Review of the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from alanpoe's blog

Snow on the monitor and outside the window. Skyrim was lucky not only with the stylish 11-11-11 release date, but also with the weather, at least in the suburbs. Only one annoying trifle spoils the climatic harmony - on Earth, unlike Tamriel, dragons do not fly.

There in the north

The province of Skyrim wins the heart at first sight. Harsh polar panoramas are not unusual in RPGs, but they are usually served as part of a standard layer cake of green oaks, deserts and tropical beaches. Here - Scandinavian beauty and nothing more. Tall mountains with white glacier caps, gigantic ruins, sparse forests with yellowed birches and lava fields overgrown with brown grass. On clear nights, the northern lights shimmer in the sky, and if nature gets angry and sends a snowstorm, the area is covered with procedural, almost real snow. The music of Jeremy Soul fits perfectly on the picture, as if he remembered that he once wrote melodies for the congenial Icewind Dale.

Hide from the weather in some dungeon, and your eyes will see a spectacle that is in no way inferior to landscapes. Viking tombs with carved ornaments on stone, the golden splendor of Dwemer settlements, ancient temples shrouded in an ominous dove-gray haze... Perhaps the artists of Bethesda have never painted so atmospherically.

Of course, sooner or later, angry Nordic skeletons surrounded by pot-bellied urns will stand across the throat, but this sad moment will not come soon. Skyrim captivates with openness and, like a shock opening theme, calls for adventure. The absurd "autoleveling" of enemies and trophies that poisoned Oblivion to the marrow has been minimized. The authors deftly balance between common sense and the desire to challenge the player. Many areas are safe for beginners, but caves with especially expensive stuff or giants guarding mammoth pastures will knock you off your feet. Take note of the impudent ones, so that later you can return and certainly fight back.

Travelers' club

Actually, fantasy tourism has always been the main entertainment in The Elder Scrolls. Citizens who come for a rich story, I advise you to direct your stops to The Witcher 2 or Dragon Age 2. With the storytelling, TES has troubles from birth - as in the previous parts, the chain of main quests is short and dull. Don't expect colorful NPCs, engaging conversations, and lots of fateful branches. The wanderings of the “Dovakin” hero, whose goal is to destroy the dragon Alduin, who brings death to all living things, will end without leaving bright moments in his memory.

Therefore, it is better to quickly skip through half a dozen starting quests, learn "shouts" (spells in the dragon dialect: spit fire, freeze, telekinesis, a teaser that distracts enemies ...) and immediately dive into the depths of the side quests. Fortunately, there is where to go: four guilds (mercenaries, mages, thieves, assassins) with large "lines" of missions, detective investigations in nine cities, assignments from local residents, dangerous but profitable work running errands for capricious Daedra, participation in the civil war on the side Empires or separatists led by the regicide Ulfric... Phew!

It's amazing how Bethesda manages to bleed plot polymers over and over again in such a rich universe. The threepenny directing of key scripted scenes is painful to watch, and episodes that Obsidian or BioWare would turn into spectacular drama are derailed. Take at least the peace negotiations between the Imperials and the fighters for the independence of Skyrim, where our ward acts as an arbitrator. A good opportunity to hone the skill of persuasion! But no, everything is reduced to a toothless division of capitals.

Smoked scrolls

In general, as usual, extracurricular activities are much more cheerful than those offered by the script. There are hot political strife, espionage passions, and moral dilemmas ... Yes, and valuable goods - powerful weapons and armor, unique talents (werewolves! ghostly killers!), High-impact horses with flaming eyes - they give out just for them. Well, to make the music last forever, the game comes up with random missions on the fly, using a bunch of ready-made templates like “kill <name> in <location>”. These "radiant quests" are actually almost 20 years old - they were thrown back in Daggerfall. Only there is nothing to motivate for RND()-feats. A hero whose pockets are already swelling with gold doesn't need a tip, and there are no Munchkin joys like experience in The Elder Scrolls.

There isn't much here at all these days. Basic stats have been simplified to health, energy and mana indicators. Forget about strength, endurance, intelligence and other parameters of the role-playing system, forget about classes. Secondary talents (running, jumping and others like them) are cut to the root, the survivors are divided into three categories: military, thieves and witchcraft. As expected in TES, the more often we use the ability, the better we own it. True, each now has a modest bush with "perks" that give different bonuses. Open them, of course, not immediately, but in the course of development. If you want, for example, to stun opponents with a shield, take the trouble to increase “Block” to 30.

