I seemingly can’t face reviewing Skyrim. I’ve invested a wealth of time into it and feel I’ve barely breeched the surface. I may wait a full year and release an extensive biography of my character – Douglas the sneaky Nord archer who is also an expert conjurer and a whizz with the ladies. Then again… maybe not.

Skyrim has its hooks in. They’ve pierced my skull and won’t let me concentrate on much else. I’ve often been dismissive of high quality graphics when favoured over a well written narrative, but Skyrim’s tale is so ingrained in the natural beauty of the Holds that it has become impossible to compliment the game without mentioning it first and foremost. The manner in which Skyrim winds its saga is uncomfortable and overly segmented. The rivers and mountains, however, are seamless and smooth; they glide into each other without mumbled sentence or jarring load screen.

When Bethesda wrote the script for Skyrim they did so to tell the story of the Dragonborn and the Civil War in the North. This was achieved with the dexterity of a poorly thought out videogame. However, when creating the tale of a mythical land they showed the passion, vision and clarity of heart on par with Tolkien. This is not simply the fluke of great art design, this is one of the greatest examples of storytelling in videogames.

This item was originally posted on the Thunderbolt Blog on Friday 25th May 2012