With all the gaming goodness going down presently in L.A at E3, it’s hard to pick out single games to explore and explain. Despite this it was a simple decision to delve in to the new info and indeed the world of The Elder Scrolls V, follow-up to (let’s face it) one of the games of the century.

First. if you haven’t already, check out the gameplay walkthrough video at the top of this page, it highlights the great visuals that will feature on all platforms as well as some incredible actual gameplay footage (DRAGON FIIIIIIGHTS!). Certainly examples such as this convey the grander scale of the new game, now i’m not talking the size of the map, as logistically Skyrim is smaller than Tamriel, but rather the depth and overall ‘grandness’ of the experience  has been enhanced. Take the lightning ‘shout’ (the game’s new verbal beatings, except, not literally), in which your character brings on a storm of lightning to attack their opponents, not only is this stuff of fantasy fanboy dreams, but it also displays how the game’s combat is evolving into more than just a hack and slash fireball throwing clusterfuck.

Apparently the game will also feature three guilds, replicating the fan favourite sections of Oblivion, (aka Assassins (Dark Brotherhood), Thieves, Fighters and mages as well as the arena)   the Thieves and hopefully the Grey Fox, which may or may not be you, will return alongside ‘The College of Winterhold’ and ‘The Companions’ mages and warriors respectively, it would appear that they have condensed the larger number of guilds in Oblivion to more concise ‘factions’, perhaps to improve your allegiance to them. And yes, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, those are wooly Mammoth (‘s?) (i?), the wildlife in Skyrim looks very exotic and diverse, the horse’s in particular look very real and their animation far surpasses any previsouly seen. Cool details like this are key to a sandbox game like Skyrim, fish flowing down rivers, deer keeping in a flock, clouds floating at different speeds and directions all help to engross the player in the virtual world, and frankly no one does it quite like Bethesda.

Dragon Battle’s are reportedly exciting and varied due to the combination of the classic Elder Scrolls combat mixed in with the all new finishing moves as well as the previsouly mentioned shouts. Interestingly, experience points gained from tablets found throughout the world as well as through your day to day actions unlock a series of 280 perks/upgrades! That’s a lot to choose from so it appears that many ‘Dragon Born’s’ are going to be somewhat unique, add to this the soul’s recovered from killing dragons and you’ve got a whole field of abilities and powers.

Finaly, not much has been said about the actual lay of the land, but this last image portrays part of a town and a castle like hilltop home, following the style that Skyrim is adopting, a sort of medieval/elven pattern. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is set for release on 11/11/11 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, more info is sure to arrive soon so check back here at GamertechTV for the latest info

And also check back for more news from the Electronic Entertainment Expo….                    R.G.D

 Ryan is a contributing gaming journalist, with a love of console gaming Read more from this author

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