Skyrim: Hands-On Preview

[Gikoku]

Allistair Pinsof of Destructiod and Tom Bramwell of EuroGamer managed to get their hands on a 60-minute demo of Skyrim over at QuakeCon yesterday. The alpha demo which was the first time the press was able to finally take the game for a test drive, placed its focus on the core mechanics and environments.​

Things Learned...​

• You can slay fluffy bunny rabbits.
• Character creation is heavily robust with lots of flexibility in tools, no more cartoon-faced characters anymore.
• All exterior & interior environments were hand-crafted, gone are the abundance of randomly copy-and-pasted areas seen in Oblivion.
• Lockpicking is similar to Fallout 3.
• You can ride carriages in the game to travel quickly from point A to point B.
• When wielding a torch, you can set NPCs ablaze.
• NPC followers will be fully directable. They will follow you based on their own perception of you such as your Karma, dialog choices, and quest favors using the Radiant AI System.
• You'll be able to craft weapons with subtle improvements over that of Fallout.
• You can mine for minerals with a pick-axe.
• You can request a Bard to play songs for you if you are present in a tavern.
• Game is still in the alpha stages with a few 3rd-Person camera glitches and object physics errors to iron out.
• The hit-detection is very responsive.
• Agility is no longer a skill, resulting in not having to run and jump constantly to build up your speed & jump distance anymore.
• Jumping animations are realistic and don't defy the laws of physics.
• Maps are in 3D with a 2D top-down view.
• You can examine 3D objects by rotating them to find clues and solve puzzles, you can also open books and read them without having to go to the menu.
• You just had an orgasm.

Source,

 

[Dark Drakan]

I enjoyed the lockpicking mechanic in Fallout 3 and also enjoyed the one in Oblivion though Fallout 3's was a little less frustrating. Glad to hear the creation tools are deep but at the same time you can create a decent looking character too, seem as though all the trailers so far have featured the same looking person i was curious about this. Fast Travel options are greatly appreicated, as sometimes you just want to get to certain points without a long slog back down a road you have been. Im also really happy with the improved crafting weapons mechanic and the very responsive hit detection (something which wasnt great in previous Elder Scrolls titles). All sounding fantastic so far and there isnt one thing ive seen that ive been dubious about so far.

 

[Quistrix]

• When wielding a torch, you can set NPCs ablaze.

Best game ever. The end.