In a word: Wow. Before E3 started you voted The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim your most anticipated game of the show. Having seen the very first demo after the doors opened, we can now confirm that the boys and girls at Bethesda's have not let you down.
It's an incredible game - beautiful and vast, yet significantly more accessible than Oblivion - and if it doesn't win a ton of awards we'll eat our own horse armour. Here's everything you need to know...
The demo kicks off with game director Todd Howard revealing that Bethesda had kicked around the idea of waiting for PS4 and Xbox 720 to do Skyrim. "When we started we looked at possibly going to the next-gen consoles whenever they might come," he explains. "But coming off the back of Fallout III we knew that we had a really long list of things that we knew we could do on the current generation."
The first thing we're shown is one of those signature Bethesda moments in which the hero (they aren't talking character generation specifics yet) steps out into the light and surveys an incredible open-world panorama. Skyrim is the northernmost province of Tamriel, with a chilly Nordic flavour to it. "Our goal is to create the biggest, craziest fantasy world that we could imagine," says Howard. "And we're all about the little details, from plants with full shadows to big macro detail like a mountain in the distance you can walk up to and climb."
Which later on is exactly what we do, and as the snow starts to fall, Howard explains how the weather changes are entirely dynamic. Everywhere you look there's fine detail, like the glowing corona of light on the tip of a mage's staff. And you really can see for miles. For that you can thank the new graphics engine, which like all of the gameplay, has been completely rewritten since Fallout III.
"I think when a lot of people go into engine development they try to figure out how to not draw things," says Howard, "whereas we go in assuming we're going to draw everything." It's also the richest, most colourful world the team has created yet. "Coming off the back of Fallout III all our artists were excited to be able to use the green channel again," jokes Howard.
It's all about how you use your handsThe fundamental decision to make at any time during Skyrim is what to stick in your hands. In this Xbox 360 demo the right stick controls whatever you've placed in your right hand - which could be a sword, a shield, a spell, a staff etc - while the left hand does likewise. Put the same spell in both hands and you double its power. Or you could wade in with a fancy Elven glass sword in one fist and a meaty dwarven axe in the other.
During the section set in Bleakfalls Barrow we come up against a bunch of coffin dodgers. They get dealt with by casting Circle Of Protection in one hand (the zombies like that about as much as cats being tossed into the bath) and Chain Lightning, which does exactly what it says on the magical tin.
Comments
31 comments so far...
BOYD1981 on 8 Jun '11 said:
It makes chains lighter?
But seriously, it does look and sound seriously good, maybe I should actually get round to actually finishing (starting) Oblivion.
weejocky on 8 Jun '11 said:
The one thing that keeps jumping out at me is how the companion guild sounds like a guild for 'women of the night' rather than warriors
Felly117 on 8 Jun '11 said:
I really can not wait for this game to come out. I loved morrowind and oblivion and seeing these screenshots makes me want to quit my job and just take a gap year playing this.
Mark240473 on 8 Jun '11 said:
If it's as good as Oblivion, then I don't have a problem with it being earmarked as GOTY. It really does look special.
I'm just p**sed that it comes out around the same time as both Uncharted 3 and MW3. Three potential GOTY candidates in the space of a couple of week.....
GTCzeero on 8 Jun '11 said:
I hereby dub Skyrim my personal "Greatest thing at E3." Absolutely cannot wait.
metallicorphan on 8 Jun '11 said:
looks amazing,and i am fine with the November release date,as this is first on my list
..its the other games that can move
300+hrs???..oh god
the two videos on Kotaku are something special,with all 360 footage
7 minutes of gameplay
http://kotaku.com/5809155/nothing-but-seven-minutes-of-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gameplay
13 minutes of gameplay
http://kotaku.com/5809807/nothing-but-thirteen-minutes-of-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gameplay
both videos show different things
boskersrevenge on 8 Jun '11 said:
My concerns about the combat have quickly dwindled. What's been shown so far has really put my faith in that the devs have worked hard on that aspect.
