Skyrim: The Visual Evolution Of The Elder Scrolls In The Last Five Years

Kartik writes: "Welcome to our new comparison where we show you how much Bethesda has improved when it comes to visual design. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is shaping up to be a fantastic game, and all the components including the visuals have received a massive overhaul. Bethesda mentions that they’re using a new engine, but considering the gameplay videos and screenshots released till now, we think it’s a modified version of the infamous Gamebryo engine. The graphics look really good in Skyrim, so we bring you this comparison which shows the amazing evolution of the franchise."

[Chuk5]

Skyrim just makes oblivion look silly.

[NukaCola]

Yeah, it's insane how good Skyrim looks. It makes Fallout and Oblivion (from a technical standpoint) look worse then last gen to this gen. It really blows those games out of the water in graphics and lush detail.

[DeathAvengers]

Yeah the Creation Engine looks waaaaay better than gamebryo.

[Spitfire_Riggz]

Yeah that slide the compares the orcs, man the oblivion orc just looks foolish!

[2late]

Unfortunately the only evolution is in the technical department while pretty much everything else is a regression.

[Neoninja]

In what ways is it a regression in your opinion?

[Lord_Sloth]

Why isn't this just called Oblivion vs Skyrim since Oblivion and Skyrim are the only 2 to launch within the last 5 years?

[atkecar1]

None..And it's because of the 6 years old console.. Pitty :(

[kcuthbertson]

That's the most arrogant and untrue PC fanboy comment I've heard in a while.

I'm replaying Oblivion on my PC right now, settings all maxed mind you, and Skyrim console footage blows it out of the water...

You obviously have the mindset that console games simply can't look good because you play on the high and mighty PC. Now, I game primarily on PC, but the consoles aren't the turds that a lot of PC fanboys try to make them out as.

I'm jacked to get this on PC, and if you really think they look the same...you should probably stop playing PC games and go back to playing N64 and PS1 games because those look the same as skyrim too right?

[drosera1]

How can Skyrim, running at 720p 30fps on console, blow Oblivion, running at 1080p 60fps "out the water"? That is a bit of an exaggeration. While i am excited for Skyrim on PC, it is looking like another console port. Which means low-res textures close-up. Now if you're about to tell me how that doesn't matter, IT DOES! AMD and Nvidia keep shoving new and awesome GPU's down our throats, but most devs can't be bothered to put them to good use, and it's looking like Bethesda is another one of those devs.

I will wait until release to fully judge, but no game with a 6gb PC install can have high res textures, which is what us PC gamers deserve for our investment.

[kcuthbertson]

Come on...

While resolution is important...it's far from the most important thing.

Go ahead and run morrowind at 1200p and tell me it looks better than skyrim on consoles...It doesn't...It might be more crisp...but it sure as hell doesn't look more impressive.

You're right about lazy devs though...I am worried that our textures will be sub HD on the PC since I'm getting on PC as well. However, even if they are..the modding community will fix that problem for us =]

[humbleopinion]

@drosera1: What you fail to understand is that games are more than resolution and framerate.
Have you played the Perfect Dark remake on XBLA? It's a 60fsp 1080p game, but it still looks tons worse than Prefect Dark Zero which was a 30fps 720p launch title on the Xbox 360.

The graphical jumps between game engines in 5 years is incredible even when running on the exact same hardware. Advancements made in rendering technics, lighting systems, physics etc. make the comparison between Skyrim and Oblivion ridiculous. What's next, you'll claim that Daggerfall looks better when running on 1080p 60fps!?

[GarandShooter]

'which is what us PC gamers deserve for our investment.'

In what world do you deserve something from a software developer for money you spent with a hardware manufacturer?

Entitlement Syndrome at its finest.

[MiyagiSPG]

Skyrim = Realistic

Oblivion = Cartoony

One look at the orc screenshot comparison would make anyone new to Elder Scrolls games think these games are not related to each other.

[hotskys]

I remember when Oblivion came out though, I thought it was one of the most beautiful games i'd ever seen.

[kramun]

Yeah it was. It was used as the benchmark tester for pc components for quite a while as well.