by Igor - June 30, 2003

It all started with The Elder Scrolls: Arena; character generation, 18 unique classes, 2,500 magical items, and around 400 cities, towns, and villages, which you could visit at any time. All this was considered state-of-the-art back in 1993.

Gameplay

The fans were relentless. Daggerfall came next, followed by less related BattleSpire (using the same engine as Daggerfall), and Redguard (more of an adventure game, than an RPG). But this was not enough. Using a new technology, called NetImmerse (the same as used in Dark Age of Camelot), Bethesda announced the 3rd in the series, Morrowind. Unlike many other games, it was not hyped, and in fact, quietly released the game. In the months, that followed, it became quite popular; popular enough to challenge Neverwinter Nights� reign.

Not to give the story away� The person one day wakes up on a ship, greeted by a Dark Elf. He asks thy name, and then your quest begins. In the minutes that follow, the character gets out of the ship, which is docked to a town called Seyda Neen. As the character enters the office of Census & Excise, he gets to pick his race, class, and/or customize them.

Just like in the previous series, you are allowed freedom. You may venture anywhere you want, at any time you want. This time around, there are only three great �Houses� you can join, those being the �Redoran� (honorful fighters), �Hlaalu� (devious assassins), and the �Telvanni� (petulant mages). Houses such as �Indoril� are absent, however their armor shows place in the Imperial Temple guild. Speaking of guilds, there are at least a dozen of them; you can join any one you like, and you could even attempt to join all of them, however, some of the quests involve killing other guilds� top-brass (thus preventing you from advancing in that one guild).

The most noticeable thing, is that unlike in the earlier Elder Scrolls series, the continent is much smaller (in fact it�s an �island�) � but let not that scare you away, it is quite big, and will take quite a while to walk from one side to the other. The reason for the miniaturization is actually good; everything in the game is hand-placed, whereas in previous series, it was mostly randomly generated.

Aspects from the previous games, such as spell creation is also included in Morrowind. After you buy a spell of a certain caliber (ie fireball), you can go to a Mage�s Guild (there are freelance mages as well) and ask him to create you a new spell, that is more/less powerful, but based on your previous ones. All in all, there are 6 magicka schools (and you can advance in all of them). The way the skills system works, is that the more you use a certain skill successfully (ie swing your longsword, or cast fireball), the better you get at it. After 10 of your skills increase (or just one skill 10 times), you level up, obtaining ability multipliers related to the skills that were increased. (ie, you train your destruction skill 10 times, and when you level up you get an x3 multiplier on Willpower). There is no �experience� involved, as in other games. Based on your skills, whatever it is you do, will either succeed or fail. If, for example, your longsword skill is 50, there is a 50% chance that your longsword will successfully hit someone.

Stunning graphics? You bet!

On the other hand, if you thought graphics in Dungeon Siege was good, these will blow you away. It has the most beautiful graphics (did I mention lots of polygons?) as any RPG up to date. (This includes Neverwinter Nights; it�s also better looking then DAoC). The water/rain effects are so stunning; it�s almost as if you got your hands on technology that was supposed to come out in 5 years. But then again, enough time has passed that someone in the RPG market would create a gorgeous game.

The average sound.

The sound is impeccable. Ambient sound is everywhere. Should you go to a pond, you will hear crickets, should you go to a desert, you will hear sand storms. Should you find yourself under attack, you will hear moaning and groaning.

But especially, you will enjoy when people call you "Outlander." The sound here has it's ups, but I wouldn't describe it as being much above most other games.

Who needs multiplayer to have fun?

In Morrowind, your character mostly does his deeds by himself. As in any respectable RPG, there are tons of quests, and not necessarily from guilds. The game actually has one main quest, (which you can start whenever you want, ie whenever you think you are buffed up good) and that is the one with the �Imperial Blades� guild. Sometimes, you will come upon people who are in need of your help (or rarely, who want to help you), and as you escort them somewhere, they fight at your side. Thievery is also included, with a �Sneak� icon to help you realize whether you are hidden from plain sight or not.

Multiplayer, however.. is non-existent. There is no networking code, whatsoever, and it would probably had required large MMORPG servers to operate (DAoC) at any rate. Contrary to some beliefs, the upcoming expansion, Tribunal, will not include multiplayer either.

The few problems of an otherwise perfect RPG.

The AI leaves something to wish for. They sometimes get stuck in one place, and quite frequently, if you get in a good spot, will shoot their spells at the pillars, allowing you to quietly heal. Monsters here, will attack you on sight, unless you sneak past them (or use an invisible spell/potion). The monsters are actually NPCs with a different name. They can carry as much as their strength allows them, but can�t equip the items. As for the NPCs, when you initiate a dialogue, you can ask them keywords (which are listed on the right of the dialogue screen, and increase as you explore the world). NPCs can like you, dislike you... and if you get them mad at you, they might attack you on sight or refuse to service you. As a counter, you can threaten, bribe, and say nice things to the NPCs to change their outlook on the you.

As any game, it leaves you wishing for some things, and as no game is, it is far from perfect (but close enough, so that you don�t care). You cannot see inside the buildings, as their interiors are actually somewhere far away (in a totally different �cell�). I guess the reason they did this, is because the engine renders everything in your field of view, regardless whether it is behind a wall, or not. Just imagine if you were looking at a castle, with lots of items inside, and it was being rendered even though you could not see the insides. The framerate would drop fast. Since the interiors are actually in a different place, NPCs/monsters do not follow you when you flee through a door, which leads to a different cell, unless they are your companions (in which case, there is a special script that will teleport them to the other cell, with you).

In a nutshell.

Overall, this game is top-notch, and is a direct competition to Neverwinter Nights for RPG of the year. I suggest either buying it now, or waiting a few months (or longer) for Tribunal to come out. At that time, Bethesda will either lower Morrowind�s price, or create a 2-in-1 bargain. Tired of linear games (excluding MMORPGs of course)? Want a little freedom in your life? This is it.