VGAs 2011: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Is the Game of the Year

Giuseppe Nelva December 10, 2011 9:58 PM EST

The competition was fierce, but in the end the Dragonborn skewered fairy boy Link, crushed GLaDOS, burned Nathan Drake and shouted Batman into Oblivion (pun entirely intended). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has just been declared Game of the Year at the Spike TV Video Game Awards. The game also won the “Best RPG” award and Bethesda also received the “Studio of the Year” title.

Personally (and I doubt it’s a mystery by now), I feel this is an entirely deserved award, as it rewards a developer that created an enormous experience, instead of the usual 5-10-hours bite-sized entertainment we’re seeing even too often nowadays in the gaming industry.

While the quality is almost always very high in today’s AAA games, content is often on the scarce side, as well as the willingness between most game developers (and even more so between their publishers) to really dare to create an experience and a world of epic proportions. The people at Bethesda dared, overcoming their arguable weaknesses in storytelling and creating an unforgettable game. They deserve our congratulations.

I have very little doubt that, as it happened with Morrowind and Oblivion, many gamers will be playing Skyrim for many years to come, while it’s extremely prolific modding community will continue to improve on what is already a fantastic experience in its original form.

The release of the Creation Kit next January will open the gates to content and features that those who aren’t familiar with the modding community of the previous The Elder Scrolls games probably can’t even imagine.

I’m sure Chad would agree with this award, as he gave The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim a well deserved 10/10 in his review here at DualShockers. You may also want to check my weekly Skyrim modding column, to understand the true reason why I love this game. Fus Ro Dah!