The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Gameplay Demonstration From Bethesda

For everyone who was under the impression that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was just going to be a slightly snowier version of Oblivion, think again.  Bethesda’s recent gameplay demonstration for the long-anticipated game reveals an unprecedented level of innovation.

Of course, Bethesda Game Studios’ trademark depth and detail are still clearly in evidence, but it’s their refusal to rest on their laurels that is truly inspiring. The game is still recognisably and Elder Scrolls title, but there are several features, such dual spell-casting and dragon-summoning that go above and beyond the call of developmental duty.

The demonstration is narrated by Todd Howard, Game Director and Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios, and begins with a look at the astonishing level of graphical detail in the world this time around. “We have to draw everything”, explains Howard. “We can’t hide it. [The player is] able to look at all these plants [and] pick up the flowers.” What’s even more astonishing is that this demonstration is shown on the Xbox 360, but the graphics on offer look like they are being cranked out by an expensive PC rig rather than this generation’s oldest console.

Although the foliage and the draw distance are immediately noticeable, something else becomes apparent as soon as the camera switches to third person. Unlike the characters in Oblivion and Fallout 3, the character on show in this video exhibits convincing movement and detailed shading. Although Skyrim is a first person game at heart (something that becomes apparent as the fight system is explored later), Howard recognises that “a lot of people like to play in third person, and we spent a lot of time on it”. This time has clearly paid off, and a feature that seemed a little tacked-on in previous games has been so well-implemented this time around. Players  of Oblivion will remember the characters’ apparent weightlessness and peculiar velocity, so it’s nice to see that this issue has been worked on.

Further to this, the horses (yes, there are horses) also look fantastic, and have lost the plasticky appearence that they had in Oblivion. Although these things are not integral to making Skyrim a good game, they are sure to help with the game’s immersion.

Whilst in-game graphics have clearly been polished, it’s the various menu screens that most clearly exhibit the designers’ creativity. Even the inventory looks beautiful, with every single object being rendered in three dimensions, allowing you to rotate it 360 degrees. Howard explains how the different designs and ingravings on pieces of equiment indicate the tribe or race that created them, indicating that we’ll see distinctive variation between armour and weapons. Animals killed in came can be filleted, and what looks like a tasty piece of raw salmon can even be “cooked”, bestowing greater stat benefits upon the player.

Gone are the primary-coloured progress bars that indicated level progress in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Here, they are replaced by nothing less than actual constellations, which depict the relationships between skills in the most epic way possible. Players can zoom in and out of the constellations to view their progress, something that looks like it will be a joy in itself.

These powers come into play during the fight sequences of course, and Bethesda Game Studios haven’t scrimped on these either. Players will now be able to dual-vield both weapons and spells using the so-simple-it’s-a-wonder-we-don’t-see-it-all-the-time method of controlling each arm with the left and right triggers on the Xbox controller. Equipping the same spell to both hands, Howard explains, enables players to cast a much stronger version of any spell.

We’re shown a suitably spooky dungeon sequence, and whilst reliable conventions are still in place (see monster, kill monster, take monster’s stuff), it looks even more polished and pleasurable than you would expect. There’s even a “Clairvoyant” spell that helps you navigate labyrinthine dungeons.

Besides the expected levelling mechanics, there are also guardian stones and the dragon language to master. Guardian stones (looking like small, engraved versions of Stonehenge) are hidden all around the world of Skyrim, and a character can use them to speed their level in a certain area. Howard uses a “warrior” stone, explaining that players can only reap the benefits from one at a time, so they will have to choose carefully. Slaying dragons enables you to learn their language by means of a “word wall” that becomes more comprehensive the more dragons you kill. A later fight sequence (with a woolly mammoth and a giant, naturally) is brought to an abrupt end when the player summons an enormous fire-breathing dragon who makes short work of the assailants.

Fans of the series’ dialogue will be pleased to see that it now takes place in real time, meaning that the world no longer stops and waits whilst you hold a conversation with someone. The transition between talking to characters and the rest of the game appears much smoother than in Oblivion, and the characters you speak with seem even more involved in their own world. Players can immerse themselves even more in this world by taking on jobs, a new introduction to the series.

All things considered, Skyrim looks utterly incredible, and with (allegedly) three hundred hours’ worth of gameplay, it should keep plenty of us quiet until Christmas.

The game is released on the 11th of November, giving it the rather picturesque and trailer-freiendly release date of 11/11/11. Start growing that beard now.

Although it has been removed from the video source, this content is originally from GameTrailers.

We’ve already featured these screenshots on GodisaGeek, but we thought you might like to see them again.

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