The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

Single Player Only
PROLOG
Sudah lima tahun berlalu semenjak Bethesda Softworks meluncurkan seri game rpg offline yang terkenal di dunia, The Elder SCrolls IV Oblivion (TES IV). Kini mereka kembali merilis sekuelnya yaitu The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim (TES V). Sebuah seri game rpg yang sangat terkenal dalam mengedepankan kebebasan penuh bagi gamer dalam menjalankan cerita maupun bagaimana melakukan berbagai tindakan ataupun menjelajahi di dalam dunia SKyrim yang sangat luas ini. Sebuah game rpg offline dgn genre yang langka, memiliki fitur yang berciri khas-kan seperti game Massive MUltiplayer ONline Role Playing (MMORPG). Pada 2006, Bethesda sukses memperkenalkan TES IV dengan model cerita non linear+gameplay open ended yang super mantap dan mereka juga menyertainya dengan memberikan gfx + sound yang sangat mencengangkan publik. Akankah Bethesda kini mampu mengulangi untuk meraih kesuksesan yang sama dengan TES V, seperti halnya dengan TES IV yang lalu??

STORYLINE
Jika cerita utama di TES IV berlangsung sekian bulan seusai kisah utama dari TES III, maka kisah cerita di TES V ini berlangsung 200 tahun seusai berakhirnya oblivion di TES IV. Kemudian, setting lokasi dari TES V ialah berada di provinsi Skryim, yang perbatasan timurnya bersebelahan dengan provinsi MOrrowind (TES III) dan sebelah selatan berbatasan dengan provinsi Cyrodill (TES IV), perbatasan barat dengan wilayah HIgh Rock dan sebelah barat daya dengan wilayah Hammerfell, sedangkan di utara Skyrim berbatasan dengan lautan luas (Sea of Ghost) dan perbatasan timur laut dengan pulau Solstheim. Kisah utama di game ini masih memiliki tradisi yang sama seperti seri sebelumnya, seorang tahanan tanpa nama baru saja keluar dari penjara, bersama para narapidana lainnya, mereka semuanya akan dieksekusi mati oleh tentara kerajaan (Imperial Legion) di salah satu desa kecil di Provinsi Skryim, bernama Desa Helgen, karena dianggap sebagai bagian dari kelompok pemberontak, Stormcloak, pimpinan Ulfric.
Secara tiba-tiba, datanglah seekor naga yang merusak agenda eksekusi itu, maka disaat-saat krusial ini, gamer bisa memilih untuk menerima bantuan dari salah seorang tentara kerajaan atau dari sesama tahanan pemberontak lainnya. Selama awal-awal berada di desa Helgen ini, TES V membebaskan gamer mau memilih ras apa, bentuk wajah dan tubuh seperti apakah yang diinginkan gamer, mau memakai nama apa, usianya berapa, dan apakah akan mau memakai gender pria atau wanita (takada opsi tuk memilih waria/sejenisnya, dll). Semua bebas, gamer juga bisa memilih sekitar 10 ras yang mendiami dunia TES ini, yang terdiri dari lima bangsa besar, yakni human (imperial, nord, red guard, breton), elf (altmer, bosmer, dunmer), orc, khajit (bangsa gimgim eh kucing), dan argonian (bangsa kadal). Di game ini tiada pemilihan job class karakter, semua standar namun setiap ras memiliki keunikan statistik karakter pemula yang tersendiri, ada ras yang cocok untuk menjadi ahli siluman (rogue) semisal ras Khajit.
Ada yang cocok untuk bertempur (warrior), yakni contohnya ras Orc, atau ada ras yang OK untuk menjadi penyihir (mage), yakni Altmer. Semua bebas gamer memilih mau menjadi seperti apa. OK, seusai mendapat salah satu bantuan tersebut, maka gamer akan berhasil melarikan diri dari desa Helgen. Kemudian, bersama teman baru itu, apa yang sebaiknya gamer harus lakukan lebih dahulu, mau langsung menyelidiki kenapa bisa muncul naga secara tiba-tiba dan mengacak-acak desa Helgen? atau langsung memilih untuk berpetualang bebas, mencari-cari petualangan baru di dunai Skyrim sebagai orang bebas dan merdeka dari penjara, atau mau bagaimana, itu semua terserah gamer. JIka memilih untuk mengikuti quest utama yakni untuk membuka tabir misteri akan serangan naga itu, maka gamer pertama-tama harus datang ke salah satu kota kecil yang berdekatan dengan desa Helgen, yakni Riverwood untuk menerima instruksi lebih lanjut dari teman baru tersebut.
Dari situlah, gamer harus berangkat menuju ke salah satu kota besar di SKyrim, yakni Whiterun, lalu petualangan besar bagi gamer dalam memburu miestri para naga itu akan terus berjalan hingga akhir. Sekilas, cerita perburuan kaum naga oleh gamer ini akan terlihat sederhana dan singkat, namun pada dasarnya tak semudah dan secepat itu. Sebab, begitu gamer serius mendalami semua alur cerita dari quest utama, gamer akan menjumpai begitu banyak faksi yang berkeliaran di dunia Skryim. Faksi-faksi yang terlihat di Skryim selain faksi IMperial Legion di Solitude dan Stormcloak di Kota Windhelm, diantaranya ialah ada faksi Companion (fighter guild) di White, faksi Mage di kota Winterhelm, faksi Theft di Riften, faksi Dark Brotherhood (Assasin) di kotar Falkreath, faksi Bard di Solitude, faksi EaStern Company di WIndhelm. Selain itu, akan ada beberapa organisasi rahasia, semisal sekte Thalmor di KOta Markarth dan agen Blade di kota Riverwood, dan beberapa sekte lainnya.

