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Overwhelming, in both pleasant and unpleasant ways

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 101 / 108
Date: November 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've got waaayy too much to say about this game, and not enough space; hence, I'll just do bullet points. But overall - WOW.

* Character creation was an enjoyable game unto itself. With many races, classes, and abilities to choose from, this portion of the game can take hours, if you so desire.

* Load times are obscene! The program itself takes minutes on my AMDAthlon w/256MB of RAM. Individual game loads take about a full minute to 1.5 minutes. Each time you opens a door, yet another load time for the next environment. This is very much a game of hurry-up-and-wait.

* The soundtrack is nice, and includes music, animal sounds, and ambient environmental cues.

* The scenery is lovely and detailed. The colors are pleasant, subdued shades and are easy on the eyes. The sky is *stunning*, especially at night. There are good weather effects, including great thunderstorms.

* The land of Vvardenfell is INSANELY huge - I cannot fully express its hugeness. The overwhelming size of the land is a mixed blessing; it's frustrating to run back and forth over long distances repeatedly, and it can take 15-20 minutes to reach a destination. But the size also allows the game its diversity and complexity. There are so many unmapped, hidden areas that exploring kept my interest for many hours in the first weeks.

* Battling Fatigue will be a thorn in every player's side; they could have done much better here.

* The Journal is very disorganized. There is no "quests-at-a-glance," section, nor are completed quests crossed out. Further, not all important information is logged there.

* Most of the monsters were creatively-wrought, and had great ambient behaviors if watched. This holds true for the humanoid characters as well; scratching, mumbling, eating, and assorted other behaviors add depth to everything.

* When speaking to an NPC, you have to click *on the letters* in textboxes - if you click in the space between two letters, or even in the hole in the middle of an "O," nothing registers.

* A big plus is being able to save at any time during the game, even during combat.

* Merchants in the game have very little money to trade for goods, which makes finding valuable items nearly worthless. It's sometimes possible to work some creative trading, but by and large, the merchants should have about five times more cash.

* Attributes and skills increase as they are used, which is perfect; jumping a lot increases your athletics skills, and so forth. There is also training available, for a price.

* One nice touch is that after some inactivity, the game will automatically zoom out from the character, and slowly rotate around it. The character engages in many of the same ambient behaviors I mentioned previously. There is also a third-person view; you can freely rotate all around the character, zooming in and out, to see how your character looks. It's difficult to fight in this view, however.

* Combat is pretty straight-forward, and doesn't involve a lot of creativity. Hack and slash is easiest, as spells are often hard to cast during battle. However, it's easy to hit the wrong target inadvertently during battles, which can sometimes kill off a person following you, an innocent stander-by, or even a person crucial to the completion of the game. Highly vexing.

* Occassionally, it is possible to ruin your chances of completing a quest (or of obtaining advancement through a given quest) by stumbling onto an area or an item too soon in the game, and then selling it or otherwise losing it. This is highly frustrating.

* There are a whoooole bunch of quests to be had, and it's very easy to lose track of the main quest early on. In fact, I got so side-tracked by the various guild quests that I completely forgot there even *was* a main quest for months. Honestly.

* Spells and magic are a huge part of Vvardenfell, and the number of potential spells to learn is staggering.

* There are some "nuisance animals" in the game. One species in particular, the Cliff Racer, can be expected to swoop down on the character at intervals of 15-45 seconds in most regions of the land. Fighting them is tedious, time-consuming, and reeeeally irritating after about the first hour, but they never go away.

* Nearly every single object in the land can be picked up/taken, including many books (some for increases in skills.) If you pick up someone else's property, though, you will be attacked and possibly killed.

* Occasionally, the game crashes for no reason. Sometimes, it knows exactly why it's crashing, and tells you: "[Something] happened. Sorry about that. The system will now crash. Have a nice day!" ARRRRGH!

* The main quest seems more like a sidebar to the rest of the game. The repetitive aspects of some of the main quest's trials are tiresome, although one can actually complete them in short order with the right strategies. It's great that one can keep playing when it's complete, too.

