Bethesda’s said that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has players levelling up faster than both Oblivion and Fallout 3, describing the hotly-anticipated fantasy RPG as a “1-50” game.
Chatting with Eurogamer at a special showcase event last week, game director Todd Howard revealed that gamers can expect to level up their dungeon-raiding Dragon born pretty sharpish in the game’s initial stages, before things slow down somewhat.
"We do balance this game," said Howard. "The levelling is faster. Oblivion and Fallout 3, we think of them as 1-25 games. This is a 1-50."
"But what that means is we just sped it up. It’s not like it’s going to take you longer. There are so many perks and the power really comes from the perks, we wanted to get it going faster."
"You level faster in the beginning and then it slows down."
Elsewhere, Howard revealed that Skyrim boasts a “mathematical” level cap “probably somewhere in the 70s,” even though most players will max out around the level 50 mark.
In terms of size, Bethesda again reiterated that the sequel’s world is “about the same size” as Oblivion’s, though noted it’ll take longer to traverse due to Skyrim’s sprawling mountain ranges.
"It ends up feeling bigger," explained Howard. "And the game tends to get harder as you go in elevation. You know, oh those trolls, they’re up there, so I’m not going to go through the mountain. I’m going to go this way."
Meanwhile, dungeons will prove a far more diverse affair than those found in Oblivion on account of Bethesda taking on more staff.
"We’ve got eight or nine guys now who are really good. We have at last count 120-some dungeon dungeons, and then we have another 100 plus what we call points of interest, outside encounters,” revealed Howard.
"The game is just too big, actually."
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is due out on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 on November 11, 2011.