An Open World RPG Not For Everyone
It has been often seen with series like Final Fantasy, which have small beginnings and are followed by only a limited group of gamers, until the crucial breakthrough game comes and raises the popularity of the series high above the bar. This breakthrough successfully balances the traditional features of the series at the same time introducing newer more revolutionary ones. Elder Scrolls has been around since 1994 with games like Arena and Daggerfall and did have it's fair share of criticism and a little fanfare. Yet, in the mainstream gaming circle, little was known about it. All until Morrowind came out. It was this highly anticipated game of 2002, that created waves amongst the gamers, and instantly skyrocketed it's struggling developer's finances. Morrowind maintains the Elder Scrolls tradition of free roaming world, where you can do quite simply anything you want. However, this free roaming world of Vvardenfell gets a much better structure with a rigid quest system which efficiently managed the tons of quests that Morrowind has to offer.
At it's basic Morrowind carries some of the proudest traditions of Computer-RPG. Right from it's Ultima esque Class Selection system where your character's class is determined on the basis of how you answer a set of moral questions, to the typical D&D type gameplay, older fans of RPG will find something nostalgic. To start off with things, the game right off the hook places you into the shoes of an unknown prisoner who is being deported to Vvanderfell, a district of Morrowind, for reasons initially unknown to you. You select your Race and then your Class. All this will influence the NPC's behaviour towards you throughout the game. Each Race has it's own benefits and disadvantages. An Imperial has a good Speechcraft skill and can persuade an NPC much more than others. A Nord is a more of a barbarian with specialities in Axe and Long Blade. Since Morrowind is largely populated by the Dark Elves or the Dunmer, who despise outlanders, you might find yourself on their wrong side more often than not.
The main quest of Morrowind on it's own shouldn't take more than 10 to 15 hours, but it isn't supposed to be completed at one stretch. And it is hard to do so, if you consider the hundreds of sidequests, that are there in the game. In fact, it would be safe to say that sidequests will form an integral part of the gameplay of Morrowind than the main quests.
The main source of these sidequests will be the Guilds or Factions. These organizations can be political like the Great Houses of Hlaalu,Redoran and Telvanni or could be interest groups like Fighter's Guild, Thieves Guild, Mages Guild, Morag Tong and so on.
The NPC's of these guilds give you missions often termed as "duties" or "jobs". As you complete the guild quests and meet the requirements, you can advance to higher ranks in the guild. As you reach near the top, you will have to decide where your loyalty lies. Obviously, amongst the guilds there are lots of politics going for leadership and the decision you make might influence a certain event. These are few signs of a very good RPG.
The main quest is mainly about the fulfillment of an age-old prophecy of a reincarnated hero, who shall come to Morrowind to cast down the false gods of Tribunal and end the evil of Dagoth Ur that threatens the entire Morrowind. All of the main quest is backed with some real nice history and some good subplots which are well-told through the various books you will find in the course of the game. The conflict between the nomadic Ashlanders and the aristocratic Tribunal Temple makes a good "social" tale on it's own. Right from the start, the game succeeds in creating a tense atmosphere filled with rich social history of war and betrayal. The problem is that amongst all the sidequests, the main quest at times gets undermined. This is largely due to the pacing problem of the game. It never urges you to get on with the main quest, and it can be completely ignored if you want to.
Morrowind's graphics are powerfully driven and at it's time were as wonderfully breathtaking as we find BioShock today. Sure, you might notice buildings and other textures slowly popping out from the distance, but it isn't as much of a problem like in some of the other games. However, since it is a Computer RPG, Morrowind does have it's fair share of bugs and glitches. This can be slightly detrimental to downright annoying at times. The variable collision detection creates problem as sometimes you or a vital NPC can get stuck "in a rock" or "beneath the walls". There are slight frame rate issues especially when there are loads of enemies and lots of magic is going around. Another problem is that on Windows XP, you might be seldom brought onto the desktop with an error message, which can get real annoying especially in latter stages of the game.
