Video Game Review: Skyrim

This is my first written video game review.  I am not sure how often I might do this since I very rarely get new games, but I thought I would give it a try.  I purchased the game on Friday and have about 6 hours played so far, so this will be my initial thoughts on the game.

First I want to say that I was impressed that my first generation XBox 360 was able to handle the game.  I have heard that if you have not received the "red ring of death" yet, the newer games will almost guarantee that it will happen. So far so good.  Let's just hope I did not jinx it when I try to play again later today.

The game began much as I expected.  There was some good story telling and dialog at the beginning of the game setting up the story.  Within 5 minutes, one NPC had an arrow in the back and another had his head cut off.  I could tell that it was a good thing I was not playing this game in front of my kids.  Then came the reason I knew I was going to love this game.  DRAGONS!! The first dragon attack was exciting and I was even more impressed with my 360 because the performance was seamless.  I will try to not go into to much detail as I do not want to spoil some of the key game elements.  I will instead go over the aesthetics and human-machine interaction pieces.

Graphics:
This game is definitely beautiful.  Although I do not see many improvements from Oblivion, that was also a great looking game.  There was general color scheme of gray that washes over the entire game.  I would like to see some more contrasting in colors, but overall it is still impressive.  The fire elements of the game really shine and the spell casting graphics seem improved over Oblivion.  Combat graphics seem a little better with a nice graphical flow between non-combat and combat activities.

Controls:
The game controls seemed very similar to Oblivion with just a few minor changes.  This is where my one gripe of this game would occur.  In Oblivion, you would be able to preload spells so that you could seamlessly switch between spells while in combat.  If this feature exists in Skyrim, I have not found it.  What I did find is a "Favorite" system where you can press up on the game pad to bring up a list of items that you have designated.  Doing this stops combat and makes it difficult to really enjoy the combat if you are like me and want to switch spells often during combat.  I would rather be limited to a few spells I can use in combat, but switch easily, than a system that allows unlimited options, but stops the game each time you want to use it.  I will say that it has a lot of utility since you can use it to switch spells, weapons, and probably almost every usable item in the game.  I just do not like having combat stop 3 or 4 times just to I can switch spells.  Movement control is pretty smooth throughout the game, with only a little practice at horse riding being needed.  The biggest help I would recommend is getting the spell Clairvoyance.  This will help guide you in the right direction to your destination and can be a huge help if you get out into the wilderness and lost.  It also helps when you have to go around or up mountains and cannot seem to find the right path.

Combat:
The combat system is very smooth.  I had not problems casting or hitting my targets.  I have two complaints in this area.  First, archery is still only a minor use skill and at least so far does not seem like a viable combat method.  The hit are usually too weak to take out a target on one or even two shots, and hitting a moving target is still a little tough.  I would have liked to see a little more viability for this to be a primary combat technique.  Casting in combat works well, as well as the normal hack and slash.  Time for my rant....  My biggest complaint with Oblivion has not been fixed here.  The tendency to accidentally hit a friendly NPC while in combat is very annoying.  I am pretty sure my horse has no hair left after I have burned him while trying to cast a fire spell on wolves we are fighting.  It is even worst when it is character NPCs where your faction can accidentally drop or they will flat out come and kill you if you kill one of them.  My suggestion is to save right before every combat, and just be careful.

These are just my initial thoughts on the game.  So far I am really enjoying the game, especially fighting giants, dragons, and trolls.  BTW, trolls hit hard.  The game has no problem giving you quests that will be impossible to complete if you are too low of level, so be careful out there.  Have a great time.  I will post another review as I get farther into the game.  Happy Holidays and Happy Hunting...