OP
Skyrim: Hands-on with the first three hours
In Skyrim, I fought a dragon.
Prior to that I got involved in a love triangle. I acquired a long lost ancient treasure. I admired the beauty of the world as I trekked across mountains. I had a local bard sing me a song. I looked to the stars to acquire new abilities. I helped defend a farm from trolls.
All of that, and more, in little over three hours. In Skyrim, there’s a lot to do. There’s so much to do that no two players’ experiences are likely to be the same. That’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot these days, but here it actually rings true.
Our demo starts with the usual character creation options. There are 10 races, from various elf and human derivatives to the cat-for-a-head Khajiit, the reptilian Argonian and even playable orcs. Scrolling through the various options and the usual editors for brow placement, eye size and ear height, what’s clear is that a lot of work has gone into the character. No longer do they look like the deformed, horrors-of-the-deep they have been in previous Elder Scrolls (and indeed, Fallout) titles. They look real, at least in so far as the world of Skyrim goes.
This may have come as a result of Bethesda’s focus on improving the third-person, in-game camera. Previous games in the series have felt clunky and lacklustre when abandoning the first-person viewpoint; combat becoming more difficult, movement made unnecessarily fiddly and the animations of your avatar reminiscent of a Zimmer Frame clutching care home resident.
That’s no longer the case in Skyrim. Third-person control feels closer to what you’d expect from a team with such calibre. Combat, movement and observation are all easier than before, making it a viable option. Plus, the improved character models help a lot. The hardcore Elder Scrolls following will likely scoff at the idea of playing in third-person, but I play like that so consider it legitimised.
Our time in Skyrim begins roughly an hour into proceedings, so as not to arm us with any spoilers. Having jumped in at a point post-tutorial/story-setting, Skyrim’s portion of Tamriel’s world lies before us to explore and lose ourselves within.
And what a world. After exiting a small, claustrophobic, dimly-lit cave we emerge into a landscape composed of a lush green grass and trees, vividly-coloured wild flowers, galloping deer, stalking foxes and singing birds. In the distance we see blue-grey ice capped mountains sheltered by imposing dark clouds. Separating the distinct hues of blue and green is a river, at some points flowing gently, at others rushing over rocks to form small whirlpools and dramatic waterfalls.
Lead artist Matt Carofano told us that the landscape has been created entirely by the hand of the artists and level designers, shunning the procedural generation that had been employed formerly. Having played within the world for ourselves, it’s a claim we’re not prepared to argue or disagree with. It looks beautiful, completely ridding itself of the stale, cold nature that often categorises games of this type.
Unfortunately, we’re forbidden from talking much about the main plot line. The overarching theme involves dragons awaking from an age-old slumber who are further disrupting the tensions between various bordering realms.
Our first act was to completely fly in the face of the harmony we’d stumbled upon, after a short chase upon a hillock, we hunted a killed an innocent fox. Don’t judge us, we missed the tutorial – we needed to learn how to fight somehow. Plus, it was worth it, as we got ourselves a posh looking fox pelt for the trouble.
The world map shows various unexplored locations, so we amble off to the north-east towards the village of Riverwood. It’s here that we hear murmurings of dragon sightings, learn to forge our own weapons on the blacksmith’s bench and entangle ourselves in a love triangle. All of these are optional, but the love triangle 'quest’ is a good way to indulge in the script and create a little havoc.
Long story short, two guys were fighting over one girl. One of the guys asked us to deliver a nasty letter to the girl that he’d written in the style of the second guy. Instead of doing his bidding however, we took the letter to the second guy who (unsurprisingly) was not at all happy. We don’t want to spoil the outcome so… off to Whiterun we go.
Whiterun is far-and-away the largest inhabited area we came across in our demo. A city of high, fortified walls defending a central castle housing the resident jarl (read: king), Whiterun is an imposing place situated at the base of a tall mountain. Inside we hear more murmurings of dragons and political unrest, but there’s enough time to wonder the local taverns, observe the world from a watchtower and generally take in the many sights and sounds (while avoiding the usual slew of randoms offering trades, items and mercenary work).
It’s here that we’re given a quest that takes us to a mountain dungeon in search of a long-lost artefact – I can’t be more specific in fear of having my hands cut off by the powers that be at Bethesda. The dungeon is our first real taste of combat.
With a shield in our left hand and a stocky, little mace in our right, we dispatch of the resident Draugr (read: zombies) with some difficulty. These guys pack a lot of hit points, an advantage made more deadly seeing as they also employ archers to attack you from afar. However, once we’d gotten used to our dodge and power attack abilities, the melee Draugr were easy enough to defeat when drawn away from their projectile buddies.
Losing the shield and fuelling our left hand with a fire attack made light work of the archers. It was that combo of mace and fire that we stuck with for the rest of the demo, offering ranged and hand-to-hand options without limiting our ability to move and dodge.
It’s here that we realise we’ve levelled up four times but failed to collect our rewards. Each time you level up you’re given a point to spend on either magicka, stamina or health – your choice altering your skill points in various categories. Skills are assigned their own constellation of stars, a stunning method of visualising something usually displayed via a boorish list of numbers and abbreviations.
Apparently there are over 200 skills and perks to be unlocked, although a single playthrough will likely open up a third of them to you. You’ll want to think about which you opt for too as, given the manner in which they’re unlocked and the fact that points are split between only three major categories, it’s the perks that will define your character and play style.
Our mini-adventure in Skyrim came to a close by returning to Whiterun (artefact in hand) just in time to fight a dragon. Seeing as the game comes out in less than a month, I’m not going to spoil the fight or the aftermath for you. Rest assured though, that both were magical and absorbing.
In Skyrim, there’s a lot you must uncover for yourself.