After all the adventure and depth of the world in Morrowind, it is the combat which really lets the game down. A shallow RPG experience which is reduced to an even more embarrassing depths of hack and slash. Some of the finer aspects of combat especially magic seems to be done half-heartedly and in the end, it becomes more of a burden using magic than ease. The inventory is not well fleshed out, and often breaks the pace of the game. To be simple, melee is the only strength of Morrowind's combat. Other things like ranged weaponry and magic feel labored and are easily one of the most tiring aspects of the game. If you have a sword, attack can be of three types, depending upon your movement. However, if you're using a ranged weapon, your arrow will only hit with a certain damage, and enemy AI will easily figure how to avoid your arrows sooner or later. Magic is more of a trial and error method especially if you're low at skill. Crime has been an important feature of Elder Scrolls game before and Morrowind makes it more realistic. If you attack a person without any provocation, it is a serious crime. But, if you're attacked and kill a person as a self-defense, it is not a crime. Stealing is very much a crime, except if nobody notices you. Yet, there is a very frequent chance that you might steal a small candlestick in an empty room, and yet have your crime reported.
The leveling aspect is much better refined than the aforementioned combat. Leveling Up takes place when you increase the Major Skills of your characters by ten. These Major Skills depend upon your character's class and are raised by practicing them. So, if you are weak in Axe, a little practice can make you much better with it. For leveling up, you need to finally rest and meditate when you have increased your Major skills by ten. After that, you can increase your stats every time you level up. This is a good change of leveling than the old-fashioned leveling up system used in RPG's.
Perhaps more worse than the combat is it's music. For a game such grand, the music matches with it, but the epic soundtrack can instantly become a nuisance later. The soundtrack hardly is of ten minutes length and loops repeatedly. This not only damages the fun of the game, but also it's atmosphere and mood. You could very well hear the same music in a quiet fishing town as well as a cultist dungeon. This shatters the complete wonderful atmosphere of Morrowind right to the very extent that you will prefer switching off the music. The world of Morrowind is finely detailed and you will find everything at it's right place. People in their houses will have food stock rations and they wouldn't want you stealing anything or sleeping on their beds. Yet, despite so much detail and realism, Morrowind lacks life. It leaves nearly everything to your imagination. A kidnapped son needs to be escorted to the port, so that he can return to his father. A month later he will be still standing there.
All these shortcomings come a long way in stopping Morrowind from being the all important revolutionary game for the genre. Mind you, Morrowind has many strengths and they usually overpower the shortcomings, but when the problems do show up, you can't help feeling that Morrowind could have been a lot better. If there was one thing for sure, Morrowind has certainly put the Elder Scrolls on the map, and people will not be ignoring this series any longer. As an RPG, Morrowind does fairly well, but as a game it shines in most of the parts. In the end, Morrowind is not for everybody. It's free-roaming open world might be intimidating to those who fear adventuring and prefer linear play. If you do so, then Morrowind isn't for you. But, for those who enjoy every bit of exploring and adventuring in a world of magic, Morrowind is worth every bit of penny in your pocket.
At it's basic Morrowind carries some of the proudest traditions of Computer-RPG. Right from it's Ultima esque Class Selection system where your character's class is determined on the basis of how you answer a set of moral questions, to the typical D&D type gameplay, older fans of RPG will find something nostalgic. To start off with things, the game right off the hook places you into the shoes of an unknown prisoner who is being deported to Vvanderfell, a district of Morrowind, for reasons initially unknown to you. You select your Race and then your Class. All this will influence the NPC's behaviour towards you throughout the game. Each Race has it's own benefits and disadvantages. An Imperial has a good Speechcraft skill and can persuade an NPC much more than others. A Nord is a more of a barbarian with specialities in Axe and Long Blade. Since Morrowind is largely populated by the Dark Elves or the Dunmer, who despise outlanders, you might find yourself on their wrong side more often than not.
The main quest of Morrowind on it's own shouldn't take more than 10 to 15 hours, but it isn't supposed to be completed at one stretch. And it is hard to do so, if you consider the hundreds of sidequests, that are there in the game. In fact, it would be safe to say that sidequests will form an integral part of the gameplay of Morrowind than the main quests.
The main source of these sidequests will be the Guilds or Factions. These organizations can be political like the Great Houses of Hlaalu,Redoran and Telvanni or could be interest groups like Fighter's Guild, Thieves Guild, Mages Guild, Morag Tong and so on.
The NPC's of these guilds give you missions often termed as "duties" or "jobs". As you complete the guild quests and meet the requirements, you can advance to higher ranks in the guild. As you reach near the top, you will have to decide where your loyalty lies. Obviously, amongst the guilds there are lots of politics going for leadership and the decision you make might influence a certain event. These are few signs of a very good RPG.
