We had the opportunity to test TESO under exclusive press access allowing us to publish a preview of the beta up to level 15. The NDA remains in place, except for authorized sites.
Pitched battles or simple duels, your adventures in Tamriel will not be easy. Armed with different types of weapons, you will naturally be required to slice, knock and pierce your attackers by all means. So it is appropriate in this article, to look at the handling and the sensations experienced during the fights.
Free targeting
Combat in TESO is based on an aiming system. Present in other MMOs such as TERA or Neverwinter, it will be a question of using a cursor in the center of the screen, in order to precisely orient your attacks. It is therefore not a question of targeting your opponent by clicking on it, but rather of positioning your cursor as best as possible, like a classic TPS / FPS. That said, it is still possible to apply a visual cue to your target (a kind of frame), in order to better identify it. It is a sort of assisted sighting.
Regarding spells, some benefit from automatic targeting, such as healing spells primarily targeting people with the lowest health points. Others will require positioning areas of ground effects, such as the volley of arrows.
For people not used to this kind of system, it can be surprising the first few minutes, but quickly becomes appreciable. Our character is positioned on the side of the camera, which allows to have good visibility in order to use the cursor. Personally, I have found that this targeting system logically lends itself well to ranged attacks. Being able to aim ourselves and then shoot an arrow, even if it means missing the target, further strengthens the immersion.
This aim has the advantage of guaranteeing a certain flexibility in terms of targeting and management of the camera since the two are linked. That said, don't plan to use your mouse skills by clicking on it via the shortcut bar. It is therefore necessary to use keyboard shortcuts.
The art of combat
What about the fights themselves? With a rather slow pace during the first levels, it tends to get excited once certain skills have been unlocked during your progress. Indeed, almost all the skills tested are instantaneous and the animations are sometimes rather short. Thus, it will be possible to combine these skills very quickly, at the same time raising the pace. As an example, a combo of abilities: [Hindering Javelin] => [Poison Arrow] => [Silver Diamonds] takes about 3 seconds. Suffice to say that once at a high level with optimized magic and vigor, the rhythm of the fights will only be better. Note that distant attacks can be parasitized if ever an enemy is placed between you and your original target. The "unfortunate" will then take an arrow that is not necessarily intended for him.
In addition, among the combat mechanisms, we find the possibility of being able to parry. Whatever your equipment (shield or not), you will be able to parry an enemy attack with the right click. Rather pleasant to use, the parry will be particularly useful when your attacker is preparing a powerful attack. Indeed, the parade will then have the consequence of disorienting the enemy for a few moments, thus giving you the opportunity to make him bite the dust. Be careful, however, the parry does not always seem to work, especially against too high level opponents with two handed weapons.
In addition, there is also the ability to break an enemy's cast, through the combined use of right click and hold and left click (or left-right click). Rather useful in certain situations, it will however be necessary to approach the target to make him swallow his spell.
Finally, dodges are also part of the game. Similar to a GW2, despite the sometimes a little stiff animations, you will be able to do more than two in a row, depending on the points awarded in force. However, dodging consumes a lot of stamina ... so it will come at the expense of any skills and force you to use it intelligently.
Overall, these mechanisms satisfied me. Easy to perform with the intelligent use of the mouse, those used to the TES franchise will not be disappointed. However, it seems that these techniques are not necessarily highlighted as they should.
Slice in the heart
Personally, I think this is one of the major problems with this ESO. Indeed, it is clear that the sensations of combat did not convince me more than that. The sensations of combat refer to two concepts: sounds and animations ... two points which are open to criticism for the moment.
Beta requires, as we have already pointed out, there are sound bugs. Some are missing, but will most likely be corrected by the time of release. What is more worrying, however, is their intensity. Indeed, the blows struck lack, to my taste, cruelly impact, presence. Sometimes we have the unpleasant feeling of typing in the void. Take a game like "Ryse" on Xbox One, the attacks are particularly highlighted through quality sounds. The impacts are present and resonate violently making each confrontation a particularly credible and therefore immersive simulation ... and this is what TESO seems to lack today. Indeed, currently the basic attacks with the left click and the shield parries lack sounds worthy of the name. However, this finding is much less true with regard to aptitudes. The latter received more care.
These issues seem to reinforce the shy / flat side of the confrontations, which is rather a shame given the qualities of the combat mechanics. Fortunately, Zenimax is well aware of these issues and tries to make several retouches via future patches.
At the heart of the action
So, what does that look like in a subjective view?
Well, same observation concerning the sensations in combat. Isn't it more enjoyable and immersive to feel the thunderous impact of a sledgehammer or sword crash against your shield? Isn't it pleasurable to feel your blade pierce or slice your opponent? Unfortunately, during this beta, I did not really feel these sensations and it will be up to Zenimax to ensure their promises by making the necessary changes.
Technically, the FPS view doesn't seem totally viable to me in combat. Rather sympathetic on the one hand for the archers, I am much less convinced for the melee attacks. As Aherys from JeuxOnLine points out, the absence of a body block leads to some difficulties. The opponent sometimes moves quickly and so do we, which has the effect of piercing each other and thus knocking into the void. It is therefore difficult to simulate a truly immersive and playable duel, especially with a FOV (field of view) that seems too narrow (in the 60s I think, without certainty).
The FPS view seems to me rather useful and particularly welcome for exploration, discovery, screenshots and other videos.
Conclusion
So, what about the fights in TESO after this block?
I think there is an interesting potential to be exploited. Moving away from the "classic" combat system of an Mmo such as WoW, Wildstar, Swtor etc, but getting closer to what a TPS / FPS can offer, I can only appreciate this system by its accessible side and immersive. However, on the other hand, the immersion unfortunately doesn't seem to be on top of what it could be.
Indeed, it is currently a shame not to highlight these nice mechanisms more. Despite an appreciable visual and skills better achieved in terms of sound, the rest seems to lack life and "potato".
So, even if these few problems do not tarnish the other undeniable qualities of TESO, remember that this is only a beta version and that these issues are being investigated and corrected.
Balance sheet:
- Friendly use of the mouse
- More immersive, very similar to TES V: Skyrim
- Increasing rhythm and more sustained from level 10+
- Visually very appreciable
- Skills developed with care
- Unconvincing combat sounds (except skills)
- Lack of punch from white shots
- Sometimes problematic animations
- An FPS view not very suitable in melee combat (FOV, Body Block ...)
