'Elder Scrolls Online' takes aim at 'World of Warcraft'

8 hrs.

Winda Benedetti

Will you play a magical?elf, a mysterious arrow-slinging?assassin, or an axe-swinging dude with a beard and a bad attitude? That's just one of the many?decisions you'll get?to make when "The Elder Scrolls Online" launches next year.

As the Electronic Entertainment Expo got under way in Los Angeles today,?Bethesda and ZeniMax unveiled a new trailer for the forthcoming game ? one that teases a few of the character classes players will get to select?from.

"Elder Scrolls Online" is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (that's MMORPG for short)?set in the world made popular by the series of offline "Elder Scrolls"?role-playing games ?? "Skyrim," "Oblivion" and?"Morrowind."

Bethesda says the online game?is set about 1,000 years before the events that take place?in "Skyrim," one of last year's best games and?biggest hits.

According to the official website:

Three Alliances have emerged across the continent, each struggling for supremacy over the land. As these great powers battle one another for control of the Imperial City - and with it all of Tamriel ?? darker forces are moving to destroy the world!...

You are the hero! Create a character by choosing from the nine classic Elder Scrolls races. Then adventure through the far reaches of Tamriel against hordes of undead, uncover evil plots, and confront your destiny that will change the world.

While many "Elder Scrolls" fans (our own In-Game editor Todd Kenreck among them)?are excited to see the offline?series translated into a massively multiplayer online?game, others fear that the game already looks too much like that other well-known massively multiplayer online game ???"World of Warcraft".

Of course, the game is still early in the development process and that trailer doesn't give us much to go on. Meanwhile,?with "WoW's' popularity waning with age, it makes sense for another game to step into its big leathery boots?(especially?if you don't think "Star Wars: The Old Republic" has already done that).

For more information about "The?Elder Scrolls Online," check out the official website here.?And be sure to?check out a few screenshots from the game below.

Meanwhile,?stay tuned here to In-Game for more of?our E3 coverage.?We have?a team on the ground at?E3 in Los Angeles. ?For all the fast and furious news check out our?In-Game Facebook page?as well as our Twitter feeds:?@ToddKenreck?and@WindaBenedetti.

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