Like we said in our E3 Skyrim preview the graphics are stunning. There are moments where I would just stand on top of the mountain and look around. It never re-rendered as I was looking around, it was a smooth look at the vast territory of Skyrim. I even found some perched areas that almost seemed meant for the player to pause and take it all in.

We spoke about the weather system a little bit at E3, but it was quite breathtaking while playing it. The land changed from daytime to night without awkward transition. One area I was in, a snowstorm started and you could really tell that the snowflakes seemed to have a life of their own. This is also where I have to talk about the audio. During the snow storm it also sounded like a snowstorm. Visually when it picked up, so did the audio. Maybe that was partially the Turtle Beach headsets we used (I don’t ever use headsets when I play), but they did a great job of making sure the audio completely surrounded you. I think there was one moment where I jumped because all of a sudden I heard a wolf barking at me, but I couldn’t see him (he was behind me). Of course I tried to play that off.

The character customization is very detailed. I decided to not spend too long in this area because I wanted to dive into the game. I created a character that wielded an one handed ax and in the other hand was a fire spell. Our characters were placed about 45 minutes into the game, which means I have no idea how it actually starts. I basically went out into the world and started exploring.

I tend to be anti-open world game because of my a)lack of direction and b) it makes it difficult to stick to the story line. In this demo, I spent at least an hour wandering and discovering, completely going the opposite direction of some quests. Nice PR person from event came over and suggested I go to a certain town (after I got my butt kicked by a bear in a cave). I was informed that getting your butt kicked typically means that you are in an area you aren’t ready for. But in open world games, there is no other indication you should not be there. Thankfully the Giants I ran into just looked at me as I ran by.

My lack of direction issues were slightly solved by the fact that you can mark a territory and have it guide you there. I did not get verification if this actually was a guide or maybe just a spooky time of night, but a headless horseman lead me to the town I was looking for. I guess we’ll find out when the game comes out if that is a guide or a ghost.

Elder Scrolls Skyrim makes it super easy to go between first person and third person view. Once I found the way to go to third person view, I never left it. The third person views help me with my targeting as well as sense of direction. In first person view, I feel out of control and lost. But this may not be true for you. The best part is that Bethesda has made it really fluid and easy to pick which view is more suited to your needs.

Bethesda surprised me sometimes with their attention to detail. In one of the quests, I found a book lying there. I picked it up and before I took it with me, was given the opportunity to read it. I started to read it and then flipped a page. The story continued and I became very curious about how long the book would be. Usually in RPGs the book is a page or two if you get more than a paragraph. Unfortunately I did not count the number of pages, but I flipped for quite a while until I got to a proper end of the book. It definitely contained a full story that probably adds to the overall storyline.

Working skills are easy to level up. In the one town I got my quests, blacksmithing was simple to try out. I didn’t get too involved with the skills though due to lack of time, but for any gamer that enjoys the leveling up system for skills will find it easy and entertaining to do so. Selecting weapons, items, skills, and the map is made incredibly easy by pressing the “B” button on the controller. Elder Scrolls has the whole weight system which I had to keep dropping items to make sure I could move easily. Although in a short demo, there probably was no need for me to hold onto things to sell. The Skills menu is quite beautiful in a celestial look. Each skill has it’s own “star” design and when selected you work your way up the skill tree that way. When you level up, you get a point to place in a skill. I did activate a skill, but could not figure out how to subsequently grow that skill to the other nodes once I earned more points.

I enjoyed the new lockpicking system. It’s very similar to Fallout’s lockpicking with the combination of the lockpick and screwdriver (I think that’s what it is). I opened every chest I came across because it was fun. I also loved stealing a horse. The horse’s owners had died and so I didn’t feel conflicted about stealing it. The interesting thing about stealing a horse, is when you get off of it to fight or talk to someone, the horse goes off on it’s own. I did run back into the horse twice, but it definitely does not stay in the same area to wait for you. A little frustrating if you are trying to keep the horse because you cannot tie it up, but it does seem like you’ll be able to find it again.

The time I spent with Elder Scrolls Skyrim ended too soon. I loved just about every aspect of this game. There are things like the skill tree that I have to figure out, and this is obviously not enough of an impression for a full review. For me personally, I cannot wait until Skyrim comes out. I rarely get time to play games, and my three hour demo went so quickly that I wanted to beg for more (or steal the dev box). Very few games get that time commitment from me in one sitting (I’m always multi-tasking or doing other things). Personally, I am excited about my pre-order for Skyrim. 11-11-11 cannot come soon enough. Funny thing is….when I came home, I started to play Oblivion. ^_^