Elder Scrolls: Legends First Impressions

At this year's 2012 Game Developers Conference the 12th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards will be presented to thousands of representatives from the gaming community. Many of the games nominated come as no surprise, but this is not the Spike Video Game Awards (see the Spike VGA 2011 winners here ) and the outcome may be a little unexpected compared to the commercialism arena of valor best heroes Spike's award s


The Brady Games Borderlands 2 Digital Strategy Guide is responsible for blowing the cover off Borderlands Legends . An advertisement for Legends appears in the guide, and a copy of the ad made its way to the Borderlands 2 forums, though the post has apparently been deleted. No matter - images of the add itself are currently all over the net. Check it out be


There are no limitations as to which games are nominated, and the winners will be selected by a group known as the International Choice Awards Network, an invitation-only committee housing 500 leading game creators from all over the indus


"It’s been almost a year since we revealed The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and in that time we have built the game into a strong, fun experience for Elder Scrolls and strategy card game fans alike. The feedback we’ve received from the player community has been invaluable and we are endlessly grateful. We wouldn’t be where we are today without our amazing fans and we want to thank them for helping us grow during our closed b


For those unfamiliar, The Elder Scrolls: Legends is a game that has staked its reputation on being a hybrid of sorts - the same flash and nostalgia that fuels some of Hearthstone 's biggest moments with gameplay that is more closely aligned with Magic: the Gathering 's complicated, chess-like matches. That's been Legends ' selling point since day one, and it has definitely lived up to the billing, as its gameplay offers refreshing depth while still delivering an epic feel


The Elder Scrolls: Legends has been successful enough to warrant a major expansion, at least, and that's what gamers got when Heroes of Skyrim released late last month. The world of Skyrim was seen by fans as the most obvious inclusion for an expansion down the road, and Bethesda delivered early - but was it the right time, and has the game improved as a res


Players gain allies as they work through the campaign and this unlocks new decks with different strengths and strategies. The game has five alignments (that are very similar to the five colors in Magic ) and each of the unlocked decks will be built around one to two of the alignme


But that's not the only expansion being cooked up, as later in the press release Bethesda mentions it has "even bigger things on the horizon." These bigger things will come in the form of a big expansion that will arrive early this summer and come packed with a huge new set of cards, new mechanics and more. Bethesda has said more details will be shared at E3 2


The Game Developers Choice Awards committee will also be announcing its Special Award recipients before the ceremony, including honorees for the Pioneer, Ambassador and Lifetime Achievement Special Awards. There will also be a special reveal as to the identity of this year's Game Developers Choice Awards h


Another set of mechanics that set Legends apart from the competition are Runes and Prophecy cards. Players start the game with five runes and lose one rune every time they lose five life. Every time a rune is lost, the player draws a card, and if that card is a Prophecy card type, the player can immediately play it for free. This adds a bit of luck and randomness to the game that will likely anger the more competitive players. That said, giving a player an extra card as they lose life helps keep both players invested in the game and makes it feel like there is always the chance for a comeback. The problem is that sometimes the Prophecy cards really do cause a major comeback and this is going to make people very unhappy when it costs them a game that 'should' have been theirs. The mechanic felt great to us and added a unique tension to every damage phase, but we also weren't battling through competitive ranked ti


The ability of Dire Wolf to capture the feel of Skyrim in its new set is definitely the biggest draw toward the expansion as a whole. Werewolves have innocuous abilities - or none at all - until an enemy is damaged enough that they lose a rune, and then they become powerful creatures with aggressively slanted keywords. Dragons are, quite suitably, some of the biggest, baddest cards in the entire game, and can often win on the spot unless they're answered quickly, which is how a dragon should f


The game developer and publisher also announced the game's first major story campaign update: The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood. The expansion, which will arrive on April 5th, is a brand-new story that will feature new solo PvE content – more than 20 missions spread across three maps – as well as over 40 new cards. Those who pick up the expansion will also receive the Doom Wolf mount in The Elder Scrolls Online (PC/Mac on