STACK NZ Jun #63

GAMES

FEATURE

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The Elder Scrolls:

The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited proved to be a success when it released on PC. It’s finally coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this month – and you don’t have to pay.We caught up with ZeniMax Online Studios’ Game Director Matt Firor to pick his brains about Tamriel’s reinvigoration.

explains. “You can talk to [other players], group, form guilds, trade, and much more. And of course if you are in Cyrodiil, the war zone in ESO: TU, you’ll be able to kill them”. Firor also outlined a voice chat system for the console version of ESO: TU that will “allow quick and easy communication” and feel “familiar” to XBO/PS4 players. When The Elder Scrolls Online was first released, it required a paid subscription service to play. Now, however, the fees have been waived, and the game rechristened Tamriel Unlimited . “This change has been very popular with our players so far, and we hope to see the same reaction from our new console community”, notes Firor. However, there is a paid service you can opt into known as ESO Plus. “DLC will be available for free for ESO Plus members”, so perhaps that’s persuasive enough to get players to cough up some gold.

W e’ve seen Tamriel before – the Elder Scrolls games have been around since The Elder Scrolls: Arena in 1994 – but we’ve never seen it on this scale. The previous game, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , received multiple Game of the Year awards, as well as topping many a “best games ever” list; The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited (ESO: TU) has big boots to fill. Tamriel Unlimited offers the entirety of Tamriel for players to explore, and we will “see parts of Tamriel that have not been in an Elder Scrolls game since Arena”. Game director Matt Firor confirmed what most of us already assumed: “The sheer scope of the playable area of ESO: TU is massive... We need many different art biomes – from desert to swamp to the soaring snowy mountains of Skyrim. It’s all explorable in the game, so we had to create it all”. Set 1,000 years prior to the events of Skyrim , ESO: TU will pay its respects to series veterans. According to Firor, “you’ll find Daedric Princes, cultures, and places that you’ll remember from past Elder Scrolls games, especially Oblivion and Skyrim ”, as many of them are immortal or near-immortal. “Careful reading of in-game books and

While Firor recognises “it’s always more fun to play games like this with others”, he did confirm that the main quest, as well as fighters and mages guild quest lines, will be done solo. “Most quests in ESO: TU can be completed with friends, but we do reserve a couple... so you can ‘be the hero’ by not having other players interfere”. Good news for those hoping to tackle Tamriel with their mates. With events in ESO: TU leading up to the later games of Oblivion and Skyrim , the lore of The Elder Scrolls must be carefully adhered to. “We have a dedicated Loremaster (Lawrence Schick) here at ZeniMax Online Studios, who makes sure that everything that happens in the game is consistent with Elder Scrolls lore”, Firor explains. “He communicates regularly and often with his counterparts at Bethesda Game Studios to make sure that everyone is always on the same page”. The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited is ZeniMax Online Studios’ first game, and it’s an ambitious one at that. The game director is looking forward to seeing the impact ESO: TU will have on the console community, following its rampant success in the PC market. “Putting this together and making it fun and awesome was (and continues to be) a huge task and I couldn’t be prouder

paying attention to quest dialogue will show you how some of the stories and situations in future Elder Scrolls games got their start”. Given that this is the first of the Elder Scrolls series to feature online multiplayer, there were of course questions as to how far this

of the team”, says Firor. “Making games isn’t easy, and games of this type are among the hardest to pull off.

We’re very happy to finally reach launch

The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited is out June 19

on consoles so the rest of the audience can see what we’ve been up to”.

extended. “This is a multiplayer game from the ground up”, Firor

JUNE 2015 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.co.nz

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