PC Gamer reviews The Elder Scrolls Online: 68

Stick to the glitchy single-player games, folks

Not really surprising. The game was nothing more than a contrived cash grab full of bad ideas that add nothing new to the genre.

Watched the Giantbomb stream, and it looked boring beyond belief.

F2P in 3.....2.......1.......

Yeah, it never could overcome the fact that the game is pretty much unnecessary.

He didn't even get to end game content. Vr1-10 and ect... were missed.

Doesn't change how bad most of it is...

Dang.

Everything I've seen looked bland....

Like ive been saying for years, TES series lacks in a fundamental element. Fun.

They aren't fun to play. The combat is ancient, clunky, and unintuitive, everyone still looks lifeless, same half a dozen voices.

the series isn't going to be able to fall back on the "do anything, go anywhere" mumbo, because that doesn't lend credence when going anywhere or doing anything isn't fun.

So you can drop a block of cheese and come back a week later and the cheese is still there. Wow. Brilliant gameplay. Really enhances the experience.

Get fucked bethesdumb.

Not surprising. People have been saying it's bad for a while

The size of a ocean, the depth of a puddle.

The sad thing is, even if they don't fix the combat, the ai, the terrible story, the pacing. They will still have a large fan base because there's people out there that eat this make your own adventure crap/ open world crap up.

All they have to do is increase the land mass size, keep the same stale game play and they're still going to get sales.

@clyde46: the denial of an OJ Simpson.

Not sure I follow.

@clyde46: as to be expected.

Should be the score for every Bethesda game.

A) your comment doesn't make sense B)Clyde isn't American so he might not know as much about OJ simpson

@lostrib: not my problem.

it's not your problem that you don't make sense?

Sad to hear, as I am a huge Elder Scrolls fan. No buy for me after reading that. He addresses every concern I had.

Shame, it looked amazing.

I think he was agreeing with you dummy.

The size of an ocean = Large game

Depth of a puddle = Shitty gameplay

He was agreeing with you, idiot

Was never going to get it anyways.

Subscription model = no buy

One time payment = day one

I would love to get this game, but that business model is not for me. I wonder how long will Bethesda take to realise they would make alot more money if this game were sold like the single player Elder Scrolls games...

Well that's unfortunate but can't say I didn't see it coming. Just seemed like a very bland MMO. It doesn't have the flash of GW2, the substance of WOW, or the appealing pay model of TOR and LOTRO. Doesn't even sound good by the series' standards, and of course it's an MMO so you can't mod it better. Damn shame really.

lol this game had flop written all over it.

Back when I was 26 or so... I was going to give it a 7... But the higher I get now (almost 40) and high crafting. I would rate it more like 6 or 6.5. It's just the same old crap in each zone... Nothing feels alive or that it should be there.

I mean where do these people grow food? Or what about grave yards? Sure they have tiny ones hidden away and some luxury crypts. But come on...

Only the main story is of any quality and the 1 main dungeon for each zone.

I don't see myself playing more then 2 months then calling it. I mean a lot of the time, the server is down for extended maintenance... Because the servers lag, quests break and spawns stop... They should have kept it in beta for another year. God knows it could have used it... Especially the graphics engine... Looks like crap and runs like crap. Seriously V-sync doesn't even work right.

When ESO was announced, everyone and their grandmas were excited about the game,but as time went on, the excitement slowly died off. And when the final game was close to launch, the hype started to build up again but it didn't hit the same mark compare to when it was first announced. Now that is finally released, it mostly received mixed reviews with the response being mostly negative.

Such a shame.

It was very obvious after watching some gameplay not only that they are charging like what 14 dollars a month for this. It looks like Bethesda isn't going get there WoW.

I would consider giving a game a try under either of those models. It is the combination of the 2 that has always turned me away from the MMO genre.

Response to ESO was negative from the get-go unless you were some delirious Bethesda fanboy. Nobody really asked for an Elder Scrolls MMO.

bethesda just needs to make fallout 4 already.

Also, Bethesda didn't develop this game--Zenimax did, Bethesda merely published it. Bethesda can't even develop a single-player game properly; you think they could develop a functional MMO?

This is what happens when a game is consolized.

Although I expected the game would turn out shit, you should read the comments from the people who actually, you know, played the game (I didn't tho):

I disagree with so much of this article. To list just a few points, I find the archery quite effective, the voice acting excellent, the quests (even the formulaic ones) interesting and relevant to the plot. Then there are all the things I like that aren't even mentioned in this review.

As a long time fan of both TES and MMOs I don't find it disappointing at all. There are definitely a few things I don't like, such as not being able to blend classes, the poorly implemented guild store system and the too-limited number of hotkeys. But over all, I'm very happy with the game. It's not as freeform or sandbox as single player TES, but given the constraints of the MMO format I don't really have any deal-breaking complaints. There is still plenty of exploration and discovery to be done and your character is still very customizable.

My expectations were pretty low going in, but I have been pleasantly surprised at every turn. I have no problem forking over a sub for this game at all.

I've been reading PC GAMER for over 15 years, and this is the most inaccurate, terrible review I have ever read from them. Very disappointing. I always defend PC GAMER for having fair, objective, non-biased reviews. Until now.

Never have I disagreed more with a PC Gamer review.

Etc.

^ Paid shills/people who paid $999 for the super ultra digital deluxe edition with a clay bust of Todd Howard and can't accept that the game is objectively bad :^)

@princeofshapeir: So you bought/played the game then?

They'd probably have made more money on this by making it an actual singleplayer game and releasing it on next-gen consoles.

The comment section of reviews are the LAST place you should be going for any kind of fair counter-assessment, not the first. You might as well post arguments from 4chan for all they're worth.

"people who actually, you know, played the game," what a load.

I somewhat agree with you, but reviewers aren't exactly immune to writing lousy articles either.

Far more qualified then random posters on the internet.

I really don't see anything in that review that leads me to believe the author had little experience with the game. Sure, he didn't touch on endgame much, but for a new MMO it's expected you design a starting experience that makes you want to reach endgame. After all, this is a new game you're expected to pay $60 and a $15 monthly fee for.

There's no such thing as objectively bad.

Well, glad we at least don't have to hear those whining people crying for an Elder Scrolls MMO anymore. Personally, I'd of rather they attempted a TES co-op adventure instead, but Bethesda was probably too tempted by that $15/month subscription fee or whatever.

Seems as if nothing can compete against the almighty WOW, all those failed attempts to establish a foothold in the market should resort to banding together, create a unified subscriptions to a whole host of MMOs so their lack of satisfaction is made up by the value to access larger selection of titles.

@IgGy621985: Yeah, it's been a polarizing game, no doubt. KVO touched on how differently other reviewers experiences were in his latest article leading up to his review, and even admitted he can't make up how he feels about the game from one moment to the next.

As for the PC gamer review... um, so what? They didn't like the game much, others liked it more. PC gamer has no special cred in this forum or about this game so why would I give a hoot about their score over the multitude of other reviews out? Why would I listen to any of the reviews out now, when more respected reviewers don't feel they have played enough yet to even publish a review at all?

Thread stinks of a TC with a bug up his butt about ES in general.

Can't be any worse than Skyrim. That game was a snorefest.

You would trust an anonymous poster over someone who is trained and paid to offer impartial and detailed criticism for a living. Ok then.

I don't trust it, but I'd take it into consideration. Imho, every game review out there should be taken with a pinch of salt.