The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood - Review
When the Xbox 360 first released, one of the games that I got with mine was The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and while it took me a bit to get into the game, I spent so much time with it, that the other launch games were forgotten, so needless to say, when they announced that The Elder Scrolls Online would be returning to Oblivion as part of this years content, I was happy. But now that I have played the latest expansion, is this what I was hoping for, or has Oblivions time long since past?
Well, I'm sure many players would be eager to rush straight into the Oblivion realm itself and explore the place that the Daedric call home once more, there is actually a little story you need to play through in order to get to that point. As you enter the city of Leyawiin, the Captain of the Guards makes a comment about how some of the counsellors have gone missing and as an eager and willing mercenary you volunteer your services, to go and help find them; this unfortunately leads you on an epic quest that takes you all over Blackwood and into the Daedric realm itself. It seems that there is a cult hunting for what are known as the four ambitions, and whatever these ambitions are, will unlock power unlike the world has seen before, so of course a cult must have it. While the first missions are a bit bland, you know go here talk to this person and go there and talk to that person, later on when you're sneaking into a dark brotherhood lair or gate crashing a party things start becoming more entertaining.
Alongside for the ride with you is Eveli Sharp-Arrow, who returning players may know from some previous adventures throughout Tamriel, and while she has this habit as all NPC characters do of just meeting you somewhere, when you do get you interact with her, she is upbeat, cheerful and a little snarky at times; it's a good combination. Though she's not the only one you will interact with, Lyranth will also pop up the more you get into your quest and while she is less than inclined to meddle in the affairs of mortals, the hunt for the four ambitions is enough to capture her interest. Of course, because these two have had encounters in the past there is a little history there, that if you're new to the game you may not understand, and while they do trying to explain some of it, obviously they can't capture all of it in a few sentences. Once you start obtaining the four ambitions, the story really gets going and it goes from one wild ride to another.
Perhaps the most interesting thing the game does, is that there was a time I didn't even realise I entered Oblivion, because there was no massive portal, like you may know from The Elder Scrolls 4, but it was just a regular door. This first-time entering Oblivion threw me, as there were trees and grass, and sure there were lava and imps around, but it didn't just feel like Oblivion and that is probably a great compliment. It would have been really easy for the developers to throw in the same Oblivion, like returning players from the series know it to be, you know black and grey rocks, lava, flames, and hellish creatures all over the place, the full works; but this new vision for what Oblivion can be, it was so refreshing that I honestly didn't expect to like it as much as I did.
The same can be said for Blackwood, as I said in my preview earlier in the year Leyawiin felt like coming home, because of just how familiar everything was, the region outside of the city though is mostly all new and there's enough here to make you feel, that you know what you're going to get, but at the same time throwing in something completely random. This area is home for the Argonians, so there's a lot of emphasis on their culture and their way of life in the area, the first time I found a ruin of an Argonian temple, for lack of a better word, it felt like it was a Mayan or an Aztec place, just within the world of The Elder Scrolls. When I saw it I couldn't help but feel like I wasn’t in Tamriel anymore, not because an Aztec temple just didn't fit within the theme I had for a Tamriel, but because it was so familiar and yet not something I was expecting to see, it gave me a moment of pause, whilst I attempted to make sense of what I was looking at.
The world itself though is also built up around swamps and a lot of water, which again makes sense for the Argonian homeland, but this also means that the world has a real sense of life to it, thanks to the copious amounts of ambient noise around. Noise range from crickets and other small insects that are just out of your view, to creaks and groans inside ruins, along with the noises of the towns, help to make everything feel believable. There were a few areas where that wasn't the case but for the most part, you're going to get a world that is teeming with life, that when you explore it feels authentic and yet somehow too fantastical to exist.
