“Time for another playthrough”: Artist impresses fans of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with recreation of Helgen after Alduin’s attack

Artist Leo Torres continues to recreate iconic locations from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in Unreal Engine 5. And what could be more iconic than the very first place a player finds themselves in their adventure?

Image source: Steam (Siha)

We are talking about the fortified settlement of Helgen near the border with Cyrodiil. It is to this settlement that a wagon with prisoners arrives for execution, in which the main character of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is sitting.

Shortly after the prisoners arrive, Helgen is attacked by the dragon Alduin, a moment Torres chose to depict on a more realistic scale than in the original game.

Available in 4K resolution, the video is just over a minute long and shows the ruins of Helgen engulfed in flames and smoke after Alduin’s attack, as well as the dragon itself flying over the settlement.

Rendering took place in Unreal Engine 5.4 on RTX 3090. Torres used its and third -party models, Lumen lighting technologies (for global lighting and reflections) and nanite geometry (for models and vegetation).

Image source: ArtStation (Leo Torres)

Commenters were impressed by Torres’ new work, noting the unrivaled atmosphere and the fearsome Alduin. “Well, time for another playthrough,” jonasweitz4079 was inspired.

Torres has been recreating Skyrim locations since fall 2022 and has already shown updated Whiterun, Solitude, Winterhold, Blackreach, Markarth, Falkreath, Morthal, Riften, Windhelm, Dawnstar, High Hrothgar, and Riverwood.