Review: Darksiders II

War, rider of the red horse, has been falsely accused of pre-emtively triggering the Apocalypse and has been imprisoned and only his brother can save him. His name is Death, the oldest and strongest of the four Horsemen, and you take control of the pale rider in this outstanding sequel, Darksiders II.

The Good
- Amazing Level Design
- Death is a really well written character
- Challenging puzzles and combat
- Environments look stunning 
- Great RPG and Loot System

The Bad
- Story feels disconnected from gameplay
- Not as long as I hoped it to be
- Horseback riding could have more to it

The Ugly
- Last Boss was disappointingly too easy
- Some enemies are really, REALLY ugly

Story
The game's story takes place during the event's of the first Darksiders, as War is imprisoned by the Charred Council, Death investigates the premature Apocalypse to prove his brother's innocence by finding a way to restore Humanity. And the key to clearing War's name is found at the well of souls. The story itself is very well written, while nothing too compelling, it feels disjointed from the gameplay as you feel like the missions are just fetch quests and dungeon crawlers rather than progress.

One thing that I enjoyed most from the story was Death. Playing as the horseman was an awesome experience, but Death was much more than just a badass; behind the cold callousness in his voice, Death has proven to be very caring, concerned about the well being of his brother War and even showing remorse for his own race that he slayed, the Nephilim. After him and his siblings were ordered to slay their own race, Death has secretly kept the souls of his fallen kin away from the council's Knowledge, hoping he could bring them back. Halfway through the game, he discovers that he can use the well of Souls to bring back his race, at the cost of losing the Human race forever and Death struggles to decide who to save. And while he hid it from other people, his body language proved that he was fighting within himself to make the right choice, which is good for a character that can't emote with a mask over his face.

While the gameplay didn't drive the story as well as it should, it was still an entertaining experience that had a satisfying ending, not as epic as the conclusion in the first game, but still was a good way to conclude Death's Story, at least until we see him again in the third Darksiders.

Story: B-

Graphics
While the character and enemy models are well detailed and animated, its the environments that truly steal the spotlight. You'll be visiting many varied worlds including the Lush open fields of the Maker's Forgelands and Samael's "Majestic" Fortress in the Shadow's Edge, home of the Demonic Legion. Each world has beautiful and detailed architecture that fit into the levels motif and will awestruck you at first sight.

Death: "Someone give me my camera!"

Aside from the gorgeous view, Death can be equipped with a variety of Armor Pieces to help suit your play-style. You can dress him up in a plethora of shrouds to give him a rouge-ish look or set him up with a set of heavy armor made completely of bone.

He has a bigger wardrobe than your girlfriend.

Graphics: A

Sound
Darksiders II has a very well composed sound track, containing a plethora of music for when you are fighting bosses, facing a challenging puzzle or just exploring a dungeon, each track matches the occasion. Sometimes when you are exploring a dungeon you'll hear the ambient noises echo through the halls, a nice touch of eeriness to add suspense.

Sound effects are fitting, realistic and very gory when you start slicing the limbs off your enemies. Voice acting is very well done, however some characters use the same actor and they use the same voice for two different characters. Death has a brilliant harsh and rasp in his voice that fits the pale rider perfectly and always has a calm yet sarcastic tone to his voice.

Sound: B

Gameplay
Darksiders 2 may be considered an adventure game, but it features so many elements of other genres, calling it just an adventure game seems insulting. The game has massive open worlds with tons of secrets in each corner, challenging puzzles and platform sections and an RPG style loot and level up system that is mixed perfectly into one thrilling experience.

Death's Skill Tree...of death.

With each new world you discover you unlock a new ability that Death can use in combat and puzzles. For example, one of the first abilities you gain is the Death Grip, a magical ability that lets Death grapple orbs to do acrobatic leaps and pull enemies towards him, leaving them on the ground for Death to finish them off.

Death can also level up to unlock and upgrade his special combat moves from defeating enemies and beating quests. The skill tree splits off into two groups; Harbinger that Focuses on physical attacks and Necromancy that focuses on summoning creatures to fight with you or boosting your resistance. The combat system is much more advanced than the first game's. Death can now choose to use different secondary items from either heavy, slower weapons like axes and maces that do massive damage or small fast weapons like claws or gauntlets that let you barrage enemies with a flurry of attacks. And if you're in a tight situation you can summon Death's Reaper form, which lets him do massive damage while being near invincible against his foes.

