The Elder Scrolls: Legends (Beta)

Digital collectible card card games are seeing a surge in popularity lately, thanks in no small small part to the success of Blizzard’s Hearthstone. But there’s another franchise that’s so steeped in lore that it’s basically a perfect match for this sort of game. I’m speaking of course of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series. We got the chance to test out their upcoming title The Elder Scrolls: Legends, a digital card game from Denver-based developers Dire Wolf Digital.

The Basics

The interface in The Elder Scrolls: Legends will look familiar to anyone who's ever played or watched a game of Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering, but it’s still different enough to make for a unique experience. The gameplay is standard fare: both players start with 3 cards, and may trade out as many as they wish, but only once. Both players begin with one point of Magicka (TES’s version of mana); its maximum goes up by one per turn, and that maximum may be increased by card abilities. The player who goes second also starts out with a special ability that gives an extra point of Magicka, which is usable three times per game (but only once per turn). A major distinction is that TES: Legends gives you two “lanes” to play your cards in, which are open from the beginning, a normal lane and a “shadow” lane, and creatures in one lane can’t attack those in the other under ordinary circumstances. special “lane effects” can also influence the gameplay in one lane or another.

The Story

A war-weary veteran is passing along to his comrades the tale of a hero from years before, as they contemplate their impending grisly fate at the hands of invading marauders. His account of the hero's adventures provides the story upon which the game is overlaid. His comrades eventually learn from the lessons he has been subtly trying to teach. You play the role of the hero as he progresses from a captive gladiator to a warrior challenging the big, bad enemy sorcerer...who specializes in card removal spells, and seems to have an instant kill card or two in his hand at all times.

Gameplay and Controls

The controls in TES: Legends are simple and direct, all mouse-driven. Decks have a 50-card minimum (except in progressive Arena matches) and a 70-card maximum. You can select from (and modify) pre-made decks that you unlock in Story Mode, and you will earn new cards (generally based on your avatar's faction, which can be changed between matches) and upgrades to certain cards as you win fights and level up; e.g., a 2-cost generic Orc might give you the choice between upgrading it to gain +1/+0 and Charge (may attack on the turn it is played), or to gain +0/+1 and “Guard” (must be attacked, preventing direct damage to the player). All decks may contain up to 3 copies of any non-Unique card, and all may contain Neutral cards. Beyond that, a deck may be “mono”-color (Neutral) and one faction or Neutral plus two colors.

Special abilities in this game include things such as Lethal (kills anything it fights), adding a buff to an ally or a penalty to an enemy, Pilfer (gets stronger whenever it attacks the opponent), and so on. There is also an unusual element – When a player's life drops to 25 for the first time in a match, one of their “Runes” is broken, and they get to draw a card; if that card has the ability “Prophecy,” the card may be played immediately, and at no cost. Furthermore, any time a card ability makes you draw or play a specific card, you don't actually need to have that card in your deck unless that condition is specified; e.g., one weak creature allows you to draw a Frost Spike every turn (minor damage to an enemy creature + draw a card) if the creature is still alive; this will work even if you have no Frost Spikes in your deck, and will not affect the Frost Spikes in your deck if you do. Other possibilities include granting random Keywords (abilities) to allied cards, activating spell effects such as “Silence” (remove all buffs and penalties from a target), or giving all enemies in the lane a permanent -1/-1 penalty.

You place your cards onto the playfield in order to use them via drag-and-drop. You move, or “toss” a card at an enemy card or their avatar in order to attack. You drag an arrow into a spell target in order to select its victim or beneficiary. Many of the cards have voice acting associated with their actions: yelling defiantly or bellowing out war cries for humanoids, or hissing and roaring for animals and monsters of myth and legend. Playing a high-cost monster card will even cause the game to pause for just a moment, with a bit of extra visual and aural fanfare to announce the mighty beast's arrival.

Your avatar itself cannot equip any special items, or have any particular abilities per se – avatar choice is mostly for looks and voice, though your avatar's faction affects the random card drops after victories and level-ups. You can, however, lay down global enchantments such as stat buffs to your cards, or a Unique weapon (from late in the storyline) that can hit anything on the board at will (up to three times), and gets stronger every time you use it.

Finally, ranked play vs. other humans is available, and enjoyable. Matchmaking is quick – generally 10 seconds or so to find an opponent. Most of the time, you get matched with someone of your rank on the monthly ladder, which is visualized as progressing through constellations. Players I've met have all been courteous and encouraging. Arena play vs NPCs is also available, using a new, base-30-card deck each time you draft at the start. You play until you beat all of the challengers and the boss, or until you lose three times (timing out due to a connection issue counts as a loss). Win, and you get prizes, cards, and more. Lose, and you are still guaranteed a pack of cards, which costs about as much as an Arena ticket anyway.

Graphics and Sound

The game uses a hand-painted style for static images and portraits for the story campaign and arenas. The beautiful card artwork meshes well with the story and avatar visuals. The look is rounded out by crisp, visually interesting animations that do their job and look good without getting in the way.

The sound design includes some skilled, believable voice acting for all of the avatars, and for many of the cards – shouts, war cries, grunts and hisses, it's all there. This is a beta, so not much in the way of music; not that it needs it, though.