Depending on where I am at with games, this may well be a rare time I pay full price.
gillri on 8 Jun '11 said:
either this BF3 or uncharted 3 for GOTY
freds1 on 8 Jun '11 said:
Stoked. I love the summer months but, they are in the way of this game.
rjdjones on 8 Jun '11 said:
Don't worry, at some point over the next few months there will be a "delay" on one or two of the other games. Typical SOP - set a date, build up people's hopes and then when the companies realise people might only have the cash for 1 or 2 of the releases they'll make you wait even longer for it.
TimHotston on 8 Jun '11 said:
metallicorphan
God bless you for those links!
It will be MY game of the year, for sure, no other game comes close to making me want to run into the woods with a toy weapon and chase animals. My biggest gripe is that I may not be able to play it for a while after it comes out.............
krazykunal85 on 8 Jun '11 said:
WOW! This is a HOTTT game! Can't wait.
Vampyre on 8 Jun '11 said:
Watching Firefly recently?
humanhand on 8 Jun '11 said:
As soon as I finish Uncharted I'm picking this up. As well, I'm glad about the refined combat, honestly looks to be taken to a whole nuther level well beyond the simple slashing of Oblivion. And the new engine that it's running on. It always bothered me that in the third person view in Oblivion the charter never really turned, he would be facing forward stiff as a rock, but moving all directions like that. As soon as I saw that in Fallout 3 I sold the game. That and I have something against Liam Neeson. Really looking forward to this game.
dragonjim on 8 Jun '11 said:
I can't see where the idea that Battlefield 3 is going to be GOTY is coming from. This looks a million times better.
STEVONYMO on 8 Jun '11 said:
Oh feck I'm going to get in trouble again once this is out...Honey do you want some tea? Ugh...honey do you want to go upstairs? Ugh
SkyBlueJukeBox on 8 Jun '11 said:
So long as they can manage to reduce the number of bugs in the final build (the head glitch really annoyed me about New Vegas), then this could be a runner for one of the best games of all time!!
lonewolf2002 on 8 Jun '11 said:
I'm calling this my GOTY (taking nothing away from the quality of the other top notch titles released this year just a perference) just watched the interview/demo on GT.com and the dragons etc are not scripted, in the GT demo the dragon grabs the giant and just throws him god knows where then proceeds to attack you. Loved oblivion and this is looking equally as good if not better (gameplay wise).
flash501 on 8 Jun '11 said:
Nothing else will come close to Skyrim this year IMO. That Storm Call spell looked absolutely breathtaking.
xoastro on 9 Jun '11 said:
This makes me moist ! Yes this game turns me on, It arouses me in ways I never thought possible. I love the Elder Scrolls Series (Yes even Arena) and when I first heard about this game it made me so happy. I love this and I don't care who knows it. Of course it's game of the year there is no other game available from this falls AAA Titles that can touch this. To Hell with Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Saints Row 3 and all the other uninspiring garbage that is shoved down our throats year after year. God Bless Todd Howard, Ashley Cheng,Guy Carver, Craig Walton, Tim Lamb and the rest of the good folks on the Skyrim Team.
PandyBear on 9 Jun '11 said:
My panties. They are stained
laminated0 on 9 Jun '11 said:
This looks amazing.
almanac2015 on 9 Jun '11 said:
Epic. I may have to go cry now.
flash501 on 9 Jun '11 said:
I cry every time I remember that I have to wait 5 whole months for this.
*Puts on dramatic voice* WHYYYYY???
jon2mil on 9 Jun '11 said:
8=====>---o:
liveswired on 10 Jun '11 said:
For such scale it looks absolutely mesmerizing
cvgreader on 10 Jun '11 said:
How will this game fit on Xbox360 with so much content?
The voice acting alone sounds like it will take a lot of space.
lonewolf2002 on 10 Jun '11 said:
Like any other big game with dialogue, multiple discs obviously.
Dapz on 15 Jun '11 said:
You know a game's going to be good when it has you wishing away the summer holidays! Oblivion is one of my favorite 360 games and it ate about 80 hours of my life, but I have a feeling that revisiting it after playing this will make it literally unplayable!
IroNick on 29 Jun '11 said:
boskersrevenge on 29 Jun '11 said:
Oddly self serving but after reading this again I think I will have to wait, play Skyward Sword first and then graze lusciously on this.