The Elder Scrolls Online Previews

Along with the pile of media that reached our eyeballs earlier today, we have a couple of new E3-based previews for ZeniMax's forthcoming The Elder Scrolls Online to pore through.

First up is PC Gamer:
You can stumble into quests just by wandering about: nearby ones are highlighted on your minimap, the way points of interest pop up on your compass in Skyrim. Neatly, you don't need to '˜have' the quest: wherever the action takes place, there's a corpse or a note at the entrance that'll jump you into the relevant story.

The biggest quest I saw was a long, complicated story-driven one that involved going back in time, inhabiting someone else's body, and a branching choice. It was in a pretty rough state, but it did suggest they're putting a lot of effort into making these more intricate than fetch-and-kill.

And then we move to GameZone:
Yes, ESO is an MMO, but much like SWTOR before it, it will feature an engrossing storyline that's specific to your character. While many scoff at this idea, especially since an MMO is meant to play with other people, I appreciate the fact that there is a story arc that players can explore.

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By far the the most disappointing aspect was the combat. I do have to mention that I didn't actually get hands-on, this was all part of the presentation, and the game is still in its early stages, but if the combat isn't updated from what it is now, ESO might be in big trouble. Opting for a more action based experience, a la TERA, the combat is more hack and slash, but what we've been shown today was rather bad. Slashes to the enemy would register even if they weren't right next to the character, and just felt very slow and sluggish. For a series that prides itself on fast action combat, this was definitely a let down.