Well I thought there would be a little controversy with Skyrim, and it seems I was right. I think this is the only time I’ve seen people give different rating for the game based on a platform; the consensus seems to be that if you really want to play Skyrim the PC is the place to do it and the PS3 version is to be avoided at all costs. With Bethesda’s track record that’s hardly the most surprising of outcomes, although hopefully they’ll keep working on patches to pull the whole experience together.
Moving on from the bugs and glitches that many of you were keen to comment on, lets get to some of your views of the game itself. Something that cropped amongst several of you was the game’s ability to affect the flow of time. For example a mildly confused tonycawley noted that he would “stick Skyrim on for a half hour session, [and] turn it off 6 hours later wondering what exactly just happened to the day.”
[drop2]That’s not a negative for the game, in fact it’s obviously quite the opposite. The fact that the game does such a good job of pulling you into its world was also noted by Nylon_Crash. “I am drawn in, hours pass in a blur but in a good way,” they commented, clearly only taking a break from Skyrim to write about it.So just why are people so drawn in, and why are some of you investing upwards of 200 hours into the title? Well to pull from what colmshan1990 had to say “The world of Skyrim is massive, stunning, and there’s always something new to do.”
This was something that came up more than a few times, people talking about the size of the world and the variety it offers. However, the scale might not be for everyone with tactical20 noting that it was “Just all too daunting” for them, so they’ve been “playing FIFA 12 instead.” I’m sure that’s understandable with a game like Skyrim.
tactical20 wasn’t the only one to display doubts about the title. In fact, although the game’s world may be huge and deep many of you seemed to be underwhelmed by the RPG elements of the title. “Skyrim is a great game but it isn’t really a deep RPG sadly,” Said Sympozium before concluding that it was “a bit over-rated”.
Others found various faults with the game, but it seems that R4U Eldave0Â managed to sum up just about everyone’s thoughts about the game nicely. He had this to say:
Massive, atmospheric, gripping, frustrating, repetitive and buggy. Truely one of the best (and worst) games of 2011.
I don’t really think you can say much more than that about Skyrim.
With that round-up on your varying opinions of the game covered, it’s time to move onto counting up your verdicts. This was a bit complicated this week with some of you deciding to give different verdicts depending on the platform. Rather than try and decode these I’ve excluded these from the count, as I think you’ll see it wouldn’t have swung the verdict around too much. There were also a handful of you who forgot to rate the game after giving your opinion, so please remember to include it in future if you want it to count!
So, here’s the result in reverse order. First up is Avoid It, which absolutely no-one selected as their verdict. Next up was Bargain Bin It, with two of you selecting that after spending time slaying dragons. In second place was Rent It, with three votes. So the winner, with an overwhelming fourteen votes was Buy It. Buggy though it may be, it seems that Skyrim is more than worth playing.
TSBonyman
I’ve yet to have any major issues with the PS3 version aside from some slight momentary pauses which stopped happening after one of the patches.
Fantastic game, don’t be afraid to buy it on PS3.
MICKY17
I don’t think the PS3 version is as bad as it sounds. I’m sure the lag is different for individuals as I’ve not had a lot after 100hrs of playing. It only really affects me when I’m in towns constantly entering/exiting buildings. Overall still a stunning game and one of the best this generation.
Jones81
Why do so many of you defend this game??. I love it but after 100 hrs of playtime on ps3 it has become so unstable it freezes every few minutes needing a hard reset. Please can someone explain how thats an acceptable consequence of programming a complex game??, for the life of me I cannot understand how peeps can defend a game that WONT EVEN RUN!. If a product doesn’t work properly it shouldn’t be released, simple as that
BIGAL-1992
You just answered your own question. They love it, regardless of most problems they’ve had to deal with.
TheDemocrodile
because on my primary platform (PC) the game runs perfectly with so few glitches i dont notice them (Jarl Nohead of Windhelm being the exception).
my step-brother has had almost no issues on the 360 either, so for it to be labeled as “wont even run and shouldnt be released” is too extreme, i think its more of an issue with individual PS3`s the more i look into it, your issue is reported widely but by no means is it totally indicative of the PS3 userbase.
Jones81
I can tell you that my ps3 recently broke and so bought a brand new one…and still have the constant crashing. Are trying to tell me that paying full price for a game that won’t even physically work is acceptable?. I wonder if a lot of you (on ps3) will still feel the same when your save file reaches 100+ hours. I hope I don’t come across as rude or anything, I just can’t understand how this can be justified with any excuse, on ps3 it just becomes plain broken once you clock up a lot of hours on it
Jones81
You say no means ‘totally indicative of the ps3 userbase’, if lets say, for arguments sake 50% of people on ps3 are having this problem that to me is unacceptable. It’s a clearly a a majority of players with a problems and it’s the minority of people that aren’t having problems
TheDemocrodile
hey i understand your rage, i bought red alert from the PSN, worst thing i ever did ;) , its just that so many PS3 users dont have the issue that i feel something else may be responsible.
