The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Preview

In case you’re in the mood for some more The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim coverage we have got you served with a new hands-on preview, courtesy of Atomic Gamer. Here’s a sampling:

Girding myself for danger, I equipped a sword in one hand, and fire in the other. Yes, you can basically equip magic as a weapon now, and wield a real weapon at the same time. I tended to use fire first and sword second, because I didn’t want to cut someone and then just cauterize the wound. I wanted to cook them, and then see how well done they were. (Then slice them up and make steaks – aww, but the only cannibalism you’ll apparently be resorting to is of the liquid diet variety after taking the opportunity to become a vampire. Yes, vampirism has been confirmed to be in the game but wasn’t present in the build we played.)

I came across some bandits, and put my cooking skills to the test. Letting out a womanly cry (which turned a few heads at PAX), I let fire and blade fly, searing here, slashing there, and winning all over the place. I collected victory and loot, and then made my way toward the nearest landmark on my mini-map, which turned out to be a big group of giants.

These massive, lumbering creatures were much tougher to cook, and indeed, I discovered myself in hot water. I have no doubt that I would have eventually slain them, but alas, my hour was up before I was able to take any of them out. Apparently I had taken far too long in the character creator! Many game demos give you a wonderful little snippet in 20 minutes or less, but for something like Skyrim, an hour was pretty much criminally short.