Last game you played/bought + Rating [POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

[roza]

No issues yet what-so-ever. Other than my awful lack of playing. Everything seems fine (maybe the update did some major fixes)

[TwistedTinkerToy]

Skyrim

One of the Glitchiest fucking games ever, fucking seriously, the sound rips out, the physics break, the NPCs go through walls and other NPCs. I thought Bethesda will never go as bad as Fallout 3 but this might be one of the most broken games I have ever fucking played.

Fuck you Todd Howard, I hope you die a painful death.

This review is totally trust-worthy seeing as you have no biases towards Bethesda.

By the way, I've only encountered one glitch so far where I got stuck in a wall and had to reload. Other than that there have been no problems and the game itself is fantastic.

[mchapra]

This review is totally trust-worthy seeing as you have no biases towards Bethesda.

By the way, I've only encountered one glitch so far where I got stuck in a wall and had to reload. Other than that there have been no problems and the game itself is fantastic.

Pop in the unpatched PS3 version if you think I am wrong.

[super-mega-hyper-sonic]

Skyrim
9/10

It's not too often I sink 8 hours into a game the first day I bought it but this is one I did. Everything is amazing. The scenery is beautiful, The quests are fun and varied, Just roaming around is fun and the amount of content is staggering. The only thing keeping it from a 10 are some very minor glitches. For example, I saw a dog sitting on a fence and the horse physics...well if you played you know about the horse physics.

Also keep in mind this is pretty much my first RPG apart from Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts.

[sd1833]

Skyrim (first impressions) ... 8/10

I've accomplished very little, despite clocking in around 6-8 hours. The mag is staggering in size, which I assume explains the average visuals. The game, on a technical scale, is relatively unpolished. Character animations are as rigid and unnatural as they were in Oblivion, glitches and freezes are not absent (although scaled back thanks to the day 1 patch), and there are blurry textures galore. Thankfully, the game's bevy of content is more than enough to keep me occupied, and unlike Oblivion, I'm actually deeply interested in exploring every dungeon, fortress and town. They all feel unique from each other, like real time and effort was put into making sure they're more than just copy/paste jobs. The same goes for NPCs who, while still freakishly ugly, have a much more varied cast of voice actors and character models.

Combat, specifically archery and magicka, is massively improved over past entries, and feels like it's actually worth your time to improve in their respective proficiencies. Melee combat is still pretty tactic-less, aside from taking the stealthy route, but the more visceral and fast-paced action keeps things interesting. And dual wielding certainly helps too.

I've also found myself wasting away plenty of time looting caves and dungeons simply for ingredients in the many recipes ranging from cooking to weapon crafting. It's all surprisingly in-depth, and the options available both from the start and by way of proficiencies can make way for many hours wasted by the forge. And of course, learning enchantments only widens the scope of customization. It's one of the game's aspects I enjoy most, other than simply exploring Skyrim and becoming distracted for the hundredth time.

All in all, it's a flawed but still very enjoyable experience that I'm sure I'll be invested in for weeks to come.

Also keep in mind this is pretty much my first RPG apart from Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts.

You need to play more RPGs.

[mchapra]

SKYRIM REVIEW 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.

Ah yes, I will post another review about this thing because I was apparently playing the PS3 version, which is wrong and suicide. So here we are Bethesda's new jacking off simu- I mean RPG(And I do loosely use the term "RPG"), So after being treated to terrible bugs on the PS3 version I gave the PC version a try, and my my, First of all I'll be the first to point out that it is not on a new engine built from the ground up. They lied. Second of all, I find switching between items more of a hassle, the rest is great since they fired the three fucking people who voiced all of oblivion and they had the least diverse voices in the history of mankind. So I started of being executed for a crime that was not clear to me, something something crossing the borders. Then the game asked me to change my gender, race, date of birth and favorite brand of underwear before being taken to my death, I always found it weird that my gender, race and whatnot changed in front of the guards eyes and he non-nonchalantly shrugged it off like it happened every day, Identity theft must be a very literal thing in Tamriel. So after hearing some ominous roars I was brought to my doom, then the executioner realized that "Oh shit, you need to move the plot forward, don't you?" then a dragon appeared a second after that.

