The Elder Scrolls: Arena (DOS)

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Description

The Elder Scrolls: Arena is a first-person action role-playing game in which the protagonist must rescue the Emperor Uriel Septim VII from his dimensional prison by recovering the eight pieces of the Staff of Chaos. The emperor's position has been usurped by impersonator Jagar Tharn, whose slain apprentice rallies the protagonist in his dreams to find the eight pieces of the staff and return the status quo.

It is the first chapter in the Elder Scrolls series and the first game that is set in the fictional world of Tamriel. The game features 3D environments, with sprites representing non-playable characters and enemies. In the beginning of the game the player chooses the race for the protagonist, based on his or her home province. Each race has its benefits: for example, Redguards from the province Hammerfell have physical attack bonuses. There is no skill system; leveling up occurs after a sufficient amount of experience points has been accumulated. The player is free to raise any of the protagonist's main attributes by allocating the points gained with the level.

Unlike later games in the series the player can travel through almost all of Tamriel, instead of being restricted to certain provinces. There are over 400 cities, towns and villages to explore, as well as many magical items and spells to create. The player can walk endlessly in any direction as more and more land will be procedurally generated. Walking manually however never allows the player to reach other cities; the fast travel feature must be used for this. The player is free to go where he or she wants. The story itself is resolved in a linear fashion, although the locations of items is randomly determined at the start of the game.

Melee combat is performed through mouse gestures and spells are cast using a menu interface. The player controls only a single character, which happens in real-time. In the wild and in dungeons the player can expect opposition from enemies which need to be defeated and who drop loot. In the cities NPCs can be found, some will barter or provide other services to the player.

The CD-ROM release features speech in cutscenes and additional rendered sequences that the floppy version does not include.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "The Elder Scrolls Chapter One: Arena" -- Full informal name
• "Arena" -- Informal name

Part of the Following Groups

• Covermount: PC Action
• Elder Scrolls series
• Fantasy Creatures: Orcs
• Fantasy Creatures: Trolls
• Gameplay feature: Auto-mapping
• Gameplay feature: Character development - Skill distribution
• Gameplay feature: Paper doll inventory
• Games with manual lookup copy protection
• Sound engine: AIL/Miles Sound System

User Reviews

Size matters	Unicorn Lynx (181722)
The exotic world of damp and cold weather	Alex Man (32)	unrated
Beautiful world. Now for a story to go with it.	anton treuenfels (37)
Hands down best CRPG even released, bar none!	Paul Kostrzewa (15)
Under a rough surface lies an epic adventure	MaiZure (126)
Simpily one of the best games ever.	Blackhandjr (104)
Made to look foolish by Morrowind, unfortunately.	Neon Hammerite (44)

Critic Reviews

PC Gamer	May, 1994	88 out of 100	88
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	May, 1994	10 out of 12	83
Oldies Rising	Aug 29, 2011	16 out of 20	80
RPGFan	Apr 15, 2006	80 out of 100	80
Abandonia Reloaded	Apr 04, 2005	3.8 out of 5	76
The DOS Spirit	Jul 19, 2011	4.5 out of 6	75
Gameplay (Benelux)	Jun, 1994	72 out of 100	72
PC Joker	Apr, 1994	63 out of 100	63
Legendra	Jun 29, 2010		60
JeuxVideoPC.com	Mar 27, 2006	10 out of 20	50

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Skill system in Arena?	3	MrFlibble (12351) Jul 21, 2013
Release date on main summary	2	Patrick Bregger (217445) Jul 29, 2012
Term of development.	6	St. Martyne (3655) Nov 01, 2007

Trivia

Development

Arena was at first, not going to be a RPG, but instead a gladiator style game. Someone came up with the RPG idea, and it caught.

Freeware release

To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series in 2004, Bethesda Softworks released the first game, Arena, as freeware. It can be downloaded from the Elder Scrolls website

Inspiration

The Elder Scrolls: Arena was primarily inspired by a collection of pen and paper RPGs, the Ultima Underworld series, and the first-person RPG Legends of Valour.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • May 1995 (Issue #130) – Role-Playing Game of the Year

Information also contributed by Agent 5 and Isak

Related Web Sites

• Official Elder Scrolls Website (Bethesda Softworks official site for the Elder Scrolls series.)
• Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages! (A wiki page that is dedicated to the Elder Scrolls series. It a great source for hints and backround information concerning the Elder Scrolls saga. Just about everything can be found here.)