The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

"The Ultimate RPG experience on a console"

Besthesda’s Softworks’ third installment of their critically acclaimed Elder Scrolls saga has finally been released.Boasting incredible freedom of choice,action and endless hours of non-linear gameplay,does Morrowind really stand up on its own merit when compared to its earlier brethren(Arena and Daggerfall)?Read on…

Gameplay:Morrowind is as non-linear as they come.You have every control over EVERY aspect of your character.Want your hero to be a big brute of a man,yet able to do magic?You got it.Want a svelte female necromancer that also doubles as a thief?Create her.The options are endless.And the best thing is,you’re not limited to ONLY improving certain skills once you’ve selected them in the beginning.If you decide midway through the game you’d rather be a thief than a magician,just train the proper skills and VOILA!You’re all set.You don’t need to create a new character.Needless to say,the leveling and skills system is VERY flexible and yet still maintains impressive depth.Leveling is also tastefully done.Instead of the need to amass experience points,skills level up as you constantly use them.It’s actually a clever way to make sure you don’t neglect your unimportant skills since all of them depend on one another in some way.Character creation is also as deep as the skills system.You can choose a variety of races,each with their own skills and weakness(or the Imperial,who’s basically all around across the board).The races also determine your appearance and the likes or dislikes of the NPCs in the game(humans will generally have a dislike for humanoids…etc).And as an added bonus,you also get to choose the star you’re born under.Like the races,the stars also have the own downfalls and upsides.Keen astrological gamers can even spot their specific constellation of stars if they look for it during a clear night.

Speaking of night,did I mention that Morrowind has a day and night cycle?Now you know.Although,time has no real bearing on the events of the game(shops are all open 24 hours and the people will continue to walk about even at 4 in the morning),it does serve to reaffirm the illusion that you’re actually in a foreign world,not a virtual one.And in that world,you’re the master of your own destiny,free to live anyway you choose.There are no ‘orders’ in this game,merely suggestions.You don’t NEED to obey somebody that tells you to clear out a bandit’s hideout.Then again,clearing it might get you some valuable treasure.Then again,maybe not.

It’s the constant decisions with even the smallest of matters that makes Morrowind a joy to play.Decisions even come to play when you want to create your own spells and enchant items.Do you want to make a spell that heals you AND poisons foes at the same time?Or do you opt to go for a massive fireball that combines all the elements together?

Morrowind is a MASSIVE game.More so than other open ended games.You actually need to travel in the countryside to make your way from town to town.Sure,you can ride or teleport if you want but there are a lot of places only accessible by foot(or air,if you learnt how to levitate).Journeying to a distant town is not just walking a few screens in a said direction.You need to consult road signs and your map to make sure you’re on track.It’s easy to get lost in Morrowind because the wilderness is all encompassing.Don’t think for a minute that you’ll get from Point A to Point B in a minute of walking.Oh no,expect to walk at least 10-20 minutes to get from town to town(of course,this time decreases as you find shortcuts and increase your walking speed).

The combat system of Morrowind needs work though.I don’t have any gripes about the magic system,it’s the melee combat system that irks me.You can never tell if you’re hitting your target!Even if you aiming reticule is directly over your target,there’s no guarantee that the hit will connect.Even at the highest level(100) for the long sword skill,my character had trouble connecting.What’s up with that?Oh,and for those of you who use long range weapons?Good luck on that.Expect to waste tons of cash on buying more ammo as its not uncommon for you to use 10 to 20 arrows on a SINGLE monster in the later levels.Dodging is practically non existent as well.If you move away from the creature as it attacks,you’ll still get hit.Blocking?It’s in there but unless you’ve trained it until its at least in its 60s,don’t bother with it.To sum it up,combat in Morrowind is basically a battle of attrition.You run up to somebody,attack and wish your enemy dies before you.

Other than that,Morrowind excels.You can interact with almost EVERYTHING in the world.From the crates to the smallest of bushes,if it has a name,you can probably interact with it somehow.Like I mentioned before,playing Morrowind is like actually being there.You can choose to join various guilds that offer jobs that suit your character.Or you can even go freelance and do jobs for the public.No?Being an executioner more your style?Fine!Kill EVERYBODY you see!Yup,that’s possible(provided,you want you game to be in a stalemate cause everybody’s dead).Like the real world,Morrowind also has laws.Steal something and somebody notices,they’ll call the guards.If they do catch you,expect to pay fines,go to jail(which will lower you skills) or fight them.Again,Morrowind gives choices even in the most mundane of tasks.And once you do get bored with the freedom,you can opt to the main quest of the game,to fulfill the prophecy of the Neverine.Or then again,there’s still that job for the thieves guild that’s not finished…