The main quest is mainly about the fulfillment of an age-old prophecy of a reincarnated hero, who shall come to Morrowind to cast down the false gods of Tribunal and end the evil of Dagoth Ur that threatens the entire Morrowind. All of the main quest is backed with some real nice history and some good subplots which are well-told through the various books you will find in the course of the game. The conflict between the nomadic Ashlanders and the aristocratic Tribunal Temple makes a good "social" tale on it's own. Right from the start, the game succeeds in creating a tense atmosphere filled with rich social history of war and betrayal. The problem is that amongst all the sidequests, the main quest at times gets undermined. This is largely due to the pacing problem of the game. It never urges you to get on with the main quest, and it can be completely ignored if you want to.
Morrowind's graphics are powerfully driven and at it's time were as wonderfully breathtaking as we find BioShock today. Sure, you might notice buildings and other textures slowly popping out from the distance, but it isn't as much of a problem like in some of the other games. However, since it is a Computer RPG, Morrowind does have it's fair share of bugs and glitches. This can be slightly detrimental to downright annoying at times. The variable collision detection creates problem as sometimes you or a vital NPC can get stuck "in a rock" or "beneath the walls". There are slight frame rate issues especially when there are loads of enemies and lots of magic is going around. Another problem is that on Windows XP, you might be seldom brought onto the desktop with an error message, which can get real annoying especially in latter stages of the game.
After all the adventure and depth of the world in Morrowind, it is the combat which really lets the game down. A shallow RPG experience which is reduced to an even more embarrassing depths of hack and slash. Some of the finer aspects of combat especially magic seems to be done half-heartedly and in the end, it becomes more of a burden using magic than ease. The inventory is not well fleshed out, and often breaks the pace of the game. To be simple, melee is the only strength of Morrowind's combat. Other things like ranged weaponry and magic feel labored and are easily one of the most tiring aspects of the game. If you have a sword, attack can be of three types, depending upon your movement. However, if you're using a ranged weapon, your arrow will only hit with a certain damage, and enemy AI will easily figure how to avoid your arrows sooner or later. Magic is more of a trial and error method especially if you're low at skill. Crime has been an important feature of Elder Scrolls game before and Morrowind makes it more realistic. If you attack a person without any provocation, it is a serious crime. But, if you're attacked and kill a person as a self-defense, it is not a crime. Stealing is very much a crime, except if nobody notices you. Yet, there is a very frequent chance that you might steal a small candlestick in an empty room, and yet have your crime reported.
The leveling aspect is much better refined than the aforementioned combat. Leveling Up takes place when you increase the Major Skills of your characters by ten. These Major Skills depend upon your character's class and are raised by practicing them. So, if you are weak in Axe, a little practice can make you much better with it. For leveling up, you need to finally rest and meditate when you have increased your Major skills by ten. After that, you can increase your stats every time you level up. This is a good change of leveling than the old-fashioned leveling up system used in RPG's.
Perhaps more worse than the combat is it's music. For a game such grand, the music matches with it, but the epic soundtrack can instantly become a nuisance later. The soundtrack hardly is of ten minutes length and loops repeatedly. This not only damages the fun of the game, but also it's atmosphere and mood. You could very well hear the same music in a quiet fishing town as well as a cultist dungeon. This shatters the complete wonderful atmosphere of Morrowind right to the very extent that you will prefer switching off the music. The world of Morrowind is finely detailed and you will find everything at it's right place. People in their houses will have food stock rations and they wouldn't want you stealing anything or sleeping on their beds. Yet, despite so much detail and realism, Morrowind lacks life. It leaves nearly everything to your imagination. A kidnapped son needs to be escorted to the port, so that he can return to his father. A month later he will be still standing there.
All these shortcomings come a long way in stopping Morrowind from being the all important revolutionary game for the genre. Mind you, Morrowind has many strengths and they usually overpower the shortcomings, but when the problems do show up, you can't help feeling that Morrowind could have been a lot better. If there was one thing for sure, Morrowind has certainly put the Elder Scrolls on the map, and people will not be ignoring this series any longer. As an RPG, Morrowind does fairly well, but as a game it shines in most of the parts. In the end, Morrowind is not for everybody. It's free-roaming open world might be intimidating to those who fear adventuring and prefer linear play. If you do so, then Morrowind isn't for you. But, for those who enjoy every bit of exploring and adventuring in a world of magic, Morrowind is worth every bit of penny in your pocket.
