Really? Another Hack-N'-Slash? Don't get me wrong, I liked Oblivion and I LOVED Morrowind, but the gameplay is just not fun at all.
Now I can understand why the games were originally designed as Hack-N'-Slash: in order to develop the story and world. Of course these two things are the best part of the franchise, The Elder Scrolls series is THE open world RPG.
But hasn't the technology gotten to the point where they could at least have a bit more immersive gameplay? Dual wielding is nice and all, but still... all you're doing is slashing/shooting/spellcasting something over and over again until it's health meter depletes. Your character doesn't feel dynamic or mobile and he/she looks and feels awkward. I understand that they are going for a realism feel, but I still think the combat is completely un-compelling.
The biggest problem with the Elder Scrolls series is that your power is always capped. Even a maxed out character doesn't feel that powerful (especially with the leveled enemies system). The problem is this can't be fixed because the game would become unbalanced. You can't attack multiple enemies at once in a Hack-N'-Slash (except for aoe spells of course).
The combat engine is dragged down by the fact that there is a flow chart of stat and damage calculations happening under the seams. I don't think Peter Molyneux was completely off by trying to eliminate a lot of the stat calculations; it doesn't work as well on consoles. Hack-N'-Slash stat based combat is better with a keyboard and mouse, because it becomes a game of strategy. The controller is better suited to action style gameplay. It seems Bethesda is trying to have the best of both worlds by having the same gameplay mechanics for two completely different systems. The Dragon Age fellows at least made an attempt to offer two different mechanics that are each suited the the two respective platforms.
It's killing a bunch of enemies at once and looking cool while you do it that makes the player feel powerful and like his character is the master of his world. That's the feeling you get in Fable for instance. I'm not saying TES should be completely like Fable, in fact quite the contrary; Fable can only be considered an RPG in the loosest sense. However, Fable's combat is fun, and TES would be better off if they adopted something similar, at least for mele combat.
It would be even better if the different styles felt distinct from one another. Right now I'd say TES's stealth gameplay is the most immersive, simply because slipping out of the shadows to stab someone in the back is very well suited to the first person perspective. It would be even better if their finishing moves system had a special animation for when someone sneaks up behind someone undetected for an instant kill. The higher levels of sneak would be able to kill the struggling enemy quicker with less of a chance of making noise and alerting other nearby enemies. That's something I think could be plausibly implemented given what little I can glean from their engine and combat system. More scripted grapples and fighting moves would go a long way to add more variety to the Hack-N'-Slash formula, without changing the engine too drastically.
But... I imagine the open world system takes up a lot of the engine, and the NPC and enemies are a lot more complex. The engine as a whole would probably need to be completely redone accomplish what I would want it to. All I'm saying is that Bethesda shouldn't be wedded to their gameplay mechanics for fear of upsetting fans. It's the depth of quests and the interactivity and openness of the world that set TES apart, as long as they keep those elements they'll be good. If you're still going to go with stat centered gameplay, then there should be MORE skills and spells in order to offer more depth and choice to the player. If you're going to simplify things then you shouldn't make it a Hack-N'-Slash. The more they break the mold in their combat/magic/stealth engines, the better off they'll be. Maybe on the next gen, eh?
FYI I'm still going to buy it.