Baby don't fear the Reaper.

Darksiders II is also a very difficult game as well. For those who want a challenge, the game feature's tough enemies, bosses and really difficult puzzles and secrets for people who want their skills pushed to the limit. Also after beating the game the first time unlocks the Nightmare difficulty level which makes the game as hard as hard can be.

My biggest complaint about the gameplay is that Horseback riding could have had much more to it than a form of transportation, especially when he didn't feel like he was moving that fast in the first place. Even though you mostly spend most of the games exploring dungeons and cave's it would've been better if they had some levels focusing on riding despair and gave him more acrobatic move's like his master, especially when games like Legend of Zelda and Assassin's Creed had amazing horse riding gameplay. Other than this small short sight, Darksiders II has fantastic gameplay that trumps the first one.

My kingdom for a faster horse.

Gameplay: A-

Replay
Sadly Darksiders II is not that long of a game. It took me about 24 hours to complete while doing most of the sidequests, but the game features a new game + where you can start a new file where you can keep your current gear and skills while facing enemies on the same level as you. While it won't make the game any longer, it's fun to start over with all your cool armor and weapons and starting on Apocalyptic difficulty. As short as the game was, it's still fun enough to go back to it again and again.

Replay: C-

Darksiders II manages to enhance on every aspect from the first game and then some with it's new RPG and loot system while still keeping the feeling of a real adventure game and you'll spend lots of time solving extra puzzles and searching every nook and cranny for collectibles, If you loved the first Darksiders this sequel is a must have and if you never picked up on the series, this game is still welcoming to new players with the way it eases onto the difficulty, making it a great game for seasoned vet's and newcomers alike.

Darksiders II: B+

All who oppose him shall know "Death."

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Review: Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition

Only a few years ago Minecraft became an instant hit with it's simplistic yet entirely unique gameplay and stuck the world by storm. So Mojang decided to make a full release of the game on the Xbox Live Arcade, but does it stack up to the PC version?

Right now I would have to say No, while the game still plays the same as the PC version, the 360 edition is seriously lacking the amount of content that you can only get on your computer. The Xbox 360 edition only gives you the basic item's right now like crafting items, tools and basic weapons like the sword and bow and there are even a limited amount of Mobs you see in the game too, only the spiders, zombies and creepers are present in this game (not including the ones you see in the nether).
But luckily this problem is only temporary, with several title updates players can get more tools and features, infact the next update will give Xbox 360 players Creative Mode, which gives the player unlimited resources to create gigantic and advanced constructs with ease.

Another problem is that the release of skin's for the 360 version seems redundant since PC players can mod and create their own custom skins for free. While it was nice of Mojang to give us some flair for our avatar I wouldn't buy skins since I can get my own on the PC for free. Speaking of Mod's, those who play it on the PC version can download texture mods that can make the game look really good because let's face it, even with the simplistic design Minecraft is not that pretty of a game.

If there is one thing the 360 version has over the PC's, is it's multiplayer set-up, It is much easier to join games with your friends on Xbox live since you only need a couple settings to make your game available only to your Xbox Live friends, and one of the things that makes this game fantastic is how fun thing can get with friends whether your building a gigantic castle of just goofing off.

While the 360 version doesn't compare to the PC version, it definitely has it's quirks that still keeps it midly entertaining, although I find myself only playing it with friends from now on whenever I start it up.

Total Score: C+

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Mass Effect Trilogy Collection Coming Soon

Most developers are giving in to the trend to release the series in one whole collectors set, and Bioware is the next victim. Earlier today they have announced the Mass Effect Trilogy box set.

The best thing about this new box set is that it will be released on PC, Xbox 360 AND PS3 which mean that PlayStation owners can finally play the first Mass Effect title on their PlayStation 3 and get the full Mass Effect experience.

 The Trilogy set will come with all 3 games (DLC not included) and Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode in all one cozy collectors box on November 6th this year, no price has been listed yet.

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New Gears of War Judgement trailer stars Baird this time around.

Epic has released a first look at Gears of War Judgement teaser, which doesn't show much that's already been known. But later today you can head to the gears of war website to see the full teaser. I was honestly hoping for more.



Gears of War judgement is slated for a 2013 release.

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Next Gears of War to be titled "Judgement"

Epic has announced today that the next Gears installment is titled Gears of War: Judgement. The game will be developed by Bulletstorm's creators, people can fly. Judgement is indeed a prequel and in a surprise twist, won't be starring series protagonist Marcus Fenix but in fact Cole and Baird.