After that I have no Idea what happened, something something fire, I honestly didn't know what was going on until I was lead to a dungeon and fought of completely under-trained soldiers. After that I was free to move around where ever I wanted, Well atleast the landscape is interesting, oblivion took place in the same goddamn patch of woodlands repeated all over the map. I was sent to go to a place called "Riverwood" which is the common RPG village type thing, there I was set to meet some random guy I was fighting with's sister, who gave me a key to her house. I stole all they owned because I felt like a dick, then suddenly the guards were after me, so I had to spend time in a jail for a bit after that I went to Whiterun, another settlement where I informed the Jarl to "THE VILLAGE YOU OWN IS NEAR A DRAGONS NEST, YOU STUPID SHIT" then he sent a minuet amount of men, seeing how dragons kill npcs like how I get arrested for arson every week, I'd say that won't have a happy ending. Then later on I was sent to some mountain back at the same said village, there I fought some bandit type mooks and suddenly zombies. After that I heared a totally subtle viking chant and glowing words, it said I learned a new word or something. So I went back to the Jarl and he informed me that there is a dragon amiss, so I went with his men, whom I say are stupider than a dung beetle, when the dragon appears most of them charged at it and were completely useless to to the fight So I faced it my self using the tower for cover when it all went tits up, but no, one of my guard friends felt especially stupid that day and blocked the entrance and stood in the direct line of fire with the dragon. After a few load states later, I killed it and one of them mentioned that I am dragon born and use their power. GEE THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS. The AI in this game is pretty stupid, out side of cutscenes, that's what I am saying.

Skyrim is a good game, I'll probably mess around with it a bit more. And a bit after that, but it's not polished nor has it lived up to it's hype, my only complaint is that can these shouts be more useless? They are too inefficient to use in a fight. I'd give it a score with numbers but fuck numbers.

[Leegion]

MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS:

Biggest game of the year for me. A blockbuster of a buy, an epic 22 hours of gameplay capped off with a brilliant yet mind-altering finale that sets up the final one perfectly.

The idea behind the franchise has always coincided around the "Mayan 2012" prediction. Of how on December 21, 2012 the world will either be roasted, aliens will invade or something geological will happen and destroy the atmosphere.

Well, that's touched upon in Revelations, a lot. If you're going into this game expecting said revelations to be easily explained, or jumping into the franchise at this game, stop now because you're missing out on the storytelling of the franchise that has captivated me along with millions of other people for 5 years.

The truth is, ACR isn't just better than its predecessors, it exceeds them beyond anything you could possibly expect from an Assassin's Creed game.

The gameplay is smooth, the graphics are fully rendered with no pop-in issues unlike many open-world games and the story is the best the series had to offer.

What is it?

You follow in the footsteps of Altair collecting "memory cords" from around Constantinople, after finding these keys you unlock memory strands which allow you to travel back to the Third Crusade and play as Altair, the original protagonist from the first game.

Although, the memories will be more easily explained if you have played the entire series, but the writers do a good job of giving you the background here.

That's it.

Other than Desmond being locked inside of a room the entire game, nothing else is really speakable in this review mainly because I don't want to spoil anything.

The way the story ends for Altair and Ezio is perfect, it really captivates the appeal of the series and ends two brilliant characters in a way that no other franchise has ever done. We finally get answers to questions such as "Immortal".

All in all, a solid entry into the franchise and the best game to date.

Series rating:
Assassin's Creed - 8/10
Assassin's Creed 2 - 8.5/10
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - 9/10
Assassin's Creed: Revelations - 10/10
Assassin's Creed 3 - Pending.....

