By
Matthew Scott Hunter
 ‘The
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’
(M)
*****
Bethesda Softworks
Xbox 360
Best game of the year?
It should come as no surprise to anyone who
played “Elder Scrolls IV” that “Elder Scrolls
V” is a lengthy and varied RPG set in an open
fantasy world. The surprise is that “Elder Scrolls
V” is the equivalent of about six or seven lengthy
and varied RPGs set in the vast open world of
Skyrim. It’s not uncommon to find yourself with
more than 20 active quests on your plate at
any given time. You can be working as a travelling
bard, run a couple errands for the Dark Brotherhood,
spontaneously slay a dragon and still have time
to pick some flowers. Even with that level of
multitasking, you’re looking at over 100 hours
of gameplay — to say nothing of replay value.
Swap your sword and shield for an emphasis on
magical spells on your second play-through,
and it’ll be an entirely different experience.
Unlike in “Oblivion,” in “Skyrim” you don’t
spend quite so much time customizing your character
at the beginning. You’ll be able to sample all
the different forms of combat during your early
exploration in order to pick which specialty
is your best fit. Melee combat feels more satisfyingly
brutal, and magic attacks can be mapped to each
hand, so you can heal yourself with one hand
while firing lightning bolts with the other.
Then there are the shouts — special spells you
learn by absorbing the souls of slain dragons.
There’s nothing quite like watching your enemies
burst into flames simply because you raised
your voice. As with its predecessor, “Skyrim”
has a few bugs, many of which are hilarious,
but some of which require the frustrating reload
of a previous save. But in a game this massive,
a few blemishes are easy to forgive. “Skyrim”
feels like a living, breathing place with new
secrets to discover around every corner, and
it’s well worth a visit.
‘Saints Row: The Third’
(M)
****
THQ
Xbox 360
What began as a shameless “Grand Theft Auto”
knockoff has finally found its distinctive voice,
and what a bizarre voice that is. “Saints Row”
has become a sandbox filled with immature, novelty
gag toys, and it’s a blast to play in. The semblance
of a story has the Saints moving on to a new
town to become the ruling gang — a task they’ll
undertake with ridiculous costumes (or nudity),
cool vehicles (including an old school, pixilated
tank) and plenty of profanity. The action is
fun and unpredictable, and the sophomoric jokes
will make you laugh in spite of yourself.
‘Jurassic Park: The Game’
(T)
**
Telltale Games
Xbox 360
A “Jurassic Park” point-and-click adventure
game? Is it 1993 already? Taking place in the
aftermath of the first film, this game follows
a group of survivors on Isla Nublar as they
attempt to avoid being eaten. You don’t control
the various characters so much as guide them,
and most of the action boils down to quicktime
events. And if I remember my paleontology correctly,
these graphics date back to the early cretaceous
period. The result feels more like a mediocre
cartoon that you passively watch than a video
game that you actively play. |
