Preview from officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk [translation]
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Preview of «Skyrim» and Interview with Todd Howard

Leon Hurley, 31.10.2011

A long, awkward silence. Because of the “magical” quality of the video conference, I can’t quite make out Todd Howard’s expression right now, but the tone of his voice hints at being quite puzzled. “I must have misheard you, did you just say you set a chicken on fire?” he asks.

Oh god. How did it come to this? I’ve only spent three hours playing «Skyrim», the sequel to «Oblivion», which I consider the greatest game of all time. I was blown away by what I saw – a threateningly vast, open-world role-playing fantasy. I fought a dragon and killed it. And now I’m talking to the person responsible for that. Back to the chicken burning. I hear my own explanations about the fire bow and the urge to try it out, yet I can’t seem to stop talking. This is my opening question.

Finally, I wrap up by mentioning people’s reactions. While the fiery chicken was flapping around on the ground with a sad clucking, they were shouting “Watch out!” and “Beware the fire!”.

Set a chicken on fire in town and people will definitely react

“This actually happens thanks to Radiant Story,” Howard explains, talking about the new quest system in «Skyrim», overseen by artificial intelligence. “The computer script observes everything you do. Even a burning chicken. If you drop an item or kill a dragon, how should people react? These events go through the script.”

The idea is that this computer script will monitor everything you do and adjust the parameters to create personalized conditions for missions – characters you meet or locations you visit, for example. You can go anywhere and do anything, creating your own story through exploration, discovery, and interaction with what interests you.

Now the game will vary events to make it even more unique for you. Talk to any fans of «Oblivion», and they will describe a variety of incidents. I shared my experiences from the time spent in «Skyrim» with a group of journalist friends, and the post-game discussion sounded like we were all talking about different games.

In my case, I started just like in «Oblivion»: I wandered wherever I pleased until something happened. Wolves happened. A truly launched case of wolves. Fortunately, they were as flammable as chickens, so a bit of fire magic soon solved all my wolf problems.

A short skirmish demonstrated the new, ergonomic menu. It’s still bulky, but at least it doesn’t twist your knuckles like in «Oblivion». Items are divided into more convenient lists for weapons, potions, and so on, plus you can assign “favorites” - combinations of items in each hand.

I used combinations like a sword in one hand and fire magic in the other, or a combo of an axe and ice spells. You can choose anything – once I took a healing spell in one hand and “Clairvoyance” in the other, which lit a glowing path to my next quest’s target. The only downside is that the equipment switch system isn’t based on “hotkeys”, and while you select, the game pauses.

Among the things I loved about «Oblivion», was the world’s atmosphere, and «Skyrim» elevates this concept to a new level. As I walked through a mountain pass, gravel crunched beneath my feet and leaves rustled in the wind. I saw a herd of deer among the trees and salmon jumping in the river, all to soaring orchestral music. Very beautiful. I even forgot the smell of burnt wolves.