We have rounded up some more The Elder Scrolls Online reviews and some impression pieces, starting with this recent one from PC Gamer, 68/100.
This is an MMORPG of moderate scope with a few good ideas and the resources invested in it seem sufficient to expect new dungeons, daily quests and armour sets to collect at a decent clip for the next couple of months. If you’re tired of your current fantasy haunt and looking for somewhere to transfer your guild, this game may suit you for a time. For everyone else, though, I’d advise caution. There’s no game that I’d be happy recommending on the basis that it’s at best ‘okay’ for thirty-plus hours. ‘Okay’ isn’t good enough when you’re facing down this much of a premium, and I can’t imagine paying a monthly fee to visit somewhere I’ve been many times before.
NowGamer, 8.0/10.
While the £8.99 monthly subscription charge is hard to justify for any game, this one does a fine job of combining everything we love about the single player experience in a multiplayer environment.
3news, 3.5/5.
But Bethesda has created an example – not an evolution – of the genre. This is an important lesson for Bethesda to learn, because if it doesn’t, it will have spent years creating a world that exposes you to everyone – but which leaves you feeling even more alone.
GamerBolt, 8.6/10.
From all outward appearances, it would seem as though Bethesda has another major hit on their hands with TESO and any gamer who’s into open-world sandboxes, fantasy RPG’s or MMO’s should immediately purchase this absolutely wonderful title.
GameReactor, 6/10.
Give it a shot if you have one or more friends who love Elder Scrolls and have no issue putting up with equal parts frustration and enjoyment, while you also contribute some money to the continued development of the game each month. We’re sadly forced to conclude we weren’t given what we’d been hoping for, but we remain hopeful that the genre has a bright future with games like Wildstar, Everquest Next and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor on the horizon.
Reno Gazette-Journal, scoreless.
Overall, Elder Scrolls Online does not revolutionize MMOs but is a solid entry in the genre. If you don’t like MMOs or are getting burned out from them this probably won’t change your mind, especially given its slow start. If you like the genre and also enjoy Elder Scrolls-style combat, however, then this game will likely be more your cup of tea.
GameRanx, 6/10.
Despite all I’ve said sound pretty down on the game [sic], I do have a strange compulsion to continue rolling with it a while longer because I do enjoy exploring it. My impressions from the first week may not be so hot on it, but I don’t hate it. Yet. I’ll let you know if that changes.
Digital Spy, 4/5.
Certain aspects feel like works in progress, such as player versus player combat and some of the community elements, but the early evidence suggests that they will flourish over time and help the game reach its sky-high potential.
MMOHuts, 4/5.
I’ve got mixed feelings about Elder Scrolls Online. On the one-hand, it’s a great MMORPG with some amazing questing. On the other-hand, it has a lot of features missing that make-or-break an Elder Scrolls for me. So, while I love it as an MMO, I don’t like it so much as an Elder Scrolls game. It has a lot of great stuff, don’t get me wrong fantastic quests, the Elder Scrolls lore, vampires and werewolves, in-depth crafting, fun PVP. Personally, however, I am unsure if I will sub next month when my subscription comes up. At the least, though, I would say that it’s worth the initial buy and at least the month of included play time. Perhaps future content expansions will change that.
Gamezebo isn’t confident they’ve put enough time to properly review the title, so it just offers an impressions piece:
My earliest impressions of The Elder Scrolls Online simply refuse to fall on one side. For each success in the “classic” Elder Scrolls school of gameplay, there’s a caveat resultant of the MMO DNA. How I ultimately feel about it might come down to how it handles the more online game-centric components like crafting and PVP (which I’ve heard promising things about).
For now, I’m not sure how well it succeeds at either endeavor.
GameSpot‘s Kevin Van Ord has a review-in progress:
While the world at large might not offer as many emergent possibilities as I’d like, Cyrodiil provides a few exceptional delights. It’s there that the player-versus-player conflict rages, and there that I’ve found the most joy. The three-faction persistent war isn’t new to the genre, dating back to Dark Age of Camelot’s excellent realm-versus-realm battles, and more recently seen in Guild Wars 2. Guild Wars 2’s locomotion and combat are simply more fun than those elements in ESO, but ESO’s battles are no less urgent. Making your way to the most entertaining battles can prove a chore given the vastness of the maps and the limitations of fast travel, but the thrills of erecting a ballista and firing flaming projectiles into masses of Ebonheart Pact invaders are unmistakable. When I reached level 15 and was able to select a secondary set of weapons and skills, I dedicated one of those sets to PvP, where my healing spells have proven to be a great asset, and are easy to pull off in the midst of combat, which is a real boon. I wish the standard combat imparted the same sense of connection and immediacy that previous Elder Scrolls games have provided, but when I’m skirting around behind the front line, keeping my teammates in tip-top shape, such concerns are rarely on my mind.
MMORPG.com also has taken the review-in-progress approach, and theirs amounts to two articles (this one from two weeks ago and this from last week) so far:
I’ve also been dealing with the idea of having a second weapon since hitting 15. Many might say that five slots and an Ultimate is too few or that it’s geared towards consoles. Ordinarily, I’d be saying the same. But as I progress, I’m totally OK with the amount Zenimax has chosen. So much so, that I even with another five plus an ultimate, I find myself not switching. Instead, I’m treating the second set as a quick way to change specs depending on my group. If there’s a good tank, I switch over to 2H and go PBAOE damage. I’m also toying with the idea of building out a healing staff spec, with DPS capabilities. Or, I might just go all in with the tank, equip a second set of 1H + Shield, and be the ultimate unstoppable force.
And that’s really what I love the most so far about ESO: you can be or do anything you want. Yes, it’s still in the confines of a themepark, but this theme park is a very enjoyable ride and one that seems to stretch on for miles to come.
