The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

The Good
I have to admit I'm only barely acquainted with the previous Elder Scrolls titles, having played Arena ages ago and skimmed past Daggerfall but pretty much missing out on it when it got released. Still I knew enough of what was in store for me when I installed Morrowind, and in some aspects I am happy to say I got what I wanted.

For starters Morrowind delivers on what it was it's most hyped feature: the sheer size, detail and freedom of it's game world. So far this is THE game as far as expansive "sand box simulators" go. Ultima Ascension, Baldur's Gate 2, GTA, etc. etc. Nothing comes close to the sheer size of Morrowinds gameworld. And the amount of npcs populating it, quests to do, dungeons, items and assorted stuff is second to none. I played the game for months as far as I can recall and while I didn't log any "official" gaming hours I must have played three times the lenght of Baldur's Gate 2, and a quick look at my world map by the endgame only showed about 75% of it as explored...

For as extensive as it is, Morrowind's gameworld is also very detailed, with five distinct architectural styles (the classic "ye olde medieval" castles and keeps, the bizarre, organic dwellings of the elf mages, the indigenous villages of the local dark elves, the stylized settlements of the deserts, and the gargantuan leftovers of a long-forgotten civilization). These styles are applied to lots of cities and locations, some small enough to explore in 10 minutes or so, and some others sprawling over 5 loading zones and needing a transportation system of it's own like Vivec. Thriving in these locations are dozens of underground societies, guilds and mob families, each having their collection of quests, sideplots and characters for you to explore with total freedom of action (Want to become a slaver and aid hunting raids? Want to oppose slaving and go across the land aiding a Greenpeace-like society that liberates slaves? No problem either way).

Of course, handling such a gameworld would be a nightmare through the classic sprite 2.5D engine of the previous games, so for the first time the Elder Scrolls goes 3D, and the results are nothing short of amazing. The graphics engine manages to render the entire gameworld with smooth, detailed textures and models, as well as special effects that help create incredible foggy swamps, blinding sand storms, stormy weather, cool magic effects and one of the most amazing water effects conceived to it's date. Make no mistake, you do need one badass machine to run this one, specially since you are going to want to crank up the resolution to take in all the detail in the game, which includes unique models for each item and armor piece as well as for those tiny forks, plates, and decorations that fill each house.... amazing doesn't even begin to describe it. And then there's the complementing music and effects, which fits the game perfectly thanks to some stellar orchestrations and moody tunes.

As for the story, the game falls for the typical "legendary prophecy" stuff, but manages to inject some interesting twists on it by including government conspiracies, and generally playing around with the "requirements" you need to meet to fulfill said prophecy. Basically there's this ancient evil god sealed behind a magic wall at the center of the isle of Morrowind, the ancient god is awakening and threatens the known world and whatever, with only the help of another reincarnated god as the last hope.... at least that's what the natives of Morrowind believe, and knowing this, the government across the sea sends you, a former prisoner, as the reincarnated deity, tasking you with fulfilling this "prophecy", and aiding you along the way, but with their objective being getting a key person inside the reclusive Morrowind society and messing around with the local government. As expected both plotline share their place in the spotlight and intersect many times, generally making for a pleasant, if not extremely original, storyline.

All that plus diseases, the ability to become a vampire (and boy does that open up a whole new set of rules), fly around, make your own spells, potions and enchanted items, and fool around with an editor!

The Bad
Unfortunately this extremely ambitious title reached it's goal but disregarded some elements that can only be described as really hardcore design flaws, poor balancing and lame gameplay.

The design of the game was to make a massive, all-encompassing rpg, so it's a priority to have functional elements to help you keep track of what you are doing and what's going on around you. As in every other rpg out there this translates into a journal, however rarely has an rpg had such a poor excuse for a journal as this. Suffice to say that only the useless journal in Ultima Ascension is worse than this piece of crap. Well, actually they are pretty much the same! They both just write down whatever happens cronologically. Yes, Morrowind adds an hypertext linking system for easier navigation, and separates completed quests from the rest... but that's it! I can't even begin to recount the amount of quests I lost because I forgot about them and/or couldn't find their information in this godawful excuse for a journal.

