While I’m nowhere near being ready to write-up my full thoughts on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I’d like to share my enthusiasm for it. I suspect it’ll be a few months before I’m able to complete this incredibly massive game. However, I do want to share how thoroughly impressed I am after playing it for the first few weeks. I’ve never experienced anything on such a grand scale with so many layers of depth in a game. It is an epic world unlike anything else and one that is very, very enjoyable to experience.

Big kudos to Todd Howard and the team at Bethesda Softworks. The sheer scope, scale, and little details in Skyrim are impressive, on all levels including; graphics, atmosphere, level design, sound, gameplay, characters, story, and more. The closest games I can even compare it to would be Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV, Fallout 3, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. All massive games that have now been topped by Skyrim. Oblivion was impressive when it came out, but its successor, Skyrim, takes it to a whole new level with every aspect and the end result is a spectacular game with a world that is absolutely stunning. It is epic. Even more impressive is the game is running off one disc! When other games like L.A. Noir, Mass Effect 2, and Rage are coming out on 2 or 3 discs and the amount of content in those games isn’t half of what is in Skyrim.

Since I don’t have the setup to capture my own screens I’m sharing screens from Dead End Thrills. He has posted a ton of spectacular screens and he continues to add more as he plays. Here are a handful that really showcase the beauty of Skyrim, but checkout his Flickr gallery for more.

Oh and while these screens are amazing, the game is even more amazing in motion on a big screen HDTV with the full surround sound experience. If you haven’t picked up this game yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Screens

Note that I’ve left the larger screens in their original 1920×1080 size since they make for fantastic wallpaper and screen saver images. To save, simply right click and select Save As… from the larger view of each image. Because of this, the images might take a while to load.

Special thanks to Duncan Harris at Dead End Thrills for taking the time to take and share the screens from this amazing game, checkout his growing Flickr gallery for more.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Map

This is the best map I’ve found so far, by GameBanshee. It’ll give you an idea of the massive scale of the game. Walking across from one end, say from Riften, to the other end, say to Markarth or Solitude, can easily take you 5 hours or more. Every cave, dungeon, or mine on the map opens up to its own level. Each in various sizes and depth with their own unique challenges. For more Skyrim maps and styles, checkout my Skyrim Maps post.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Videos

Official Launch Trailer

The World of Skyrim

Checkout more Skyrim videos here.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Resources

Have you played Skyrim yet? What are your thoughts on it? Please feel free to share your thoughts below and thanks for reading.