2011 Platinum Chalice Game of the Year nominees: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

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The Dragonborn's massive adventure enters the running for this year's top spot

Today, we finally publish our sixth annual Platinum Chalice awards – but not just yet. Before we begin our celebration of all things great and amazing that gaming gave us in 2011, including our Game of the Year, we’ve got one final GOTY nominee to unveil. It’ll face some stiff competition, seeing as our other nominees this week have been Portal 2, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Batman: Arkham City and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

For those who’ve already invested countless hours in its sprawling fantasy world, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim needs no introduction. For those gamers, in fact, it may even be the obvious choice to win. It is, put simply, one of the most fully realized game worlds ever created, packed with infinite quests, sprawling dungeons, gigantic towns, likable characters and endless fascinating things to do. It’s the biggest, prettiest, deepest and freest Elder Scrolls chapter to date, and that means it is absolutely amazing – not to mention incredibly addictive.

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Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.