When The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim came out one thing was clear to me… I wasn’t going to see the light of day for a while.

Skyrim has been out for almost four weeks now, and I’ve only been able to play 45 hours of this massive game, gotta love Thanksgiving Break. But in the hours that I’ve spent with the game, I have been exposed to a world that is so detailed and has so much narrative that I can tell you this game has a life span of more than a year.

Bethesda has gone above and beyond my expectations of what a game like this could be. Everyone who has heard of Skyrim knew that it was going to be a big title, and that it was going to be a great game.

But I can honestly say that I didn’t think it was going to be this good. At first glance Skyrim may seem like your typical Role Playing Game (RPG), but it’s much more than that.

The narrative is the foundation that makes up this great game. Skyrim’s storyline is simple. You are a hero who possess a dragon soul and you have to kill dragons to obtain their powers and ultimately you have to decided the fate of Skyrim.

But by the sear amount of quests that the game offers it turns that simple idea into a game that has more than 100 hours of gameplay. Skyrim is broken down into two different quest styles: Main Quest and Side Quest.

Some quests could alone make up a story line to your typical RPG because of how expansive they are, and that’s what separates it from the competition.

Before you know it your quest log will be filled up and you’ll have endless amounts of task that you have to complete. Eight hours into the game I had only completed 3 actual quest and felt like I had done absolutely nothing.

That is the beauty of this game. It is different from your Call of Duties and Uncharted 3’s, it is going to take you more than a week to complete this game.

That something that I admire because I am not going to play the game for a month and then forget about it. An addition to this series, that gives me goosebumps every time I see them, are the dragons.

At any point in the game a dragon can come and attack you which really cool. Every time I have slayed a dragon it has made me feel like a badass and is such a rewarding experience.

The leveling system has been revamped and is something that is easily understandable for new players. Players no longer have to make important leveling decisions at the start of the game which allows players to experience the game first and then decided how they want to play the game.

If you want to go through the game and only use magic, you can do that. Skyrim is a game that is very addicting, I’ve lost hours in the game and not even realized it. It encapsulates you in its world and will have you wanting more.

Between the story, the gameplay, the choices and the millions of ways you can play the game, it is truly a game that is never ending. No person can truly play the game the same way.

I could play the game five different times and experience it a new way each time.

Skyrim gives you the freedom of choice in a way no other game ever has and in the most nonlinear way possible. Skyrim is one of the best games and RPGs I have ever played. And for that I am not even going to give it a score to this almost flawless game, I am just going to tell you it is the best game of 2011.