Genre: RPG
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

There are regular moments while playing Skyrim where one could capture the frame, send it to an uninformed stranger, and legimitely pose the question, "Photograph or game?" The title achieves some of its perceived photo-realism through cheap and unappealing monochromaticism, and through exaggerated special effects-- the character's pupils must be seriously flawed to be so constantly adjusting to the light, and in such an exaggerated manner as well; perhaps it is a genetic defect. These cheap tricks do little to diminish the astounding quality of the world and dungeon designs however, which make Skyrim seem more alive than the lands in the other titles.

Rather than flexing his creative muscles, Jeremy Soule has simply taken melodies from his work on the previous two Elder Scrolls games, and remixed them with a Hollywood-like chanting male chorus motif. It's a solid motif, evoking adequately images of the hardy, Scandinavian-influenced denizens of the game's world. Most of the sound effects have also been lifted from the previous two titles, while the voice acting-- every line of dialog is spoken, as it was with Oblivion-- is more varied and believable than the work in the title's predecessor.

The challenge the development team most likely faced when designing this title was how to marry the game world variation and "how can I, the player, hopelessly break the game?" attributes of Morrowind, with the more cinematic, realistic, and balanced world of Oblivion. Thankfully, they were able to get things exactly right; the world is as interesting as Morrowind's, and the sandbox-like mechanics just as deep, while the whole experience feels smooth and polished, just like the title's predecessor, unintuitive menu interface aside.

Contemporary game culture seems capable producing nothing other than polished clones; there is very little innovation, and precious little creativity. There is no better example of that statement than Skyrim, which adds very little if anything new to the genre, but brings the series' refinement to whole new levels. As such, with its sterling execution, Skyrim stands as a beacon to the "polished clone" aspiration, even if it doesn't achieve any higher state.