The Elder Scrolls III : Morrowind product reviews

Morrowind is the latest addition to ‘The Elder Scrolls’ series by Bethesda, and while it has taken a huge leap forward from previous chapters, it still has some none to subtle problems.

GRAPHICS
The environmental graphics in Morrowind are outstanding, from the day/night cycle to the various weather effects. The most notable is the water effect which is spectacular, especially when the sun is reflected across it. These things come at a price however and you’ll need a fairly new video card to appreciate them fully.

On the flipside, the spell effects are pathetic. It looks like they threw in some placeholder graphics but never came back to finish the job. When I create a magic wielding tower of death I want to be able to call down fiery destruction from the heavens to vaporize my enemies, not singe them with some wimpy looking fireball. Graphics convey to the user the perception of power, something that the spell effects lack.

GAMEPLAY
Unlike most RPG’s that are linear in progression, Morrowind has the sweet scent of freedom.

Character creation is done by selecting a race and then either choosing a preset class, or creating a custom class where you select the skills that will be important to your avatar. Character advancement is achieved by increasing your skills through use, once you’ve sufficiently increased your skills you’ll gain a new level.

On the downside, I believe it’s too easy to level your character and gain early access to powerful items, power gamers may like this but I found it simply saps the enjoyment out of the game.

Exploration is free and unrestrained, there are no limits on where you can go and when, you could run around the countryside in your underpants if you so wish, although I’d not advise it as the locals may think you’re a bit weird.

Melee combat can be handled in one of two ways, you can control the swing of your weapon using the mouse, or you can simply set combat to use the best attack. I personally prefer the later.

Hand to hand combat is also supported but its usefulness is limited. I really would have liked to have seen unarmed combat fleshed out more since it could have opened up so many possibilities, especially for stealthy characters.

Sick of playing the goodly hero, why not cross over to the dark side and become a vampire, terrorizing peasants is always fun, but keep your eye on the time or you’ll have a really bad day.

The nastiest problem I encountered was a random crash to the windows desktop for no apparent reason. The problem seems to be a long running one that has yet to be fixed. The interface also bakes my swedes, it’s poorly thought out and is slower than a dead man running, even on a high end system.

SUMMARY
Even with its problems Morrowind is still a good game, although it could have been a truly great game, maybe next time.