The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition

"Do you live in Morrowind?"

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Elder Scrolls III Morrowind is Xbox's first role-playing game. It easily shows Xbox's potential for the role-playing environments. After many delays and much anticipation, Morrowind comes through with a bang. Unlike the typical Japanese style RPGs which are linear; Morrowind is an open ended RPG that literally allows you to do anything that you please. Not only that, but this game is the biggest game world to date. You can live a life of virtue or a life of pure evil. It has unlimited replayablity and it is different every time you play it. In addition, the side quests are even larger than the game's main story itself. This is a game that will definitely entertain you for several months.

Graphics
Graphically this game is the definition of "oxymoron". Walking from city to city it is completely beautiful. The world seems so real that you feel as if you were in a real journey. All of the scenery is so well rendered and so well modeled that at times I felt as if I was Frodo on my way to Mordor. I was totally engulfed by the scenery. Then there is the implemented “advanced weather system” which makes you feel as if you are in a real world. On sunny days you feel like calling all your friends and having a picnic, while on rainy days you feel gloomy. And that's not to mention the ever-annoying sandstorms.

But do you remember that oxymoron I spoke of earlier? Well I was talking about character modeling. PSOne has better modeling than this! The NPC's (Non-Playable Characters) are all a variation of each other. I have even gone to the point of seeing NPC's that look exactly like my character. Hey, maybe they are the real Nerevarine. All the characters look flat and lifeless. A little bit more and you would be able to actually count the number of polygons used per character. The only thing that brings them to life is the fact that they actually move, and even then you start trying to look for strings to see if you can see Gepeto anywhere near. That's not all. The cities all look like they were bought preconstruction. They all have the same look and feel, because there are only a few variations of architecture. According to the game's back-story, the high elves influenced and taught all of the different races of Morrowind. If so, this explains the lack of uniqueness from city to city.

Sound
The score for this game is completely awesome. It is classical music at its best. It is so good that Bethesda has decided to make a soundtrack out of it. The only problem with the background music is that it suffers from “horror movie syndrome”. That's when the background music changes whenever an enemy is near. It's almost as if you have some sort of classical music spidey-sense that alerts you of oncoming danger. Either that or the force is strong with my little wood elf assassin. The in game sound effects are nothing big. You will quickly get tired of hearing two separate NPC's tell you the same exact statement simultaneously. They are not bad but they could be loads better, I was very impressed with the sound of when you draw your weapon. It sounds as if you actually unsheathed your longsword or dagger. On the other hand, there are times when you are fighting enemies and your character decides to scream from pain in such a cowardly fashion that I almost tucked tail and ran. I guess my character is scared of 3-foot tall rats.

Gameplay
This game is a first person RPG, because of this interface it makes it capable of doing things that other RPG's could only dream of. It allows you to jump and use weapons that on the regular would not be as effective or even fun to use. For instance, the longbow actually has to be aimed at characters. Yeah there are other RPG's that make you do this, but usually they are action RPG's or RPG/hack-n-slash games and even then they cause you to pull out your hair from frustration due to how hard it is to actually hit your opponents. The game has a really good development engine. It does not use the stereotypical experience points to level up your characters; instead it builds your skills as you use them. So as you walk you are building up your Athletics skills. When this builds up to 100 it will level up and raise your Athletics skill to the next level, making you a faster walker. All of your skills build on use, so unlike other games your character actually build up this attributes according to what he does. The only flaw in this is that at low levels it becomes extremely hard to complete simple task. For instance, if your Longsword skill is at level 15 you will probably swing your sword around 20 times before you hit your enemy, it is as if your sword magically passes through him. This becomes very troublesome in the earlier parts of the game. They should have made it that you hit your enemy but at very low damage. Fortunately, you just need to find a Trainer and pay him to level you up. The best part of this game is that it is open ended. You basically live your life in this game: You do as you please, you don't even need to complete the game, but if you choose to complete the game, it still does not end. The game will continue but the NPCs in the game will react differently to you, this is when the game gets even more interesting. This game has hundreds of side quest and somewhere around 300 or so dungeons. This game will definitely have you playing for months.

Controls
The controls are responsive and the buttons are mapped perfectly. The right trigger is your attack button, while the left trigger makes you jump. The left analog stick controls your movements while the right analog controls where you look. The only nuance in the game is the sneak toggle; it is very hard to double click the sneak button to keep him in sneak mode. Still the controls are almost near perfect, and the responsiveness is on the ball.

Fun Factor
The game straight up kicks butt; I played it for two weeks straight before I start slowing down on playing the game. Even then I still play the game and am in love with it. With all the side quest and capabilities to live your life as you please, this game has limitless potential. Not to mention, that you build your character the way you please. The only reason I did not give it a 20 in this department, is because of all the annoying bugs and crashes that are associated with this game. On countless occasions I have fallen into empty voids of blackness to my death while walking on solid ground, on others I have gotten stuck between walls, as if I have entered a parallel dimension. At one point I could have sworn that I saw Haley Joe Osmond telling me he saw dead people. All in all thought, I definitely recommend this game to anyone. Rent it, buy it, or borrow it from a friend; you simply need to experience this game.

Graphics: 7
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 9
Fun Factor: 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/08/07