DOS

The Elder Scrolls: Arena

Bethesda Softworks a privilégié, dans la conception de son soft, la liberté du joueur : cela risque de dérouter ceux qui aiment bien être "encadrés", mais les autres, et j'en fais partie, seront enthousiastes. Le seul gros reproche que je pourrais faire à ce jeu, c'est sa gourmandise. Dans un sens c'est dommage, mais il fallait bien un machine aussi puissante pour faire marcher un jeu aussi gigantesque.

Fantastic graphics and sound; a very intuitive interface. The storyline is a little thin, and there's not much meaningful interaction with NPCs. A stunning technological achievement; give this game a better storyline, and you might have the best FRP ever designed.

Die epische Aufgabe, die schön in 3D inszenierten Schauplätze und nicht zuletzt das fetzige Kampfsystem machen Elder Scrolls zur angenehmen Rollenspiel-Überraschung der Saison.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena är ett mycket ambitiöst försök att skapa en virtuell värld, och det har nästan lyckats. Med lite mer omväxlande grafik, snabbare skärmuppdatering och tydligare ingångar till själva äventyret hade det varit en given höjdare. Någon Underworld-konkurrent blir det aldrig, trots att det är oändligt mycket större. Men storleken är ju som bekant inte allt.

If you have reached this sentence you are probably interested, in which case I suggest you give the game a try. A note of warning though: while a lot of people love this classic game, there is an equal number who loathe it for its thin plotline and lack of boundaries. I, being a fan of the third installment (TES 3: Morrowind), think Arena is an okay game. If you are into RPG's where you can do whatever you want, there are other games that are better than Arena (like TES 2: Daggerfall, although that game is a minefield of bugs). All in all, Arena is a nice game to play in-between games, or if you're bored, or if you are a TES fan who has exhausted Oblivion (surely not!) and wants to see how it all started.

Arena: The Elder Scrolls is disappointing. The cities are dull. The interaction is dull. The playing area is too large. The quests and money-earning too laborious. There's no wit. The over-serious storyline is the kind of 'thee, thou, forsooth' sub-Tolkien crap you get in your average fantasy novel. The graphics are inconsistent, the engine badly implemented and too slow. The overall objective, the most important thing in an RPG, the feeling that there's some great mystery to unlock, is obscured by he size and repetitive complexity of the design. The combat is flawed, small details are passed over and dungeons are puzzle-less and boring. There's no pace, little atmosphere, few incentives and, overall, absolutely no fun. Sorry. Back to the luscious embrace of Madame Underworld I'm afraid.

If you have reached this sentence you are probably interested. In which case I suggest you give the game a try. A note of warning though: while a lot of people love this classic game, there is an equal amount that loathe it for its thin plotline and lack of boundaries. I, being a fan of the third installment (TES 3:Morrowind), think arena is an okay game. If you are into RPG’s where you can do whatever you want, there are other games that are better than Arena (like TES 2: Daggerfall… then again that game is a minefield of bugs). All in all Arena is a nice game to play in-between games, or if you’re bored, or if you are a TES-fan who wants to see how it all started.

Arena jest klasycznym wręcz przykładem ładnie opakowanej słabizny. Widać, że ludzie z Bethesdy po raz pierwszy robili grę z gatunku role-playing, pogubili się we wszystkim, wydając na świat karla. Zgroza ogarnia, gdy się widzi butne slogany kampanii reklamowej tej gry na Zachodzie. Wierzcie mi: lepiej zagrać w Betrayal At Krondor, mimo że ten tytuł ma już rok, wciąż utrzymuje dobrą formę. W świecie Krondoru jest fantazja i tajemnica.