Monday, May 23, 2011

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim- Real Fantasy: Not An Oxymoron, After All!

 

     “Is anyone else as absurdly excited as I am about this game?” Seems a difficult question to answer these days. Gamestats.com’s Top 10 Most Popular list puts Skyrim at #8. Their Xbox 360 list ranks it at #3, as does their list for the PC, but the PS3 lags far behind at #24. How odd. Skyrim doesn’t even rank in Gamespot’s Most Popular list.

     What on earth is going on? Has anyone even watched this?

Remember Oblivion? After this, you won’t.

 

     It hasn’t been the topic of much discussion, but I’ve noticed the most in these videos is the striking difference in animation quality. Characters move across the ground with real, convincing weight and strides, the action has finally surpassed the robotic rhythm of Morrowind and Oblivion, and even more telling, the fighting is much more interactive and dynamic. I’m thrilled to see that damage looks less like an algebraic equation and more like physics. Everything feels so organic! Heck, I’ll even embed a video of Oblivion for a comparison:

Gotcha! Okay, but really, this spoof is spot on.

     Physics-bashing aside, it is great to see the Elder Scrolls series continuing the standard of excellence it has achieved. Some new elements to note:

  • The inclusion of dragons, in case you hadn’t noticed.
  • Dragon Shouts! Watch the gameplay video carefully- when the Dragonborn shouts, there’s an actual aura. Apparently it inflicts damage. KEWL
  • Real sneak attacks. We’re not talking robotically stabbing an enemy in the back and watching him groan and fall over like a felled tree- throat slices! Open-mouthed smile 

      Well, that’s all I have to gush about at the moment. Let’s all look forward to killing the Adoring Fan over and over! …Oh, and some dragons.

1 comment:

  1. You definitely highlighted all of the things I'm excited for in the new Oblivion game! Great post. :)

    ReplyDelete