The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is Enormous

Getting lost in a sprawling fantasy world.

It takes a lot to bring down a thick-skinned, fire-breathing winged monster. Dragons appear at random in Skyrim and, if they spot you running across the snow-crusted face of a mountain, will veer from their course in the sky, drop to the ground, and proceed to do their best to melt you with flame. They'll swipe at you, take off mid-fight and launch fireballs from the sky, and dive back down at you with high speed. Even if you're in a town you won't be safe from dragons.

Many times the best idea is to run and take shelter in houses or crash through the nearest dungeon door. Other times it's best to go for the kill, since slaying a dragon allows you to absorb its soul for beneficial effects. It seems like this could be a fairly common occurrence in Skyrim, because there isn't a set cap on the number Bethesda is including. The encounters aren't supposed to be easy, either, but function in many cases like optional bosses you can choose to tangle with or flee from. If you want to have a chance against these things, you'll need to be smart about building your character, embarking on quests to gain rewards, clearing dungeons, and more in Bethesda Game Studios' upcoming role-playing epic.

Exit Theatre Mode

It all starts with creating your character, a process that's been trimmed down in Skyrim as compared to previous Elder Scrolls games. You'll still get to pick from one of 10 fantasy races, customize your physical appearance, and select a gender, but after that it's right into the game you go. The eight attribute categories from the previous Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion, have been cut out. Now you only have to worry about your Magicka to cast spells, Health for your hit points, and Stamina, which serves as a limiting factor when pulling off axe slashes and mace bashes in combat.

Much of the leveling system you might be used to has been reworked. In Skyrim, all skill increases fill an overall leveling gauge, just as experience points tend to do in most role-playing games. So if you use one-handed swords all the time, your one-handed swords skill will continue to increase and gradually fill the level gauge. When the gauge is full, you level up, which nets you a point to unlock additional abilities -- Fallout-like perks -- within each skill tree.

If you read that and immediately started daydreaming about taking advantage of the leveling system by bunny-hopping all over Skyrim to boost Acrobatics, then you're going to be disappointed. Athletics and Acrobatics have been removed from the game, along with a few other skills. Instead, there's a button to sprint, and the perks you unlock serve to alter the functionality of existing skills. For example, perks can add a slow-motion effect and a zoom ability when lining up a bow shot at an unsuspecting bandit's head.

Play as one of 10 races.

Much of the interface has been redesigned for Skyrim to feel more interactive. All items, including weapons, shields, plot items, and plants can be zoomed in on and inspected within the inventory screen. This can be taken advantage of for superficial reasons to marvel at the level of detail on each piece of armor, but also for practical reasons like opening and reading the various books you'll find in Skyrim or inspecting plot items adventure game-style to reveal information useful in solving dungeon puzzles. Meanwhile, the skill readout isn't a list but a bright, polychromatic display of star constellations, where each star serves as an unlock node for perks. The overwold map has been given an upgrade too, as it's a three-dimensional representation of Skyrim presented in a way that's similar to strategy games like Civilization V and Total War: Shogun 2.

Amidst dragon fights it seems like it won't be too difficult to get lost in the world and simply enjoy the sights. Compared to Oblivion, Skyrim is a vast improvement on Xbox 360, which is the only version that's been shown off so far by Bethesda. You can see the detail of the snowpack on mountain ranges far off in the distance as you run along dirt paths flanked by craggy outcroppings of rock and flowing rivers. In a way this is how Skyrim encourages exploration, by presenting these sweeping vistas you know have to be honeycombed with dungeons and treasure chests.

Dragons roam these hills as well, sometimes perched alone atop stone peaks amidst a snowstorm. Sometimes they float over villages like Riverwood, a quiet, hillside town filled with people going about their daytime routines nestled between misty mountain ranges. Some villagers chop wood in grassy clearings, some work in blacksmith shops and saw logs in half, some tend dusty item shops lit by flickering candles set in hollowed horns, while others wander the streets and talk. When you engage in conversation the game no longer pauses – time continues normally, there's no more persuasion mini-game to worry about, and the overlay of conversation options takes up only minimal space onscreen. By hovering around NPCs while they're engaged in chatter you'll pick up bits of information that can lead to new quests that may differ depending on which NPCs are still alive as well as a host of other variables tracked by the game, including whether or not it's been a while since you've fought a dragon.