PAX Prime 2013: The Elder Scrolls Online

As a big MMO fan, as well as a big Elder Scrolls fan, naturally, I couldn't wait to get my hands on The Elder Scrolls Online. We waited in line for almost three hours in order to get some time with the game, and I'm happy to report that it was well worth the wait.

When I first sat down at the demo station, I was at the character creation screen. I didn't want to spend too much of my limited time exploring the options here, but I clicked around long enough to realize that the character creation tool in The Elder Scrolls Online is just as robust (if not more) than that of Skyrim's. After picking a class and a race, I was presented with a short into to the world as it loaded up.

Initially, the game looked exactly like Skyrim. The demo that we played even took place there. I found that you can play in third person mode or first person mode (with hands and all) by scrolling the mouse wheel. I could talk to characters, and it would zoom in much like in Skyrim. Here I could get quests, or simply just chat for information about the world. I ran around this starting village for a bit, and I couldn't tell a difference between ESO and Skyrim, save for a couple of changes.

First, you have a skill bar along the bottom of the screen. This was very similar to other MMOs, where you could assign any of your skills to a corresponding slot, and use the number keys to cast/activate the skill. However, unlike other MMOs, it was fairly small, and I could tell that Bethesda was looking at limiting combat options to create a more streamlined approach to the MMO formula.

The second big change I noticed was other player characters running around. Since I couldn't work out how the social systems worked yet (or they weren't implemented for this demo) I looked at Brittany's screen and quickly found her. Together we ventured out into the wilds to try out some combat.

Combat in ESO is pleasantly almost exactly like that of Skyrim's. Left click attacks with your main weapon. Right click will block attacks. Its all in real time, and action focused. It is not the MMO of targeting and spamming auto attack, or even spamming skills. You click, you attack. You will hit if your sword strikes the enemy on screen. The only major difference was using the number keys to cast complimenting abilities. The class I had chosen shot out a chain that pulled enemies towards me, much like Scorpion in Mortal Kombat. The combat was fun, fluid, and fast. When the fight was over, both Brittany and I got experience and could loot the enemies, although we were not grouped. This is a great feature of one of my favorite MMOs, Guild Wars 2, and I'm glad that Bethesda borrowed it.

The world was very similar to the Elder Scrolls feel too. I couldn't find any unnatural borders or zoning, and exploring seemed very open and rewarding. There was even a little compass with question mark markers at the top of the screen, pointing out nearby areas of interest that were previously unexplored.

Of course I didn't get to try out any of the social features, crafting, dungeons, or the like, but based on my 25 minutes with Elder Scrolls Online, it was enough to make me certain that I will be playing the final version when it comes out. For all of my initial doubts when it was announced, I am happy to report that it is basically multiplayer Skyrim.