Skyrim
A screenshot from “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” Bethesda

A new live-action trailer for Skyrim has created quite the stir on the Internet:

Fully titled The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it is the fifth installment in the fantasy first-person role-playing game franchise from Bethesda. The last game in the franchise was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which sold around 5.5 million copies worldwide on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Bethesda is also noted for creating the popular Fallout.

The Elder Scrolls franchise is known for the incredible sense of freedom it affords players. Not only do players get a good number of races and species to be, but a great many classes to choose from: a sword wielding warrior, to a spell casting mage to a bow-wielding ranger and many combinations in between. Also players can choose to participate in the main quest or simply explore the vast landscape picking up side quests, explore dungeons or fight in an arena, among other distractions.

The new game focuses a lot on dragons as the main character will be able to speak the language of the dragons. This reveals itself in a new gameplay mechanic called dragon shouts. There will be twenty different shouts which are powerful spells players can learn by visiting dragon walls in dungeons and then absorbing power from the souls of slain dragons.

Another new game play mechanics lets players choose which kind of action is controlled by each hand. So players can hold a sword and shield in each hand to fight up close. Players can also assign spells to each hand (not to be confused with the dragon shouts), and double up on spells to make their effects more powerful. Players can also assign a spell for one hand, say a fireball, and carry a sword in the other, making them all the more deadly.

The game has much hype surrounding it as its Nov. 11 release date approaches.