don't feel confident enough and keep walking towards him while I make the calculations necessary to know if my Sword of Flaming Rape +3 can kill him in 3 turns, since it does 2d10 damage and he has no Fire resistance).

And in any case, no matter how TES tries to sound like a "credible" fantasy RPG, it's still a fantasy RPG. Kill a few critters, fetch a few packages, and in a day or so you'll be taking these guys on, plus the rest of the gang. That "I don't like seeing humanoids being so easily killed" problem that levels were supposed to help with is back for a rematch, and this time...it's personal.

Speaking strictly about the challenge and forgetting about "making sense"...I wouldn't worry too much until we see that ancient ogre being killed with a rusty dagger. As you said, those guys could be gimped bandits. If that's the case, I believe they were put there so the player can get used to combat, just like in Oblivion (the bandits in the first dungeon you see as you get out of the sewers were weaker than regular bandits). The guy DID make a beeline for the nearest point of interest and fought the first hostile thing he saw, so that seems likely to me.

 

[Rogue]

Since your typical Codexer came buckets when Oblivion was released, there will now be twice as many buckets filled and at the same time dragon shouts will be roared, because Skyrim is twice as awesome - now you can finally dual-wield everything!

You have to admit: dual-wielding should have been in Daggerfall long before Skyrim "invented" it.

I do. But I think that for them it's better to "invent" it only now. Fanboys will build statues for them just for doing next to nothing. Bethesda

 

[Mayday]

Everytime I see you guys rage about Elder Scrolls and Howard I can't help but imagine a wine connoisseur raging at how sheeple usually drink coke instead of wine.

 

[Konjad]

you're wrong mayday, because codex will actually taste that shit and like it

 

[Mayday]

Ok, so more like... a shit connoisseur?