The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Dark Brotherhood Returns

Bethesda’s next entry in The Elder Scrolls series has a spread in the latest issue of Dutch magazine Power Unlimited, and thanks to the guys at Gaming Everything, we have a pretty good idea of what sort of information is revealed within. The best news I see below is that The Dark Brotherhood will be making a return in Skyrim, with the most concerning news being the “level lock” imposed on dungeons after entering them:

– No level cap
– Choose all perks with one character
– Technically speaking, Skyrim is an evolution within The Elder Scrolls, not a revolution
– Different properties for all weapons, take advantage of them by choosing the right perks
– Maces ignore a percentage of armor
– Axes have bleed damage over time
– Quickly revisit locations you have previously visited
– Game is as big as Oblivion
– 5 big cities
– Over 130 dungeons
– (Low-Fantasy) (game does not look as vibrant, vivid as Morrowind, more like Oblivion)
– The overarching narrative of the Dragons is less prominent than the Oblivion Gates were in Oblivion, which does not give you the feeling that you are doing useless’ quests when you lay aside the Main Quest.
– Dragons aren’t rare
– Dungeons will be locked at their level once you have been there
– In a dungeon, it will remain lvl 5 when you entered it on lvl 5
– Dungeons don’t change difficulties throughout a game save after you’ve entered one
– Read in-game books in 3D
– 3D-preview in the Flash-based inventory for all items
– Twist, turn, rotate the items
– Will sometimes need to figure out puzzles by analyzing 3D previews
– Armor, weapons, small rings and herbs can be explored in great deal and viewed in 3D
– All items can be previewed in the inventory screen
– The Dark Brotherhood is back
– More traps and puzzles
– Around 20 hours for the main story
– Hundreds of additional hours for more quests
– Get stronger as you kill dragons
– A piece of a dragon’s soul will be transferred to yours
– Special animations for sneak kills with daggers
– Team is looking at how they can improve facial expressions and animations
– No Kinect support