Every once in a while, a game comes along which manages to defy all expectations and become a true masterclass in what its genre should be about in this modern-day industry. As Valve did this for the puzzle genre in Portal 2 and as Rocksteady did for the action-adventure genre with Batman: Arkham City, so too do Bethesda Studios acheive this phenomenal landmark with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, easily one of the best titles released this year. It's simply incredible that a developer can pack such detail, such scale and such grandeur into a fantastical world that spans such a large game space as the world of Skyrim. While the graphics have the odd aesthetical hiccup on edges and closely inspected objects, for the most part they hold up brilliantly in every province, cave and room you, the Dragonborn hero of the game, will visit on your epic quest to fulfill your destiny as the warrior who must rid Cyrodil of the reawakened dragon menace. This is not a journey to be undertaken lightly, requiring a good 40-50 hours of your time at an absolute minimum, but should you choose to pick up the gauntlet and venture on, you'll find yourself completely immersed in the world of the game, something that can't be said of many titles nowadays. Even a simple trip from one valley to the next is bound to hold a surprise, be it an attempt to rescue a rebel from a good ol' fashioned beheading or fending off an attack by wolves, trolls or dragons. Oh yes, those ferocious legends of myth are here in full force for you to slay, a daunting task at first, but one that is made less worrisome by the great combat system, improved hugely over the laborious menu-intensive set up Oblivion (9/10) had back in 2007. Soon enough, you'll pick up magic abilities and Dragonborn powers that will let you fend off your giant attackers with ease, and at this point you really will feel like the hero the population so desperately needs to save them. I gave Rocksteady the same credit with their complete use of empathetic connection between the player and the Dark Knight, but this is a very different experience- while Arkham City gave you the ability to choose from a host of different play styles to solve pre-determined situations, Skyrim literally lets you do anything to accomplish your objectives (or sometimes fail them, it's your choice). I'm not criticising the former effort on this front, rather saying that it's just as refreshing to take this approach, and unlike past Elder Scrolls and Fallout titles the freedom the devs gives you really seems to be beneficial this time around. The storyline's much more well-rounded too, seeming to integrate the side missions much more cohesively, yet still with a maintained focus on stopping the dragon threat too. I did initially wonder why critics went easy on Bethesda's infamous bugs still present here in Skyrim, handing out 10s willy nilly despite NPCs appearing to forget letting you off in a conversation a few seconds earlier when they turn on you for stepping one foot out of line, but now having actually experienced the game I can see just why they did. No, this experience isn't absolutely flawless, but unlike Red Dead Redemption- whose glitch flaws were added to by an overdrawn and repetitive campaign (9.5/10)- there's such attention to detail and overall quality everywhere else in the stunning game world that it's so hard to fault Bethesda for occassionally dropping the ball in their programming. No matter your thoughts on past Elder Scrolls games, or whether you may have been put off by lame pretenders like Dragon Age and Dungeon Siege, I implore you, give The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a try- it's not perfect, but it's as damn close as any role-playing game has ever come on this generation...make that ever in the entire history of video gaming.(http://videogames.techfresh.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/The-Elder-Scrolls-V-Skyrim-Box-Art-11.jpg)
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