Despite its numerous flaws, this is an amazing game. My final impression is one of basic satisfaction. The most impressive features of Morrowind are its depth and complexity; there is very little a character cannot do here, and more than 100 hours of gameplay in which to do them. Bethesda Softworks has created something quite extraordinary with this game, and I applaud them for their efforts.

Sometimes frustrating, but still remarkable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 55 / 59
Date: May 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Before writing a review for a game, I usually either finish it (for the good ones) or deem it unplayable (for the bad ones). These people who write reviews before ever having played the game sort of boggle my mind a little.

Anyway, I was all set to buy this game for my Xbox as I knew it was going to be a resource hog, one that my aging PC was unlikely unable to push. To make a long story short, I ended up getting the PC version for three reasons; 1. It came out weeks before the Xbox version (weeks mean years for those of the short attention span), 2. it has a massive campaign editor and construction set, 3. because of 2., there are going to be lots of official and unofficial add-ons and plug ins, one of which I've already downloaded.

Always give bad news first: This game is the resource hog I feared it would be. If your running anything less than the best, prepared to either upgrade or lag. My PC has a 1 ghz processor, 512 megs of RAM, Soundblaster Live Platium, and an old 32 meg Geforce2. I was able to play the game reasonably well at 1024 x 768, but it was nothing to write home about. The performance was poor at best, especially in the out of doors. The graphics look pretty lame at this "low" resolution and those sophisticated textures look like poo-poo at anything less than 1600 x 1200. Fortunately, I found a 64 meg Radeon 7500 video card a couple of days ago REALLY cheap, and decided to go with it. This has helped immensely. I can now go as high as my monitor will allow (1600 x 1200) and the graphics look much better. I still experience some lag outside, but the performance is MUCH better. If you don't have a beast, can't afford to upgrade and own an XBOX, I advise you to get the Xbox version and save yourself a lot of headaches.

More complaints: Morrowind has some very irritating little glitches that cause you to get stuck behind stuff, on the sides of hills, between objects, etc. The movement is pretty clunky to begin with, which is further hindered by your characters attributes. There have been several instances where I've had to revert to a previous save because of this whihc can be absolutely maddening. Save often and be prepared for this one, it's one of my biggest complaints.

Ok, a few more random complaints and then I'll get to the good stuff. The interface as a whole will take some getting used too. I still don't like the inventory menu with the teeny tiny little items that you couldn't possibly tell apart if not for the pop-up windows. Also, be prepared to do a lot of wandering around aimlessly to find certain buildings and items. When a NPC sends you on a quest, he updates your journal with text based instructions (if you think to ask for them) and doesn't update your map for you. The map is so huge, that it can take awhile to get where you're going. Also, I tried walking from one city to another with my first character: big mistake. It took forever and I never did get there. The scale on the game is huge, this is a good thing and a bad thing. Get attacked, start running for your life, and the next thing you know you're lost. There are signs posted here and there, but somtimes you can get way off track before you find a new one. Also, no multiplayer, 'nuff said there.

Ok, now for the good stuff: this game boasts what may be the largest, most detailed simulated world ever created. Just wandering around gives you a sense of awe an immensity unlike any game I've ever played before, including Everquest. The rich textures, huge mountains and detailed terrain must be experienced in the finest detail possible, or quite frankly, you aren't getting your money's worth. While games like Baldur's Gate rely on strong story to create a compelling world worth returning too, Morrowind doesn't really have too. From the moment you step off the boat, you're there. Fortunately, Morrowind's beautiful world is supported by a strong story. Like any RPG worth its salt there are hundreds possibly thousands of quests, mini-quests and hidden details that make the most mundane walk through the swamps worth your while. The style and look of the game is just breathtaking, and honestly like nothing I've ever seen before. It is equal parts weird and amazing. Bottom line: it's an incredible world worth exploring which will be directly affected by your actions (unlike those Everqust type games).

One of the things I liked immediately is the character creation process, which you can do one of several ways. First, you pick a race, some of which are fantasy staples, like elves and orcs, but also includes a race of cat people and lizard men that look really cool. Once you've chosen your race, you can choose class by either answering a few simple questions that will determine your class by gaging your (or your characters) personality and preferences; you can choose a class from the list (there are lots of classes); or you can create your own custom class. These options really provide a lot of diversity. I test drove a couple of characters from various methods before settling on the one I use now.

