Skyrim - Three Hours of Skyrim Previews

Last week Bethsoft held a press event where journalists got to play Skyrim for three hours, and a slew of previews have now been released (all X360, by the way). None of the articles reveal much and most of the journalists seemed determined to run off in a random direction, leading to a number of hunting anecdotes but not much insight into the quality of quests. Here are the ones we've spotted so far.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has two short parts up, starting with The Bad Vegetarian:

I was barely out of character creation (I was playing a female Khajiit, partially because I find the see in the dark racial ability incredibly useful but mostly because I own a female cat) when I saw him. Well, I heard his dog first and thought ‘oh, a dog! How cute!’ Then I saw the dog’s owner, a poacher. I saw his bow raised aloft. I saw the hand released. I saw the arrow fly. I saw the arrow thwack into the side of an already-fleeing fox. And I saw myself, before I entirely knew what I was doing, plunge a knife into Poacher’s back.

Why did I do that, I asked myself, already knowing the answer. I did it because I am a lily-livered, animal rights-supporting vegetarian, and my first experience of this wonderful world being someone being a bit of a dick to an animal was rather distressing. On the other hand, I was impressed that the game featured NPC poachers and animals who were frightened of NPC poachers. Still, this was going to be my world, and I wasn’t go to stand for that kind of thing. It was in my power to make it a better place, and so I would. Take that, poacher. No more poaching for you, poacher. Yes, I was aware of the irony of being a murderer in order to prevent murder. But this appeared to be the only way I could stop him. So, I felt bad about my dark deed, but good that the world was down one rotter.

Part Two is titled Zombie Torturer.

VG247:

Heading through the undergrowth I switch to third-person to get a feel for how this more alien viewpoint fits the game. It’s a view that I return to several times over the period of the three hours, in order to see how those who like their action viewed from above and behind will be served. Happily, the sense of connection with the environment is much improved over Oblivion’s feeling of gliding steps and floaty jumps, though I still can’t imagine wanting to play the entire game this way.

IGN:

While chasing a deer near a river bank, I noticed dragonflies buzzing around my head. I tried to snatch them out of the air, failed, and realized the deer had sprinted entirely out of view. In a nearby waterfall fish jumped from bottom to top, and by standing on a rock in the midst of the rapids I was able to pluck one out. I let the moving water carry me downstream, where I found the deer again, killed it, and watched its corpse float along with the current, bumping into rocks along the way.

You may think this type of thing is pointless, but for me it's the perfect example of why I'm so drawn to Elder Scrolls games. Skyrim feels like a real place, from the way the wind kicks up snow from the edges of rocky cliffs to the way the surface of ponds ripples under a light rain. It's packed with structured content, but also filled with plenty more reasons to explore.

CVG:

The talent trees themselves are represented by gorgeous, swirling constellations in the heavens above Skyrim. Proficiencies are unlocked by lighting different stars within them, and they're shaded according to ability - red for physical combat, blue for magic and green for social and crafting skills.

They're also structured in such a way that cunningly prompts the player to explore their character's potential by offering the chance to specialise in different weapons in a certain class. If you're fond of your two-handed hammer, for example, the corresponding constellation will offer you the chance to expand your two-handed repertoire to include edged weapons, such as swords and battle-axes.

Destructoid:

I asked Alvor the blacksmith if he had any work for me to do, and he offered to teach me the smithing system. I was given a few iron ingots and some leather straps, and told to go play with the forge. The menu provided a long list of different weapons, armor, and jewelry I could create. I chose “iron dagger” from the menu and watched my guy hammer away at a red-hot piece of metal. After showing Alvor my cool new knife, he suggested I temper it on his grindstone. At the grindstone, a similar menu opened up that allowed me to upgrade the dagger’s condition to “fine.”

Joystiq, who were obsessed with fighting a dragon:

Arriving at the tower, I found one man who survived the dragon's assault. In the distance, I could see it come in for another go as it emerged from a mountain top. At first, it circled the battlefield, generously peppering the land around the tower with fire. Eventually, it landed, and I charged it, fists at the ready. I was determined to punch this thing dead. And then it ate me and everyone laughed.

...and Eurogamer:

In some ways, the game doesn't look that dramatic a graphical leap forwards from Oblivion, but in moments like this the scale of what Bethesda has built is entirely apparent. All those great gobbets of world I can see are mine to explore. The game's music seemed to realise that I would likely be feeling awed at this point, with its soft, skeletal piano music bursting outwards into loud splendour. I half expected someone to leap out from behind a rock and bellow ' behold!' And behold I did, and in great admiration - if secretly wishing I was playing on PC rather than 360, so it was all bit more high-detailed and anti-aliased.