The game is set to take place 2 years after emergencey day, which was 14 years before the events of the first Gears and will put you into the shoes of Kilo Squad, which consists of Augustus "Cole Train" Cole, Damion Baird and two characters from the comics: Garron and Sofia. The story is also bound to set on how Baird and Cole were imprisoned, for disobeying orders, stealing equipment and at the cost of millions of lives.

 More will be revealed at E3 this Monday during Microsoft's press conference.

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The New Xbox 360 With Kinect $99 Bundle Has A Catch

Ever wanted a 4GB Xbox 360 with a Kinect for just $99? Well it's totally possible, but there is also a big catch.

Microsoft announced today that they will be releasing a $99 Xbox 360 bundle but it comes with a purchase of a 2 year Xbox Live Gold contract that will cost you $14.99 a month; if you do the math then you come out with $360 that you need to pay upfront for the contract then add the $99 for the bundle.

Unfortunately this is not a money saving bundle as a 4GB Xbox 360 and a Kinect costs $299 (or $284.99 at Amazon) while a 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription costs you $59.99 (or $48.41 at Amazon). So ideally you can spend $420 on everything if you buy them alone or you can buy them from Amazon for about $381.

There is also another catch, you can only buy the $99 Xbox 360s at Microsoft Stores, you also need to print out this coupon and redeem it at the said Microsoft Store.



[Discuss this on the forums.]

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Bethesda Re-Releasing Quake 4

Bethesda has announced today that they will be re-releasing the now hard to find game Quake 4.

With Quake 4 supposedly being hard to find, Bethesda will be releasing new copies for a low price of $19.99 for the Xbox 360 and PC. You can grab Quake 4 in stores on June 19 in North America and Europe.



[Discuss this on the forums.]

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Chrome Xbox 360 Controllers Revealed

If you're a chrome enthusiast along with an Xbox 360 enthusiast, then consider today a good day for you as Microsoft has announced that they will be releasing new chrome Xbox 360 controllers this May.

The Chrome Series controllers will come in three different colors - Red, Blue and Silver and will only cost you $54.99.

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South Park: Tenorman's Revenge Coming This Friday

Another South park game is being made, but this one is being done by Other Ocean Interactive and South Park Digital Studios and will be download only for the Xbox 360.

South Park: Tenorman's Revenge is a platform style game and features co-op mode where up to four players can take control of Stan, Kyle, Cartman or Kenny for over 20 levels.

You can expect to see this game hit Xbox Arcade on March 30 for 800 Microsoft Points.

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Zuma's Revenge Coming To The Xbox 360

A port of Zuma's Revenge! will be heading to the Xbox 360 sometime this summer for 800 Microsoft Points. The game will also some new features, which are as followed:

• Discover and befriend 4 all-new Spirit Animal companions
• Earn Spirit Badges on every level and use them to power up your Spirit Animals
• Dominate your friends on a whopping 74 leaderboards
• Experience remastered HD graphics
• Unlock 20 Xbox LIVE achievements
• Flaunt 2 tiki-themed awards for your Xbox LIVE avatar

[Discuss this on the forums.]

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Review: Soul Calibur V

I loved Soul Calibur IV. It was fun, I loved its character creation and getting to play as Darth Vader and Starkiller (Yoda was annoying) made this game for me. So when they announced that my favorite Italian Assassin was going to make a guest appearance in the next one, this game was an instant buy for me. But how does it hold up to it's predecessor, especially since the series have been pressured to reinvent the fighting genre for quite some time.


The Good
-Some new characters are really fun
-best looking Soul Calibur game to date
-critical edges are fun and easy to use
-character creation is more advanced yet still addicting
The Bad
-most new characters aren't actually "new"
-music is boring and uninspiring
-nothing much has changed gameplay wise
-story mode is terrible
-nightmare is still broken and cheap
The Ugly
- Voice acting is absolutely atrocious
-Any bot set on normal difficulty or higher will destroy you no matter what

Story

In the last game each character had their own story mode. Albeit there was no real story, it was fun just to go around and beat up people as a different character. In this game, Namco Bandai tried to add a real story and make it more interesting. And it was a terrible idea.