Gameplay rating:9/10

Graphics:Morrowind is not an ugly game by any standards.BUT,it’s by no means a gorgeous title.In fact,the character models are some of the worst I’ve seen on the Xbox(second only to the craptacular New Legends).The models are blocky,have poor textures and are usually animated rather awkwardly.It’s especially noticeable when you’re walking to get near a guy who’s a good distance away.When you’re far from the guy,he walks as if he’s using prosthetic legs since his movement is robotic.But the problem miraculously vanishes as you get close.Suddenly,the guy can walk like normal again!The main character’s animation(through a somewhat useless third person view)is barely passable as well.The running animation,the jumping and even the walking animation look stupid and over done.Don’t believe me?Watch your character run.It looks as if he’s running for his life with his arms pumping madly…

The backgrounds on the other hand fare better…barely.They’re nicely detailed(although textures repeat WAY too often) and are filled with various objects like ferns and shrubs.On the other hand,the draw distance in outdoor areas(which is about 90% of the game) is bad.VERY bad indeed.Vivec(one of the bigger cities)looks like its always shrouded in fog.Buildings suddenly materialize out of the fog,giving the impression that they have some kind of teleportation ability.In most games,if there’s usually fog,the frame rate stays consistent.Not so here.Even if its foggy,the frame rate sometimes drops to a crawl for no apparent reason,especially if you’re swimming.The water DOES have some neat reflection effects though.It will ripple and splash accordingly as you wade or swim in it.

But the main saving point to Morrowind’s graphical hell are the weapons and armors.All of them look real with amazing textures and very high polygon counts.Armors also look nice(the armor you have equipped will actually show on your character model).Wait till you get the uber weapons.Man,are they a sight to behold!

Graphics rating:5/10

Sound:Morrowind does offer some aural pleasures though.The theme song should be singled out especially.It has that epic feel to it and it really suits a game of Morrowind’s nature.The rest of the game is filled with fantasy type songs with flute,ocarinas and other wind instruments heavily influencing the score.The music in this game ranks up there with some of the greatest ever in gaming,rivaling the score for MGS2 and FFX even.The tone of the music will change from a slow relaxing tune as you’re wandering the countryside to an up-beat tempo as soon as you enter a battle.Voices(albeit rather rare)are a mixed bag.Some of the lines are delivered perfectly while others tend to be overdramatic or emotionless.The fact that the voice(and lines)for most of the common NPCs repeat too often,doesn’t help matters here.The sound effects are nothing to brag about as well.Sword slashes don’t seem to be fleshed out enough,as it stands it sounds like a dull thud instead of a swishing sound as the blade cuts through the air.Most of the sounds of the weapons also seem alike as evidenced by the bow,shuriken and crossbows.Although they use different animations,the sound seems too close to each other.The enemies’ battlecry is average as well.Monsters usually squawk or bellow when they attack but there’s nothing you’ve never heard before in other games

Sound rating:7/10

Controls:Morrowind is best place from a first-person perspective so its no wonder all of its control schemes are like those found in Halo.The left analog controls movement while the right controls the aiming reticule and your view.Morrowinds makes use of every available button and then some!Some commands like switching weapons without using menus are wonderfully done.Just press a trigger and press a button.You got a different weapon.It really makes fighting enemies a breeze because some enemies can ONLY be killed by specific weapon types.Spells can also be quick selected this way and for spellcasters,it’s probably even more valuable than the weapon select since Morrowind has an infinite amount of spells you can create.It’s very intuitive and you’ll get the hang of it before an hour is up at the most.One minor gripe I have with the game is its slow speed.Even if your speed stat is maxed out,you’ll still move slowly.Perhaps,more tweaking is needed here since you’ll spend most of your time walking from town to town.

Controls:8/10

Summary:Although Morrowind may not look too good or sound perfect,it’s still a good game.An epic main quest and side quests that offer more play time than most RPGs,Morrowind will keep you playing for months.Overlook its somewhat drab wrappings and you’ll find a gem that brilliantly shines underneath.

PROS:
-Epic main quest
-Tons of side quests
-Total Freedom
-Lots of customization options
-Fast loads times
-Great music

CONS:
-Unstable frame rate
-Bland graphics and textures
-Combat system needs work
-Weak sound effects and voices

Total Rating:8 /10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/19/03, Updated 01/19/03