Preview from QuakeCon 2011 by gamespot.com [translation]
Impressions from the demo version of "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim". Orc testing
Maxwell McGee, 08.05.2011
QuakeCon 2011: A new character embarks on the woodland hunting trail
In Dallas, Texas, despite the record heat established in the Lone Star State, QuakeCon 2011 is in full swing. Naturally, we stayed away from the open air, examining the games on display, including the latest installment of "The Elder Scrolls" – "Skyrim". This open-world role-playing game is full of complex dilemmas, but we immediately faced the toughest decision: what our character would look like. Instead of lizard-like Argonians, cat-like Khajiit, and pointy-eared Dark Elves, we chose an Orc with a yellow war paint.
"All items you pick up in 'Skyrim' can be viewed in three-dimensional form."
The poisonous yellow war paint is just one of many options available through the appropriate slider. Of course, the appearance of a devilishly handsome (or ugly) character depends on several dozen sliders. You can customize anything to your liking, from skin color and jaw width to eye depth and the presence of a beard. If you switch to another race, the game saves your facial settings so that players returning to their original race don’t have to redo everything.
After naming our created Orc "Fist", we were thrown onto a very familiar forest path. Reasoning that the city of Poplar was somewhere nearby, and that a wicked dragon was surely lurking in a snowy temple in the distance, we decided to take an untraveled route and delved into the woods. Almost becoming wolf lunch, we opened our inventory and equipped our Orc with weapons and armor. The battle axe and the spell "Fireball" seemed rough enough for the chosen character, although we could have added other items to the favorites list to avoid searching for them later in the inventory.
The first thing we stumbled upon on our way was several magical stones. Activating the one depicting a warrior granted us an enchantment allowing us to acquire combat skills twenty percent faster. Fist tested it on an unsuspecting merchant whose camp we spotted by the river. Initially, the merchant was pleased to see us in his shop and bought a wolf pelt from us. However, his mood quickly soured after a blow to the head with our axe.
The merchant drew a dagger, and a deadly fight ensued. Considering that our opponent was quite cowardly, we had a lot of fun, alternating between attacking him with the axe and hiding behind rocks to hurl fireballs. The fight ended rather quickly, and after a short mini-game of lockpicking, we found a massive two-handed axe in a corpse's chest. Giddy with joy, we handed the new weapon to the Orc and practiced our swings on the nearest trees until we stumbled upon a new victim: an old vegetable gardener.
"You will be able to choose the combination of spells and weapons that suits you best."
The old woman, Anissa, looked extremely unfriendly and refused to speak with us. We took the silence as an invitation to enter her hut, where it turned out she was some kind of alchemist; at least, herbs and roots were strewn everywhere. Going outside, we saw Anissa sitting in a chair. Now looking even less welcoming, we attacked her. She attempted to defend herself with magic, but her wrinkled skin certainly couldn’t withstand the power of our shiny new axe.
In her basement, we found an alchemical station where we could brew potions. All that was needed was to combine two or three alchemical items (which the old lady no longer needed anyway) with the same property. Each item has four such properties, all initially unknown, and you can figure them out either through trial and error at the station or by consuming the item itself. In any case, the item is lost. Our first potion attempt failed, but the second was a success – the two items shared the property of "cold resistance.” This information appeared in the item descriptions.
We then quickly walked through Poplar and climbed the snowy slope of the mountain. There, Fist encountered several bandits eager for an axe meeting. Only one of them put up a fight, the proud owner of a large wooden shield. He could block regular strikes, but by holding the attack button, we landed a powerful blow that bent the bandit over and sent him crashing to the ground.
As enemies fell, the character leveled up. At the second level, we first had to choose which attribute to increase: mana, health, or stamina. Then we needed to select a talent from several skill constellations. From the two-handed weapon constellation, we took the first talent, "Barbarian," which grants the character using two-handed weapons twenty percent more damage. Skills improve with use, meaning that by killing enemies with a two-handed weapon, we enhance our proficiency with it.
"Skyrim is filled with tough guys."
As always in the "The Elder Scrolls" series, combat in "Skyrim" feels very tactile. Fist's strikes were slow yet undeniably significant. However, although the fundamentals of the combat system haven't changed since previous games in the series, the number of available weapon, spell, and shout options in combat is very pleasing. The demo version of "Skyrim" left the impression that "Bethesda" aims not to change the fundamentals of the series, but rather to take the best elements from the previous games and add a few interesting new features on top. "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" is set to be released on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on November 11th.
Translation courtesy of the author.
Thanks for the material – Condottiere.
Thanks for the support – Sinmara.
Translator's note: Screenshots and captions are taken from the original material. Why these specific screenshots and why these captions – only God and the author know. >_