The story takes place 27 years after the events of Soul Calibur 4, where the son of Sophitia, Patrokalos is searching for his long lost twin sister. However on his journey he discovers the malfested, people who became under the influence of soul edge and is sworn to serve nightmare, or something like that (they didn't explain that part at all) For most part of the story it would be told through drawings and audio instead of using those amazing graphics to make some cutscenes, which made it really boring to watch and lost interest of the story 5 minutes in.

What was even worse were the characters, Patrokalos and his sister Pyrahh were the main focal points of the story and both had the same personality, which wouldn't be a bad thing if they both weren't a stereotypical, depressed whiner like most Japanese game protagonists. Hell pretty much every character in the story was annoying and predictable except for Siegfried who actually got out of his emo phrase from the last game. It was a bold step for them to change up the story but ultimately failed from being an even remotely fun experience, luckily the story mode will only last you 30 grueling minutes.

Story: F

Graphics

A good redeeming quality about this game is it's amazing graphics. It had some amazing shading and lighting textures that really made it pop out yet still able to discern whats going on in the game.

While the last game had some really boring looking stages, this game had some really good ones. For example there is one stage that takes place in an empty wasteland, and while there wont be any extra action going on in YOUR fight, one of the settings places a whole battle field around you, filled with undead warriors and giant beasts that make it a real visual treat. Or even when the stage takes place at night there's a beautiful dead silence on the ground but the sky is filled with dark clouds and a blinding moonlight, real amazing work.


The character models are a definite grey-area in this game. The models for the games main characters are all really nice looking and also get a unique alternate costume this time, but the character creation options are pretty much the exact same as the ones from SCIV. Also some customization options wont fit you character, meaning there's an item called the "thieves belt" that will go around your characters body like its one of Saturn's rings instead of automatically fitting onto their shape. However one good addition they added is that you can change the pattern of your characters equipment and even add decals, tattoos, makeup and scars onto your character, making them a little more personal to you.

You can make some crazy creations in this game.

Graphics: A-

Sound

The series never had anything substantial when it came to the sound department in my opinion, and sadly that still stays true to this day. None of the games music was truly outstanding or memorable at least. Even the Assassin's Creed song they remixed for the game was nowhere near as good as the original piece. Same goes for the sound effects, while they fit into the game well, nothing popped out for me, and nothing made a real impact when getting a well time counter attack.

The one thing worse than the uninspiring music is the absolutely terrible voice acting. The worst offender is the voice options for character creation. While there's a lot more to choose from, they all sound terrible and are equally as cheesy as the lines they spew. The only good acting are Ezio and Siegfried who both have the same voice actor, no surprise there. Not everyone has a bad voice in this game, but there is still no acting done in here that is certainly worth while and having really cheesy one-liners that we already haven't heard before doesn't help.

Sound: D

Gameplay

While not much has actually changed in the formula, Soul Calibur still remains unique with its use of actual weapons in its game. And luckily Namco has also brought some newcomers who are truly unique and fun to use. Ezio, Z.W.E.I., Viola and Patrokalos Alpha (a secondary move set he uses) are actually new fighters to the series and are all fresh. Ezio is definitely a treat to play as even though most of his moves are based off being used as a counter attack despite having low-priority, a lack of a decent sized move-pool and his crossbow being a little bit over-powered. Sadly some other "new" characters are nothing more than bland imitations of their mentors and don't bring anything new to the table, heck even most of the unlockable characters are nothing new (except for one) and that's pretty disappointing.

Just so...awesome

There are also a lack of any new game modes that change up the formula, you get your basic story, arcade, versus, and online. There's a new "quick-match" mode that lets you play bots of other people's creation from all around the world but even that is not very fun, mainly because when you increase the difficulty level past easy the bots will get a perfect k.o. on you many times and even on some occasions will spam the same move over and over when you're on the ground, which got really, REALLY frustrating to the point I wanted to throw my Xbox out the window.

If you've played online matches in Soul Calibur IV, the connection to the servers were really bad and most people would resort to using Kilik and spam the same move throughout the whole game, no joke. Fortunately there was no such problem playing online in this game. The game ran smoothly with no lag-spikes or input delay and everyone I played a match with use a different character and showed actual skill while fighting. A saving grace for the game since most online fighting games you will see the cheapest group of people on the planet.

Gameplay: B-

Replay

In an attempt to keep you playing, the only way to get more items for character creation is by leveling up which can only be done be playing the game. However since the game is still fun when bots aren't auto spamming and has a really good online connection for multiplayer. And even with limited items, there are tons of customization items that will keep you busy.

