Speculation about The Elders Scroll V: Skyrim has been running rampant since the teaser trailer as shown at the Spike VGAs and the teaser site went live soon after. We know one thing for certain though, the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 game from Bethesda Softworks won't be built on the same game engine as any previous games.
While there be dragons in the game, Skyrim will also sport a brand new shiny engine according to the Bethblog twitter. "Seeing lots of speculation about #tesv game engine. It's brand new... and it's spectacular!," it said.
Good news as the game engines from Oblivion, Fallout 3and Fallout: New Vegas are beginning to show their age.
Update: For those wondering if this is a licensed engine or an internal engine, Bethesda confirmed on their forumsthat this is a new internally developed engine.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is due out on November 11, 2011.
It looks as though Bethesda are indeed hard at work on the next Elder Scrolls game, with reports saying that it will be a direct sequel to Oblivion, and that voice recording for the game is already underway. Eurogamer Denmark spilled the beans on the sequel after speaking to someone involved on the game’s development. Eurogamer have translated the Danish news report, and it reads like this:
“This source not only confirmed that the game is in current production, but also spoke briefly about the content – with fantasy-sounding phrases like Dragon Lord, something with The Blades – and that voice acting for the characters in the game is currently happening in the weeks to follow.
The same source confirmed, with official game documents in hand, that this will be the chronological sequel to what happened in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which is the latest game in the now 16-years-old Elder Scrolls saga and by itself one of the better RPGs for PC and consoles.”
Oblivion was released all the way back in 2006, and there has since been little word of a sequel, it might finally be time to get excited.
Update: if the information is accurate, the term ‘chronological sequel’ may simply mean that the game is set later than Oblivion. So far each of the four Elder Scrolls games have been set later than the last, but none have been direct sequels in the ordinary sense: very few characters appear in more than one game, the hero is always a new character, and the plots don’t connect. That may still be true of The Elder Scrolls V.
On Friday the 17th, I was given the opportunity to Preview "Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 11." Fanali opened up the traveling trailer thats part of their "Hunt Across America Tour." Now lets get something straight, this trailer was not just some cramped place to preview a game. It was loaded with scenery and it made you feel like you were actually in a hunting environment; dangerous animals included!
So armed with my trusty gun and curiousity, I watched as Fanali showed me some parts of the campaign. These segments were unlike any other Cabela's game I have played or seen. They were dramatic, cinematic, and overall gave a hunting game a true story to follow. The first one had your main character in a cave with two of your buddies. Essentially, you were following tracks that led you to this cave. Immediately erie music kicked in and the anticipation built up for what was to come. The flashlights broke, and this mysterious animal, that you will be spending your time in the campaign tracking down, assaults you.
He then jumped to another section of the game in the Alaskan wilderness that is early on. It involves you proving your manhood by shooting at targets and orienting yourself with the controls. As the story progressed you ended up hunting a group of caribou that led to the imminent danger of a pack of wolves tracking you. As you follow this path, you can hear the wind whipping and wolves howling. You end up getting attacked by a wolf and falling into this old graveyard, where you must defend yourself from the vicious pack.
During this sneak peek at the main story, there were a few things that really stood out. The controller you use for the game has a scope on it, which when used, gives you hunter vision and allows you to see animal tracks and blood trails in the game that you wouldn't otherwise be able to see. Also, the cinematic quality of this game stood out. Its not to often you get a gripping hunting game that has animals trying to rip off your arms. Overall, the story looks promising and I think that once the final game is released it will provide people who have an interest in hunting games with an enjoyable story line.
The Other Game Modes
I got to play both the shooting gallery mode and also a type of survival mode. These modes offered over 32 levels for you and your friends to hunt on and score points. You were given a rifle and a shotgun. The shotgun was strictly for birds, while the rifle was for everything else. It worked on a points system, where you scored for killing animals, getting head shots, not shooting females animals and collecting bonuses that were attached to animals like the ability to not have to reload and a score multiplier. This mode was extremely fun and made me feel like I was at a live shooting gallery. The controls for the most part were tight. There were some hiccups where the reticule would ocaisionally jump off screen, but I feel that was due to the lack of calibration. But I was told that the release copy would allow for the player to calibrate the gun for much more precision on screen.
The survival mode basically pitted you against your friend in seeing who could last the longest with deadly animals coming at you. The points system was generally the same and this mode offered another set of challenges to complete alone or with a friend.
These two modes, along with the story, look to provide for a good amount play time depending upon your skill with the gun and if you decide to play with a friend.
The Controller
This piece of hardware, made by the same people who brought you the guitar hero controllers was very solid. The gun had an adjustable stock, with the controls tightly mapped. Nothing felt awkward when using the controls, even the reloading mechanism was solid and very responsive.(Just imagine all those people who wanna do one handed reloads, you can, its definitely effective!). The only problem like I said was the reticule disappearing from time to time. But this was most likely the calibration, or my shoddy aiming.
With the released scheduled for October 26th of this year. This hunting game made by Activision is looking promising. With an awesome story, and a ton a single and multiplayer challenges in the shooting gallery this has the potential to put hunting games back in your crosshairs.
Be sure to check out the photo gallery here: Screenshots
Hey all, be sure to check back in the comming week because you are going to get a preview of an upcoming title that is exciting and looks promising. The game in question is Activision's "Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 11." I got to sit down with it and play some different modes and also got a sneak peek at the campaign, all of which looks promising.
So be sure to check out the full preview coming very soon.
There is a ton of great announcements such as Medal Of Honor, Dead Space 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam, and much more. Check out the vid with the above link!
Also be sure to sign up for Ea's Gun Club to get all sorts of benefits! Ea Gun Club
Next week starting on the 15th and lasting until the 17th, is the biggest show in the video game industry. Thats right, E3 is yet again rounding the corner and there is plenty to get excited about. Be sure to tune in to the live coverage of E3 each night (15-17) at 10pm with my guest host, Josh Darr.
With the Ps3 releasing Move and all its big exclusives and debuts such as Killzone 3 and Littlebigplanet 2 there is a rough competition. It now seems that the power struggle between the two giants is tipping in Sony's favor while the Wii is completely off the map.
List of things to be discussed: (Mind you this is just a guess)
Sony:
Killzone 3
Little Big Planet 2
Sony's Move
A new Psp?
much more exclusives
Microsoft:
possible hand held?
Natal
Crackdown 2
any other exclusives
Nintendo:
Hd console??? I hope
So with all that being said, be sure to tune in live on tuesday the 15th to hear full coverage from my self and Josh.
Also, I will have all the video's and everything else posted up here for you to check out!
Last summer, as Germany grappled with a shooting spree linked to video games, state officials demanded the German government enact a comprehensive ban on violent games. A year later the government has refused, choosing to implement ratings education measures instead.
Apparently, a petition that gathered more than 70,000 signatures helped influence the federal government's decision. The signatures were enough to get the matter in front of Germany's Committee on Petitions, and when allowed to address the body, the petitioner asked for more education on the PEGI rating system, which covers games distributed in that country.
Herman Kues, a Parliament State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Home Affairs, subsequently announced that no changes to Germany's current code were coming, and that the country would instead follow the public education recommendation.
A senior executive for Electronic Arts in Germany hailed the decision, telling GamesIndustry.biz that it was "a very welcome step as we encourage policy makers to better understand the reality of today's video game market and give games the same respect as books, films or music."
Its been a long time since SVR has been active and I have returned to the old site because it just works much better. There will be an upcoming show soon, not to mention a plethora of gaming news and of course coverage of E3!
So be sure to check back for more information and spread the word.
