Exactly, it's like they just streamlined the crap out of their own world, added a nicer looking combat system and said "it's finished!".
"But wait what about the plot?"
"Oh...just add in some cliched drivel about a prince and destruction and shit..."
"And the graphics?"
"Yeah...just make it look like Middle Earth"
"OK!!!"
Best game I've every played. And the article nails the reason why right on the head. It's because of how unprecedented the story and lore is. It's such an original world. An isolated imperial frontier with so much shit going on, the various guilds, the warring houses, the contrasts between the imperial cult and the tribunal, the imperial legion and the Sixth House. Oh, did I even mention the Dwemer? And the kwama mining, and the drugs trafficking, and the slave trade? You can lite...
What ignorant idiot made this list? Where is Half-Life?