Listen up folks – The Elder Scrolls series from Bethesda has been a fantastic one over the years. Each game has pushed gameplay and RPG elements one step further with each release. Arena put us up-close and personal with an axe in our hand, Morrowind populated the world with interesting NPC and Oblivion just opened up an entire world of adventuring.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is just on the horizon with a November 11, 2011 release and hype for this game is at an all-time high! COIN-OP TV has been keeping tabs with Skyrim early on and conducted an interview with Ashley Cheng the Production Director during E3 2011. One of the things we’ve always been curious about is the updated fighting mechanics, especially hand-to-hand melee combat and using short cuts on the d-pad to quickly navigate your inventory.
When I played Skyrim last week at a private media event – I made sure to get as many battles in as I could to help me familiarize myself with the fighting system:
Skyrim Combat & Melee Pros:
- Switching from first person view to third person view is fluid
- Magic and spell casting is dynamic and engaging
- Quickly change weapons by using the D-pad shortcuts
Skyrim Combat & Melee Cons:
- No lock-on targeting while fighting
- Can’t attack while jumping (in the air)
- Blocking and parrying limited to shields and certain weapons
Skyrim looks great and we already know that Bethesda is going to bring us a fantastic story and exploration of the world. I played about two hours of the game mostly in third person perspective and can say that Bethesda has really opened up the world and nailed this point of view – makes me wonder how I made it through those earlier games in first person view! We’ll keep you updated on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as we near the launch date – this is definitely the ‘big one’ coming out from their studio. (New screen shots provided by Bethesda Softworks)
Related Video – The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim Playthrough with Todd Howard Part 1
Can’t wait for this game!!!
“No lock-on targeting while fighting”
Um, how is that a Con?
Lock-on is for lame 3rd-person BS, this is a first-person skill-based game.
Got to agree with Marc. Lock-on targeting is not necessary. Whether you prefer it or not is your own personal choice, but a lack of it shouldn’t be noted down as a con. The fighting looks a lot more fluid, so with any luck you shouldn’t have any difficulty hitting your target without the assistance.
Attacking in air is a perk to unlock later
“No lock-on targeting while fighting”
For fuck’s sake that’s an embarrassing thing to add as a con in a game like this. Shame on you.
seriously dude, lock on targeting. would you like the game to play itself too? lock on targeting in an elder scrolls game would be terrible because of the fact that you can be attacked by multiple creatures from different directions. if you get locked into one attack, you can easily be killed from elsewhere. this isn’t assassin’s creed where enemies wait for you to kill their friend before they engage you.
I just realised.. “Use of Alcohol”
So we will have things like Skooma 😀
Wow, why do people let morons do reviews?
thanks for the comments guys – keep ’em coming!
“aw, I wanted to unrealistically lock on to someone while fighting!”
If I wanted to lock on to someone, I’ll go play Fallout and use VATS. Otherwise, don’t care.
What certain weapons are allowed to block and parry?
A vast majority of weapons allow parry. The ones that do not are likely things like daggers and of course bows. I don’t see this (or lock-on for that matter) as a con, but rather common sense.
Also, why would you need to attack in the air?
@Pong about the “Why do you need to attack in the air?” question:
If you have ever seen 300, you would understand why we would want to attack in the air.
“No Lock on”
“No Jump attacks”
This isn’t some shitty overpolished japanese anime turd, this is heavyweight in depth role playing combat, made by time tested developers who are the best at what they do. not doing overanimated jumping attacks is a pro not a con
This guys obviously just sucking Dark Souls dick with this review.
@Young im not a fan of auto-lock either, but take it easy on the writer everyone has an opinion.
im stoked, cant wait for the release. apparently the combat will be flawless, because no auto-lock, jump attacks, or blocking with daggers and bows adds to the realism.
that, combined with the fluid 3rd person, and dynamic magic casting is going to make for some pretty bitchin battles