Other holes in the design come in the form of zero damage feedback for combat, do you want to know how hard you are hitting your enemy? Or if this weapon is really better than that other one against that type of baddie? Well wait and see how long it takes for it to drop down, as there's no other way of telling... And I just loooooove the psychic police forces of Morrowind. Picture this situation: you (a thief) pull out a major heist in a mansion and leave town with dozens of unique and valuable items, right? Now in a city that's in the other side of the island you get caught pick-pocketing. And guess what? After paying the customary fine the cop takes what you stole that time, the loot you got from that amazing heist and every item you ever acquired by thievery, no matter if you have been using it from the beginning of the game! That is a real encouragement for thief characters, isn't it? And every time you run into the law it's the same... lovely. Thankfully if you dump everything you have on the floor right next to you the cops do nothing and leave, but it's still pathetic. Maybe even more so.

Moving on, the rpg mechanics are handled by a sturdy skill system similar to the previous Elder Scrolls games which improves not by the acquisition of generic experience points, but thanks to it's actual use and/or paid training. In other words: jump around a lot and your athletics skill increases, sneak around successfully and so does your sneak skill, bash lots of heads and you get better at handling that particular weapon, etc. I've always liked this type of systems, but whenever done correctly they would become extremely challenging and slow paced... fortunately that's not the case here, as the poor balance means you can max out most skills in no time and the "no classes" approach to gaming means even a thief can be a mage-slaying powerhouse and a giant barbarian can sneak around and steal like a pro thief... so much for specializing.

As for the gameplay and the many quests that populate Morrowind, they are completely filler material, with really uninspired quests that call for you to get this or that item and deliver it to X character and on and on and on. To be fair most of the main plot quests are cool and there are many sideplots worth exploring, but they are lost in a sea of mundane and stupid quests. Quest which would still be worth doing if at least you met interesting characters to interact with. However save for a couple of key characters in the game the rest are soulless drones. It really puzzles me the way Bethesda handled npc interaction... talking to a character opens up a dialogue window from which you pick up the desired topics of conversation as hypertext links... (Hi! I would like to ask you about....monsters,you,this city, etc...) The resulting conversations unfortunately are all generic lines blurted out on and on and on in the same way all over the island. Should you ask a key warrior character why is he a fighter he would suddenly abandon whatever demeanor he had previously and blurt out the same generic, resume-like explanation of what a fighter is and does as every other character in the rest of the island and the same with everything else (but those class descriptions really are the pits, really, whoever wrote that deserves to be shot on sight). It really is mind-boggling how could Bethesda waste so much time populating this gigantic gameworld with drones and think they had done a good job... Congratulations Bethesda: you officially have the game with the worst case ever of "signposts npcs", not even japanese rpgs match up to your title! And you know what? This takes it's toll on the game's freedom of action. After all, what's the point of straddling morally bleak lines if you get the same reaction from everyone either way?

Aside from that there are lackluster character animations (everyone moves as if they had the proverbial stick up their asses), so little monster variations that you'll think you are in a pterodactyl-only sequel of Carnivores and assorted problems with game balance and combat that make it significantly less of what it could have been (just whack away!!).

Also the ending SUCKS ASS. After the countless hours I spent in the game I get a half a second cutscene and that's it??? Damn you Bethesda!!

And where the hell are the horses? One of the coolest things in Daggerfall was having one and casting a levitation spell!! Ride of the Valkyries baby!!

The Bottom Line
An extremely ambitious title that achieved it's giant scope at the expense of some critical design elements that kills it in the minds of many gamers, or just make it less than perfect to others. I think I fall somewhere in the middle, as I think the game is horribly flawed, but also has a lot going for it and it's achievements deserve recognition.

