Millennial Fair – Morrowind: the Elder Scrolls III Review by Patricia Hamasaki

Morrowind: the Elder Scrolls III

A Different Kind

Morrowind’s slightly unusual from most RPGs. It allows for almost complete freedom when it comes to how you want to “live”, a trait that is found usually in MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs) like Everquest, Ultima, FFXI etc. Morrowind’s different in this aspect as well, for it doesn’t support multiplayer modes at all. The game is fully single–player dedicated, and while some of you may think “No multiplayer! That sucks!” trust me on this: The single–player will keep you busy for ages.

Great Features for a Great Game

Bethesda Softworks have certainly done a terrific job in creating a wonderfully unique and diverse world. Before I go into specifics, the story at the beginning places you on a ship bound for Vvardenfall, a large island, in the province of Morrowind. Vvardenfall is where your adventures will take place, until you get the expansion(s) Tribunal or Bloodmoon. In the world of Morrowind, there are 10 races to choose from, along with a variety of classes and birthsigns, each one promising a different sort of gameplay altogether. Weapons, armor, clothes, potions and all other necessary “adventuring” gear can be found. When it comes to Morrowind, it’s hard to think up something that the producers have forgotten. Seriously.

Pest Control

Morrowind, especially in its early pre–patch days, was full of bugs. Most of these bugs causes the game to crash back to the desktop so unless you’re a frequent “Saver”, you’re in big trouble. Other problems include getting stuck in certain places, NPCs suddenly disappearing out of the game etc. Although some of these bugs can be corrected manually by accessing the console, the crash problem remained. But Bethesda released patches, and they seem to have help out immensely in this department.

Final Score

Enjoyability = A+, Great story, great replay value. Initial bugs are now taken off (mostly) by the patches.
Sound = A-, Ambient noises are well–placed. Slight glitches here and there. The music is brilliant though, possibly somewhat like the LOTR soundtrack.
Controls = A, Controls can be easily configured. Morrowind’s option of allowing to play in either first–person (FPS style) or third–person (traditional RPG style), means that controls can be set to that of the standard FPS game or RPG game.
Graphics = A+, Graphics are sweet, especially on higher–end systems. Morrowind also has quite lowered minimum settings so most people should be able to enjoy the graphics without too much problems..