The Skyrim trap

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 07 December 2011 12:30

Opinion and Analysis

There is a significant and dangerous problem with playing the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim .

 

As we come out of November, a month littered with AAA game releases designed to garner your gift giving disposable cash, I need to apologise to a few people:

Number one on the list is developer Naughty Dog who's third in the series of my favourite PS3 exclusive franchise, Uncharted, is another rollicking cinematic adventure with Nathan Drake searching through and uncovering more mysteries of the ancients.

I have played through several hours of Uncharted: Drakes Deception and enjoyed every moment of it, but right now I am exploring the eerie dungeons and dens of Skyrim, soaking in the atmosphere and thrills of every caverns and corridor.

Likewise Batman: Arkham City has been temporarily shelved as I roam freely around the Skyrim landscape rather than Gotham City looking for adventure, quests and bad-guys (as well as the occasional good guy) to quell.

The attraction of just one more level up, one more venture into the unknown crannies and nooks on offer in Skyrim is enough for me to ignore the callings of the seemingly more mundane offering of an unpacked Gears of War 3, Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations.  All great games that I will get too, soon, I promise.

Unfortunately [actually, fortunately] Skyrim has me trapped in a number of ways, the land is captivating, vast and beckoning, the people relate interesting stories and quests and there is no longer the (Oblivion) feeling of the game throwing level appropriate monsters at the player, instead it feels like you can forge your own dragonborn destiny by choosing were to wander and who or what to confront.

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