Otherwise, Morrowind and Oblivion veterans will feel right at home. For those who want to know what happened to alchemy, enchantment, blacksmithing and a good dozen familiar elements, I recommend an overview of game mechanics on our Tamriel Chronicles. By the way, purists who despised TES 4 for quest GPS markers and instant travel around the map can grab their pitchforks again. However, someone is surely sculpting a "hardcore" mod for the most stubborn fans. Look, the Creation Kit is not available, and enthusiasts have already screwed a semblance of Google Street View to Skyrim.

It is a pity that the design of dungeons cannot be cured with patches. Having solved the problem with monotony and "copy/paste", the developers called out another trouble - "Call of Duty syndrome". Whatever the crypt, the rectum with short lateral processes. Truly multi-tiered maps do not exist. You can’t get lost in these one and a half pines, even if you suffer from topographic cretinism since childhood. You know, Bethesda believes that the modern public will boil their brains from a normal maze. Yes, and from puzzles too, otherwise why hang the answer on the wall next to the problem?

“Here again, Moscow lost its head”

Bethesda, like BioWare, resembles a gardener who cuts dead branches from an apple tree every autumn and does not plant young ones. Daggerfall - Morrowind - Oblivion - Skyrim. The prettier the wrapper, the simpler the ideological content. Well, they took down the nightmarish Oblivion portals, replaced them with winged reptiles. Creatures inspire fear both in appearance and screams, circling predatory over the plains, searing the skins of stray bears, but after landing they die in a matter of seconds. Moreover, it is not only our Dovakin who is quick to punish, but also a caudle of ordinary guards with flimsy bows (and we stand at a distance and absorb dragon souls).

There are also a lot of old birth pains. Clumsy "stealth" is again experiencing patience. The characters shine with patent leather and move as if they are on a diet of aspen stakes. Close combat, despite the brutal finishing a la Fallout 3, is still sketchy. Physics brings wild curiosities - type in YouTube "skyrim basket" or "skyrim glitches" and get ready to laugh until you drop. It’s also amusing that under the “new engine” Creation Engine, a retired Gamebryo is hiding - grandfather just got a couple of facelifts.

Although the interface should not be touched. Although he is a kilometer taller than the ugly Pip-Boy 3000 in Skyrim, I really want to meet the creators of this miracle and ask what (and what) they were thinking. Why, looking into the backpack, every time I have to scroll through the category column in order to pull it out on the screen in its entirety? Why is there so much space reserved for 3D models and mean descriptions of belongings? Maybe we should expand the second column with the names of things and add icons? Who forced us to rush through the lists of weapons and accessories in search of what is worn on the avatar? How did information about diseases and other status effects end up in the "Magic" section? Check скайрим моды at this source.

The PC version adds fuel to the fire of irritation. The cursor in a strange way "misses" past the desired line in the dialog and falls into the next one. “Hot” keys 1-8 can only be fixed through the console system of “favorite items”: in order for a blade or spell to be registered in the quick selection menu, they must first be selected by pressing F. And to directly from the inventory - shish. It's time to demand compensation for the inconvenience - clear textures, honest shadows, DX11 goodies ... Alas, the latest waves of technological progress have not reached Tamriel. Probably next time?

Until then, we have Skyrim, which will take dozens of hours to walk around. Full of flaws and broken hopes, like any Bethesda game, but at the same time enticing and interesting. Wait for a couple of patches, download the most useful mods, tighten the screws in SkyrimPrefs.ini, and the virtual Christmas holiday is guaranteed.

Support for NVIDIA 3D Vision technology: 7 out of 10

As of this writing, Skyrim only officially supports the 3D Vision beta driver. And, although the game is rated "Excellent" in it, the shortcomings literally blind the eyes. Or rather, one, but bright - any luminous objects: candles, reflection on armor, etc. palpably double. This is especially noticeable in dungeons. In addition, in stereo mode, the rendering speed significantly “sags”. It is necessary either to take a second card for SLI, or to strangle the video toad in yourself and lower the quality in the graphic settings. Technology testing equipment provided by NVIDIA.

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