The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim VR

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim VR is a special version of Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition, the legendary role-playing fantasy game with an open world, developed by Bethesda and released by Zenimax for virtual reality headsets from various manufacturers.

Publisher Zenimax considers the direction of virtual reality to be one of the key areas, as this technology was developed with its participation, so all recent Bethesda projects are released for VR, such as Fallout 4 VR and Doom VFR.

For the PS4 console and PSVR headset, the release of Skyrim VR took place on November 17, 2017, and for personal computers with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality headsets on April 3, 2018. In the PS Store and Steam, the game is sold separately from Skyrim Special Edition at full price.

The core gameplay remains unchanged — the player still explores the world, interacts with NPCs, completes quests, watches cutscenes, and fights dragons. However, Bethesda has made significant efforts to ensure that the controls in virtual reality work properly and offer a truly new gameplay experience.

The thing is, Skyrim is a complex RPG with a whole range of menus, game commands, and the ability to move across any surfaces. Transferring this to virtual reality was no easy task, so in the settings of Skyrim VR, the developers retained the classic joystick control system.

There is also a new control scheme optimized for virtual reality devices that capture the player's movements. In this case, movement occurs via teleportation, and to block an attack, you need to raise your left hand. Movements of the right hand mimic various attacks.

Skyrim VR also supports two-handed gestures; for example, you can shoot a bow by mimicking the tension of the string, swing a two-handed axe, or cast different spells from each hand. In the latter case, you can move one hand in a different direction to attack two targets simultaneously.

At any moment, even during cutscenes, you are allowed to turn your head in any direction to look around. Movement commands and motion capture for attacks usually work correctly, although for large-scale or complex battles that require a lot of micromanagement, it’s better to use a controller.

The only thing that can detract from the VR experience are the menus, presented in the classic way as floating windows, and dialogues displayed as text above the characters' heads.