[sd1833]

Dark Souls proves a worthy follow-up to one of the best, most punishing RPGs of the generation. It has it's flaws, but in the end shines as a great example of an action RPG done right, striking a perfect balance between stats-based strategy and the reflexes needed to go toe to toe against the world's strongest and fastest.

Art direction is unsurprisingly strong, resulting in some of the most unique and well designed creatures in recent memory. Truly the minds at From Software are imaginative ones. This goes doubly for the environment, the atmosphere so tense, so thick you could cut it with a knife. The final stage in particular, although short, is a lovely sight to behold.

Dark Souls' world, like Boletaria before it, encapsulates the feeling of an oppressive world made to feed on your very tears and misery. Merciless, it's inhabitants allow little to no room for mistake, and you'll be punished for carelessness at a moment's notice. This difficultly is rarely seen in games anymore, is incredibly refreshing. The feeling of satisfaction is unparalleled as you finally overcome an obstacle you thought impossible. The bosses will likely crush you on your first try or five, but you'll feel like you really earned your victory when you finally stand over their corpse. In that sense the game is incredibly rewarding.

Mechanics are largely unchanged from Demon's Souls, but rather just refined. Controls are still tight, responsive and easy to pick up. Melee combat is face-paced and requires quick reflexes to survive. This fact makes melee-based boss fights incredibly intense affairs, you're adrenaline pumping between each sweeping attack and subsequent (possibly failed) dodge or block. Spellcasting still succumbs to the problem of being overpowered and unfair in certain PvE situations, specifically Pyromancy. Obviously, you'll be taking a risk if you focus on spellcasting almost exclusively, and certain bosses can destroy you without decent melee or defense proficiency to fall back on. Probably the most notable changes are the Humanity and Bonfires. It can be argued that the removal of stat-related penalties and world consistencies make Dark Souls the easier game, but this is entirely subjective. Bonfires and humanity should be used with care to avoid unnecessary troubles.

Farming is still very much a part of the game thanks to weapon and armor crafting, although rare drops aren't nearly as miraculous as they were in Demon's Souls, and most (if not all) powerful forging materials are guaranteed one without drops per playthrough. This makes the grind significantly less busywork and leaves more time to progress the campaign without impediment.

+ Tight, responsive controls are easy to pick up
+ Great balance between RPG, character development and intense combat requiring real skill and quick reflexes
+ Brutally difficult and incredibly rewarding
+ Loads of content for completionists
+ Dark, atmospheric world keeps you on edge at all times
+ Farming isn't nearly as depressing

- Framerate is known to drop from time to time; consistently throughout Blighttown.
- AI is inexplicably retarded sometimes
- Difficulty could turn off some players
- Mosquitoes

9.5 | A fantastic game despite it's few flaws, and easily my favorite game of 2011.

[Scorpion Soldier]

MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS:

Biggest game of the year for me. A blockbuster of a buy, an epic 22 hours of gameplay capped off with a brilliant yet mind-altering finale that sets up the final one perfectly.

The idea behind the franchise has always coincided around the "Mayan 2012" prediction. Of how on December 21, 2012 the world will either be roasted, aliens will invade or something geological will happen and destroy the atmosphere.

Well, that's touched upon in Revelations, a lot. If you're going into this game expecting said revelations to be easily explained, or jumping into the franchise at this game, stop now because you're missing out on the storytelling of the franchise that has captivated me along with millions of other people for 5 years.

The truth is, ACR isn't just better than its predecessors, it exceeds them beyond anything you could possibly expect from an Assassin's Creed game.

The gameplay is smooth, the graphics are fully rendered with no pop-in issues unlike many open-world games and the story is the best the series had to offer.

What is it?

You follow in the footsteps of Altair collecting "memory cords" from around Constantinople, after finding these keys you unlock memory strands which allow you to travel back to the Third Crusade and play as Altair, the original protagonist from the first game.

Although, the memories will be more easily explained if you have played the entire series, but the writers do a good job of giving you the background here.

