The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3)

This has to be one of the best games ever made...I felt bad about paying near £40 for it when I got my PS3 as it was relatively new, but quickly realized it was worth every penny, and am still enjoying it now after about 150 hours of play, and I still have a lot left to doYou really can't fault this game for lacking in scope or exploration...the scenery is stunning and never gets tiring...It's fairly samey but in a realistic sense, not in a tedious depressing sense like Fallout 3the many, many missions are very varied...I personally particularly love the thieves' guild quests and the rather H. P. Lovecraft/Robert E. Howard-esque dark fantasy quests often revolving around the daedric princes...the overall writing, concepts and setting are flawless, and to me an accurate fantasized Viking Europe-style setting, which I suppose was foreseeable for people already familiar with Nords in Morrowind and Oblivion...You have the traditional, convincingly Norse codes of honour and views, and though some whinge about how "racist" they are (who cares? it's a fantasy, and it makes it more realistic), I personally loved the stormcloaks. The nordic geographical setting is wonderful as well, with a reasonably varied set of weather and scenery without being as odd as Morrowind's landscapeCan't fault the gameplay, gives you flexibility to alter difficulty like previous E.S. games, combat is fluid and the menu interface is perfect and quick and easy to use, I also thing the levelling up system is superb as is the whole stone and blessing system, both of which work better and are easier to get used to than in previous games (though some may prefer to have to specialize in one class)The music as always is lovely, dialogue/voice acting, animation and "cut scenes" that you get in game are all very well done and better than before (at least the nords aren't all scottish for some odd reason this time)My only real criticism is that, though PS3 games generally suffer from bad shadow graphics, the shadows on skyrim look particularly hideous, especially indoors...I guess this can be forgiven given the console and the sheer scope of the game and its otherwise excellent graphics (realistic looking people for a change instead of the usual trend of plasticky glossy skin graphics)...For those do do possess a decent PC as well as a PS3 though, would be worth picking up on PS3, for the expansions and for the much better graphics and better frame ratesCons: Crap shadow graphics on the PS3 versionNo DLCs available for the PS3 versionCrap AI in places, especially with companions who, though seemingly helpful at first while your levels are low, they eventually just really get on your nerves - I only keep mine around to carry stuff for me but they get in the way, get themselves killed, get spotted when you're sneaking, and on the odd occasion very frustratingly just disappear, which means going back and doing something all over again

I have played The Elder Scrolls games (TeS) since Morrowind, and I played both Morrowind and Oblivion on my computer and loved every second of the games experiences.But Skyrim? I had to get for the console, i played a video preview on my TV and it looked amazing, and that was when I decided to migrate from the Computer to the Playstation 3 for The Elder Scrolls games.-Gameplay-THE GOODThe new style of gameplay is fresh and fun, with you leveling up skills faster the more you use them, and being able to pick a perk on the skill-tree of the skills you love to use. (Such as Archery skill increasing with the more arrows that hit an enemy, and thus I am able to unlock Archery perks when I level up!)Old and pointless skills are gone, such as Acrobatics, Athletics and Mysticism to name a few. After a while of playing, you understand why you never really needed them at all.All the animations are vastly improved, and the characters all look much nicer. But the real perk here is the landscape and environments; on a large HD TV the game shines at its best, and if you have a surround sound system you feel like you are actually in the mythical land of Skyrim.THE BADSometimes the game can lag when too much is going on, and attacks may lock up or do no damage at all when hitting a target. There is also the infamous bug of Super Enemies appearing too early in the game, such as an Ancient Dragon (which should appear when you are level 40 or higher) appearing when you're still at level 15. Try to run from them if you can, because if you don't you'll get your butt kicked hard by them.-Story-THE GOODI never thought I'd write this section so briefly but...Everything is excellent; the thieves guild, the Dark Brotherhood, the Companions, even the College of Winterhold (Mages Guild) all have their stories beefed up and full of thrills. The main quest and all the smaller activities within the world are fun and educating to the Lore of The Elder Scrolls.I have nothing bad to say about the story, it's all good, but that's down to personal preference.-Overall Score-Gameplay: 4 out of 5 (still has a few bugs)Story: 5 out of 5Music: 5 out of 5Dialogue: 4 out of 5 (a few repetitive things, but easy to ignore)Re-playability: 5 out of 5 (a lot of dialogue changes for each race you select!)Over all: 23/25Skyrim is a wonderful game in many ways, but wether you go for the console version or the computer version is down to preference. Unlike the console version, you can delve into the fun fandom that is 'modding' in the Computer version. But you don't feel the cinematic scale like you do on a HD TV on your console!