Where Do The Hours Go?

I've been holding back on reviewing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the simple reason that it’s a game that you can’t appreciate until you've put some time in. So that’s what I've done: 70 hours and counting.

Yes, 70 hours, and that’s before I’m anywhere close to finishing it. In fact, I’m still not even sure what the actual ‘aim’ of the game is, as I've spent so long wandering around the somewhat huge world doing odd jobs and killing wildlife for kicks.

Like it’s predecessor, Oblivion, Skyrim sees you start out in a bit of trouble. But while the past instalment saw you locked up before Jean-Luc Picard helped out, we’re in worse straits here. In fact, the opening sees you minutes away from being given a severe haircut with a large axe. Luckily, for you, a dragon then appears to provide a helpful distraction, allowing you to escape while the town and its people are incinerated.

With that, it’s into the world and as has been noted by many others, it’s an incredible one to look at. Walking along, you spot a stunning snow topped mountain in the distance: whereas in the past it would be a forever distant bit of backdrop, in Skyrim you can wander up there and do a bit of fell walking, though you may want to be armed first as all manner of wolves, bears and bandits won’t think twice of leaving you dead by the roadside.

Though I've not engaged too much with it so far, the general jist of the story is cut between two issues: one is a brewing civil war between the powerful Empire and a ‘Nord’ splinter group that wants independence for Skyrim. Though I've managed to avoid it thus far, I’m under the impression I’ll have to take sides on this one eventually. Secondly, there’s small matter of big-fuck-off dragons swooping around and we all know that swooping is bad. By chance (ahem), we discover early on that we are ‘dragonborn’, making us very good at killing the ugly buggers and absorbing their souls.

This is quite useful, as doing so allows you to unlock the power of your voice, meaning a mere shout can unleash a fireball in the direction of anyone you don’t like. Must make domestic arguments (yes, you can get hitched) pretty unfortunate.

I’m fully aware all of this must sound horrifically boring to anyone with no interest in games. Indeed, I can state the evidence of one person who’s seen me playing this game on a few occasions and rolled their eyes so much I wonder if they've been possessed. Additionally, the medieval setting wouldn't normally be my bag either – I much prefer the post-apocalypse setting of Fallout, made by the same company.

But, and this is a huge but, the vibe of the game more than compensates for any lack of interest in the setting. By allowing you to improve your skills through practise, you feel your ability to do things rise in a satisfying way. If you like to go charging into battle, waving your sword and shield, then your skills in those areas will go up. Personally, my character is more a ninja-esque dude prone to sticking an arrow in someone's head from distance, but also good enough waving a massive fuck-off axe for when things get personal.

It's this kind of plus that makes Skyrim so essential despite the minor flaws - some of which will be fixed once I download the patch - like certain missions not allowing a huge amount of scope for options. No matter: I'd recommend it to any seasoned gamer, as long as they don't mind potentially losing their job, relationship, all vestiges of a life...