The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
I’d never played an RPG until Fallout 3 came along. I was sucked into the world of first person shooters and racing cars to ever be bothered by a world inhabited by wizards and weird beasts. Fallout 3 changed all that, presenting me with a world that I could relate to, giving me weapons I was used to. All planted firmly in the open world of a role playing game. I was instantly hooked, and played the game for hours upon hours (as you do). I still occasionally play it now. When Skyrim came out I took the plunge into the fantasy world of dragons, magic and swordplay. It was fantastic. It gave me a feeling of being a renowned warrior in a land that was huge and varied, that demanded to be explored. So when The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited was announced I was excited, despite never having had nay luck with MMORPG’s before.
Now after spending a couple of weeks with Tamriel Unlimited, I’ve decided that MMORPG’s are not for me. The main problem for me is that I’m more of a lone warrior. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing with a group of friends, that’s all I did before Fallout 3. But these days all those friends have grown up, purchased different consoles or left gaming behind. Even those who have stuck with the same console as me, have gone for different games, and as such, none have taken the plunge into Tamriel Unlimited with me. In that respect, reviewing Tamriel Unlimited was difficult, because I know from playing War In The North, that going on an adventure with a group of friends can make even an average game an exciting pleasure to play.
Sadly for me, playing Tamriel Unlimited was like going to see a film on a Monday night at the cinema. To begin with, you have the cinema to yourself, the film begins and you settle back to experience full immersion. Then just as you’ve settled into the film, a group of people come in. They are talking, laughing and rustling food wrappers. How quickly you go from enjoyment and immersion, to annoyance and the reality that you’re sharing a room with a bunch of strangers.
Tamriel Unlimited feels like Skyrim in the controls, but the grandeur, the feeling that you are someone special, has been lost. You’re wandering through the world on a quest, and you stop to get your bearings, to figure out what to do next, when a couple of people rush past you down the path you were about to go. So you rush after them, catching up in time to see them finish off a monster, leaving nothing for you to do but follow.
The curse of solo play. But I can see that Tamriel Unlimited would be a blast with a group of friends.
The game plays well, the character customisation is nice, being able to choose from four different factions, and four different character types gives you plenty of options. Each faction or character restricts or opens up different different skills and abilities to unlock, meaning that over time, you can create some very diverse characters.
The gameplay primarily comes down to doing quest, rather than exploring in awe as you may have done with Skyrim, and once again, playing a MMORPG means that you are never the only one undertaking the quest, with similar outcomes to what I mentioned earlier.
Combat seems a little shaky. I’ve taken hits from an enemy when I was sure I was out of the range of his weapon, and haven’t always been able to deal damage even when it looks like I scored a hit. This is annoying to start with, but works ok when you work within the parameters of the game. Even so, it’s annoying enough to begin with, and probably should have been fixed before release.
So to sum up. Tamriel Unlimited isn’t the next big Elder Scrolls game. It’s a little diversion. However if you love MMORPG’s and have been waiting for this to come along you’ll probably love it. If you’re an RPG fan and want to give Tamriel Unlimited a shot, I would highly recommend that you drag at least a couple of friends along for the ride. This will make all the difference.
Reviewed on: XBox One
Rating: M Contains violence
Reviewed by: Jonathan
GAMEGUIDE rating:
