"A breath of fresh air. . ."

Here's some background on Morrowind and Bethesda. Morrowind is the third installment of the incredible Elder Scrolls series that has won numerous awards. This game is the sequel to Daggerfall, not Redguard or Battlespire which are part of the Elder Scrolls: Legends series.

People who have never played Arena or Daggerfall should consider that Morrowind is nothing like Baldur's Gate, Fallout or any of the console RPGs out there. Unlike all the rpgs listed above, Morrowind offers something that few game developers have been able to pull off successfully. A virtual fantasy world in which you can interact with it as you please. For example, you can choose a class by answering a series of questions, choosing an already made class, or creating your own. The last option allows you to specifically tailor a character to how you want to play instead of being forced into an already made template. From there after you make your character, you're on your own. It's up to you to find work, get cash and equipment and survive by any way you see fit. To many people who haven't dealt with this level on non-linear gameplay, this can be scary and unpleasant. There is no set path for you to follow. While there is a main quest that follows the storyline, you can pretty much ignore it unless you want to beat the game. I can't stress this anymore, if you were looking for another Baldur's Gate or Xenogears or something like that, DO NOT get this game. If you're looking for the ability to play a character how YOU want to instead of the various cookie cutter characters that most rpgs give you, then this is the game for you.

The story behind Morrowind is more then adequate for the type of game that they have created. Ethnic tensions between races, ancient prophecies and religious doctrines clashing all swirl together to create a intruiging plot-line. Just because the story does not take the forefront in the game does not make it any worse. Suffice to say, the story is superb and well done.

Morrowind's interface is not only easy to use, but takes maybe 160th of the screen. Simply right click and the game will pause to show four different windows: status, inventory, map and magic. The controls follow the simple WASD format. It took me about five minutes to get used to the interface of Morrowind. To say the least, it is very easy to use. However, the journal could have been organized better. While it is organized by date and by topics, it would have been helpful if there was some sort of marker that showed which quests were finished or not.

When one interacts with NPCs, they quickly find that many of them respond with the very same remark that someone earlier just said. While different races or people have different responses that set them apart from the crowd, for the most part the responses are pretty much the same. Thus, giving the impression quite strongly that you might be the only person in the entire world with a functioning brain instead of a tape recorder. However to create unique responses for hundreds of NPCs is a staggering task that seems ludicrous in the sheer immensity of it. To be quite honest, I really didn't feel as if it affected my interaction with the game.

To say the graphics in the game are stunning seems inadequate. When I stepped out into the first town, I had trouble making coherent noises. When I looked at the starry night sky, I simply stared at it for several minutes. But wondrous eye candy comes at a harsh price. I have a 1ghz processor, 640 megs of RAM, a Geforce 2 MX and I still have to set it at rock bottom settings it get a good framerate. Still even at 640x480 the graphics are noteworthy.

Jeremy Soule did a fantastic job with the Morrowind soundtrack. The talent he displayed in Black Isle's Icewind Dale is again aired in Morrowind. As well, the voice acting in this game is superb. Definitely close if not at the level of the voice acting in all of Black Isle's games.

Finally replayabiliy. This game has enough replayability to last for several months if not at least a year. Not only are there many various methods to get through the game, but the TES Construction Set included with the game ensures that people will be playing this game for a long time. Already, people are designing plug-ins and putting them up on the net. Once you're tired with the original scenario, then you have an entire world to create or download.

In an era of RPG gaming plagued by adventure rpg console games, this game is a breath of fresh air for me. I have often found myself at odds with the characters thrust at me in many rpgs. It is often frustrating for me to play console rpgs because I often want to throttle the main character. Morrowind allows me to role play a character in the way I want to, not the way the game tells me I have to. And thus, a fresh breeze sweeps into the previously stale realm of RPGS.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/27/02, Updated 05/27/02