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Dota 2 Beta Preview

By Paul Dean Published 22 November, 2011

Changing lanes?

I must be going soft, or I must be getting old. Perhaps both. Maybe I've become pulpy and aged, like an over-ripe fruit that's due for the bin, because the Dota 2 beta is punishing me.
It may well be that I've spent far too long amongst the warm comforts of its accommodating and enormously successful peer League of Legends, with that game's gentle tutorials, helpful replays and precisely-tuned player matchmaking. Side by side, a game of LoL now seems like a finely-honed fencing match where opponents parry and riposte, while Dota 2 is an unforgiving broadsword duel in which one false move spells disfigurement or even death.
What's more, while opposing LoL players may give knowing winks as they feint and strike, more than a few Dota 2 players practically spit in each other's faces. Like the original Dota, Valve's Source Engine update has no sense of sympathy. That's not what you play it for. Nor is it what you expect from the remake of a game whose beginner's guide is simply titled "Welcome to Dota. You suck." Highlights include a section on "DISGUSTINGLY COMMON NOOB ITEM MISTAKES," you disgusting new person, you.
If you're not yet familiar with the mechanics of Dota and its derivatives, here's the pithy primer I've learned to recite: two small teams of players control powerful heroes who swing the balance of an otherwise AI-controlled battle of attrition. As both sides meet to duke it out, the heroes pick off enemy units and, if they can, enemy heroes too, helping their armies gradually advance into their opponent's base in a quasi-RTS style.

It's a cruel game. Don't expect to master it quickly.

RPG elements are provided by the advancement of your hero, as well as collecting currency and spending this on battlefield bling. Oh, and in the case of Dota itself, climbing the learning curve is comparable to running headlong into the base of a cliff, hence why derivatives such as League of Legends have emphasised accessibility.
But after LoL, Heroes of Newerth and Demigod have riffed on the Dota theme, we've come full circle and Valve is now rushing to release Dota in its new, shinier incarnation. While there are a great deal of cosmetic changes and a few welcome interface tweaks (including, thank God, the collapsing of all the different item shops into one cleaner and more intuitive interface), this is otherwise an extremely faithful update, translating many of the same mechanics, items and characters. If you had a favourite Dota character or item, chances are you'll either already find it in Dota 2 or it's well on its way. So far, this game is much more about production values than about making serious alterations to its predecessor.

"A game of League of Legends now seems like a finely-honed fencing match where opponents parry and riposte, while Dota 2 is an unforgiving broadsword duel in which one false move spells disfigurement or even death."

Of course, the game engine is a massive improvement upon the wrinkled looks of the Warcraft 3-based original. Vibrant lightning arcs from the fingertips of vindictive spellcasters, while fireballs impact the bulging hide of a lumbering ogre as it splashes its way through a filthy, rippling, shin-deep ditch.
Less impressive are the audio histrionics, which are all about grand drama and whooping soundtracks. The emphatic declaration that I have been matched with nine other players and should prepare to enter a game is underscored with an enormous orchestral boom and, sadly, often followed by the news that one of those players has just dropped out and the game is trying to find us all a replacement. Cue further booms and re-matching attempts. And don't even get me started on the hammy, pun-filled voice acting - and, thanks to this being a beta, I don't seem to be able to turn it off.
Still, everything is fairly smooth and glitch-free. The shop interface could still do with a few tweaks and a strange lag bug that Wesley first reported still seems to crop up, but on the whole this is one of the most polished and professional betas I've played in a long time. But there's another problem.