Make your own mind about it, two things are sure about it: It's the biggest most gigantic crpg experience ever (and that's without taking into account the expansions) and it's almost equally annoying in it's problems.

The Good
The 'good' section could go on for quite a while, so I'll try to keep it as summary-ish as possible while still detailing all the marvels of this game.

You start out as a released prisoner who's been shipped off to the island of Vvardenfell, on the far northeastern reaches of the Empire of Tamriel. Why, you don't know (and similarly you have no other knowledge of your past). You at once enter a charming little medieval village filled with great architecture and people milling around randomly. Of course, as soon as you talk to a few NPCs, the less-than-charming undercurrent of events in the town becomes evident: the local tax collector has vanished, and probably killed by the way people talk of him. The guards are corrupt. People at once offer you quests of stealing from other people. And this is before you get to cities with the assassin's and theives guilds! (There seriously is an assassin's guild, and what's more it's totally legal--a writ from the guild being literally a pardon for murder!)

Once you've gone through the preliminary steps of creating your character (which is cool because you can choose from a huge list of diverse characters, or--as I think most people did--just combine whatever skills you want into a character of your own choosing) then you can head out into the next room from the census officer and proceed to rob it of all its silver plates and lockpicks and money, if the urge strikes you. From there on you can do whatever you want. No limitations, no orders from anybody except directions to go to another city and find some guy, which you can put off forever if you like. You can explore around the gigantic island of Vvardenfell, which has impressive landscapes: the coastal areas are green with grass and mushroom shaped trees and lakes, but as you move closer to the volcano in the middle of the island it becomes a maze of paths in between rocky, blacked mountains, with buildings made from the shells of giant insects and bazillions of dungeons and tombs throughout.

There are numerous guilds and feuding factions you can join and do quests for them to gain respect and services. There is a main quest, but you can just ignore it and go explore the island, discovering every little secret plot, historical mystery, or evil shrine that is has to reveal. After a good amount of playing, my character has still only explored the western coast of the island, which leaves lots more to see, and has never run short of things to do. Many secrets await (such as being turned into a vampire, sometimes inadvertently) and little flashes of humour too (sometimes unintentional: one time I sold a huge heavy shoulder pad to a wizard in a robe, and if you sell an expensive item to anyone, they'll put it on. She put this on, and it looked hilariously funny)

Even out in the wilderness are NPCs who offer you quests: I was walking around one time and some lady asked me to direct her to a place where she was making a pilgrimage to. She knew where it was, so I don't know why she needed a guide. But she offered me 150 gold, so I obliged. Along the way, we were swimming through a lake when I noticed that her dead body was floating on the surface of the water, having been killed by a hostile sea creature. it was all the same to me--the gold was on her anyway. Etc.

The game is totally opened and it would take months or maybe years of playing to full explore the island--and there are two expansion packs as well, Bloodmoon generally being considered the better of the two.

Anyway, graphics are awesome, there's a wierd variety of creatures, that, combined with the wierd 'Ashland' terrain almost feels like you're on a desert alien planet. The architecture is extremely varied and carefully done, and every little detail is in place. You can do anything you want, almost, and lead your character down any path you like. Live as a knight, running around freeing slaves and saving lost pilgrims. Or become an outlaw, sneaking around towns and hacking up citizens for their valuables--which works fine as long as you don't get caught. Well, Looking at how much I've written, it's probably almost enough. So on to the Bad.

The Bad
The majority of my gripes with this game are of the 'it could have been even awesomer' variety. As it is, the game is better than most, but I still find myself seeing ways it could have been better done.

A more serious problem first: The quests are often repetetive and boring, consisting of go-get-this-item (or, even worse, gather a batch of alchemical ingredients, for which you have to go rooting through every little plant in the countryside hoping to find it) or go kill such and such a person or monster. I hear the quests are a lot better in the Bloodmoon expansion, which I haven't played.

Secondly, you need an incredibly powerful computer to run the game, due to all the great graphics and huge extent of the place, and most people probably don't have the required system specs. And even with a great computer, you'll encounter frequent sandstorms in the Ashlands which drive your framerate down to horrible levels.

