Announced during the ESO 2024 Global Reveal, ZeniMax Online Studios revealed this year’s Chapter, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road.

This upcoming Chapter marks the next major installment in this iconic Elder Scrolls saga, introducing 30 hours of new main quest content featuring a storyline with never-before-seen characters and new, but familiar zones for players to explore.

Coming this June, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road, brings players 30 hours of new main quest content that takes them back to locations last seen in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and continues last year’s storyline that began in the Necrom Chapter. In Gold Road players must investigate Ithelia, a Daedric Prince never seen before in the Elder Scrolls series and it’s up to players to uncover the schemes of her most devoted followers. Adventurers will encounter opportunistic Wood Elves, and protect the people of West Weald from the chaos of the Forgotten Prince’s return.

As part of Gold Road, players will explore two new zones, battle new enemies, and pick up a new system – Scribing that adds even more customization to the player’s experience. With Scribing, players can collect and customize unique skills, letting players tailor their character’s playstyle by editing their primary, secondary, and tertiary effect – something players have never been able to do before in ESO, allowing them to truly play their way.

Starting off this year’s new content roadmap is ESO’s next dungeon DLC, Scions of Ithelia. This new PvE DLC introduces two and four-player dungeons to Tamriel, Oathsword Pit and Bedlam Veil. The events of these two storylines all lead towards the upcoming Gold Road Chapter and task players and their allies to enact revenge on behalf of the God of Curses and defend the mysterious hold of the Demiprince of Maelstrom.

The Scions of Ithelia dungeon DLC is arriving March 11th 2024 for PC/Mac and March 26th 2024 for Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The Elder Scrolls Online: Scions of Ithelia DLC game pack will be available via ESO Plus membership or for purchase from the in-game store.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road arrives on June 3rd 2024 for PC/Mac and June 18th 2024 on Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

The post The Elder Scrolls Online Reveals 2024 appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The mighty RPG that released many years ago on Xbox 360, Elder Scrolls took itself to the internet not long ago, expanding ever more in to the universe.

Elder Scrolls Online is a huge game where next to nothing is linear and is so massive you can play within the world of Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) for a millennia and still not see it all.

It is also expanding and now a new DLC has been released, High Isle.

If you’ve not played ESO before it starts out as most RPG’s do.

Choose a race, create and fully customise a character. Select a class and then get to grips with the gameplay, picking up items, using and equipping from your Inventory and before you know it, you’ll be wearing your big boy (or girl) armour and out there in the wilds of Elder Scrolls taking on larger than life foes.

Missions and directives are generally picked up via talking with NPC’s or you can take on missions that the game offers up, or simply kick back and explore to your hearts content.

High Isle is, as mentioned, a further expansion to the already endless world of ESO.

Furthering on from Tamriel, High Isle is infact not just one, but two islands for you to make your way too and envelop yourself in to a new narrative.

The islands of Amenos and High Isle are within the Systres archipelago, west of Tamriel.

There has been three warring alliances that have secretly been in talks for peace. But it is not meant to be when the Ascendant Order intervenes and creates havoc.

You’ll need to assist the alliances at restoring some sort of peace by ridding the islands of the Order.

In the High Isle expansion there’s a lot to do and a lot to be done. The islands a re massive and full of treasure and secrets and of course a truck load of side missions.

Along with the two new islands, Bethesda also added a card mini-game called Tales of Tribute and a new trial Dreadsail Reef and of course new characters.

Whether you’re a lone wolf or want to pair up online there’s more than enough to get through with the High Isle expansion, it’s pretty much a full sized game within itself.

If you’ve been within the world of ESO for a while now, High Isle is a mega sized new series of maps that need plundering.

If you haven’t stepped foot in to ESO yet, I fully recommend you do and work your way to the islands. There’s so much to be found, looted and killed.

The post Elder Scrolls Online: High Isle (Xbox Series X) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

This year’s expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online has launched. The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood kicks off the year-long Gates of Oblivion storyline.

Players can explore not only the new region of Blackwood but also have the opportunity to return to the Daedric realm of Oblivion from The Elder Scrolls IV.

The Mehrunes Dagon Premium Bundle is only available from the Bethesda store and is likely to be in short supply, especially in this part of the world. Bethesda ANZ knowing that I’m a collector of these sort of thing send one over for me to look at with a few other goodies.

