To celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Elder Scrolls, we're publishing our original reviews of each main game in the series from our archives. This review first ran in PC Gamer UK issue 6, back in April 1994.
Reading the review now, it's clear just how many of the core pillars of The Elder Scrolls series first appeared in Arena. That you can essentially ignore the main quest in favour of your own fun is still one of the primary joys of the series. Here it even elicits a word of caution for certain types of players—"because you're given so much freedom, you may find it all a bit pointless," Andy warns. "Arena is a game that lets you decide what to do—it never forces you down any path."