It takes a while for the game to get going, but once you build up some momentum, it is incredibly fun. Save often in the beginning as even the peons will be taking you out, or so it will seem. Finding a character that fits your playing style is almost as fun and challenging as the game itself. There is so much variety between races and characters it is unbelievable. I'm so glad I bought the new video card and didn't give up on this game after the first couple of days. If you've got a system that exceeds the recommended requirements and are patient, you will be rewarded. With all its flaws (hopefully a patch will remedy most of them) this game is worth your while. It is a true achievement.

The mother of all role-playing games!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 33 / 33
Date: May 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (MW) is without a doubt one of the most ambitious role-playing games to date. MW begins with your character arriving as a prisoner on a strange new island. As the opening sequence progresses, your character is slowly asked questions that determine his or her attributes, skills and appearance. The local captain gives you amnesty in return for a favor and the game begins.

The entire island is yours to explore: cities, dungeons, mountains, isles or any people that exist on this island known as Vvardenfell. With the exception of online games that require monthly fees such as Everquest and Ultima Online, no PC game has a larger world to explore.

The game is open-ended and your character can live as a hero that rescues those in need or you can become a dastardly criminal with a large bounty on your head. The island of Vvardenfell is home to a race of dark elves and as your character explores the island, he or she will learn about the various political powers that control the island. Your character can join a number of factions such as the mage guilds, thief guilds, a local aristocracy, a secret assassins guild, and even a clan of vampires. There are thousands of spells, weapons, armor, clothes, potions and anything else you can think of.

That being said, I have a warning about MW. If you have a low-end system (Pentium II, 32MB video card, 128MB RAM or less), do not purchase MW. It says on the box that the game supports some of the specs I just listed but it's not true. Lots of RAM and a great video card are probably the most important things to have in your computer if you expect to play a smooth game. Another warning is if you're not familiar with computers, you're purchasing the wrong game because MW needs every aspect of your computer (drivers, directx, performance tweaks) to be in sync to work properly.

ACTION FANS - 2 STARS - While MW plays like a first-person shooter with its viewpoint and weapons system, it is the furthest thing from a fast-paced FPS. If you are a dedicated action gamer, I would hesitate before purchasing MW because the game moves at a slow pace and requires plenty of downloading when traveling. If you have enjoyed role-playing games before, you will probably like MW but I would recommend that others wait for a possible demo.

STRATEGY FANS - 3 STARS - The only strategy required in MW is that you remember everything you've been told which can be quite a lot. There are a few quests that require puzzle solving but for the most part, MW is a hack and slash game in the middle of a grand story. If you've enjoyed role-playing games before, MW will probably satisfy you.

ADVENTURE/RPG FANS - 5 STARS - The PC gaming market doesn't see many quality RPGs. Since the fan favorite Baldur's Gate II was released, there have been a few quality RPGs but not until MW has an RPG been released that has garnered such universal appeal. MW goes the extra mile and expands on everything you've ever encountered in a role-playing game be it an incredibly large island to explore or even hundreds of books about local lore. Not wishing to reveal too much, if you've ever read The Wheel of Time book series, you already have an idea what the story in MW is like.

BUGS - 2 STARS - This is the one bad thing about MW and a huge problem. No matter how hi-tech your computer is, MW is full of bugs. Many games these days are released before they are ready and MW appears to fall in that category. If you are a gamer that is easily frustrated with crashes, I would wait a few months before buying MW. Not only has my game crashed to the desktop several times but I have encountered numerous freezes. There are plenty of glitches such as broken quests and environments that you character can get physically stuck in. While a game this advanced needs a quality system to run smoothly, there is probably a memory leak as it shouldn't have this many problems on high-end systems. Maybe after several patches, the game will run better but be prepared for frustration.

