"Finally a game with free will"

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is the sequel to RPG of the year award games for 1994 and 1996 respectively; Arena and Daggerfall. As you may noticed its an RPG. But bot a normal RPG. Why? I'll explain to you.
Morrowind is kinda different from any other RPGs. First of all its not turn-based and random battles like the Final Fantasy series, its an action RPG. With action RPG i dont mean games like The legend of Zelda or Dark Cloud but games like Baldur's gate and Diablo in 3D. Second it plays in first/third person view. And last it has freedom, free will which it lets you decide anything you want to do and be.
You choose your own character at the beggining. You choose the name, race and speciality (warrior, mage, archer etc). Then you do missions and explore as much as you want. The world is huge with lots of cities, dungeons and people. You can interact with almost every thing like speak to people, bribe them, ask them questions, or steal items, open doors, swim etc.
You can put different kind of armors on your character like gauntlets, boots, helmet, chest armor etc. There are tons of weapons to choose from and there are spells as well.
The combat system is simple. You equip your weapon and you left click mouse to use it. Longer you hold left click, harder you swing. You can equip tons of spells and use them with the left mouse button as well. Of cource the Magicka bar will reduse. You also have health bar and Fatigue bar. You know what the health bar does but the Fatigue bar reduses when you are running, being punched, jumping, using a weapon. Basically it shows how ''stable'' you are. Having a low fatigue bar you are having less chances for a good weapon swing.
There's an in-game clock which it counts days and hours. Certain missions can only been done at night. You can advance time by simply ''waiting'' or ''resting''. NOTE: Resting needs a bed. If you sleep to a citizen's house means that you commited a crime (see Crime section for further details) . NOTE2: Resting refills health, fatique and magicka bar.

Crime:
In the game there's crime. If you steal, try to unlock a door etc you are being reported to the guards if the owner sees you. So when a guard approches you he asks you to pay him some money or go to jail. The choise is up to you

Freedom:
The game features an incredible amount of freedom. You can do anything you want! Steal, explore any place, kill, talk and take decisions, you can accomplish any way you want the missions, you can be the most respected man in a certain town or the horror and fear, and much more things. The game is not like Grand theft auto's freedom. This kind of ''freedom'' is more deep and it makes the game sophisticaded.

Now lets analyse the game in parts shall we?

Graphics: 96%
Amazing graphics! It looks exaxtly like a normal place. Tons of details in the game. Beautiful places. Also great weather effects too! It has detail meter to maximum. If you havent seen screenshots yet go and find some and see how good the game is. The reason it doesnt get a full 100% is because you need a GeForce3 to enjoy the graphics in all its mastery. I have a GeForce3 and in the options it has the Pixels ON/OFF choise and lets me choose. I played the game on a friends PC who has a Geforce2 and the game played perfect with all the graphics but it didnt have the Pixels choise. And if you compare it with Geforce3, the graphics are very slightly different. So you need a good 3D card like the Geforce2 (preferable 3) or an 64mb card to enjoy good graphics in the game.

Sound: 98%
Fantastic weather sounds. For exaple at night if it rains you hear all the lightings and stuff. When its peace there's a peaceful music in the backround and the characters's speach makes you think you are in the game. Masterful!

Story: 100%
Oh yeah! The game lets you create your own story in the game. What i mean? You can be a thief, a guard and do anything you want. You can make people hate you or love you. Basically you start with the guards releasing you from jail and you have to make a life. The missions are simple and you can review your missions or any important event in your journal. I will only spoil a mission at the beggining to let you know how a mission is and somehow the freedom you have. Its not major spoilers but still... If you want the ''suprice'' for the starter missions for yourself dont read further:
***SPOILERS***
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A man gives you a mission to to spy on a thief to see where hes hiding his money. You have to wait for the night and he gives you advice to go on the lighthouse. You can do it or hide somewhere else. While at night its really dark and you can see the thief going to a small swamp pond in town and he hides his money in the tree hole. You wait for the morning and go and take the money and a lockpick as well. You can go and give the money back to the man that assigned you to do the mission or go spend them. If you do the first choise you will have lots of respect from that man. So as you see everything in the game is up to you!
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***END SPOILERS***

Gameplay: 92%
It feels exactly like an adventure game. In some points the gameplay can be annoying but in general its good. The keys to the keyboard are good assigned. You can walk/run. Combat gameplay is pleasant. An RPG gameplay. You can choose from first to third camera and opposite for your taste. Gameplay is really good in the game

Lifespan: 100%
As i said you can do anything you want in the game. Become any race and speciality. You can start new games and be different personalities in each game. There are TONS of things to do in the game. Plus there's an extra disc, The elder scrolls contruction set wich it lets you design characters, monsters etc. And lots of replay value thats for sure...

BUY/RENT: BUY

Overall (not average): 10/10
Its not often i give 10/10 to a game. Trust me and get it. If you are an RPG freak then get it for sure. If you are not an RPG fan get it and you will become one. Phew all said...........What are you waiting for? Hit the stores and buy it. This game is a must but. You must have it in your collection.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/12/02, Updated 06/12/02