That's it.

Other than Desmond being locked inside of a room the entire game, nothing else is really speakable in this review mainly because I don't want to spoil anything.

The way the story ends for Altair and Ezio is perfect, it really captivates the appeal of the series and ends two brilliant characters in a way that no other franchise has ever done. We finally get answers to questions such as "Immortal".

All in all, a solid entry into the franchise and the best game to date.

Series rating:
Assassin's Creed - 8/10
Assassin's Creed 2 - 8.5/10
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - 9/10
Assassin's Creed: Revelations - 10/10
Assassin's Creed 3 - Pending.....

I was going to write my review, but this review really sums my thoughts up perfectly. The Altair/Ezio dynamic was just perfect. It's easily me new favorite installment in the franchise. Plus watching AC: Embers after it really makes it feel even more complete in my opinion.

The only thing though was that i really wanted to see more about Altair's life, what he did in the meantime. I mean we know, but his character had so much more depth this time around. Ubisoft really did a great job with Altair's and Ezio's stories, they really sucked you in to their history and make you care about the characters, especially at the end. They really go through so much, and in my book making you emote in reaction to this is a good way of storytelling.

[Daemon]

The Binding of Isaac

If I had to describe The Binding of Isaac in a single word, it would be: Disturbing. A mixture of cute and horrifying monsters explode into obscenely large puddles of blood and most of the monsters themselves are grotesque and creepy, from tapeworm-looking creatures to large-headed zombies missing their eyeballs. The game itself is difficult, sometimes due to the unforgiving gameplay to the pretty bad item spawning. In one dungeon I was unable to receive any special items for three floors due to zero keys spawning.

+ Great art style, Team Meat really has a good thing going.
+ Disturbing, in a good way. Reminds me of Tim Burton on steroids.

- Occasionally unfair item spawning.
- A bit too much gore for me.

8/10


Splinter Cell: Conviction

I have a love/hate relationship with this game. The older Splinter Cell games are so much better, but the Deniable Ops and Co-op modes in this game are great. Most of my dislike for this game is for the campaign. Stealth is put on the back burner significantly when compared to older Splinter Cell games. It's also much easier. On the other hand, the Deniable Ops missions are just as difficult, if not harder than the original games.

+ Deniable Ops. This should be the entire game.
+ The entire original voice cast returns. Impressive.
+ The soundtrack. Sounds very similar to Jesper Kyd's work on Assassin's Creed II and Brotherhood. I was surprised to see that he was not involved with the music process.

- Enemies are very vocal, and annoying. Constantly spilling out insults. Gets old very fast.
- Campaign. *Sadface*
- I'm not a fan of seeing the nice environments and graphics constantly in black-and-white. The color change is used a bit too often.

6/10 for Campaign
8.5/10 for Deniable Ops/Co-op


Payday: The Heist

Worth the ten bucks I payed, and probably worth the normal twenty dollar price point. All six heists have a nice variety, and the shooting is pretty good, though not as tight as other shooters I've played. The high point of this game is the multiplayer. In single-player, you're stuck with the often incompetent AI teammates. I died once because my teammates ignored me and I bled out. The game is also extremely difficult even on Easy. Unfortunately you must play on Hard to play all six heists, which is an...interesting choice made by the developer.

+ Decent graphics. Looks good.
+ Good variety and immense replay value.
+ Excellent multiplayer, something I don't say often.

- Piss-poor voice acting. I mean, really really low quality. Everyone sounds really generic.
- Unrelenting difficulty. There's a difference between challenging and unfair. This game is the latter.

8.5/10


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Probably my most anticipated game of all time. I am not disappointed. Graphics are great, gameplay is solid, and there are endless things to do. This game will last you months upon months. I've also notice for a Bethesda game, it's quite low in the number of bugs. The worst bug I got was easily fixed by loading the last autosave. At most I lost about ten minutes of gameplay. Leveling and scaling is mostly fixed from Oblivion, and the voice acting and animation is a major step-up. Not to mention the Argonians and Khajiit look like beast-people instead of animal suits, the humans have a distinct look between races, the elves don't look cartoon characters, there is a difference between young and old people, and the women look like women instead of muppets.