Replay: C+

A lackluster story, unimaginative set of game modes, boring music, lack of a decent number of new characters (clones don't count in my book) and the most broken bot system really made it hard to truly enjoy this game and left a lot to be desired. And playing pretty much the same way it has been for the last several years doesn't help either. However with it's great customization, smooth multiplayer and still being a fun game I'm sure you'll still find something to keep you playing. If you're a long-time fan or even still enjoy the games system and customization you'll definitely want to check this game out, however if you were hoping for something new to the franchise, you'll be greatly disappointed.

Final Grade: C-

I'm only here for the man in the hood.

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Gears of War 3 "Forces of Nature" Unveiled

If you missed Spike's episode of GT.TV, Epic Game's Director Rod Fergusson revealed info on the final map pack for Gears of War 3 "Forces of Nature"


This pack will feature 5 maps, each with it's own "nature" based theme, 4 Character Models, 7 weapon skins, achievements a returning game mode and a very special Easter Egg for each map. Here are the details.

Aftermath
A former Government park that was hit by a tsunami, During the match there will be several earthquakes that will make it hard to aim, as well as some flooding that will cause some splashing, making it difficult to sneak up on enemies.


Artillery

What seems like a quiet abandoned military base, will "shock" you when a mighty lightning storm kicks up, then causing a mighty tornado that will kick up loads of dust and debris, blurring your vision but also your foes as well.


Cove

The Stranded took over this port after the locust invasion. There's lots of open spaces and clear shots, but the map is clouded by a dense fog that will make things harder to see from the distance. The sniper nest is a great spot but you'll have to trust your feelings for those long distance targets.


Jacinto

Returning from Gears of War 2, this was one of of my favorite maps. Once the last shining beacon of Sera's hope, The Coalition sunk this city to flood the locust hollow putting an end to the war for good, but it didn't. Things will only get worse as the map's rainstorm picks up and blinds everyone on the map. Keep you Gnasher equipped when it starts pouring.


Raven Down

A fan favorite from Gears of War, this is the smallest map in the series' history. Now returning with a chilly snow storm. Occasionally the winds will pick up impairing your vision for a while, which shouldn't be a problem considering how small this map is.


This Pack will have four new characters. Sadly. three of them are just "limited edition" recolors from Pre-Order Character Skins.

-Commando Dom (Limited Edition)
-Mechanic Baird (Limited Edition)
-Savage Grenadier Elite (Limited Edition)
-Savage Hunter


Epic made a big boo-boo with the last DLC by showing the wrong image of the Savage Marauder and left players confused when we got to guy above (3rd to the left) This is the real Savage Hunter.


Brought back by popular demand is the game mode guardian from the first two. Very Similar mode to the new Capture the Leader, One person is randomly assigned the leader (They will be Myrrah or Prescott for Locust and COG respectively). The goal of this game is to kill the enemy teams leader then the remainder of the squad. The leaders team will have infinite re-spawns until the leader is killed, then they're kaput.


This map will feature five new weapon skins ready to use, however 2 skins, which was created by the Gears community, must be unlocked through the DLC. While they haven't showed anything yet, I'm curious to see the community created ones.

For the final part of this DLC, Epic has hidden "Elemental Cleavers" on each map that can be found on Horde and Beast Mode. Each cleaver has an elemental effect including one that stirs up a blizzard and an immulsion one that will explode on impact causing an area of affect. Finding all these weapons and getting 25 kills with each of them will unlock the achievement "Elemental".

Speaking of Achievements, this DLC will have 10 new achievements worth a total of 250 Gamerscore. However non of them has been revealed yet except for the one I mentioned above.

While it's not what I was expecting, I'm glad to see Epic really listened to their fans for this one, especially since this will be the last pack available for free for season pass holders. The pack will be released on March 27th for 800 MS points to those without the Season Pass.


Another thing I should point out this will be the last map pack Epic will be releasing for Gears of War 3, good to get them all out before too many people lose interest. However this wont be the last piece of downloadable content they'll be making for the game, Chances are they are also planning to have more campaign DLC featuring Gears 2 baddie Skorge (He was confirmed to be a DLC Character a while ago) but nothing is set in stone.

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Skyrim's Patch 1.4 Coming to Consoles Tomorrow.

Bethesda has previously beta-tested patch 1.4 for the PC version of Skyrim (available now on steam) to test how well it runs the game and fixing constant glitches and crashing issues. Now they will be launching patch 1.4 for both PS3 and Xbox 360 tomorrow.

