"Is this the real world or am I dreaming?"

Welcome to Vanderfell, Mournhould, and Solsthseim. Two continents of themselves while Mournhould being a gigantic city complete with its very own, seemingly endless, catacombs. It’s a whole different world in Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition. And it IS a world. Completely endless in possibilities and stories to write by your actions. Too put it simply this game was like being born in an alternate reality. If you give this game a little time and effort, it’ll make 4 hours seem like ten minutes. And with a price tag of only $30, you’d have to be completely sane not to buy it. And I say sane because if you were sane you would know not to even look at this game since it puts your social life, little as it may be, at risk of disappearing completely with you not caring. Now on to the rest of my first review!

Gameplay: 10/10

There are quite a few RPG games that are big, Everquest, Dark Ages of Camelot. But those are online filled with real people and yet Morrowind still manages to surpass them with both style and depth. Because while your playing this game as far as you will be concerned, the NPC’s inhabiting this world are real people. And the ability to completely specify your character down to his ability to pick locks, how high he jumps, how much of an influence he has over others, and how you character fights. Mine ended up being something like a Battlemage that could use the heaviest armor(being that armor classes are separated into light, medium, and heavy) and could swing the mightiest blades! Of course at the same time being able to steal the souls of the monsters I’ve slain and using those to further beef up my weapons, armor, or any other article of clothing, to them special abilities like endowing pants with the power of flight. I call them the “Flannel Pants of Superman”. Also I joined a guild and after working my way up the ranks and killing the leader and taking over I grew my own house complete with robotic guards! Serve the House of Telvanni well and the same could happen to you! About the only negative thing to say about this game, besides the fact that it destroys your real life and no the time you spend with Morrowind is not the real world no matter how much it blurs the line between reality and fantasy, is the fact that it freezes sometimes, but altogether too much, and they always seem to happen after you’ve completed a mission that involved crossing the world twice and taking up two hours of the real world. And just too add to those who want a little action in their RPG’s the fighting in this is very simmiliar at times to a fps and is not at all like the way the Final Fantasy series plays, thank God.

Story: ?/10

Hell you write the story so its all how you make it.

Sound: 10/10

I’m not really big on sound effects. So the only times I really notice is when they are horrible. But with 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround sound on…well… it’ll be even more dangerous to your grip on reality. So its perfect!

Graphics: 9/10

Hoo-ah! The ability to switch between first person and third person, plus being able to see what armor your wearing gets this game major points. I’ve always hated in Final Fantasy how you never changed what you looked like based on your armor. While the characters you create may not be umm… sexy, you can always put a helmet on made out of ebony and lined with gold. While landscapes are beautiful and lush and sorts, the water just seems so out of place since it is almost undistinguishable from real water. Plus the skies at the right times of day with the right weather, the game just becomes pretty enough to write poems about.

Replay: 10/10

This game has unlimited replay and deserves nothing less than a perfect 10 in this category. And so far out of my entire game playing life this is the only one player game to deserve the prestige of having a 10/10. Anything less would be insulting. In fact I created about ten different characters at first before I made one that I would stick with. And there is no way you could do the same thing twice…errr except if you write everything down you do in the game and even then the desire to see what is over the mountain to your left than the one to the right that you already climbed will probably claim you. Let you inner adventurer come out unto the world!

Overall: 10/10

Though the glitches in this game hurt, they didn’t hurt enough to bring this grade down from a 10! Even after losing two hours of gaming to a glitch, and after a round of lots of cursing, I sucked up my gut and did something different(say assassinations?) instead of doing the same thing again completely making up for the glitch. This game is a perfect example of a group of hard working game makers. My hats of too all you gentlemen and ladies that in some way helped make this game the gleaming treasure that it is. Plus if you find a friend who is equally obsessed as you are then you can have loads of fun comparing characters and sharing secrets. About the only thing really annoying to me is that once your character basically can slay any poor creature that stands against you in one blow it gets a tiny bit boring. I know! I’ll make a new character and do it all another way!

Rent or Buy?

Buy! At only $30 that money is more than worth it. For me I played on and off for a week then completely disappeared into it. For some it takes time, for others it will suck you in immediately, but Morrowind will claim you in the end. The final verdict is that you will buy this game! Both because you want to, and because you need to!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/03