If you aren't sure which item does what... well, Dota 1 is a good frame of reference.

It's about nine hours into the beta that I find myself at something of an impasse. I'm essentially playing a prettier version of the same single map, character-based strategy I've played many times over. But in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a tightly-closed beta, Dota 2 isn't yet able to be all that it claims it can be. There's a limit to the number of players I can be matched with, and many beta testers are Dota diehards - something I am not.
No doubt inspired by the runaway community success of League of Legends, Valve has emphasised how much community will also be an important part of this re-release and the key to a broader player base and wider appeal. But it's not yet possible to see how this has been realised, and most of these elements are not yet functioning. In the meantime, it's a free-for-all involving what Dota's own community calls "the most bad mannered, whining, assholes on the gaming internet."

Dota Explained

• The Story of DOTA
• Gabe Newell Interview
• League of Legends Dominion

This is an important point to note. I can think of few other games that are defined as much by those who play them as by any game concepts themselves. League of Legends has worked hard to promote accessibility, to foster a community spirit, to build a dialogue with and between its players and to emphasise good conduct through its peer-led Tribunal system.
This has been a concerted effort to move away from the complexity and hostility that new Dota players have been greeted with (and for an example of the former, check out a typical character breakdown on the Dota strategy website, something that looks more like maths homework than a game guide, while more than a few anecdotes about the latter can be found among the comments on my previous introduction to Dota). Valve did a fine job of invigorating the Team Fortress 2 community and Dota 2's interface speaks volumes for the potential for doing this once again, with the ability to uprate or berate other players, many spectating options and a greater focus on teamplay.

Deadly abilities and savvy players mean the most powerful characters can be slaughtered in seconds.

"The beta is a free-for-all involving what Dota's own community calls 'the most bad mannered, whining, assholes on the gaming internet.'"

But, in the meantime, as well as inheriting its predecessor's mechanics, Dota 2 has also inherited its mentality. For now, it remains difficult, even esoteric, precisely-balanced and very unforgiving in both its playing and also in those playing it.
This is somewhat understandable as a hapless player not only has a bad time themselves, but potentially ruins the game for their whole team, pitching them towards a slow and languid demise that may well be drawn out over thirty, forty or even sixty minutes. I doubt there is anyone on the beta right now who doesn't wish for the implementation of a surrender feature, rather than having to suffer another drawn-out and irreversible defeat.
Dota players have traditionally had to be thick-skinned. During a weekend of poor play I'm constantly berated for not noticing things, for picking "bad" items, or "bad" characters, for listening to the wrong players or for not understanding all the slang or shorthand, even though I understand how my teammate was "farming creeps, before pushing mid to take the rax until the other team's carry went MIA and ganked two of us."

More on Dota 2

• Interview: Valve's Gabe Newell

  CS: GO, Steam, Portal 2 DLC and Half-Life 3.
  

• News: DotA 2 gets a spectator client on Steam

  Just in time for the million dollar international tourney.
  

• News: Valve investigates the personal side of eSports in a new Dota 2 documentary

  What it takes to win the $1 million prize.
  
• 

  Video: Valve unveils first Dota 2 teaser

  Stop dragon your heels and watch.
  
• 

  Screenshots: Meet the cast of DOTA 2 images

The camera view never seems to zoom out quite as far as it should.

I'm quite used to offensives remarks from online players, but I forgot how emphatic and particular the Dota community is. One player tells me that he can deal with me not being an expert at the game, but that I shouldn't have momentarily left my PC to answer the door and I need to "minimise" such things in future. I'm not quite sure what to reply.
I do know that I don't immediately fancy having to once again become intimately familiar with the features and foibles of dozens of different characters, in a game where mistakes can cost matches and where abuse and intolerance are commonplace. There'll have to be something a little bit special on offer to tempt me back to that particular fracas.
With this game, Valve's real challenge has never been technical - it's been psychological. When Dota 2 goes live, the important question will not be what kind of game you are playing, but instead who you are playing it with.

 COMPANY OF HEROES 2 PREVIEW GAMES



 I’ve sent thousands of American, German and British soldiers to die in battle. I’ve sent men into situations where I knew they would die in order to win the larger fight, seen tanks go from powerful symbols of freedom into burning husks within seconds and put so many craters into quaint villages that they look like the surface of the moon. All of this and more I’ve done in the real time strategy franchise Company of Heroes.