While there are plently of different NPCs to talk to, they seem bland and undetailed, most of them apparently having no in-game reason to exist--they don't reveal any information that other people don't, they don't offer quests, etc. And the time of day doesn't affect them in any way: they still wander around the streets, meaning it's no easier to commit a crime under the darkness than the light. The only difference is that the guards carry around torches at night.

The crime and legal system could have been a lot better. Let's give some examples: I can walk into a guard tower and find a guard standing up there, doing his job. I decide to wait until his back is turned and then grab that incredibly valuable armour sitting on the table behind him. My crime is unseen and I walk out (he doesn't notice. 'Is that an iron longsword in your pants or are you just glad to see me?') but you'd think that he'd have had a good enough look at me that when they notice the stuff is gone they'd come looking for me. Or I can go up there and kill the same guard, and beat him to death instantly, but somehow I get the message box that 'Your crime has been reported' and I have a bounty on my head--making people unwilling to talk to me, among other things. Even though the only witness is stone dead.. Could it be that someone saw me on the way out? No, because I got in trouble the second I hit the guy. Another example: I can kill a villager while nobody is looking, then sit next to the body poking at it with my sword and playing paper doll with it, putting different clothing and armour onto it, and a guard walks right past, not having any second thoughts. And nobody ever mentions that the person died, either. And finally, I can find someone wandering in the back alleys and hit them. Then they run away and out into an open area full of people and guards, and I then catch up and kill them. But the guards didn't see the beginning of the fight and don't pay any attention to it.

Enemies don't go through doors. Every location, even a cave, has a door, and if you're being overpowered, you can just walk out the door and sleep for a couple hours to regain your strength, while presumably the enemies are beating on the inside of the flimsy wooden door, unable to open it.

And your actions, ultimately do not affect the game world. You can do whatever you want, become head of any guild, or the leader of a ruling house, but you can't affect their political relations with the other houses, or send people on the same missions you fought through to get to your position. But forget about all this. The game is still awesome.

The Bottom Line
This game is incredible. Get it now. First get all the necessary computer upgrades to run it, but still get it. And tell all your friends!

The Good
Daggerfall, the predecessor of Morrowind in the Elder Scrolls series, was a very ambitious game that captured the hearts and the minds of many hardcore role-players, at the same time "scaring away" those who were overwhelmed by the size of its world and its openness. Some people felt it was too big, with too much random design, both for locations and inhabitants.

Morrowind corrects that right away by offering us what is undeniably its most valuable asset - its world. The world is the star of the game, a goal in itself; and it is quite amazing. Without doubt, it is one of the most mesmerizingly beautiful and attractive worlds ever to grace a video game.

Of course, the technical quantum leap contributed to the quality of the game's environment. The vision of Daggerfall was still slightly ahead of its graphical capacities; in Morrowind, technology caught up with imagination. No more desolate, poor sprites decorating the landscape; no more pixelation and drab textures. Morrowind is significant as one of the visually most advanced role-playing games in history; not ever since the first Ultima Underworld have we seen an RPG that challenges first-person shooters in graphical prowess. Yes, the characters could have used some more work, but both in- and outdoor areas are beyond reproach, and the water is absolutely gorgeous. I honestly can't recall another game from that time and even a few years later with such beautifully rendered water.

This world, however, becomes much more memorable thanks to its artistic side, its strong personality and sense of style. The province of Morrowind is exotic: giant mushrooms cover the lairs of strange creatures; majestic urban architecture co-exists with the native dwellings of the dark elves; twisted mountain paths, dark caves, rivers glistening under the busy sky - the world of Morrowind is a marvel, and it is worth to play this game just for its exploration.

