The Elder Scrolls Online Preview

EDGE has publisher yet another The Elder Scrolls Online preview, which contains yet another comparison to Skyrim that, yet again, doesn’t cast ZeniMax Online’s title in the best of lights. Here’s a sampling:

The interface is minimal by MMOG standards and clear effort has been made to mimic the look and feel of TESO’s singleplayer cousin. But this surface similarity only helps to emphasise the ways in which the games differ. In Skyrim, quest markers if you choose to use them often point to distant targets, to caves and temples half a world away. Following the arrow is an invitation to travel, not to do what you’re told. In TESO, the same markers are used to lead you from doorway to doorway, NPC to NPC, and ‘˜secret’ to ‘˜secret’. Even after a dozen hours, quests rarely take you far from the person who tasked you to complete them. Like many MMOGs, the world is compressed to the extent that lost relatives, invading armies and elusive monsters are all little more than five minutes from the villager they concern. Layering Skyrim’s visual shorthand on top of this dated substructure doesn’t do the game any favours.

Most troublingly, completing the main questline which is broadly the same for each of the game’s three factions, although it takes place in different areas is necessary to unlock new zones along the critical path. It is disheartening to be dropped into mainland Tamriel only to find your progress to the next area insurmountably blocked due to a locked gate. If you create a Nord character and want to visit TESO’s take on Skyrim, you’ll need to complete your quests in the order they’re given. There’s little leeway for wandering off the beaten track.

The disappointing linearity particularly stings because, unlike a number of the game’s other problems, it’s not a result of trying to marry two divergent schools of game design. Freedom of exploration is a common quality of both The Elder Scrolls and MMOGs. It’s one of the rare areas where they agree, so its absence here is a comprehensive letdown.