ZeniMax present an unedited gameplay session of The Elder Scrolls Online

Over the past few months, ZeniMax has been taunting and teasing us with glimpses of its upcoming MMO The Elder Scrolls Online. The gameplay trailer from E3 showed us the world of Tamriel built within a whole new engine, including sprawling vistas and snatches of combat. Other videos demonstrated gathering and exploration or gave an introduction to the team’s design philosophy.

While these videos have been great at explaining the game, there were always lingering doubts. It might be great, but would it fit in as part of the franchise? Would it continue the legacy left by the previous five games? Would it actually feel Elder Scrolls?

Those doubts were whisked away at Quakecon last weekend, with creative director Paul Sage leading a twenty minute gameplay demonstration. During that time we saw some of the fully voiced quests, first and third-person combat, weapon switching and a short dungeon run.

The Elder Scrolls Online has a lot to live up to. By releasing the previous five games as an anthology, parent publisher Bethesda is hammering that legacy home. While it represents an opportunity for newcomers to Tamriel to catch up on all the backstory, it’s also a poignant reminder of what ZeniMax has to live up to.

As I watched the game play out on the livestream, it’s clear that much has been carried over from those earlier games. The interface was incredibly minimal, with a hotkey bar the only addition to a UI that looked straight out of Skyrim. And, although third-person view is supported, that first-person perspective made a revamped Morrowind much more immersive.

There’s been a change of tack from ZeniMax in recent months. ESO is no longer touted as an MMO, but as an online version of Elder Scrolls that you can play with friends, in both small groups and large battles. It’s a subtle distinction, possibly brought on by the announcement that Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions will join PC and Mac editions at launch early next year. But it also serves to reinforce what ESO is about, helping it to find an identity of its own.

Sage also highlighted the flexible class system, arguing that a character’s class is just the starting point for their adventure. He went on to demonstrate how each have three lines of skills waiting to be unlocked through exploration and discovery. If that wasn’t enough, the Mages and Fighters guilds have their own skill lines, as do vampires and werewolves.

It’s the combat demonstration that was the biggest draw of the presentation, with the team delving into a four-player dungeon in order to show off group combat. Sage showed the looking for group tool, verifying that we’ll be able to teleport either to the group, or to a safe location nearby.

As the group entered the cave and set about butchering goblins, Sage explained how ESO differs from other MMOs. The first example was how players can switch weapons in combat, hopping between ranged and melee attacks as the situation changes. Monsters have pack behavior, working together to set traps for the party. Loot distribution has been tweaked, with each player getting their own instanced rewards. There’ll be no more fighting over the spoils of war.

There’s also an interesting resurrection mechanic. Die in a dungeon and both you and your allies can use a soul gem to bring you back to life on the spot. Run out, and you’ll be jogging back from the start of the instance. It gets around having to bring a dedicated resurrection class, but you will have to stock up before you head out.

If appearances are anything, what ZeniMax has managed to build is a game that looks very Elder Scrolls, except on a much grander scale. As I watched the group defeat the goblin king and gain the loyalty of any remaining greenskins, I was reminded about how it felt to explore the lands of Skyrim. Online play, in whatever form, can only make that experience better.

For those of us aching to get our hands on the game, we won’t have much longer to wait. Visitors to Gamescom will be able to try out Elder Scrolls Online at the game’s first European showing. It’s likely that major changes have occurred since we last went hands-on back in October last year. Let us know if you’ll be heading out to try the game yourself!

Gareth “Gazimoff” Harmer, Senior Contributing Editor

Follow me on Twitter @Gazimoff