The Elder Scrolls 6: 9 Things It Must Do Better Than Skyrim

4. Stealth

The Elder Scrolls 6
Bethesda Softworks

Do it right, or not at all.

Skyrim, and in fact, every Elder Scrolls title, has had trouble balancing the appeal of sneaky play with the brutish alternative - there's just not enough variance in AI behaviour and level design to make indirect combat enjoyable. If spotted, the enemy will charge you in a blind rage until either you're dead of they are, leaving no room for counterplay or emergent gameplay.

Not helping matters is Bethesda's apparent reluctance to reward stealthy play. Besides a damage boost from striking while unseen, the engagement tactic provides no special equipment, requires patience, more time and slower progression and for what?

A slow-mo kill-cam once in a blue moon? No thanks.

Why not integrate the playstyle into dungeons with shortcuts and secret passages that can only be accessed by lovers of subterfuge? Just please don't force us to crouch walk down corridors for the duration of a quest as if we've just soiled ourselves.

Contributor
Contributor

Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.