Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Review

By Sheila Robinson (CA-gamer)

Platform: Xbox

Publisher: Bink Video

Rated: Teen (T)

About The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Morrowind is the third in the widely popular PC role-playing game series. Years in the making, this is the first RPG game created for the Xbox. It is a vast, open-ended world where the player is able to explore, quest and battle without restriction. The game begins when your character is released from prison to Morrowind by orders of the Emperor. The reason for your release is a mystery, so you resolve to find out why and attempt to fulfill your destiny.

Gameplay

This is a fun game. The learning curve is small, so once you're accustomed to the controls and navigating the menu screens, you're ready to go. Morrowind begins with one of the best parts of any RPG game: character creation. You are given three options: Select your character class from a list, have your character created by answering a series of moral questions, or create your own character from scratch. Classes are divided into three categories: Combat, Magic and Stealth. Each category has 7 choices:

• Combat - Warriors, Barbarian Crusaders, Knights, Scouts, Archers and Rogues.
• Magic - Mages, Sorcerers, Healers, Battlemages, Witchhunters, Spellswords, and Nightblades.
• Stealth - Thieves, Agents, Assassins, Acrobats, Monks, Pilgrims and Bards.

There are also 10 character races to choose from:

• Argonian, Breton, Dark Elf, High Elf, Imperial Khajiit, Nord, Orc, Redguard and Wood Elf.

Character attributes like strength, intelligence and endurance are improved by gaining levels or by purchase from guilds and characters you will encounter. Your character is also given a choice of a Birthsign, which blesses you with additional abilities that often come with an equally powerful price. For example, “The Serpent” allows you to poison others, but at the cost of some of your character’s health.

Replayability and Length of Game

Replayability is an understatement. The world of Morrowind is so enormous that hundreds of hours of play are possible. Since there is no time restriction on the quests, you can explore, fight, talk to other characters etc. without penalty. You keep track of your journey through a journal which is updated whenever you encounter a person with useful information. Most conversation with characters is through text with specific information you can select to ask them about. This may be overwhelming to some casual players since there is an abundance of reading. Also, some people may find the game confusing because the journal becomes filled with dozens of pages that cannot be organized or updated to let you know when a quest/task is completed.

Graphics and Audio

Visually, Morrowind is outstanding. You can get lost for hours just exploring different towns, dungeons and other interesting places. Initially designed for the PC, the Xbox adaptation lost some graphical splendor, but not enough to distract from gameplay. Sound effects in the game are okay, the initial dialog from other characters is good, but the background music could use some improvement.

Instructions

The instruction manual for Morrowind is very informative. It breaks down all the character classes, races, attributes, skills and magic available in the game. The guide also tells you some background and shows you how to adjust controls and sound for your preferences.

The Future of Elder Scrolls

Hungry for more Elder Scrolls adventures? Fans will be happy to know that a new sequel will be released towards the end of 2005 called Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It will take place after the death of the Emperor, and all chaos has been set loose. Demons are destroying the land, and the only hope is for you to escape the confines of prison and find the Emperor’s lost son to bring back balance. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will have better graphics, more lifelike characters conversing in full speech (instead of all text dialog), real-time 24-hour cycles and will be the first role-playing game for the new Xbox 360.

Summary

Morrowind is an open ended role-playing game in a vast world that offers hundreds of hours of play. Character creation can be accomplished by list selection, answering a dozen moral questions, or by custom. The game offers 10 races to choose from, a selection of character classes within the Combat, Magic and Stealth and a Birthsign, which will give you additional abilities. Immerse yourself in the world of Morrowind with no restrictions, complete quests, battle creatures, converse with a seemingly endless supply of characters and find your destiny.