I used to write a blog, but then i… oh forget it…

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 

In November last year, I spent the most worth while forty five pounds on a game I have spent in my twenty years. What did I buy? The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

At first I was a little hesitant about purchasing the game, having never played an elder scrolls game before, I didn’t really know what to expect, whether I would enjoy it, or even like it at all.

However, thirty minutes into playing, I was hooked. Dragons, swords, bows, giants, trolls, this game had everything you could want from an RPG all rolled into a great story.

Players fill the boots of the ‘Dovahkiin’ or ‘Dragonborn’ someone who is able to speak in the dragon language, enabling you to use ‘dragon shouts’ powerful words that each have a different result, words which can be learnt throughout the game.

The Dovahkiin’s quest is simple, stop the dragons that have mysteriously returned to the Skyrim, a province of Tamriel, the land the Elder scrolls games are set within.

The main quest itself will only take about 10 hours to complete, the real value for money come from the world around you, the towns dotted about the map, wanderers scaling mountains and various other interesting people you will bump into along your travels, these people offer up side quests for you to undertake, some of which can be as simple as collecting a particular item, or as difficult as taking over a fortress singlehandedly. These quests are randomly generated, meaning there is literally no end to this game. These types of side quests can even be ignored completely and there is still plenty to do, key characters from around the land will provide you with quests that have three or four stages, or even more.

One such quest sees you siding with either the Nordic ‘Stormcloaks’ or the ‘Empire’ and trying to win the war for skyrim for one side or the other, a quest line that can take several hours to complete, depending on how you tackle it.

Even ignoring the quests the game stands on its own, exploration is key in this game, looting items, discovering locations, fighting creatures, and learning new shouts, all is important for level progression, allowing you to level up and earn more perks to improve your characters skills.

The main thing I love about this game is its longevity and randomness, each time you load up a game, you will get a different experience, dragons attack at random, and the inhabitants will ‘live’ out there lives whether or not you are around to see it.

I would recommend this game to anyone who hadn’t yet bought it, it is extremely good value for money, and never gets dull, I have currently clocked over 157 hours on Skyrim, that’s almost 7 days of constant gaming, and I still love it, I’m still not bored of it and I cannot see that changing.

Bethesda will only improve upon the game in the future too, with the recent addition of ‘Kinect’ support you can now ‘Fus Ro Dah’ your way through the inhabitants of Tamriel to your hearts content. Also the addition of the creation kit on Steam (PC only) allows infinite possibilities within the modding community. As well as the downloadable content (DLC) that is sure to come in the near future, this game is only going to get bigger.

Have you played Skyrim? Let me know what you thought, and I wont make any more arrow in the knee jokes!

Assassins Creed III

When I first heard about Assassins Creed III being announced, I was very, VERY excited. Nothing has changed since.

The first thing that got me excited for this game is the new location and setting. Set during the American Revolution (1763 – 1783) the game is going to be very different from anything we’ve seen in an Assassins Creed game so far. Fighting across the American frontier is going to be a massive change from the crowded streets of Rome or Jerusalem, fog will hide you from enemies, footsteps in the snow will give away your location and trees will provide a good vantage point from which to get the drop on unsuspecting redcoats. Not to mention the various wildlife that will also pose a threat, or play victim to your hunting skills, depending on your play style.

This time around we also meet a new Assassin, Connor, or Ratohnhake’ton if you know how you pronounce that.

Vastly different from any of the Assassins seen in the previous titles, Connor has no allegiance to a particular side, son of a British father and a Mohawk mother his only allegiance is to his quest for freedom, and to find his place in a world that see’s him as an outsider. As Connor you will be able to hunt animals across the wilderness, hone your bow skills and learn to master the art of the assassin. As I mentioned before, Connor will have no set side in the war, and will be taking missions from the British Redcoats, the American Forces and possibly even the American Militia.

Connor brings a bunch of new weapons to the table from his native tribe, most notably (and perhaps most awesome) is the Tomahawk, shaped like the assassin seal, which can be dual wielded with Connor’s knife and/or hidden blade, a staple for the series. This will change combat complete, which itself has been given a complete overhaul in the new engine, which I will discuss later, allowing Connor to engage several enemies at once.

Throughout the story Connor will meet key characters from the American Revolution, Ubisoft have already announced that George Washington will feature within the game, as will inventor and scientist Benjamin Franklin who will, I imagine play a similar role as Leonardo Da Vinci from Assassins Creed II.

The engine that runs the game has been changed too; AC3 will run on the Anvil Next engine, this new engine allows for much more fluid control when free running between rooftops and tree branches, and completely changes combat within the game, the new engine can support up to 1000 enemies on screen at once, which will play a key part in certain areas in the game when Connor will fight his way through battle fields to find targets.

I am extremely excited for Assassins Creed III as I have been a fan of the franchise since I first played number one, however not being too thrilled with the previous two installments (Brotherhood and Revelations) I’m glad to see a return to the numbered entries as I found them a lot better in story, and found the expansion titles a little repetitive and found I got a bit bored with them.

For Assassins Creed III I would like to see a bit more of Desmond, not in the puzzle sequences we saw in Revelations but in actual platforming and action sequences like we saw at the very end of Brotherhood.

Another change I would like to see for Assassins Creed 3 is a change to enemy attack patterns, with previous games combat has dumbed down to little more than standing blocking until an enemy attacks, and then pressing counter to finish them quickly and then repeating, I would like to see more than one enemy attacking at a time, and to have Connor counter or engage both targets simultaneously, this is already half there as Ubisoft have announced they have changed the control system, making it no longer possible to block constantly and counter with a different button, they are now the same button, meaning players will need to perfect the art of countering attacks.

I cannot wait to see what else Assassins Creed III has in store for us, whether this will be the final instalment in the franchise, what will happen to Desmond and how Connor will stack up against Altair and Ezio, I guess we’ll all have to wait and see come October.

Assassins Creed III will be released on 31^st October 2012 alongside several special editions containing extra content not contained in the standard edition.

If you’ve not seen the reveal trailer yet, check it out here:

Have any opinions or concerns about AC3? Let me know in the comments!