Bethesda is a name we associate with some of the most legendary RPGs in recent years, with names like Skyrim and Fallout becoming household names among serious and casual gamers alike. Two years ago, they made the controversial decision to open up the world of Tamriel to millions of players in The Elder Scrolls Online. While the game – developed by sister company ZeniMax Online Studios – initially received mixed reviews, last year it was rebranded as The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited, and since then the reception has been much more positive.
Still, many hardcore fans of The Elder Scrolls series have had a hard time adjusting to this MMO format, and for better or for worse, TESO: Tamriel Unlimited will continue to be compared not only to Bethesda's own successful RPGs, but also to some of the more successful MMORPGs out there. Below, we take a look at the recent Thieves Guild DLC, which Bethesda was kind enough to provide us.
Story
The player’s introduction to the Thieves Guild begins by meeting up with an aspiring thief and stealing a jeweled skull from a manor in Skyrim. Upon completion of the heist the player must make his or her way to Abah’s Landing, a city in the Redguard province of Hammerfell and home of the Thieves Guild. From Abah’s Landing on the Hew’s Bane peninsula the player embarks on multiple quests to restore the glory of the guild and unravel a sinister plot that threatens the very heart of the organization.Overall the story seemed a little forced and laden with regurgitated themes from Skyrim, including the Thieves Guild hideout being in an abandoned cistern, in a blighted city, and the guild being threatened by internal conflict and treachery. Theoretically this makes for compelling gameplay, but the delivery was weak, and overall the entire pack felt like a chore-laden addition to a chore-laden game in a chore-laden genre. The game makes it almost impossible to develop any real affectation for any of the NPCs or quests scattered throughout Tamriel (with a few exceptions) because with every new map area (or in this case, DLC expansion), the same archetypes are in the same kind of trouble and require the same steps to be rescued, assisted, made whole, etc.
Gameplay
Unlike the kill-everything-that-isn’t-an-ally style of the main game, the Thieves Guild DLC relies heavily on stealth. The enemies are considerably harder to kill outright, and while they of course can be killed, the expansion is designed with sneaking in mind. In essence what this new emphasis on stealth does for the gameplay is make it seem like the player is either taking for-effing-ever to get through a relatively minor area, or attempting a speed run at the new dungeons.For instance, in the first Thieves Guild mission when the player goes to Skyrim, it’s possible to completely run past (no sneaking required) every guard in the manor, and when the heat gets too hot just jump in a basket. The AI is just plain idiotic, and the guards won’t even bother checking the basket, even though it’s in plain sight and their quarry has clearly jumped into it. So while the player with integrity might methodically sneak past every guard and play the game in the way that it was intended to be played, this is by no means a requirement, and doing it “right” makes it feel even more monotonous than just running through the levels and jumping in baskets.
As far as the rest of the gameplay is concerned, it’s still The Elder Scrolls Online and it’s still a chore. It suffers from the same grinding-style dungeons, the same some-too-hard/some-too-easy enemies and areas, same weird and tedious crafting system, same soulless character of the game in comparison to previous titles in the series.
Graphics and Sound
Thieves Guild offers nothing new or exciting in the visuals department, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not a plus either. The overall graphics level of the game is somewhere between Oblivion and Skyrim. Certainly not cutting edge, but no major glitches or graphically defective places that stood out. The new landscapes are easy enough on the eyes, and Abah’s Landing conjured thoughts of exploring a Crusades-era Jerusalem or a 19th-century Cairo, so good job there.As far as sound goes, The NPC voice acting was competent and at no point felt forced or over/underacted, continuing an upward trend since the voice acting in Oblivion. The ambient music of the game was what one has come to expect from action-adventure games, with ominous music sounding when a player has been detected by guards or is engaged in battle, and wind-based instruments filling in the blanks for most of the rest. Sound effects are also par for the course for a Bethesda game, so nothing to complain about there.
Atmosphere and Fun Factor:
Thieves Guild cannot be separated from its main game, The Elder Scrolls Online, and unfortunately this colors my impression of it. You see, what separated the previous Elder Scrolls installments from the bland and unengaging slog that is the the MMO version of it was character. With regard to the last decade, Both Skyrim and Oblivion are chock-full of memorable characters and locations, with each individual city and hold having a unique and unforgettable personality (and the same goes for Morrowind). Solitude and the Imperial City felt cosmopolitan and very much Imperial, Riften and Bravil were both cities that had seen better days and the impoverished state of their residents reflected this, the mountains and forests of both Cyrodiil and Skyrim were teeming with wildlife, lost caverns, Daedric shrines, haunted ruins, and challenging and rewarding dungeons. The sense of exploration and adventure was ever present and it made those games a joy to play.What kills The Elder Scrolls Online, and what I expect will plague every DLC that is released for the title, is an utter lack of soul, seemingly connected to the very nature of the genre itself. The map is bigger, and the player can visit parts of Tamriel that we have all long lusted over, but nothing stands out. Tamriel doesn’t feel like a living, breathing world populated by people with unique personalities, needs, dreams, and desires. There’s no diversity. It all feels like clockwork. The map areas are virtually indistinguishable from one another, and the culture of one area isn’t markedly different from that of another. The Elder Scrolls Online takes place in a world entirely designed for players to pilfer through and collect worthless junk and accomplishments from without ever having a sense of belonging to it or being a citizen of it. The player has no uniquely Tamrielic identity and consequently may struggle to take any pride in the journey.
The Thieves Guild DLC suffers from this malady just as profoundly as the main game. It comes off not as a unique experience designed to enhance the overall fun factor of the original game, but something the player can spend a few Crowns on and have a few more hours/days of mind-numbing, monotonous gameplay.
(L)
Wow!
nice
Kakkaks