Of course, it's not just a new area to explore or new dungeons to conquer, one of the big new additions for the Blackwood expansion is that of companions. Anyone who has played any significant amount of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, will understand how significant a good companion can be and not just for their ability to carry a lot of things. Since the early days of the game you have been able to have a pet, but they generally don't do anything when you enter into a combat situation, unless you can summon creatures of course, but this time the addition of companions means that you have someone ready and willing to fight for you, when you need them, you just have to locate them first. The game doesn't throw a quest in your face to say “hey there's one over here, that could be a great companion for you” but they are located around the world, so as you explore you may eventually come across them, it's really the start of an entirely new subgame within The Elder Scrolls Online.
I say subgame because you will have spent a lot of time levelling yourself up, choosing the gear, specialisations, and everything else that makes your character, your character, but because of the companions being new you've got to go through a version of that again. Just like your character, the companion that you take with you, needs to level up, killing enemies grants XP which does just that, and for those that love working with one of the guilds, completing their daily tasks will level up your companion in that specific guild skill as well. It's not just levelling them up that makes them special, no it's the gear that you assign to them and while it is not as intense as it is for your character, there are a few things to be aware of. Because instead of bonuses for a weapon or such, here companion pieces are given traits and they can enhance them, allowing someone to have a shorter cooldown reduction or provide more healing, so what you equip on your companion, will be based on the traits you want them to have and that will impact your battles going forward. There is a lot more to companions than just that you have skills that they can use, there is an entire rapport system because if somebody doesn't like you, they won't be as inclined to help you out as much, which can make your companion more than just wandering backpacks. Basically, if you were a little tired of running around on your own or you just wanted more assistance when you got into a fight, the companion is going to be a welcome addition to your party, just be sure you learn all the intricacies of them, because they may not always be around.
On the presentation side of things, it's an Elder Scrolls game, with locations mixed between light forests to swamps and some Oblivion, there really isn't too much more you can say about it. Everything looks great, the cities do look a little similar at times, though that is more down to their location in the world and not being copy and pasted versions of each other. Characters are still stuck with those heavily scripted animations, but the voice work of each of them has enough life to overcome that particular issue. One specific area that I wasn't a fan of, is that occasionally the game would load in the quest giving characters, in a very noticeable way meaning that they would pop in as I got near them, this didn't impact my time with the game, but it also wasn't a great thing to notice. The game still does that weird thing where it loads in higher versions of the outfits characters where once you start speaking with them but at this point I'm chalking that up to being part of The Elder Scrolls Online charm and just leaving it there.
As I said before the voice work is impeccable, be at the various number of NPC's you encounter, to the sheer insanity and delight of the baddies, everything just feels great when you hear the voices. There was a singular instance where the voice outside of an interaction, with a particular character, didn't match the being used when speaking directly to them, one voice was really deep and the other was softer, as I said I never encountered it beyond that one time, but it did stick out to me as being a little out of place. On the music side of things, it's more delightful Elder Scrolls music, in fact one of my most played playlist on Spotify is a combination of all the soundtracks from The Elder Scrolls Online, if you enjoy the music you're going to love this, if it's not your thing you'll probably just turn the volume down a little bit.
Blackwood as an expansion adds a lot to the story of Elder Scrolls, but also gives people who haven't played anything for a while, a reason to return. Oblivion may not be as accurate as you remember it but that is a reason to want to visit it; interacting with Eveli Sharp-Arrow or Lyranth is always fun and the main story that's being told is worth experiencing. There is no doubt though that companions are the most important addition to Blackwood, it brings to the table the fact that it no longer feels like it's just you against the world and that alone, I think is reason to wanna see what Blackwood is offering and this is just the beginning of where The Elder Scrolls Online could go.
The Score
8.5
Review code provided by Bethesda
The Pros
+Story is great, what begins as a by the numbers series of quests, evolves into a murderous plot for power and control
+The addition of companions is incredible, plus with a few ways to make them your own, there is a lot to experience here
The Cons
-While the world is great, I would have loved some more variety in the towns, to make them feel a little more unique
-Oblivion is not going to be exactly the same as you remember it, so if you are a diehard fan, this may be a point of concern
