The next Chapter of the award-winning The Elder Scrolls Online is here
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind is the next chapter in the epic online RPG, The Elder Scrolls Online. Available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC/Mac, this new adventure takes you back to the legendary island of Vvardenfell from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
What is quite possibly the biggest addition to The Elder Scrolls Online yet, this game features a brand new player class, a new Trial, a gigantic new zone, new main story content, and a new 4v4v4 PvP mode.
With a plethora of new content, is it enough to attract new fans to the series and draw back in long time The Elder Scrolls Online fans? Let’s find out!
Game Details
Platform: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC/Mac
Developer: ZeniMax Online Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: Online Role Playing Game
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: M (Mature 17+)
An epic new story that takes you back to the island of Vvardenfell
The game’s main story takes place 700 years before The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and is based around your travel to the island of Vvardenfell, an island in the Dunmer province of Morrowind. You begin your journey in Vivec City where you eventually meet up with Vivec, a living god.
However, it’s not to long after meeting Vivec that you discover Vivec’s powers are diminishing for an unknown reason. Correspondingly, it is here where Morrowind’s story begins to unfold. You are quickly sent to Vvardenfell island to uncover the mystery of Vivec’s diminishing powers.
Furthermore, I was quite impressed with the storytelling in The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind. The main story takes around 30 hours to complete. Despite being an online role playing game, it seems as if the world is now friendlier with not as many harsh enemies.
Epic new quests and a new class
The Elder Scrolls Online veterans will feel right at home with combat, as it is still the same. As your character gains experience you learn new abilities that can be mapped to specific buttons and once your character makes it to level 15, you get the ability to swap your weapons. Essentially, this doubles your combat output by giving you a second toolbar to fill.
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind introduces a brand new class, Warden. Not only does this add variety to the existing selection of classes, it’s perfect for those new to the game. In addition, the Warden class not only has a flexible yet balanced skillset, it also comes with pretty cool armour upgrades that you can apply to any of the game’s other classes. My favourite thing about the Warden class is by far the massively ferocious bear companion that you get. You can even send your furry companion to attack enemies! How cool!
The most significant amount of content added to Morrowind are without a doubt the quests. Combat is still the main objective in most of these quests, but the new quests do a fantastic job of fleshing out the world with a variety of funny and heart wrenching stories. Moreover, it’s clear to see that the developer is pushing The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind to give us a better narrative than previous games.
Lush colourful graphics
While The Elder Scrolls Online has never been known to be a graphical tour de force, Morrowind does a great job with Vvardenfell. The island of Vvardenfell is simply striking, it’s full of lush colourful forestland and mushrooms the size of buildings.
Furthermore, PlayStation 4 Pro owners have the choice of playing in native 4K resolution at 30 frames per second or 1080P with better shadows, water reflections, and ambient occlusion. Having played this on the PlayStation 4 Pro, I can tell you it looks fantastic in 4K.
A new multiplayer mode and new Trials content
One of the biggest additions to The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind is the new three-team 4v4v4 PvP Battlegrounds mode. It’s apparent that this mode is heavily influenced by big name online competitive shooters. Correspondingly, to play this mode you’ll need to be at least at level 10. Although, I’d recommend leveling your character up past level 10 before entering this mode, otherwise you might find yourself getting your butt kicked.
The Battlegrounds are randomly generated fights and you can either be assigned to a group or join as a group of four. There are three modes: capture the flag, deathmatch, and domination battle. While these wont draw you away from the big name online shooters, it’s great to see the developers trying new things for Morrowind.
Additionally, a new Trial has been added to Morrowind, Halls of Fabrication. If you are unfamiliar, Trials are a 12-player PvE mode that are very similar to Raids in Destiny. While I did enjoy the new Trail, it doesn’t really add anything new gameplay wise to the game.
Final Thoughts
Overall, The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind does a great job in giving gamers compelling new content and gameplay modes that will make long time fans want to jump back into the game. The new three-team 4v4v4 PvP Battlegrounds mode is fun and adds a new competitive aspect to the game. And, the game’s new main story content takes the storytelling in the game to the next level unlike any other game in the series.
For those new to the series and are thinking about jumping in, it’s never been a better time than now to do so. The new Warden class is a perfect starting point; it makes the game more accessible for virtually everybody.
+ Warden class is fun to play
+ Vvardenfell is a sight to see and worth exploring
+ Great lengthy and diverse expansion of the game
– Frame rate drops in heavily populated areas
– Battlegrounds mode can sometimes be unbalanced
OVERALL
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 4/5
Overall Rating 3.9/5 (78%)
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