+ Almost endless things to do.
+ Gorgeous graphics. Not the best, but better than any Bethesda has done before.
+ I actually want to raise all my skills to 100. The perk system is great.
+ Attractive looking NPCs as opposed to deformed muppets.
+ Improved horse and NPC animations.
+ Sheogorath.

- There's still bugs.
- There's still awkward random dialogue. When following a woman to a dungeon she was leading me to, she stopped midway, turned around to face me, and told me about random gossip several times.
- Still no horseback combat. WTF Bethesda.

9/10


Deus Ex: Human Revolution

My personal Game of the Year. Absolutely amazing in every way. It has a strong and attractive art style, above-average voice acting, and tight, responisve gameplay. The story is also great, but not perfect. The game allows you to complete every objective however you want. Stealth, combat, a mix of both. The game inspires multiple playthroughs and doesn't make it boring. The open-world cities between story missions are fun to explore, and the many side-quests don't feel like side-quests, they feel like full-fledged missions. Not only is the game very long, it's also addicting. In fact, I want to go play this game right now.

+ Art style is great.
+ The score is also fantastic. One of the better ones this year, along with Skyrim and AC:R.
+ Freedom of choice. Stealth, combat, or a mix.
+ Upgrading Adam's augmentations is a very enjoyable metagame.
+ Side missions.

- Boss fights. Mildly boring and frustrating.
- Some voice acting is pretty bad. Looking at you, Adam "Christian Bale's Batman" Jensen.

9.5/10
Daemon's GOTY Award

tl:dr - Liked Binding of Isaac, liked Splinter Cell, really liked Payday, loved Skyrim, Deus Ex is GOTY.

[Rex_the_dinosoar]

Call of Duty: Finest Hour - 7.2/10 - I'm not much of a Call of Duty fan. Sort of hard to play. It was alright though.

[sd1833]

8.5/10

Alice: Madness Returns, American McGee's followup to his first and arguably best game, continues the dark and twisted take on Lewis Caroll's already twisted tale. It's a visually mesmerizing adventure, and a lengthy one at that. Clocking in at around 15-20 hours, Alice goes above and beyond what's expected and accepted of games these days, and does it's best to keep things varied and fresh. For the most part, it succeeds, and I found myself rarely becoming bored and disinterested in the fantastical world around me. There are cases of repetition, yes, but they're prominently found within the game's combat sections and oddly random mini-games. Fortunately, Madness Returns can be rightfully considered a platformer before an action title.

Gameplay is very traditional in the nature of platforming, and could be considered as a harken back to the days of gaming when the original Alice was still in it's prime. It's a breath of both fresh air and nostalgic familiarity, a platformer you don't see exceedingly often these days. Better yet, Madness Returns doesn't fall prey to the issues that tend to plague modern platformers. Namely, it has tight and responsive controls and a decent camera system. The triple-jump mechanic is a nice feature without making things too easy. There are plenty of times you'll have to be quick on your feet with precision and timing to survive, but never to the point of frustration. Combat is simple; while you might expect something akin to God of War - bloody violence, hack n' slash appearance - it's more Zelda than anything else. Combos are essentially nonexistent, leaving you to utilize Alice's various gadgetry in place of complex button memorization. This makes combat easier to pick up, but also leaves room for much repetition. Couple this in with the Nightmare difficulty and some seriously annoying enemy types, and you'll be find yourself wanting something with a little more substance.

AMR does try to mix things up with various mini-games scattered about the story, but they're far and few in between, and usually don't develop beyond a few sections before the chapter's over. More often than not, they're simple distractions and not natural extensions of the gameplay. Most of them feel out of place, and while they do break up the action, they do little more.

