Morrowind

                  Reviewed by Robbies Dog

Morrowind is the third chapter in the Elder Scrolls Series
published by Bethesda Softworks and continues in the vein of the
previous games; Arena (1993) and Daggerfall (1996), in that it is
a 3D single-player RPG with first person, real-time hack and slash
combat.  Switchable between third and first person perspectives
and controlled via Quake keys the engine allows for weapons and
magic attacks modified by character stats.  The land of Morrowind
itself is located in the far North East Provinces of Vvardenfell
in the shadow of the volcano Dagoth- Ur, which judging from the
weather is somewhere in Wales.  It is a time of political unease,
with the Imperial administration of Morrowind threatened by an
ancient curse, reports of supernatural happenings, the
disappearance of the Dwarves [Dwemer], and a terrible disease
known as "the Blight" sweeping the land.


You begin the game on a boat after being released from jail and
are brought to Morrowind with little explanation, so initially
you're rather a stranger in a strange land.  The current tensions
in the country don't make life any easier for an outsider so it
makes sense to join a guild.  Once affiliated with a guild more
sub-quests become available and you have their support to fall
back on in time of crisis, however you are then automatically
branded an enemy of rival guilds.  Race, occupation, appearance
and even star sign further complicate issues as each has an effect
upon allegiances and as the game plays out everything your
character does affects how they are perceived within the world.

The central story is gradually revealed as a prophecy of an
Imperial courier marked by the stars who stops an evil force and
lived to become a legend.  While there is a story line to follow,
there are few limitations to this game and there are masses of sub
quests and personal goals that are unrelated to the main plot.
There are always dungeons and monsters to be fought across the
land, which theoretically means that Morrowind can be played over
as a different character type without much repetition.

As my father once told me "along with freedom comes
responsibility", and it's even true in Morrowind, where penalties
must be paid for crimes committed, but what my old Dad didn't
mention is that it only applies if you get caught.  With so much
kit hanging around being a bit sticky fingered can be a profitable
sideline and there's nothing stopping you from stealing and
killing everything in sight as long as you are willing to suffer
the consequences, or be a bit clever about it.

Morrowind also appears on the Xbox, which is unusual for a
non-linear (proper) RPG as up until now consoles have lacked the
ability to save large game files and the power to create living
environments.  Indeed graphically Morrowind has a massive polygon
count and fantastic rendering: faces are diverse, movement is
realistic and the natural environments are especially convincing.
Even the towns have atmospheres all their own as the architecture
varies around the country.  Although Morrowind suffers the same
fate as many RPGs in that it's all a bit brown, the level of
detail really is impressive.  However, all this detail doesn't
come cheap and Morrowind requires a pretty nifty spec. for optimum
performance.  The detail isn't restricted to the graphics - there
is a whole history of Vvardenfell which can all seem a bit
overwhelming. In fact the scale of the thing is such that it's
possible to lose track of the central plot and get swept along in
the world of Morrowind.

Not only does Morrowind boast a massive gaming environment, but
the PC version (unlucky X Boxers!) is bundled with the TES
Construction Set, the level design editor that Bethesda themselves
used to create the game.  Encouraging budding designers to expand
the playable world and trade plug-ins of anything from entire
towns to inventory items can only mean that Morrowind is likely to
get even bigger.  This would also explain why there is no real
ending to the game as on completing the main quest you are
reminded that Morrowind is still in need of your protection.

Given the scale of the project occasional clipping issues are
almost forgivable, but, as ever, it makes sense to save on a
regular basis as it is possible to fall through a seam or get
stuck on a polygon.  Also annoying are the music and sound effects
which, while quite atmospheric, can become irritating.  AI is
limited and NPCs in particular can be annoying as they have few
lines of dialogue, but insist on saying them whenever you get
close regardless of their actual response.  Yet again my Victorian
values reveal themselves as I say that NPCs should speak only when
spoken to.

Overall Morrowind is a great game and its epic quality certainly
means that it's value for money with so many hours of gameplay.
However, this longevity has a downside in that the length of time
spent playing the game means many features become repetitive,
particularly the missions, as there are only so many ways of
dressing up; "Go get an X from Y".





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