Skyrim Is Unrecognizable In This Total Conversion Mod

There's a total conversion mod in the works called Enderal. It's literally a brand new game with an all new story, characters, enemies, locations and visually overhauled using Boris Vorontsov's popular ENB visual mod.

VG247 posted up the trailer using Vorontsov's visual modification that adds things like god-rays, enhanced depth of field and enhanced anti-aliasing. You can check out the video below.

One of the highlights of the ENB mod is that it can add all sorts of depth to a game's visual composition. There's a lot of post-processing effects at work, usually regarding edge detection, blur, and SSAO, or screen space ambient occlusion, which is at work in spades in the video above. What you end up with is more shadows per pixel, more details per object and more depth and immersion from every scene or location you enter.

The ENB mod is a hefty visual modification, and while it can completely alter the look of a game, as evidenced with titles like GTA IV and GTA V, it can also completely kill the performance of a game running on anything less than a high-end machine.

But in the case of Enderal for Skyrim, it's all designed to help bring the custom made island to life, which features jungles, deserts and forested areas. The team of volunteers also implemented all new voice-acting and characters for players to interact with on the isle. This includes a completely fleshed out story where they state that the characters have their own ambitions. I'm not sure how that's going to work within the limited confines of the Skyrim engine but modders have been able to pull off all sorts of crazy feats with Bethesda's game ever since it released back in 2011.

Unfortunately combat is still a major drawback to the total conversion mod. It's the same swing-and-miss kind of approach that Bethesda used for the original game, but the improved graphics and effects almost make up for it.

Some of the new creatures and the magic attacks being improved add a whole new sense of entertainment values to the experience, especially when you consider that many of the mod's environments and themes are mirrored after Piranha Bytes' Gothic series. You can literally see the influence dripping from nearly every scene in the trailer above – from the Nordic architecture to the inscribed weapons, the influence of Gothic is quite apparent.

I was never a fan of the Gothic games because they were great ideas that just lacked a lot of gameplay polish (almost not unlike the Elder Scrolls games). Even still, you can look to learn more about the total conversion mod by paying a visit to the official website. There's no release date on the Enderal total conversion but I'm sure one is coming soon.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.