The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

"The epic battle against mudcrabs will enter a new era!"

 

 

 

With Oblivion being half a decade old already, you'd think that a new installment in The Elder Scrolls series was unavoidable at this point. Logical as it may seem, though, there is something surprising about the announcement of Skyrim, the fifth game in Bethesda's successful RPG franchise. For the first time in history, an Elder Scrolls game will appear on the same console as its predecessor. Granted, this is mainly caused by the relatively long lifespan of the current-gen systems, but it will be very interesting to see if Bethesda can make a leap similar to that from Morrowind to Oblivion whilst being built around the same hardware as the latter.

The fact that Skyrim will run on the same consoles as its predecessor, though, doesn't mean that a new addition to the Oblivion series isn't welcome. Oblivion was released at the very beginning of the current-gen console cycle, namely in 2006, and therefore looks quite dated, with particularly the animations and low-res textures almost giving it the appearance of a last-gen game. Furthermore, as great as Oblivion may have been, we've had 5 years to explore every outcorner of the province of Cyrodiil (and the Shivering Isles, if you count the expansion), and many of us simply want a change of scenery, eager to make a fresh start in a new province.

 

And while Oblivion was a very successful sandbox RPG, there was quite some room left for improvement. It will therefore be interesting to see if Bethesda can address some of these issues in their upcoming game. The main problem with Oblivion, and indeed with all recent Bethesda releases, was its severe bugginess. Even after numerous patches, there are still potential bugs capable of killing the vibe in the majority of the quests. Fortunately, most of these bugs didn't occur all that common and could frequently be solved by loading a previous save, but there were problems that could eventually ruin hundreds hours of gameplay, such as the infamous reference bug that ate up the game's resources at an alarming pace. With the problematic release of Fallout: New Vegas still in mind, the programmers will have to make sure that, this time around, day 1 buyers won't feel ripped off because numerous patches are required to make the game reasonably playable.

Luckily, it has already been confirmed that Skyrim will run on an all-new engine. This is good news, because the old Gamebryo engine was the very source of many of the issues and quirks that plagued Oblivion and Fallout. Still, it must be noted that there's no guarantee that the new engine will improve the games that run on it in terms of stability. What can be told from the footage that's come out so far, though, is that the animations seem to have been revised dramatically. This is a welcome improvement, because the animations in Oblivion were so borderline abysmal at times, that it felt like they came right out of a zero budget indie mod rather than a game developed by one of America's most renowned video game designers of the past decade.

 

Additionally, executive producer Todd Howard revealed some interesting information regarding the game design itself In an interview with IGN. First and foremost, the number of attributes and skills were cut to make the gameplay more streamlined. While 'streamlining' has become a buzzword that automatically unleashes the hatred of many gaming purists, Howard's explanation actually makes a lot of sense. Some skills, such as Athletics, don't involve a lot of gameplay decision seeing as everyone is going to run in the game anyway, making upgrading this skill more of a tedious, time-based task than a skill-based objective. This is why Athletics, along with a few other skills and attributes, has been integrated with other abilities to make the leveling feel less like a chore. Howard also stated that the levelling would go faster, so that the game will be rewarding on a more frequent basis, really promoting the sense of progress that makes playing an RPG so enjoyable.

All the discussion about game design and programming aside, the aspect I'm personally most looking forward to is the music. The Elder Scrolls series has always been known for its amazing soundtracks composed by Jeremy Soule, and especially Oblivion spawned many of this generation's most memorable video game music. If the melancholic, epic vibe of these tracks can be emulated in Skyrim, then surely that title will be a strong contender for 2011's most aurally pleasing video game.

 

Even though the anticipation of a new installment in one of the most iconic RPG series in existence is pleasurable in itself, the prospect of having to wait another 6 months before the brand new province of Skyrim can be explored is slightly worrying, as we will have to temper our impatience for what will seem like an eternity. WIth the expectations of many a fan already rising through the roof, let's just hope that Bethesda will be able to deliver yet another smash hit in its long-running RPG franchise. We'll find out on 11.11.11.

Jesse Dolman, NoobFeed.