The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is out

Last one week one of the most anticipated games this year hit the shelves; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Skyrim is the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, but aside from some "hidden" references here and there it isn't directly tied to the previous games, so it can easily be played without having played the others.

Skyrim is, like its predecessor, a massive open world sandbox game that has you riding around the world of Skyrim to complete quests. Bethesda (the game studio behind the game) is famous for such open world quest based games, so if you've played games like Oblivion (Elder Scrolls IV) or Fallout 3/New Vegas before then you will recognize the system.

Skyrim is massive, and to really play the entire game you have to go far outside the main quest chain to do side quests and the likes. It has been suggested that clearing absolutely everything in the game will take around 300 hours, or 12 days continuous gameplay (but don't do that).

I'm holding out with getting this one until Christmas when I have time to sit around and do nothing all day, but I seem to be the only one who didn't run to the store the day it came out. With good reason, too, as the game looks awesome.