Do Mods And Cheats Ruin The PC Version Of Skyrim?



Many consider the ridiculous amount of mods and easy access to console commands the best things about playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on the PC. In today’s Speak Up on Kotaku,, commenter Daemon_Gildas disagrees.

Alright, PC-gamers, it’s time to have one of the severe down-sides of your choice of console pointed out.

So, a few months ago I rented Skyrim for the 360. I knew from buying Oblivion on the 360 that I would want Skyrim on the PC, but I didn’t want to wait for a Steam Sale to at least play the game. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it, even though Oblivion had bored me to tears.

Recently, I picked up Skyrim on the PC, and the modding community is absolutely amazing at what they do. Seriously, I downloaded a mod that adds Frostmourne to the game, and I swear it’s even more detailed than in the actual Blizzard cinematics!

However, it also presents a very real issue; the game itself kind of gets lost in the mix. With so many possibilities — which is great, don’t get me wrong — Skyrim itself feels rather bland by itself.

Worse, still, is that with consoles-commands RIGHT-FREAKING-THERE, you have to make a conscious effort to not abuse them. That isn’t fun. Using them isn’t fun, either, but when presented with an “I-Win button”, it’s kind of a crappy feeling to always have it lingering in your head.

As well, it’s just so easy to clutter everything up to the point that it just feels like a crappy fan-game, as opposed to a breathtaking experience. Granted, Skyrim is by no means a perfect game, but between the easy access to cheats, and the seemingly-infinite add-ons, I think it just kind of ruins the actual game itself.

About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That’s why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. That’s the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we’ll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.