First Launched in 2014 The Elder Scrolls Online has gone from strength-to-strength positioning itself as the essential free-to-play massively multiplayer game. After purchasing the game, the persistent world is free to explore without a monthly subscription. New DLC content is dropped throughout which needs to be purchased separately, the same with the yearly major expansions. ESO Plus subscribers get all this content fee, plus a little bit more as part of their monthly subscription.

ESO is packed with things to do and quests to complete. The massive world invited exploration. Over the years, the game engine has been improved and upgraded keeping the game looking fresh and new.

The Blackwood expansion adds another huge area to the game as well as the realm of Oblivion. One of the benefits of ESO is that it can be played relatively easily solo. Blackwood gives solo players a boost with the ability to take an AI companion with them on their journey. The Blackwood Expansion can be purchased as an upgrade or in a bundle along with the contact from the base game plus the five expansions.

Sadly, Blackwood bucks a trend that started with the very first release of ESO. This year the game does not have a collector’s edition. Whilst it’s fair to say that the contents of the collectors’ editions have varied in quality, each has contained a nice-looking statue relating to the instalment.

I’ve been collecting The Elder Scroll’s Collectors Editions since Oblivion (I missed out on the Morrowind CE). But it was with Skyrim and its bold statue of the dragon Alduin, the World Eater, that Bethesda went all out. As well as statues the ESO collector’s editions have included books, coins, and maps associated with the new content.

Whilst there’s no collector’s edition game bundle, Blackwood does have a collector’s edition of sorts in the Mehrunes Dagon Premium Bundle.

The package contains a statue of the Daedric prince, Mehrunes Dagon, a replica Ambitions token, and a lithograph.

The first, and very exciting thing that I noticed about the package was the weight. On opening, my suspicions were confirmed. Unlike all the other Elder Scrolls statues, not only was Mehrunes Dagon realistically painted but it was also made from weighty polystone and not plastic. The statue is the smallest one that Bethesda has produced for The Elder Scrolls Online, but it’s also the most detailed.

The contents were well packaged, encapsulated in a molded Styrofoam case with the exposed hands of the statue having an extra bit of protection. The coin was in a protective plastic bag and the lithograph rolled up in another bag, more on this later.

The statue comes in three parts, the main figure perched between two rock outcrops, a plastic axe, and a plastic axe pommel. The axe handle slides into one of Prince Dagon’s four hands with the pommel sliding on the end. The tiny pommel is a bit loose and could probably do with a bit of glue to better keep it in place.

The statue has a lot of detail, a stark contrast to the muted features of the last Collector’s Edition figure, that of the Greymore Vampire Lord. As I mentioned, the figure is polystone, but Dogon’s chainmail skirt seems to be hard plastic, and likely easily broken.

The figure looks hand-painted as a true-to-life representation of the Daedric Prince rather than a statue of the character, as with the previous collector’s pieces. Dogon’s red body has muscles and features lightly dry-brushed with black to make them stand out. His chainmail skirt is also meticulously detailed to give it a fatigued metallic look.

By and large, the paint job is pretty good. No effort, however, has been made to paint the eyes or teeth, which are red the same as the head and body. It’s a pretty minor complaint, though.

The bottom of the figure has rubber feet to stop it from scratching your shelf. This is what you should expect from a premium statue.

The next item, the Ambition token, is rather special. Unlike the four coins in the Greymore CE, or even the Septim included in the Oblivion CE, this metal coin looks really old.

The two-sided oversized coin is inscribed with Daeric text and symbols. The coin has been designed to look badly cast with the irregular shape you would expect from an ancient artifact.

The final item in the package is the least impressive. I enjoy a good lithograph, but the litho included with the Mehrunes Dagon Bundle is disappointing. Firstly, the lithograph has been rolled up.

It’s a mission to even look at it without damaging it as the paper had been rolled so tightly. The lithograph is quite long, so you’ll likely not have a book long enough that you can use to flatten it. I get that with the size of the box, rolling is the only option, but I’d have sooner had a small flat picture than a large rolled one.

The image itself, of Mehrunes Dagon, looks more like a promo picture than an actual lithograph. Being rolled up it comes across as more of a little poster than a piece of premium artwork.

At US$120 the Mehrunes Dagon Premium Bundle is not cheap. But saying that all of the ESO CEs have been a bit overpriced. The figure being polystone was a nice surprise. Even though its smaller size makes it initially less impressive than say the huge Dwarven statue that came with the Morrowind CE, up close the detail is outstanding.