No longer will their hammers send you to space.

This patch promises to fix all (or at least most) gameplay issues, glitches, texturing problems and for you PS3 owners, fix the frame-rate. As much as I'm glad to see these problems go away, there are some glitches I will miss...

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Kinect Star Wars And Bundle Release Date

A release date for the Kinect Star Wars game and the special awesome bundle has been announced today.

On April 3, you can land a copy of Kinect Star Wars for $49.99, but if you want to spend an extra $300 on the bundle then you can get a C-3PO themed X-Box 360 controller, a R2-D2 themed Xbox 360, a white Kinect and the game itself.

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Mass Effect 3 Achievements Revealed (Possible Spoilers)

The Achievement/Trophy has been released for Mass Effect 3, but I'm not going to show them.


I will not be posting them due to the fact I don't want to risk being spoiled. However, if you don't mind learning about the story you can check them out in this link for the whole achievement list.

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Review: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim was named 2011's Game of The Year and was loved by long-time fans and the rest of the video game community. I decided to get the game and see for myself what this cultural phenomenon is all about. Although I'm a little late to the party I can see what everyone else see's as they step into the shoes as the dragonborn and journey across the world of Skyrim.


The Good:
-Skyrim is massive
-Amazing leveling up system
-Great action sequences
-Over 100 hours of gameplay
-Things are beautiful from afar
-Amazing original score
-Can create your own story
The Bad:
-Things are ugly up close
-Using magic can be confusing and difficult at first
-Some controls are unresponsive
-lots of graphical issues
The Ugly:
-Without a doubt the buggiest game you will ever play, regardless of system.

Story

You're a refugee, arrested by the Imperials for crossing the borders into Skyrim, and even though you did nothing wrong you are still sentenced to death. As your head lays down on a cold slab, the executioner raises his axe and what you may think is your last moment alive, a black dragon (a species presumed to be extinct for centuries) falls from the sky attacking the entire village. This mayhem allows you to flee from your death and you begin your life anew in this brave new world.

The best part of the game's story is that you can make your own tale from your character's race, personality, alignment and even play-style. Right after the intro quest "unbound" is completed you are free to do anything you want and build your own tale. Whether you're a Nord fighting with the Empire against the Stormcloak Rebels, A Kajit Mage that joins the dark brotherhood, no two stories will be the same.

From Race, hair, personality, and skills. The skies the limit.

However that doesn't mean there's no main plot to this game. After your escape you learn across your journey that you are the Dragonborn, a rare individual born with the soul of a dragon. After discovering your new found gift to absorb a dragon's soul and utilize their powerful magic shouts (known as the Thu'um in the Dragon Language) you can journey to train and hone your new found gift and investigate the sudden reappearance of the Dragons while also trying to stop them from wreaking havoc across all of Tamriel. The Choice is yours.

Story: B+

Graphic's

Its night time, you look up at starry sky and see the beautiful Northern Lights shimmering as if you were staring into the eyes of Sovengarde itself as you also see the misty mountain top of the Throat of the World, the highest point in all of Skyrim (possibly all of Tamriel) and it is truly a sight to behold.

The you take a moment to look down at your feet and see the cobblestone path is completely pixelated and unpolished. Even with your graphic settings set to 1080p on your ultra-powerful Alienware processor, you can easily see pixels up close. Flowers, grass and other foliage looks flat and uglier than sin. Another problem is that there are always graphical bugs and issues in the game. Many time's I have come across a river or stream and a perfect square area of water texture was completely missing

Was someone sick that day for water texturing, Bethesda?

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Or should I explain how a wall in my house has some serious clipping issues with unfinished wall texture, or when I killed an NPC bandit and their dead body falls through the solid floor like a poltergeist. The list goes on and on.

Luckily for owners of the PC versions there are tons of mods already made that not only fixes these errors but also give the game a huge graphical update that makes everything more realistic and beautiful. Sadly for console owners, we're going have to wait for update 1.4 that will MAYBE fix these issues.

Graphics: C

Sound

Skyrim definitely had one of the best scores of the year, I always get excited when the main theme plays while I fight a dragon (which happens a lot) and there are a plethora of amazing songs that you'll hear from traveling on the road and each major city.