REPLAY VALUE - 4 STARS - MW was shipped with a comprehensive construction set that allows you to edit almost any aspect of the game. You can change races, building locations, create new islands and quests - almost anything! You'll need an expensive software program called 3D Studio Max if you intend to make new models but you can use any art program on the available meshes and you can move or recreate anything in the game into a file called a plug-in. Before you start the game, you can select which plug-ins you would like to use. Because of this great feature, you'll never alter the game's essential files and the only problems you will encounter are if you try to take out plug-ins that your character was using in the latest save game file. Already there are tons of plug-ins available for download on the internet. The tutorial included in the construction set is terrible and I would recommend searching MW fan websites as many generous gamers have written easy-to-follow tutorials for all features of the construction set. One negative aspect about the replay value in MW is through all the plug-ins, the game still depends on a quest system. To advance in power and rank affiliations, your character needs to complete quests for the group he or she belongs to. If at any time you as a gamer become bored with this quest system, you'll quickly become bored with the game. In all fairness, I've played RPGs with better stories than MW but it still can hold its own to most of the great RPGs to hit the PC.

A great role-playing game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 35 / 37
Date: June 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game for those that are wondering: I've seen all these great fantasy games, like Everquest, Ultimata Online,and other things, but what should I get? I try one and it is disappointing! I was one of those people until I saw Morrowind. I categorized The Elder Scrolls 3 into 4 things.

1) Graphics. I really haven't seen better graphics on a computer game in all my life. If you have a good graphics card, the weather, thunderstorms, swamps, and water will simply blow you away. The sky looks like real life! Clouds move, also. Your character squints when looking at the sun. There is shading and polygon figures. I repeat, I've never seen such graphics in my life.

2) Realism. This is one of the most enjoyful parts of the game. There is a good storyline, no extremely powerful artifacts, spells, armor, or weapons. There is an insane amount of items you can find. People walk away from you when you're naked. People treat like kings when you wear majestic clothes. Weapons wear out after long use. Gaurds carry torches at night, some bad NPC's sneak around, and people are more suspicious. Clean out realistic.

3) Combat. There are tons and tons of creatures that roam the world of Vvardenfell. You can attack in three different swings, chop, slash, or thrust. Daggers are good at thrust, swords at slash, and axes at chop. There are dozens of weapon styles, and you can learn them all. Magic is also an interesting concept. There are hundreds of spells. In addition, you can create your own spells by mixing them. You can enchant items to make them, strong, you can use critical hits when sneaking, and another array of devasting ways to destroy monsters. This is an exciting combat game.

4) Freedom. There are no guidlines to this game. There is a storyline, but you do not have to follow it. You can be a roaming hero, a sneaky thief, a great spellcaster, or all three! Following the storyline is very fun, but you don't have to. I find this game most fun when I just roam the hillside, looking around for adventure. There are thousands of off-road adventures, caves, dungeons, and seperate storlyines that you don't have to get involved in, but would enjoy trying.

I strongly advise that you get this game if you are looking for a real quality role-playing game. Do not have doubts in Elder Scrolls. It will simply blow you away.

So much potential, but falls short

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 32 / 33
Date: June 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Morrowind has so much potential and could have been a wonderful game. It still has some enjoyable moments, but overall has many problems.

The Morrowind graphics are very well-done, but in spite of that, I found myself disappointed in the game's look. There simply isn't enough variety, and the world as a whole is dreary and uninteresting to look at. There are no snow-capped mountain peaks, no hidden grottoes, no gushing waterfalls, no dark, mysterious forests, no beautiful lush valleys, no big, colorful, bustling marketplaces, no white, sandy beaches with gracefully bending palm trees. Instead there are a whole lot of dark, ash-colored hills, a lot of caves (which all look the same), and a number of houses, shops, and temples, which come in three different styles and have almost no variation except for those three styles. Everything seems to be drenched in shades of brown and grey. It's almost depressing. I never once stopped and said to myself "Wow! Just look at that amazing sunset, or that amazing scenery, or that amazing set of royal purple armor."

