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07-16-2002, 04:58 PM
Review from IGN.COM
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/362/362501p1.html
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Review
A vast world offering astounding freedom, this could be the best Xbox game since Halo itself.
June 17, 2002 - You can always enjoy a sitcom. You flip it on, there are a few jokes, a few laughs, and half an hour later you turn it off, already starting to forget what you just saw.
It takes more effort to get into a serious, high-quality dramatic series. It takes a few episodes just to get into the rhythm of the show, to pick up on the nuances and the characters. Then you have to buckle down and commit to watching every episode, season after season, to let the story arcs grow and characters change and progress. But in the end the reward is far more than what twenty minutes of laugh track can ever provide.
Guess where I'm going with this? Yeah, Morrowind is like that second kind of thing. The more you put into this game, the more you'll get out of it.
Of course if you want to be specific, Morrowind is a real-time, first-person, character-based roleplaying game set in a fantasy world. But that dry technical description -- as dry as the dust that blows through the haunted tombs of the Dunmer -- doesn't even begin to do this sprawling behemoth justice.
This is a tour-de-force, arguably the best Xbox game since Halo itself, and certainly one of the more interesting and important ones. More than four hundred quests. Thousands of NPCs. Hundreds of thousands of objects, magic items, weapons, and treasures -- all of which you can take, drop, leave wherever you want to. This game is vast. Perhaps the biggest videogame ever.
What a difference a hard drive makes.
That said, Morrowind does a superb job of bringing the player into its own sheer vastness gently and gradually. As it begins, you wake up in the hold of a prison ship, with no idea who you are or how you got there. You don't even know how to move your character around yet, either, but the basic controls are introduced one step at a time, even as your character is being created. You immediately start talking with NPCs who ask a short series of questions to get your name, your race, your gender, and your star sign. In essence, they help you create your customized character -- no pre-scripted, force-fed storyline here. During this process, you'll also figure out the controls for moving, looking, and using things, and gradually get a feel for the complex social reality of the game world.
This character creation process is about as flexible and customizable as you'd like, too. You can choose from twenty-one traditional classes, or you can answer a questionnaire that will choose a class for you. But the best way to go is to create your own character class. Using this method, you can select all the skills you really need. You might even go so far as to start several characters and through trial and error figure out which kind of character suits your style of play. This is probably a good idea, it will enhance your enjoyment of the game.
Having a well-rounded, capable character is important, since for the most part on your adventures, you're going to be strictly on your own. This is not a party-based RPG. True, there was one time this barbarian guy decided to follow me around, but shortly thereafter I went into a cave, dove to the bottom of a deep pool (there was a chest down there, you see), only to discover upon surfacing that the fool had dove in after me and drowned. It was an odd experience, but it's these kind of tasty little anecdotes that flesh out your own personal storyline -- and are the kind of thing that generally can't happen with the pre-scripted storylines of the traditional console RPG. Pity.
..................
Closing Comments
Finally, I'll admit Morrowind isn't for everyone. It's a huge, sprawling, megapolis of a game that can take a couple hours just to get into and a hundred hours to complete. In an industry where most games present clear, linear paths guiding you from one pre-defined problem (a jumping puzzle, a monster, or some other dexterity test) to the next, some gamers will find Morrowind's open-endedness unfamiliar, bewildering, even perplexing. They'll sit there, waiting for someone to come along and tell them what to do. But others will find it liberating. Freedom is intoxicating. If the purpose of games is to provide absolute escapism, to immerse us deeply in another world that never was, and then to give us the ability to go through it and do what we want to do, then Morrowind accomplishes that brilliantly.
-- Jason Bates
Presentation - 9.0
The controls are simple and elegant, and you're brought into the game gradually, so a new player shouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus you get a map in the box.
Graphics - 9.0
Character models look rough because they're generic rather than unique to each NPC, but the environments, especially weather and water, are amazing.
Sound - 8.0
There are decent ambient effects, but the music gets repetitive after a while and should be turned off. Just throw the soundtrack to Conan or LOTR on instead.
Gameplay - 9.0
Truly a great RPG system, from character building to spell creation. There's almost too much for your character to do in Morrowind.
Lasting Appeal - 10.0
There's enough game here to keep you busy for months. If you like the game, you absolutely will get your money's worth, a dozen times over.