Graphically, Madness Returns is a beauty. McGee's imaginative mind is at it's strongest when working in coalition with Wonderland. On a technical level, the game has it's fair share of blurry textures (some not even suitable for last generation), but it's usually consistent in looking damn good. The artistic direction is simply phenomenal, resulting in varied landscapes from the brightest, loveliest skies to the darkest, deadliest depths. The chapters reflect the story fluidly; Chapter 1 clearly representing Alice's return to her paradise, Wonderland, the vibrant colors and flourishing wild life representing this perfectly. With each passing chapter, Wonderland becomes noticeable decayed alongside Alice's own mind, culminating with the totally unnerving, sometimes disturbing Dollhouse (chapter 5). While I actually think McGee could have pushed it much further than he did, it does it's job in a suitably creepy fashion.

The story is a fun, sometimes confusing and frequently dark treat. Collectibles serve a role larger than simple bragging rights, with memories Alice finds throughout Wonderland giving insight to her life after the fire, a plot twist or two, and the eventual revelation of what really happened on the day of her family's death. These specific memories, and the majority of the cutscenes in general, unfold almost like a paper puppet show. It's a memorable and fun way to present the story, giving off a distinct charm no matter what's being depited , and is possibly the most visually pleasing aspect of the game. The voice cast should also gain props for bringing the story to life, and while a number of the characters come and go with little development, they each deliver strong performances that do well pulling you into the story. My only real gripe was with the ending, something I felt was resolved too quickly and abruptly to be satisfying.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up Alice: Madness Returns, but it certainly wasn't anything as good as what I got. A sleeper hit for sure, and possibly one of the most underrated titles to come out of 2011. I'd easily recommend this to anyone.

+ Fantastic art direction, in-game and out
+ Old school gameplay, platforming
+ Quirky, twisted, entertaining plot and characters
+ Collectibles that actually serve a purpose
+ Lengthy playtime

- Combat is pretty shallow
- Some mind-blowingly blurry textures
- Ending could have been better

Huh, that was a pretty large post.

[darthnater]

Skyrim: 9.25/10
Sorry, but WAY too many bugs.

BioShock 2: 8.75/10
For some reason I didn't like it as much as the first.

Portal: 10/10
Pure gold

Final Fantasy V (PSX): 8.5/10
It loads really, really slow.

Final Fantasy XII: 9.75/10
The only thing holding back is, quote, "He looks like a male stripper." Hey! I didn't say it!

Persona 4: 10/10
It starts really slow but when it picks up the pace it's out of there. Probably one of the best damn RPGs ever.

[Daemon]

The first game in what has become one of my favorite series ever. The story, missions, and combat system are the weakest in the main series. The first two thirds of the game are impressive. Beautiful environments, unique gameplay, and a fantastic score. In the last third of the game, the repetitiveness sinks in and finishes the game on a sour note.

+ Beautiful environments. Extremely detailed and gorgeous.
+ The score. Kyd's weakest score but still amazing.
+ For the most part, the voice acting is enjoyable.

- Very repetitive. There's only about six mission types.
- Many, many graphical glitches. Mostly hands going through characters faces, guards sinking through the ground, etc.

8/10


Assassin's Creed Bloodlines

Urgh. Where do I begin? The terrible voice acting, lack of any kind of story, painful control scheme, or even more repetitive missions copied from AC1? Dreadful. The only positive I can think of is that the graphics are impressive for a handheld game.

+ Good graphics for a PSP game.

- Piss-poor voice acting. If I'm in the Middle-east, why does everyone sound American?
- Controls. The PSP is not suited for this kind of game.
- For a series revolved around a deep and compelling story, there sure isn't one here.

4.5/10



My opinion may not agree with any other gamer on the planet, but Assassin's Creed II is the best game of this generation. I simply cannot think of a current-generation game I've enjoyed more than this masterpiece. Character models are iffy, but again the environments are gorgeous, especially the water. The voice acting is top notch, from present-day to Renaissance characters. The story is the best in the series. It's pretty incredible to watch Ezio go from a troublemaking young noble to a wise, old assassin. Jesper Kyd continues to impress with the score.