In Skyrim, I fought a dragon.
Prior to that I got involved in a love triangle. I acquired a long lost ancient treasure. I admired the beauty of the world as I trekked across mountains. I had a local bard sing me a song. I looked to the stars to acquire new abilities. I helped defend a farm from trolls.
All of that, and more, in little over three hours. In Skyrim, there’s a lot to do. There’s so much to do that no two players’ experiences are likely to be the same. That’s a phrase that gets thrown around a lot these days, but here it actually rings true.
Our demo starts with the usual character creation options. There are 10 races, from various elf and human derivatives to the cat-for-a-head Khajiit, the reptilian Argonian and even playable orcs. Scrolling through the various options and the usual editors for brow placement, eye size and ear height, what’s clear is that a lot of work has gone into the character. No longer do they look like the deformed, horrors-of-the-deep they have been in previous Elder Scrolls (and indeed, Fallout) titles. They look real, at least in so far as the world of Skyrim goes.
This may have come as a result of Bethesda’s focus on improving the third-person, in-game camera. Previous games in the series have felt clunky and lacklustre when abandoning the first-person viewpoint; combat becoming more difficult, movement made unnecessarily fiddly and the animations of your avatar reminiscent of a Zimmer Frame clutching care home resident.
That’s no longer the case in Skyrim. Third-person control feels closer to what you’d expect from a team with such calibre. Combat, movement and observation are all easier than before, making it a viable option. Plus, the improved character models help a lot. The hardcore Elder Scrolls following will likely scoff at the idea of playing in third-person, but I play like that so consider it legitimised.
Our time in Skyrim begins roughly an hour into proceedings, so as not to arm us with any spoilers. Having jumped in at a point post-tutorial/story-setting, Skyrim’s portion of Tamriel’s world lies before us to explore and lose ourselves within.
And what a world. After exiting a small, claustrophobic, dimly-lit cave we emerge into a landscape composed of a lush green grass and trees, vividly-coloured wild flowers, galloping deer, stalking foxes and singing birds. In the distance we see blue-grey ice capped mountains sheltered by imposing dark clouds. Separating the distinct hues of blue and green is a river, at some points flowing gently, at others rushing over rocks to form small whirlpools and dramatic waterfalls.
Lead artist Matt Carofano told us that the landscape has been created entirely by the hand of the artists and level designers, shunning the procedural generation that had been employed formerly. Having played within the world for ourselves, it’s a claim we’re not prepared to argue or disagree with. It looks beautiful, completely ridding itself of the stale, cold nature that often categorises games of this type.
Unfortunately, we’re forbidden from talking much about the main plot line. The overarching theme involves dragons awaking from an age-old slumber who are further disrupting the tensions between various bordering realms.
Our first act was to completely fly in the face of the harmony we’d stumbled upon, after a short chase upon a hillock, we hunted a killed an innocent fox. Don’t judge us, we missed the tutorial – we needed to learn how to fight somehow. Plus, it was worth it, as we got ourselves a posh looking fox pelt for the trouble.
The world map shows various unexplored locations, so we amble off to the north-east towards the village of Riverwood. It’s here that we hear murmurings of dragon sightings, learn to forge our own weapons on the blacksmith’s bench and entangle ourselves in a love triangle. All of these are optional, but the love triangle 'quest’ is a good way to indulge in the script and create a little havoc.
Long story short, two guys were fighting over one girl. One of the guys asked us to deliver a nasty letter to the girl that he’d written in the style of the second guy. Instead of doing his bidding however, we took the letter to the second guy who (unsurprisingly) was not at all happy. We don’t want to spoil the outcome so… off to Whiterun we go.
Whiterun is far-and-away the largest inhabited area we came across in our demo. A city of high, fortified walls defending a central castle housing the resident jarl (read: king), Whiterun is an imposing place situated at the base of a tall mountain. Inside we hear more murmurings of dragons and political unrest, but there’s enough time to wonder the local taverns, observe the world from a watchtower and generally take in the many sights and sounds (while avoiding the usual slew of randoms offering trades, items and mercenary work).
It’s here that we’re given a quest that takes us to a mountain dungeon in search of a long-lost artefact – I can’t be more specific in fear of having my hands cut off by the powers that be at Bethesda. The dungeon is our first real taste of combat.
With a shield in our left hand and a stocky, little mace in our right, we dispatch of the resident Draugr (read: zombies) with some difficulty. These guys pack a lot of hit points, an advantage made more deadly seeing as they also employ archers to attack you from afar. However, once we’d gotten used to our dodge and power attack abilities, the melee Draugr were easy enough to defeat when drawn away from their projectile buddies.
Losing the shield and fuelling our left hand with a fire attack made light work of the archers. It was that combo of mace and fire that we stuck with for the rest of the demo, offering ranged and hand-to-hand options without limiting our ability to move and dodge.
It’s here that we realise we’ve levelled up four times but failed to collect our rewards. Each time you level up you’re given a point to spend on either magicka, stamina or health – your choice altering your skill points in various categories. Skills are assigned their own constellation of stars, a stunning method of visualising something usually displayed via a boorish list of numbers and abbreviations.
Apparently there are over 200 skills and perks to be unlocked, although a single playthrough will likely open up a third of them to you. You’ll want to think about which you opt for too as, given the manner in which they’re unlocked and the fact that points are split between only three major categories, it’s the perks that will define your character and play style.
Our mini-adventure in Skyrim came to a close by returning to Whiterun (artefact in hand) just in time to fight a dragon. Seeing as the game comes out in less than a month, I’m not going to spoil the fight or the aftermath for you. Rest assured though, that both were magical and absorbing.
In Skyrim, there’s a lot you must uncover for yourself.
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