I purchased the game because I was impressed by the reviews which said "you can do whatever you want" and "a true rpg". What I found, however, was quite different. I decided to join a "Great House", one of the guilds your character can pick from, and which provides you with quests along the way. I discovered that the Great House I'd chosen didn't get along with one of the others, so I set out to bring down "the enemy House". Pretending the join the enemy House so that I could spy on them and bring that information back to my own House was not even an option. There is no way to do so. In other words, unless you are given a quest (orders) by a higher-ranking member of your guild, what you do or attempt to do makes absolutely no difference in the world of Morrowind. No one even notices. The NPCs give you the same tired responses they gave you last week, and the world carries on much as before. Want to work your up to the top of a guild so that you can force the former guildboss (who was rude to you and oh-so-evil) to do menial tasks like scrub toilets for a week straight? Nope. Can't do that either. Once you become guildboss yourself, your guild apparently never receives another job or request for help ever again. You have no way to use the power that you worked so hard to gain. You can work your way up to the top of any guild and, again, no one really notices and your position has no effect on the world.

I'd decided to roleplay one of those strong, honorable, save-the world-type warriors. What I was hoping to do was protect the weak, save children from the clutches of frightening beasts, etc. Instead, I found that roleplaying in Morrowind is extrememly limited. I expected to be able to go out into the world and fight off hordes of slavering beasts with my gleaming axe of death, pick up a missing child, and take her back to a tearfully grateful mum (or something similar). I was never given the opportunity. There are almost NO instances anywhere in the game for a warrior-type character to truly shine. There are no hordes of beasts anywhere at all. Almost all of NPCs who need rescuing are simple folk who got stuck on the road between two towns and need an escort. This is often frustrating, because when an NPC is required to follow you, he or she often gets stuck or starts running around in circles for no apparent reason.

There is a lack of varied and interesting creatures in Morrowind. All of them seem to be pretty much the same, just with slightly different levels and powers. None of them have any personality, or anything that makes them seem fun. When I finally neared the end of the main quest and entered the Red Mountain area, I was expecting a lot of frightening, difficult creatures. Instead I ran into the exact same creatures that I'd been encountering since I first started the game. What the heck? I wanted to see something that left my heart pounding with fear, not the same old thing. Sigh. When I reached the final confrontation with the evil-powers-that-be, I was disappointed to find that I was given no option to join him on the path to the dark side. Odd, since the NPCs kept warning me about him and saying he'd try to deceive me, and that perhaps I could pretend to join him and scope out his weaknesses. Nope. In our final battle, the horrible AI caused him to promptly fall in...what else?...a big pit of lava. I was disgusted. I reloaded. And he fell in the lava again! Another sigh.

I won't even go into the problems with game crashes, being booted to the desktop, and so on. Those problems have been mentioned by other reviewers, and I've found them to be accurate. If you buy the game, save often.

A Perfect Expansion for a Perfect Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 28 / 28
Date: November 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I haven't gotten too far in Morrowind's expansion pack, Tribunal, yet - I don't even think I have played a whole hour yet - but already I have played matchmaker for 2 lonely souls, partaken in a play, and purchased a pack rat - literally, a rat who will carry 100 pounds of my loot. This expansion pack has exceeded all of my expectations, and I've barely played it! If you are a fan of Morrowind, this expansion pack is a MUST-have. It still has the same old bugs (be careful while jumping, because you may fall through the ground....again) but the journal (its unorganization made most people crazy) is a little easier to handle, with an added "quest" list to make tracking your progress a little easier. New weapons, new armor, new people, new places to explore - the expansion has it all. You will not be disappointed.