Company of Heroes, more than any other game in any genre, has let me experience the horrors of war. Granted, it’s a representation wrapped up in the conventions of a video game, but it still portrays combat in a realistic enough way that it sometimes makes me reflect on how awful these men had it. Despite two expansions, the original Company of Heroes never took us to the Eastern Front, where more than 20 million people lost their lives. That changes in 2013 with the release of Company of Heroes 2, when everyone will finally get direct control over Soviet forces, taking them into battles fought and won as much by desperation as by sound tactics. Having recently tried it myself, I’ve briefly experienced battles in the most brutal front in history.
Despite having played hours of Company of Heroes, the sequel still threw me for a bit of a loop. The basic gameplay principles from the first game are carried over to the second (you still capture points to collect resources, cover is crucial, vehicle positioning matters, etc.), but many subtle changes have been implemented. Some of them, like the new True Sight mechanic, make the game feel more realistic, and make fighting in tight spaces much more claustrophobic. Since your units no longer have a 360 degree view (but instead have their vision broken up by terrain like they would in real life) you realize how much more frightening it is for a soldier to move into an area with lots of obstructions. Enemies could come from anywhere; intersections, which previously made me think of all the directions I could move, now make me fear what the hell will be around the corner. Scouting has become far more important than it was in the original Company of Heroes.
Likewise, resources play totally differently. In earlier Company of Heroes titles, you captured points with specific resources attached to them; an ammo point gave ammo, a fuel point fuel, etc. This made points with high resources an integral part of the level design, and in multiplayer this often resulted in furious battles to control a specific point that could make the difference between victory and defeat. While the details are still being ironed out, developer Relic is giving you the option to choose what resource you need in Company of Heroes 2. In an effort to encourage players to battle over more areas of the map, Relic leaves it to players to determine which resources are important. This comes alongside a smaller number of capturable points to hopefully make the maps easier to create and for you to tell when you have resources connected. In practice it’s still hard to know how it will shake out. The single match I played against the AI wasn’t enough to learn the maps or the Russian forces intimately enough to know if I should lean my resources toward ammo or fuel. Still, it’s a potentially exciting change because it makes it harder to predict what your foe is up to. Previously, if you knew they were capturing a lot of fuel you could predict what they might be gearing up to, but now you have to do more scouting and stay on your toes.
Even the way that you capture points has been changed for Company of Heroes 2. Previously, the only way to capture a point was to order a squad to take it, meaning you had to click the specific point and have a squad sit on it. This reduced their combat effectiveness, and if you weren’t paying attention the squad could be wiped out with ease. Company of Heroes 2 still allows you to order a squad to capture a point in this way, but alternatively they can just sit within a small radius of a point to take it. It’s a seemingly minor change, but it means that combat around points can become a lot more interesting, as each side is vying to see who can stay within proximity of a point long enough to capture it. It also means that things like booby traps or teller mines from Company of Heroes, which relied on the fact that the enemy was going to need to reach the point itself, won’t be effective and likely won’t be used in the same fashion they were before.
The Russian forces themselves obviously play a lot differently than the armies in the original game. It’ll take hours and hours of play to really get a hold on what makes them so special, but even during the short time I played a few things stood out. First of all, there’s conscript units. These large groups of infantry, normal citizens forced into the war, aren’t great at fighting, but are great for absorbing fire and can merge with other units to reinforce them on the field. For instance, if you had a machine gun crew down to one guy, you could use a conscript squad to bring them back up to their original size. These squads are cheap and efficient, and a bit unnerving when you realize how little value these peasants’ lives hold unless they’re used in specific ways.
Other units also stand out, feeling like variations on the past game’s units. The Maxim machine gun has a massive crew of six people and is a bit sluggish with its comparatively tight field of fire. The Russian sniper teams come in pairs instead of solo and are heavily clad in order to battle the blizzards that now sweep into levels and kill unprepared units. The Katyusha trucks fire Nebelwerfer-like rockets -- albeit a bit inaccurately -- from absurdly far away. The Russians even have an array of tanks, making an armored assault feel viable. Basically, they seem to have a bit of everything, with units that make them feel like an amalgamation of the original Company of Heroes' Wermacht and American forces.

The really striking thing about Company of Heroes 2 is the tone the game sets with its fantastic fidelity and animation. It’s easy to get caught up in the fact that I’m playing a game, but as I watch a group of conscripts struggle through heavy snow while taking machine gun fire, or throw themselves to the ground as an explosion comes a bit too close, I sometimes take a moment to reflect on the actual men and women that did that. These people endured some of the harshest conditions in the entirety of the war, and it’s great to see one of the best strategy franchises ever portraying their plight in vivid detail. It’s not often games succeed at being so much fun to play while simultaneously being intensely visceral in their portrayal of history.

By : Anthony Gallegos