And this exploration, like in the previous Elder Scrolls games, is absolutely unrestricted. You can go wherever you want right from the beginning. The gigantic world (yes, much smaller than in Daggerfall, but still much bigger than in most other games) is open to you, and you are free to get to know it in any order, from any side you want. It has more charisma and mysterious charm than its predecessor, and a much more logical and coherent structure. I also liked the fact that you had to physically travel to towns rather than being magically transported to them through the world map. The freedom of movement is exhilarating; it's hard to play other games after Morrowind because they feel so limited in this aspect.

The world is also meticulously detailed, with people and objects everywhere; you can talk about thousands of things and get thousands of items. There is a huge amount of quests, several large factions to join, and so many different locations that you can easily complete the game while having seen only a small fraction of what it has to offer. This kind of generosity makes role-playing particularly rewarding: you are given the freedom to be what you want to be, unbound by moral constraints (except your own) and restricted accessibility to places and quests.

I think the series' trademark system of "practicing" skills is excellent. I love this steady, focused approach to leveling up, and I love the fact that with enough patience you can get overpowered. The whole point of role-playing is to start low and then reach tremendous heights. Morrowind brilliantly conveys this feeling. You start as a nobody, with a lousy weapon and no armor, easily killed by medium-sized creatures in the wilderness. But slowly, through exploration, questing, item-gathering, and not the least practicing, you can become a mighty, feared warrior who can take on Daedric lords and other assorted creatures of darkness. This process is extremely addictive, since there is hardly any limit to what you can discover and do in this game.

The main story may be less intriguing than in Daggerfall, but it nevertheless offers some interesting missions, and is generally enveloped in an aura of mystery that fits the gameplay very well. There is little urgency in the main quest, and it differs in its format from the usual "save the world" template. This goes well with the whole idea of "making your own story", building a biography for the protagonist by yourself rather than doing exactly what the designers told you to do.

The Bad
There is less randomness in Morrowind than in Daggerfall, but repetition and artificial widening of content is still evident. Yes, the world is populated by hundreds of NPCs with whom you can discuss various topics; but after a while, you begin to notice that these characters tell you the same stuff over and over again. There are no truly memorable characters in this world; 99% of the NPCs are signposts, drones devoid of personality and useful only for obtaining quest and basic info. You can try to conduct the conversation in such a way that you avoid the incessant "job description" dialogue ("I'm a thief. Thieves steal things and then sell them for profit. We also have a Guild, with branches located in the following cities... etc."), but then you may miss out some important info and will be left with pitiful one-sentence introductions that say nothing about what kind of person the character in question is. I still can't understand why the same writers who created all those wonderful books that can be found in the game world couldn't bother to write decent conversations.

The quests improve only slightly over the "I need you to kill a person. I will pay you 1437 gold pieces" of Daggerfall. With a few exceptions, the quests involve simplistic and repetitive tasks that offer no moral decisions, hence diminishing the game's value as an RPG. There is a lot of indifference in the people of Morrowind, and I couldn't help thinking sometimes that, in the long run, it didn't really matter what I did or did not in the game. The static, dry inhabitants of Morrowind form an unpleasant contrast with its beautiful art; it is as if someone put a curse on these people, making them apathetic and nearly lethargic, with intimidatingly robotic reactions to any crime the protagonist commits, and completely oblivious of anything else around them.

All this creates a feeling of emptiness, a certain coldness and loneliness that gradually creeps out and eventually takes over. Morrowind is a fascinating trip, but one that resembles an archaeological expedition more than a visit to a functioning, normal country. One may argue that this isolation is deliberate, intending to emphasize the complete freedom by eschewing any attachments to the characters; but that is a far-fetched theory. I'm sure that it was possible to populate the game's world by interesting people without harming its image as a "create your own story" experience.

The Bottom Line
Morrowind was the game that propelled its creators to stardom, and I think its success was fully deserved. We can complain all we want about its weak side quests and lack of interesting characters, but its majestic scope, its sensual beauty, and the exhilarating freedom of its gameplay are unparalleled. Forget about story, forget about goals: let yourself melt in the gigantic, strange world, and perhaps you will see how you slowly find yourself unable to leave it.