Morrowind, to this day, remains one of the best games ever, thanks to the community.
After four years of being released to the public, Morrowind has gathered hundreds of plug-ins, or mods. The game makes it very easy to use these plug-ins, and even includes the TES: Construction Set to make your own. After four years of being released, Bethesda’ graphics are lackluster, compared to other games on the market today. But, thanks to the overwhelming amount of plug-ins, you can now replace textures, heads, and bodies, to create a whole new experience.
The game is very open-ended and you are free to roam around, and allows you to make many different choices. As you first step off the ship that takes you the island of Vvardenfell, you are confronted with a choice of race: you can become an Argonian, Breton, Nord, Imperial, Khajiit, Dark Elf, Wood Elf, High Elf, or Redguard – each with their own skill bonuses, abilities, and powers. Next, you create your class – you can answer questions to determine your profession, pick your class, or create your own. Each class follows the basic thief/mage/warrior rule, but there are dozens, if not hundreds, of possibilities, thanks to many different skills to advance in.
TESIII: Morrowind takes place on Vvardenfell, a large island off the coast of Morrowind, a land of Tamriel. While you can join over seven factions, the main storyline starts when you join the Blades faction, a sort of secret agency for the Emperor. You advance through the ranks, and eventually become a powerful hero.
Even with the seven-plus factions and the main storyline, you can also do dozens of freelance jobs, or just explore the hundreds of caves, dungeons, and burial tombs. You can collect treasure, or hunt down monsters, or simply explore the huge island. The game has everything: drugs, a strip club, taverns, arenas, and more. You can buy clothes, weapons, armor, or peruse books, or sell off your treasure. You can become a vampire. The possibilities are endless.
The game is not without its faults, however. The combat system has come under some criticism: your ability to hit with a specific weapon is judged by your skill with said weapon. This means, if your axe skill is 20, you will have about a 20% chance of hitting with an axe. Luckily, you can train your skills without actually fighting by paying trainers. Unfortunately, this takes a large amount of gold, but there are numerous strategies to quickly “power level” your beginning character.
Morrowind is so large, I can go on forever about the details. But, to put it bluntly: the game is awesome, and a must-own for any PC gamer.