Good Concept, Bad Execution

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 38 / 46
Date: June 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game starts out making a good first impression, then rapidly begins to pale. It has 3 strong points.
1)Excellent character creation system. 100% flexible and personalizeable. You can make a character that can do ANYTHING. With variables like 8 races, 30+ skills, and 12 birth signs (really effect game), you can tailor your character to your preferences.
2)Impressively varied graphics. They will blow you away.
3)HUGE game world. Hundreds of NPC's, over two hundred quests available, maybe fifty dungeons.
These draw you into the game very quickly, making it fun to play... for a while. However, you quickly become aware of it's flaws.
1)It's Buggy and requires a high end system. The PC version is pretty buggy, causing crashes with some regularity. It's been out for a month and no patch has addressed this. I have a system thats a little old (900 mhz, 320 megs ram, 32 meg video card) and I had to drop the video settings to the second lowest level to get a manageable framerate.
2)The world is fraught with cheats. There are no less than a half dozen easy ways to increase your character's power, fully within the games rules. Two of the easiest: to increase defensive skills, find a mudcrab (very weak), and let it attack you for a while. Skills increase when they are used. After doing this four or five times, your AC and shield skill will have increased quite a bit. #2, use the mages guild teleporters to jump you to a few different cities. Shop around a little. You will quickly find powerful, cheaply priced magic items. There are also two skills that will give you limitless gold (which you can use to improve your character). And many other ways you can increase your character.
3)This is what really turned me off to the game. There are many quests you can pursue. Here's the problem. Almost all of them involve you trying to find something/one and kill/get it. As I mentioned, the gameworld is huge, and the directions are usually something like "NE of town Y" or "In the worker's quarter". After spending hours on one quest trying to find my target and then hours on another quest, I grew tired of easter egg hunting.
If your tolerance for hunting is higher than mine, you may enjoy this game.
I got bored with trying to find my objectives very quickly.

Ahhhh. So much to do, so little time.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 25 / 26
Date: January 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have to say this is one of the best video games I've played. I've played a few RPGs such as Baldur's Gate, but Morrowind has more of an openended, do-what-you-want D&D feel than all of them. The graphics are beautifully rendered, character creation is fun and versatile, and replayability is HUGE. I intend to replay this game with different characters, various downloaded plugins, and with some of my own plugins (once I take the notion to start fiddling with the construction set that comes with the game). This game is certainly not for those who like structure and firm story-lines. There are simply too many things to do and see, and the game really entices you to get sidetracked, which, to me, is one of its strengths.

In a nutshell, sound effects and music are good, visuals are state of the art (especially outside), gameplay is engaging (though on occasion some quests become monotonous and one does have to get use to being rather alone in a world of uninspiring NPCs), and the possibilities of the game, thanks to the construction editor, are virtually limitless.

One warning: As many have said here, system requirements (that is, what you need to run the game smoothly) are quite high. This is a game made for tomorrow's computer. Also, many players will experience at least some technical issues with the game (such as crashes and freezes), especially regarding memory management and its over-sensitivity to certain hardware configurations and settings. If you know someone who has the game, it would be a good idea to borrow it and test it on your computer before buying it. Otherwise, this is a fantastic game that sets a new standard for the role-playing genre.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Bethesda's Single Player MMORPG

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 29 / 32
Date: May 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I haven't played previous incarnations of the Elder Scrolls games, so I can't say I was especially hyped up to play this one, but I thought I would give it a try based on positive reviews and favorable word-of-mouth.

Morrowind plays essentially like a single player version of MMORPGs like Everquest or Dark Ages of Camelot. You spend most of your time killing critters, which gives you skills that increase your levels. NPCs send you on quests to get certain items or kill certain people. You are able to advance in a variety of factions, from particular houses of nobility or a number of guilds, going from a lowly peon to a powerful faction leader. The sense of advancement in Morrowind is palpable, and it's exciting to watch your standing and statistics increase, at least for a little while. There is a main plotline that periodically guides your actions, but it seems like an afterthought throughout much of the game. Morrowind exists not so much for the sake of a plotline, but so that the player can explore everything from dismal swamps to vampire-filled crypts to craggy seashores on the edge of nowhere.

However, I only gave this game three stars because I feel its flaws almost outweigh its virtues. NPCs are much the same as they are in MMORPGs: interchangable and pretty much devoid of any personality; the majority of them say the exact same thing when you ask them about a given subject. Unlike the fantasy-themed RPGs by Black Isle, I doubt that you'll find a single memorable character in the entire game, which partly spoils Bethesda's claims of creating an immersive world. (The sparse NPC voice acting in the game is uniformly awful, although I liked the music more than most reviewers in the gaming rags did.) The game is in first person, but combat is pretty much handled a la Diablo: keep clicking your mouse until the thing you're attacking dies. Also, despite the fact that you can reach exalted levels of power--and, indeed, the game is sufficiently unbalanced in your favor that it becomes pretty disappointingly easy once you're a few hours in--you still spend most of your time doing 'fetch quests' and 'kill quests' while waiting for the plot to unravel. No matter how powerful you supposedly become, you're still just some idiot running around the landscape killing diseased lizards. That the game's code is sufficiently slack to cause numerous crash bugs without significant system tweaking and requires a state-of-the-art system to run anywhere near like it's supposed to doesn't help, either.

