You see a Frost Troll in the lumbering around on the edge of the cliff. Confidently, you ready your Firebolt spell. You crouch into range and blast your spell shaving off a third of its health. It charges at you. You take out your Steel Sword of Burning and your Dwarven Shield of Dwindling Frost and methodically hack away at the frost troll. Out of the corner of your eye you notice the characteristic ice shards of two Ice Wraiths. Panicking, you quaff your last Potion of Healing and then you charge at them shouting, “Slow time!” With three quick power attacks you kill the first Wraith, and then you hear the roar of a dragon. This is Skyrim. Skyrim’s combat has come a long way from past Elder Scrolls titles. In Morrowind , and Oblivion , the combat felt floaty and disconnected. In Skyrim , you can feel blades clanging against your shield, and the rush released from beheading bandits is incredible. Leveling up is now clear and makes sense, rather than complicated and easy to exploit (no longer can you jump up mountains to level up). In Skyrim, no one starts as a “mage” or a “sword fighter.” You start as a blank slate with a slight bonus from your race, and what you use is what you’ll be able to improve in cool perk lines. This allows an easy way and meaningful way to specialize your character. However, while Skyrim’s combat has improved upon past titles, its writing is still messy, and the voice acting is awful. Compound that with recurring clips of dialogue and the effect is annoying to say the least. For example, because what guards say is randomly chosen from only a few lines, it’s very possible to run through a village and hear multiple guards sarcastically say, “Let me guess. Someone stole your sweet roll,” or the line that has spawned an Internet meme, “I used to be an adventure like you. Then, I took an arrow in the knee.” This seriously detracts from the immersion. Skyrim is buggy. Many quest lines are messed up, the horses’ collision mechanics are atrocious, and some textures will not load (just search for “ Skyrim bugs” on the Internet). Some fans of the game out there (most notably those in Bethesda’s Skyrim forums” are saying, “Well, a few bugs are to be expected with such a massive game as this. Besides the bugs lend an endearing quality to the game.” Bethesda Software keeps releasing buggy products with game-breaking bugs because of this attitude. But, in spite of all of Skyrim’s faults, the game is fun. If you have ever liked any part of any RPG that you have either played, watched someone play, or read about, you should try this game. If you enjoy making your character a living god you’ll love this game. If you enjoy sitting down in your manor leisurely reading rare books while enjoying a pint of mead, you’ll love this game. If you enjoy bringing innocent souls to the Void of Sithis, you’ll love Skyrim. And, if hoarding every cheese wheel you can find is what you’ve always wanted to do, you’ll love Skyrim. There are so many different ways to play Skyrim it’s hard to imagine people not finding playstyles they love. I’m a long time Zelda fan who dropped $75 for Skyward Sword , yet I’ve been playing nothing but Skyrim . Please get this game. [Disclaimer: many PS3 players have had lag issues that render their copies unplayable after spending 60 hours making love to this game. Avoid the PS3 version like the plague.]