Overall rating 
4.8 / 5
4.8 / 5
Gameplay 
4.9 / 5
4.9 / 5
Graphics 
4.8 / 5
4.8 / 5
Sound 
4.8 / 5
4.8 / 5
Lasting Appeal 
4.8 / 5
4.8 / 5
16 out of 17(94%)reviewers recommend this product.
Product Reviews
Overall rating 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Gameplay 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Graphics 
4 / 5
4 / 5
Sound 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Lasting Appeal 
5 / 5
5 / 5
zombelord
fromLima, OH
This game is perfect for:hardcore gamers
Skyrim Collector's Edition Review
PostedNovember 21, 2011
The following review is based on Gamestop’s 4 sections of rating, gameplay, graphics, sound, and lasting appeal. At the end is a section that covers the extra content of the Collector’s Edition.
*Gameplay - 10/10*
The overall gameplay in Skyrim is absolutely outstanding. Bethesda has made serious overhauls to the combat, magic, stealth, well, just about everything from Oblivion.
Combat feels much more realistic. If you’re swinging a two-hander, it’s sluggish during normal attacks and even more so during power attacks, as it should be. Dual wielding is a fantastic new addition to Skyrim. Using two weapons opens up new combat opportunities, such as attacking with both weapons at once for major damage, as well as drawbacks, such as you are unable to block while dual wielding. You are also able to break an opponent’s block if you power attack them while they’re blocking (causes them to stagger).
Magic is a bit of a disappointment, as well as an amazing gameplay feature. It’s a bit of a disappointment as they have “dumbed down” the magic system, compared to Oblivion or Morrowind. It seems with each new game in the Elder Scrolls series, the make the magic system more and more remedial. They have removed one of the trees, leaving only Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, and Restoration (removing Mysticism). They have also removed a few of the spells that I found to be extremely useful in Oblivion, that being Night Eye (Khajiit and vampires still get Night Eye) and feather. They also removed Spellmaking from the game, which is a pretty big disappointment. With that said, spells seem to have more of an impact than ever before. In the school of Destruction, fire is the element of choice for optimal damage as targets that are on fire take extra damage. Ice does damage and drains the enemies’ stamina. Shock does damage and drains the enemies’ Magicka. You can also dual wield spells (and with talents) can combine them for greater effects.
Stealth in Skyrim seems to be more precise than Oblivion. It seems the factors that contribute to you sneaking without being noticed play a much bigger roll. For example, in Oblivion, any character with a decent sneak skill could usually get away with running full speed or nearly full speed while wearing full light armor. This is not the case in Skyrim. Sometimes, even with a good sneak skill, you need to come to a slow crawl to remain undetected. Also, silent slow-mo instant kills while sneaking are pretty awesome.
*Graphics – 8/10*
The score I gave on the graphics is ONLY based on the Xbox 360 version. I cannot vouch for the graphics of PS3 or PC. I had to give it 8 out of 10 because, while the world is absolutely beautiful from a distance, many textures up close look muddy and unrendered. I DO NOT blame Skyrim for this, but the limited hardware of the six year old Xbox 360. But since it is presented as is, I have to take off a couple points. I thought it might have come with low-resolution graphics on the disk (since there is only 1 disk for such a big game) and would have high-resolution graphics available for download (like with Battlefield 3), but this was not the case. With that said, overall, the graphics are a masterpiece; something to be looked at as a piece of art.
Bethesda has completely overhauled the different character models. Khajiit look much more cat-like, Wood Elves, Dark Elves, and High Elves have much more pointier features making them more elf –like, and Argonians seemed to get the biggest overhaul, looking about as reptile-like an anthropomorphic being could. The graphics is Skyrim are definitely amazing.
*Sound – 10/10*
Every sound byte in Skyrim is outstanding. From the music, to various character sounds, to the natural ambiance around you, the sound of Skyrim will help immerse you further into the game. If a dragon roars, you can almost feel it. You accurately hear your footsteps depending on what kind of surface you’re standing on as well as the weight of your armor and how fast you’re moving. The NPCs scattered throughout the world of Skyrim always seem to have something unique or interesting to say. Their voices don’t seem to be over-reused, like in Oblivion. The overall voice acting is outstanding; you can hear the happiness, sadness, and depression with every word. NPCs will react and say things appropriate to what you’re doing. For example, if you try to sneak behind a shopkeeper and the he or she is aware of your presence, they might say something like “Don’t even think about it.” With this level of detail, Skyrim deserves a 10 for sound.
*Lasting Appeal – 10/10*
I don’t even think I need to go into detail with this. I’m sure you’re already aware of how utterly massive Skyrim is with unique quests and with the addition of infinite quests, there’s no reason to ever get rid of it. I spent well over 600 hours in Oblivion, and expect to spend much more in Skyrim.
**Collector’s Edition Content**
Dragon Statue – Standing at 12” tall, the statue is a beautiful piece of art suitable for any gamer’s décor. The dragon itself is extremely detailed and looks exactly identical to the dragon in the game. The dragon is removable from the base (the stone with the dragon language on it) and hangs onto it only by its claws. It sort of feels a little unstable at times, but that’s a minor complaint. A bigger complaint I have is, while the dragon itself looks and feels amazing, the base on which it sits looks and feels rather cheap. The statue altogether feels quite lite; I was expecting it to be slightly heavier.
Art of Skyrim Book – This book is one of the best art books I’ve ever owned. The covers are textured and soft and even have a raised Skyrim logo in the center. The pages within are filled with epic artwork that one could simply just stare at. With over 200 pages, you could just kick back and look through this book for a couple of hours.
Making of Skyrim DVD – Sorry, I haven’t watched it…too busy playing Skyrim.
Overall, it is my opinion that the Collector’s Edition is worth the extra $90.
4 of 6 found this review helpful.
Overall rating 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Gameplay 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Graphics 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Sound 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Lasting Appeal 
5 / 5
5 / 5
NewbornRiddler
This game is perfect for:casual gamers
Worth its buck!
PostedNovember 19, 2011
Finally a collectors edition thats worth its buck. The dragon statue is awsome, but to me what was even cooler was the art book! It isnt a small book and its covers are even made to resemble Skyrim with the silver dragon on the front. For once I dont feel like I payed more than the stuff was worth.
Overall rating 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Gameplay 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Graphics 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Sound 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Lasting Appeal 
5 / 5
5 / 5
ADragonbornTeen
This game is perfect for:hardcore gamers
Best.....Game.....EVAH
PostedNovember 17, 2011
This Is Epic-Sauce On My Epic-Burrito Made Epic-Mexicans
1 of 1 found this review helpful.
Overall rating 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Gameplay 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Graphics 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Sound 
5 / 5
5 / 5
Lasting Appeal 
5 / 5
5 / 5
rofwobhoj
fromWausau, WI
This game is perfect for:hardcore gamers
Amazingly beautiful...
PostedNovember 13, 2011
I have never in my whole life have owned such a nice piece of art, Skyrim is perfect, no words can tell how great this game is. i have plated it for three days strait and i have barely even scratched the surface.
2 of 2 found this review helpful.
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