Morrowind is certainly nice to look at and many people will surely consider its open-ended gameplay to be a godsend. Personally, I feel that Bethesda created an attractive world and interesting advancement systems, but forgot to make a compelling game to go along with them. It's like an MMORPG without most of the main attractions of an MMORPG, which made it an essentially unfulfilling gaming experience for me.

Morrowind is quite simply breathtaking...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 25
Date: June 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

It surprises me that I'm seeing all these bad reviews. I don't understand how you cannot be impressed by this game. Anyhow, just a reminder... Morrowind has some fairly steep system requirments. If you have a low-end PC, then theres no way your gonna get any enjoyment out of this game.

Graphics 10/10: I've played it on two systems... one with a Geforce 2 Ultra, another with a Geforce 3. And I've seen plenty of shots of this game on a Geforce 4. Believe me when I say that this game is beautiful. Everything is so detailed... the side of a brick house, the ground, everything. But my god, just look at the water. No game has ever showed such realisitc water effects like Morrowind has. The character models are also very nice.

Gameplay 7/10: A lot of people have been complaining about Morrowind's combat system... and I definently can see why, however, it's still enjoyable enough for me. You can fight with a variety of weopons, ranging from swords to daggers to bow an arrows, etc. It can be a bit dull, however, as far as I'm concerned... it's good enough for me.
Then, theres the other aspects of the gameplay such as traveling, joining guilds, talking to people, doing quests, buying items, and trying to become better at different things . Morrowind is a game where you choose what you want to become by doing what you want to do. For example, if you wanna steal items from a store without being noticed, then you need to become better at sneaking around and being quiet. If you wanna be better in combat, then you must get stronger, more agile and faster. You get the point. It's a great system that offers freedom to the player. Then theres the guilds. This, I admit, is a bit flawed. The idea is cool, but basically it just consists of doing quests for your guild and gaining money in the process. But hey, it's a easy way to gain quests.
What really amazes me about Morrowind is how I can travel and just be amazed by the beautful landscapes and long, neverending land. I know you heard this before but you should here it one more time... Morrowind is HUGE. VERY huge. If you ever wanted to live in another world, then this is probably the closest your gonna get for a while. It's THAT amazing.

Sound 9/10: Fine and dandy. The voice-acting is pretty good and definently isn't anything to complain about. The sound effects from weopons, running, everything... it's all there and it's good.

Music 9/10: I simply love the music in this game. It's very well done, however, the only problem is that there isn't enough songs. Considering that this game has hundreds of hours worth of gameplay, I would of hoped for a little more songs. But still, the quality is great, so can't really complain there.

Control 8/10: The controls are completely configurable. As far moving around and fighting. It CAN be a *little* sluggish. If only the battle system was improved upon.

Story 3/10: You see, there really is no story... and that's where Morrowind fails. Because while the world is insanely huge, theres just no story to keep some people interested. Basically your a guy that gets dropped off at a town and you control his life from there. That's why a lot of people find Morrowind to be "bad". However, for me, I could really care less. The sheer freedom I have in this game is amazing, and it is still keeping me totally hooked.

Replayability 10/10: You want replability? How about hundreds and hundreds of hours of gameplay. Yeah, if you can like Morrowind like a lot of people do (including me), you'll get totally hooked and keep coming back for more every chance you get.

Overall 10/10: I love this game, period. No matter what you say about it, theres no denying how impressive it is. Morrowind is definently not for everyone... and I really mean that. But theres just so much to like here. So if you think you'll be able to enjoy Morrowind, then PLEASE, buy it! Don't wait, buy it now.

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