The Elder Scrolls: Arena

The Elder Scrolls: Arena
The Elder Scrolls: Arena logo
Studio	Bethesda Softworks
Publisher	Bethesda Softworks
Erstveröffent- lichung	March 25, 1994 May 1994
platform	DOS
genre	Computer role playing game
Game mode	Single player
control	Mouse & keyboard
system advantages preconditions	386 CPU, 585 KB RAM, 25 MB free hard disk space
medium	3.5 " floppy disk , 1 CD-ROM
language	English
Current version	1.06 (floppy disk) 1.07 (CD-ROM)

The Elder Scrolls: Arena is a computer role-playing game from the US development studio Bethesda Softworks and the first title in the role-playing game series The Elder Scrolls . It was published in 1994 for MS-DOS

action

The imperial battle mage Jagar Tharn usurps the throne of the empire and abducts Emperor Uriel Septim VII on an Oblivion plain, where he holds him prisoner. But he cannot pull his student Ria Silmane to his side and therefore kills her. For the time being, however, Silmane manages to continue appearing as a spiritual figure and entrust the player character with the liberation of the emperor. After he has left the first dungeon , she continues to communicate with him in dreams and helps him find the eight unique pieces of the Staff of Chaos, with which the player character can finally defeat Tharn in battle.

Gameplay

The game is presented from the first person perspective . Arena is also characterized by its huge game world, which is generated randomly from given elements. The combat system offers the choice between close combat and magic attacks. In close combat, the position of the mouse pointer determines which of eight attacks is carried out.

development

Bethesda was influenced by the titles Darklands , Ultima Underworld , Legends of Valor and the role-playing game rules Dungeons & Dragons . Originally, The Elder Scrolls: Arena planned as a 3D gladiator game. Only the title remained of this concept, which in terms of content, however, also refers to the dimension "Mundus", which in the game is referred to as the arena. There “the bad” from Oblivion and “the good” from Aetherius meet again and again like in an arena and fight each other.

reception

The game turned out to be unexpectedly successful. Shortly before the release, the developers responsible feared that they had driven the company into bankruptcy. Because Bethesda had changed the original concept significantly, missed the important Christmas business due to delays in the development process and Arena was only able to publish in March, internally it was assumed that it would have failed . Accordingly, the extremely low number of just 3000 copies was delivered at the beginning. But through word of mouth, the game sold very well over a long period of time and turned out to be a small sales hit.

Looking back, Matt Barton highlighted the extensive world simulation, which not only took day-night changes into account but also seasons and offered the player significantly more freedom than other contemporary games.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the series, Bethesda Arena released the series for free download on the series' website.

Web links

• Official website
• The Elder Scrolls: Arena at MobyGames (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Sebastian Thoeing: 15 years of PCGames: test report in issue 05/94. In: pcgames.de. September 15, 2007, accessed February 25, 2011 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} Matt Barton: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part III: The Platinum and Modern Ages (1994-2004) ( English ) In: Gamasutra . UBM, plc . April 11, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
3. ↑ Alexander "Ghostfig101" Belfiglio: 15 Years of The Elder Scrolls Series ( English ) In: Planet Elder Scrolls . IGN . July 9th, 2009. Archived from the original on December 28th, 2013. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 28, 2011: “ The main inspiration for The Elder Scrolls comes from games like Ultima Underworld, Darklands, and Legends of Valor. And of course, D&D. The whole idea was to do a grand RPG, where you could do pretty much whatever you wanted. " 
4. ↑ Ted Peterson Interview I ( English ) Morrowind Italia. April 9, 2001. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2007.
5. ↑ elderscrolls.com: free official download from Arena. ( Arena106Setup.zip ). Retrieved February 25, 2011 .