I agree that bethesda should have done more with it, it sounds as shonky on PS3 as the Fallout3 GOTY i played but to quote (again) R4U “Massive, atmospheric, gripping, frustrating, repetitive and buggy. Truely one of the best (and worst) games of 2011.”
yogdog
101 hours playtime and the plat, and it crashed twice. The lag got annoying but quitting to xmb and restarting fixed that. Overall, a brilliant expierience for me.
Don’t tarnish every person’s go on the game with the same brush dude.
Jones81
Im not meanin to Yogdog but with the huge amount of ps3 players with the same problem I think people need to be a bit more critical and not giving the game a free pass as it’s so good. My ps3 actually broke after it stopped working,
Now I’m NOT saying there a connection but around 20 or so hard resets (which can’t be good for the ps3) I gave up and shorlty after this the ps3 broke, Coincidence? probably but still a bit fishy. I then bought brand new 320gb slim and STILL it crashes cobstantly, well at least it a did a few times, don’t wanna keep trying as can’t afford another ps3 breaking
AG2297
Couldn’t it be that your PS3 was on its last legs anyway and that was causing the problems rather than Skyrim causing it? That number of hard resets sounds more like an issue with the console than the game. That would explain your problems and it eventually breaking and is a much more likely than a game breaking your PS3.
Origami Killer
I don’t blame him for arguing. I haven’t even played it 20 hours yet and have had numerous crashes. my ps3 is in very good condition and rarely crashes to the point I have to turn the whole thing off. It has crashed so much I am paranoid the next time I turn it off it won’t turn back on again. With the Fallout games I have had maybe 1 or 2 crashes in the two games. Seems to be Skyrim doesn’t work that well. Also the constant crashing has put me off playing it.
Jones81
G2297. no mate, for one I look after my ps3 meticulously, and secondly the EXACT same thing is happening on the brand new slim. The game runs ok but as soon as I enter a door (ANY door) it crashes again, this has happened several times with the new console but I daren’t keep trying just in case. Why are convinced the problem is anything other than the actual game itself?
AG2297
I’m not convinced it’s anything but the game, it just sounded more like a hardware problem from your description. The fact that it’s having the same affect on your slim and that Origami Killer above you is having the same problem rules that out, so it does indeed seem like a problem with the game.
The game seems to affect PS3’s in different ways, some people getting the lag problem, some getting hardware crashes and others not getting either or both of them. Very strange. Glad I have it on PC.
You will still see people defend it though, not because they are “blinded by how good the game is”, but because they aren’t experiencing any problems at all with the game. Yes, you’ve had a shitty experience with it, but it doesn’t mean everyone else has.
Origami Killer
I can completely agree with AG in that the game is effecting each PS3 in a different way. Would like to be a lucky one without the crashes, of whom are probably having a great gaming experience with Skyrim :)
Jones81
thats fair enough AG, I’m sorry if I put my point across too strongly. Its a joke it got released like this though, lets hope it gets fixed
Klart
Still, you played 100 hoors on a single game. How many other games did you play for that long?
KeRaSh
If you played a game for 100 hours you probably want to finish it. If you were unable to do it because it always crashes you’d be pretty pissed too, right? I spent 100+ hours playing Final Fantasy XIII until I got the platinum trophy. If my PS3 were to constantly crash before I got the trophy I’d be very pissed. I can understand his frustration and just because you don’t have any issues with the game doesn’t mean it’s OK if they in fact released a product that is broken on a specific platform for a rather significant portion of the install base. People need to be more critical about the games they play. If everyone was to just shut up and take the piss with a broken game then nothing would change.
Jones81
thanks Origami. at least someone around here is not happy to just blindly defend the game because it happens to be so good (when working)
Origami Killer
No probs :P I can see where you are coming from. It’s a great game dont get me wrong but I would like to play it without feeling paranoid about a crash or even the whole thing breaking – two of my previous PS3’s have broke due to no fault of my own so don’t want a third.
Jones81
Just to clarify I’m ONLY referring to the ps3 version
Jones81
Well it didn’t have a disclaimer saying ‘will cease to work after 100 hours’ on the box for one thing, and are saying it’s acceptable as I got a lot of hours out of it??, that doesn’t make a lot of sense mate
Nylon_Crash
yay, you quoted me :)
PoolieMike
I took the decision to rent this game from Blockbuster, and I want my fiver back. What a cripplingly dull game this is. Played the first few missions and not a single thing happened to get me hooked. Hey ho.
werewolfgirl1995
I love Skyrim,but it does have tons of bugs like when Farkas killed me :/