OVERALL SCORE (not an average) 9.4
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/362/362501p1.html
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Review
A vast world offering astounding freedom, this could be the best Xbox game since Halo itself.
June 17, 2002 - You can always enjoy a sitcom. You flip it on, there are a few jokes, a few laughs, and half an hour later you turn it off, already starting to forget what you just saw.
It takes more effort to get into a serious, high-quality dramatic series. It takes a few episodes just to get into the rhythm of the show, to pick up on the nuances and the characters. Then you have to buckle down and commit to watching every episode, season after season, to let the story arcs grow and characters change and progress. But in the end the reward is far more than what twenty minutes of laugh track can ever provide.
Guess where I'm going with this? Yeah, Morrowind is like that second kind of thing. The more you put into this game, the more you'll get out of it.
Of course if you want to be specific, Morrowind is a real-time, first-person, character-based roleplaying game set in a fantasy world. But that dry technical description -- as dry as the dust that blows through the haunted tombs of the Dunmer -- doesn't even begin to do this sprawling behemoth justice.
This is a tour-de-force, arguably the best Xbox game since Halo itself, and certainly one of the more interesting and important ones. More than four hundred quests. Thousands of NPCs. Hundreds of thousands of objects, magic items, weapons, and treasures -- all of which you can take, drop, leave wherever you want to. This game is vast. Perhaps the biggest videogame ever.
What a difference a hard drive makes.
That said, Morrowind does a superb job of bringing the player into its own sheer vastness gently and gradually. As it begins, you wake up in the hold of a prison ship, with no idea who you are or how you got there. You don't even know how to move your character around yet, either, but the basic controls are introduced one step at a time, even as your character is being created. You immediately start talking with NPCs who ask a short series of questions to get your name, your race, your gender, and your star sign. In essence, they help you create your customized character -- no pre-scripted, force-fed storyline here. During this process, you'll also figure out the controls for moving, looking, and using things, and gradually get a feel for the complex social reality of the game world.
This character creation process is about as flexible and customizable as you'd like, too. You can choose from twenty-one traditional classes, or you can answer a questionnaire that will choose a class for you. But the best way to go is to create your own character class. Using this method, you can select all the skills you really need. You might even go so far as to start several characters and through trial and error figure out which kind of character suits your style of play. This is probably a good idea, it will enhance your enjoyment of the game.
Having a well-rounded, capable character is important, since for the most part on your adventures, you're going to be strictly on your own. This is not a party-based RPG. True, there was one time this barbarian guy decided to follow me around, but shortly thereafter I went into a cave, dove to the bottom of a deep pool (there was a chest down there, you see), only to discover upon surfacing that the fool had dove in after me and drowned. It was an odd experience, but it's these kind of tasty little anecdotes that flesh out your own personal storyline -- and are the kind of thing that generally can't happen with the pre-scripted storylines of the traditional console RPG. Pity.
..................
Closing Comments
Finally, I'll admit Morrowind isn't for everyone. It's a huge, sprawling, megapolis of a game that can take a couple hours just to get into and a hundred hours to complete. In an industry where most games present clear, linear paths guiding you from one pre-defined problem (a jumping puzzle, a monster, or some other dexterity test) to the next, some gamers will find Morrowind's open-endedness unfamiliar, bewildering, even perplexing. They'll sit there, waiting for someone to come along and tell them what to do. But others will find it liberating. Freedom is intoxicating. If the purpose of games is to provide absolute escapism, to immerse us deeply in another world that never was, and then to give us the ability to go through it and do what we want to do, then Morrowind accomplishes that brilliantly.
-- Jason Bates
Presentation - 9.0
The controls are simple and elegant, and you're brought into the game gradually, so a new player shouldn't be overwhelmed. Plus you get a map in the box.
Graphics - 9.0
Character models look rough because they're generic rather than unique to each NPC, but the environments, especially weather and water, are amazing.
Sound - 8.0
There are decent ambient effects, but the music gets repetitive after a while and should be turned off. Just throw the soundtrack to Conan or LOTR on instead.
Gameplay - 9.0
Truly a great RPG system, from character building to spell creation. There's almost too much for your character to do in Morrowind.
Lasting Appeal - 10.0
There's enough game here to keep you busy for months. If you like the game, you absolutely will get your money's worth, a dozen times over.
OVERALL SCORE (not an average) 9.4