+ Jesper Kyd's score. Incredible.
+ The story and development of the character of Ezio are compelling and memorable.
+ Environments continue to be beautiful.
+ Improved combat system and significantly less repetitive missions.

- Character models sometimes look strange and wonky.

10/10



An improvement from ACII in many ways and a downgrade in others. The story is significantly worse and the length of the game is much shorter. Even though it's a good game, it feels like filler. The score is Jesper Kyd's best work to date, and the voice acting is essentially the same as ACII. The character models start looking like people now, and the environments keep improving. The combat system is improved again. The multiplayer is surprisingly fun, but many players don't play by the "rules".

+ Amazing environments and the characters look better.
+ Good voice acting, again.
+ One of the best scores.
+ Building the Assassin order and leveling up recruits is a fun metagame.

+/- Multiplayer. It's a great concept and fun when it works, but too many players rush around on rooftops instead of playing stealthily.

- Too short. It's maybe half as long as ACII. I can only assume this is due to the fact that multiplayer was included.
- The story is kind of bland. It feels like filler and feels skippable. There's no major plot advancements except for Desmond.

9/10

[sd1833]

6.5-7.5/10

Gameplay remains in traditional Elder Scrolls fashion, so you should known the basic gist. Combat has been improved over Oblivion in a few ways, namely the archery being actually worth a damn, and melee combat not becoming stale within the first five minutes. While strategy still never evolves beyond, A) having higher stats than your enemy, and B) waving your arms in the direction of said enemy until they fall over, making contact at least feels more visceral and real. Dual-welding is fast and intense while the slow, lumbering weight of a two-handed weapon is felt as you smash in an enemy's face with your warhammer. The leveling system is versatile, in that you're rewarded for whatever playstyle you desire to choose. Being kept from locking into one class and sticking with it until the end is great, allowing you to switch playstyles without being completely gimped. I started the game going for a more straightforward, hack n' slash method, but have since changed to a silent, stealthy type without a hitch. I'm also glad that Bethesda realized that going to sleep to level up was completely asinine.

Difficulty-wise, Skyrim is a bit of a mixed bag. I play on Expert, and can breeze through most fights without putting much effort forth. Dragons become annoying distractions rather than the epic encounters as they were hyped up to be. Anything beneath those flying reptilians, I'm dropping in 1-2 hits from my dual Legendary Deadric swords. But then, out of nowhere, a Falmer can walk up to me and deplete my entire health bar in 2-3 hits. And it's only ever Falmer. Why or how these ugly little bastards are so strong while dragons have to hide on rooftops spamming fire breath just to stand a chance is beyond me.

One problem with the game design I'm trying to deal with lies with the quest structure, and Bethesda's take on "freedom". Put bluntly, this game makes it really damn hard for completionists to be good. Nay, scratch that, it makes it impossible. A number of quests revolving around questionable moral and ethical issues arise throughout the game tend to only have one path and one outcome, forcing me to either begrudgingly yet blindly follow criminals and killers with no sense of free will, or just leave it in my quest log to get around to later. At one point, I was asked to investigate a disturbed tomb, and found the source of disturbance to be a cannibal. This cannibal just happens to matter-of-factually tell me that I'm apparently a cannibal too, and that I should join her Cannibal Best Friends Group. Upon denying her request, I was ready to head back to the original quest giver and tell him about the cannibal, maybe even get the city guard involved and help bring the clan down. Instead, my only option was to outright lie to the man, saying the situation with the tomb was all fine, and then join the cannibals in time for dinner. Sure, I can choose to kill them outside the restrictions of the quest, but there's absolutely no consequence for doing this other than that I won't be able to finish that specific quest. And then there's that one "haunted house" quest in Markarth, of which left me so infuriated I simply stopped outright and it's been sitting in my questlog ever since, and it pisses me right the hell off. These are just two examples. The thing is, Bethesda clearly shows they're capable of making a coherent, interesting story that allows the player both moral choices. Infinite choices are impossible and obviously not needed, but something beyond simply being evil or ignoring the issue altogether should be present. While I understand that not all RPGs have to conform to a specific formula, in a game like Skyrim that boasts of it's open world and freedom of choice, I'd argue that this quest railroading goes against what the game is trying to be.

