Morrowind is a ginormous, open ended, immersive role-playing game experience like no other.
User Rating: 8.6 | The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition XBOX
A couple of Christmas holidays ago I got my Xbox. The first and only game I had for it at the time was Halo and the NCAA Football/Top Spin game that was bundled with the console. Halo was a fantastic game indeed, but I was ready for a new Xbox game after completing it the first few times through. At the time I really wasn't someone who kept an eye on gaming news, previews, and reviews like I am now. I saw Morrowind for $20 at my nearest blockbuster and asked my mom to buy it for me. It was an impulse buy for sure. Especially when you consider the fact that I'm not a huge RPG fan. When I got home and started to play I was overwhelmed by the sense of freedom in the game. You can literally do what you want when you want. Every decision you make in this game effects you in one way or another. You play as a criminal who has been shipped to the ginormous land of Morrowind to start a new life. You're first asked to give some information about yourself to some people in order to start your journey. You get to choose from more than a half dozen different races. Each race has their own strengths and weaknesses. For example I chose the Nordic race. A race that is fantastic in combat and long blade skill, and is resistant to most magic. However, the Nordic race is awful when it comes to magicka, swimming, short blade skills, and intelligents. You're also asked to tell what sign your character was born under. This also affects your character's attributes. Since Nords are already great fighters I decided to make my Nord even more so by making him born under the sign of the Warrior which stretches his fighting skill, endurance, and strength even further. There are all sorts of unique signs to choose one. One of the most interesting signs to me was the Tower. Anyone born under the tower will have the ability to open some locked doors, and be good sneakers, which is good for pick pocketing or stealing. Like I said earlier, the world of Morrowind is absolutely huge. By far the biggest world in any game I have ever played in. There are dozens and dozens of different cities and regions to explore. You could just wander around and explore on your own, and not work for anybody while you discover the many secret dungeons, temples, and tombs of Morrowind. To make the game feel more rewarding however, you may want to join a guild of some sort in one of the game's many cities. The game's main city in my mind is Balmora. Of course, saying that Balmora is the main city was entirely up to me since the game really has no "main city". It was the city that I got my character involved in the fighter's guild and thieve's guild. It is the city that I visit regularly to buy or sell goods. There are plenty of guilds or clubs to join in Morrowind. If your character is fit for fighting you may want to join the fighter's guild. In the fighter's guild your tasks are mainly based on fighting. You'll have to kill quite often to earn your pay. In the Mage's Guild you earn your keep by completing tasks asked by the leader by the use of magic. In the Thieve's Guild you steal for a living. And the more you steal, the more you fight, and the more you use magicka, the better you become in each one. Almost everything you do has an award or consequence. For example the simple acts of walking, running, or jumping all wear down your fatigue meter which affects how well you fight. However, the more running, walking, and jumping you do, your athletics skill will increse. I remember the first few times I tried to play Morrowind I just got caught up in the fun of stealing from people and killing them. You can really ruin yourself by doing things such as these if you ever planned on working for a guild and rising in the ranks. If you choose to go on a killing spree everyone in every town across Morrowind will be aware. You'll be chased down by guards everywhere. Getting work will be next to impossible, and many people will refuse to aid you in any way or even speak to you. You become a lonely notorious outlaw. When people say that this is the Grand Theft Auto of RPGs...they have a good point. There are plenty and I mean plenty of items in Morrowind. You can pick up, carry, buy, or sell just about anything visible. For example if you walk into someone's house, you can pick up even the smallest items such as the spoon on their table if you like. You'd do this at your own risk because people will not hesitate to kill you for stealing their goods. Each item has its own value. Some items can be mixed with others (potions and medicines) to make even better ones, and some items really have no purpose. It really makes for a more realistic feel in the world of Morrowind. You are also able to customize the clothes on your character. You can kill and steal the clothes off someone's back, or go to the nearest clothier in town and buy some. You can buy common shirts and pants. You can buy a robe fit for a king. If you like, you can run around in your underwear. While buying fancy clothes isn't a necissity, buying good armor is. Each race also specializes in certain types of armor as well. The Nordic race is best in battle with heavy armor for example. There are also plenty of different types of weapons to choose from to fit your race as well.
Morrowind is incredibly deep. I wouldn't be able to describe each and every little detail if I tried in this review. While Morrowind is incredibly deep it also feels a bit shallow in some areas. Most of the missions that you are asked to fufill by your respective guild are fetch and bring back missions. It can get repeptitive after a while. The combat is also a bit on the shallow side. You get just one hack at an enemy every time you press the attack button. Morrowind has aged in the graphics department, and the game doesn't run at a smooth frame rate most of the time either. It is hard not to love the huge world of Morrowind and just marvel at its wonderful detail. The game has some fantastic tunes. The problem is that the same music is recycled over and over and over. As beautifully composed and epic as this music sounds, it can get old. There is just so much to do in Morrowind the game is seemingly endless. If you're not careful you could find yourself incredibly immersed in this game. If the freedom of Morrowind in RPG style form sounds good to you, then you should give it try. That is, if you don't already own Oblivion or an Xbox 360, or have no intentions of getting one. Because coming back to Morrowind after experiencing Oblivion may feel like a step back. 