Insert epic music here

The voice acting is pretty well done. My biggest problem is that the game does use the same voice actors for major and minor NPC's which isn't a problem except they sound exactly the same. And Hearing the guard's use that stupid "arrow in the knee" comment can get annoying to the point of going on a massive killing spree.

While sound effects for actions like banging on a shield or pickpocketing money are all there and are good, but it's the ones for magic and other supernatural abilities that. are amazing. Hearing a dragon's roar from a long distance and hearing it get closer and closer really tenses you for the upcoming fight. It also gets pretty amazing from the sound of their fire breathing, it really sounds like a river of flames when he's spewing it in your face. (see image above)

Sound: A-

Gameplay

In previous Elder Scroll games you were given the option to pick a class with preset abilities and perks (usually meaning you'd be forced to pick a race that is better suited for that class) Now, you can build up your characters abilities in any way you want. If you want to be an Orc mage, you can be one that's just as effective as a high elf mage would be. How this works is that you level up an ability by actually using that ability, for example if you want to become a better archer you actually have to use your bow and arrow while playing.


When you keep leveling up you abilities you soon eventually level up yourself, giving you the choice to raise your health, magicka or stamina and giving you the choice to purchase a perk. Perks can be purchased to make you more effective in your playstyle and give you extra abilities. For example when you have high level sneak, you can purchase a perk that lets you do a silent roll while crouching, allowing you to move more effectively while in sneak.

Each ability also belongs to a certain class set: Warrior (red), Mage (blue), Thief (green) and you can build you skill trees up in any way and style you want, making it one of the most in depth progression system in any game made today.

Enemy AI is very interesting in this game. While at lower levels you can easily dispatch a random skeever or wolf with your bare fists. But you will run into a lot of enemies that can kill you in one hit even when you start at the game. Since you can travel anywhere at anytime you want you'll run into some higher level enemies while on your journey, but I believe it adds to the emotional bond that grows into you. At the start you'll easily get killed in two hits by a frost troll making you feel helpless, but as you level up and grow stronger you can easily take out that troll along with his buddy just by shouting them off a cliff (a very hilarious and satisfying kill I should mention) giving you real sense of accomplishment as a player, overcoming an obstacle you couldn't have before.

Lift off in 3...2...1...

Which leads me to my next subject, Dragons. One of the main focal and selling points of this game was the introduction of Dragons. These giant monsters will be the ultimate test of a players skills and abilities. Killing your first will be one of your fondest memories while playing this game.


And the best part of killing one will be the payoff, not only do you get a good chunk of gold and their scales and bones that can be sold for high prices and used to make armor later on in the game, but you also get to absorb its very soul. As the dragonborn, you can absorb the soul of a dragon and use it to unlock powerful magic known as shouts. Shout's are the strongest of a dragons magic and all have a unique power from, fire breath, summoning a storm and even a whisper to see the auras of your enemies (perfect for sneak attacks).

However, I do have to bring up how many bugs this game has. Some of them can be minor like your horse flying away like a rocket when you climb up a steep mountain.

Horses also don't apply to the laws of physics too...

But the worst glitches are the ones that can cause your game to crash and ones that doesn't trigger a quest dialogue option or even make a quest driven item not appear. Which means you can no longer finish that quest if you don't reload from an earlier save. I've run into a few of these glitches, and while I've managed to overcome most of them just by backtracking from an earlier save, I am no longer able to finish a quest because an item I needed to retrieve off a vampires body apparently never existed. These tend to happen a lot and could even ruin your experience if you don't have the patience.

Don't believe me? This video will show all.


Gameplay: B+

Replay

Skyrim is long, reeeally long. So long this game could last you for months, and hell, even when the main quest is done, you're not really finished with the game. There are factions to join, caves to explore, shouts to master and many more things to come. It's hard to say that this game has replay value, due to the fact you really cant finish a game like this. Which isn't a bad thing. Even after doing all the things I wanted to accomplish are all done, I'm still finding plenty more to do in the game. And with Bethesda planning on DLC later this year, This game will keep you coming back for more.

Replay: A

Despite how massive this game is, with it's deep progression system, radiant stories and never-ending gameplay, there are many shortcomings that should've kept it from being game of the year. Don't get me wrong though, this game is addicting, which can be the redeeming quality of any video game. I've known many people who put their social lives on hold just to play this game for hours on end. So if you're looking for a game that's worth your money, has no annoying kids mic spamming in your ear and is guaranteed to last you a long time, Skyrim is a great choice for you.

Final Score: B+

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