On the subject of presentation, graphically, the game has it's moments of grandeur, but ultimately isn't going to break any records. This can be forgiven due to the sheer scale of Skyrim, which is massive. On top of that, the quality art direction is apparent as you peer down on the world below, high atop a mountain, or simply the architecturally inspired designs of cities and caves alike. Character animations are still inhuman at best and downright disturbing at worst. Facial modelling is improved though, and characters no longer stand two inches from your face, staring at you with dead, soulless eyes. Voice acting is more diverse; now we have ten actors instead of two. In all seriousness, while there are still plenty of characters talking to themselves, and I can't tell you how many guards sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger, it's refreshing to hear the essential characters speaking with unique voices.

And now... this game, or at least my copy of the game, is broken. Beyond broken. Since the last patch, I've counted at least 25-30 crashes. I can't buy a house in Markarth. Quest kill targets' corpses have disappeared before I can loot essential items. Completed quests remain unfinished in log. Framerate drops persist in towns and combat, but take slightly longer to occur. I've died with no discernible cause around three or four times (running too fast?). NPCs walk through walls, fall through floors. Dragons fly backwards and get stuck in mountains. I can't interact with household items including my bookshelf and weapon rack, essentially the making the items I've stored useless. Attack and Shout controls becoming unresponsive, forcing me to retreat from combat. My character has gotten stuck in weapon change animation, forcing me to change to something else. Dual wielded weapons vanish from Favorites menu, forcing me to find a workaround. There are probably more, but you get the idea.

I could add more, but I think I'm just dragging this out. The main points have been covered, so there's no need to continue.

+ Lovely art direction gives way for some "wow" moments
+ Facial models no longer induce vomiting
+ The main plot is interesting, engrossing
+ Staggering amount of content
+ Leveling system is versatile and user friendly

- Broken beyond all human comprehension
- Character animations still induce vomiting
- Quest railroading restricts player choice
- Difficulty lacks a middle ground between laughable and maddening
- Giant spiders

[Daemon]

Even if it functioned as it should, you'd only give it a 7.5?

[sd1833]

Even if it functioned as it should, you'd only give it a 7.5?

7.5 is a good score. I suppose if the game were glitch-free, I could see giving it an 8/10, but I don't look at numbered ratings the same way a lot of people tend to, including professional critics. The 1-10 scale is usually skewed to more of a 7-10 scale, with 7 equaling a bad score despite, in reality, being well above average.

[Strike the Wolf]

+ Awesome story campaing
+ New guns
+ Call of Duty: Elite
+ Special Ops Survival

- Same engine
- Multiplayer
- Ending is cool but questionable

Overall: 7.8/10

[deiviuxs]

Skyrim might be glitchy but you need to take it's size into consideration. Such HUGE game will definitely have glitches, it's impossible for Bethesda to find and fix all of the shenanigans before launch.

[sd1833]

Skyrim might be glitchy but you need to take it's size into consideration. Such HUGE game will definitely have glitches, it's impossible for Bethesda to find and fix all of the shenanigans before launch.

I know this. I don't expect a perfectly smooth, glitch-free experience, but Bethesda have a reputation for broken games and Skyrim tops them all. The explorable world may be large, but that does not excuse the condition of the game (specifically the PS3 version, but I'm sure the others aren't faultless). And it especially doesn't excuse the game inexplicably degrading in quality after the patch was released.