I’d say it was the best ESO statue yet. Similarly, the Ambition token looks great and very authentic. Even though the lithograph is disappointing, I can see the Mehrunes Dagon Premium Bundle being a very sought-after item for The Elder Scroll fans and collectors.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood expansion gives players another opportunity to become part of the lore that shaped the continent of Tamriel. These legends are only spoken of in the single-layer Elder Scrolls games set much later. As such Blackwood continues to make ESO an essential title for fans of The Elder Scrolls.

The post The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood Mehrunes Dagon Premium Bundle Unboxing appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

E3, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where major, Triple AAA and indie developers showcase their up and coming titles to eager gamers such as ourselves.

It’s a time of excitement in the video gaming industry and even more so when juggernaut studios such as Bethesda dazzle us with visuals of their soon to be released games.

STG has compiled all of the video game trailers from Bethesda’s E3 2018 presentation here.

2018 Bethesda E3 Showcase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxGorVTMDIU

DOOM Eternal

 Fallout 76

Prey: Mooncrash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySVBHI2OeAg

Quake Champions

RAGE 2

Starfield

The Elder Scrolls VI

Wolfenstein: Youngblood

Skyrim: A Very Special Edition

The post Bethesda E3 2018 Announcement Trailers appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Elder Scrolls Online has been around since 2014 and with it there have been various updates and downloadable content added but ZeniMax Online Studios have now created for us a serious bit of content to get excited about, Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind. Morrowind is a whole new section to play in with new quest lines and story arcs. It can be played from scratch with a new character, as there is a new class, Warden, to experience or with previous characters built up in ESO.

Vvardenfell is the main island of which this new section of game is set, the home of the dunmer. One of my favourite races is that of the dark elves. So, I was particularly happy to see them fill out the land of Morrowind. It was nice to play as a dark elf and almost feel at home in the environment.

Vvardenfell offers quite a beautiful environment to explore. It is wonderfully colourful and full of interesting landscapes and places to discover. The wild life has similar tones to ESO but there is still some unique creatures and scenery to appreciate. The music is as amazing as ever. Though I never played the original Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind I certainly listened to and found great appreciation for the music (so much so that I walked down the aisle to the Morrowind theme song) and this version does it justice and provides an enchanting audio for ESO: Morrowind.

I sadly did not experience the original Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and so can’t make too much of a comparison, though this Morrowind is by no means a remake or re-imagining. This era of Morrowind is set roughly 700 years before the events of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

As far as Elder Scroll beginnings go (when starting a new character) ESO: Morrowind is the least tedious to date and though still starting off as a prisoner of sorts it was a simple and almost interesting starting scenario. After the whole prisoner section, it follows Vvardenfell’s deity guardian and warrior-poet Vivec, who is plagued by a mysterious ailment that is draining his power and so as the outlander and all-important adventure it is up to you uncover the mystery and reveal the truth.

The new class, Warden, is a magic based class that has a focus on nature. Like all the other classes, it still has several options in the way of upgrading and special skills to learn. The most impressive is a War Bear that charges into battle along-side you.

The combat and most aspects continue to remain in style with the regular ESO mechanisms. The tone here is very much the same. Something new I did try with ESO: Morrowind is the gamepad support. Playing on the PC, I was happy to find it was quite reasonably well implemented. There had been some complaints but it doesn’t feel too different from the console version setup and so I easily adjusted and enjoyed playing with gamepad support.

One aspect that screams to me is that this game is not a single player game. It can very much be played solo but there comes point when companions are somewhat necessary, especially if you have a chosen a more support or squishy class type.

The community sadly keeps mostly to itself, there are forums and what not but it is hard to obtain friends in this, diminishing the whole online part of the game. Having a group of regular players is a key aspect to experience the full potential and fun that this game has to offer.

ESO: Morrowind is a beautiful game in both a visual and audio perspective and provides players with a new and engaging world. It provides a couple of new aspects to the ESO franchise and is easily gotten into. As an online game, it is definitely played and enjoyed better with companions. I still enjoyed this on my lonesome but couldn’t fully appreciate its offerings playing solo. The new story is interesting and the voice acting continues to improve. If you were already enjoying ESO or possibly looking for an excuse to get back into it, ESO: Morrowind is a wonderful addition to the franchise.

The post ESO: Morrowind (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.