Morrowind is a really great RPG. Period.
The story is somewhat confusing at first, but rolls along the line of one main quest where you are some sort of savior. You are a prisoner of the Imperial City born on a certain day and supposedly chosen to be a hero in Morrowind. You arrive in Morrowind and are shown in to the census office where you are officially released. After that, it’s all up to you. Use your imagination and make up any story you want.
Graphics- 8/10
Even by today’s standards, these graphics are very impressive. For starters, the framerate manages to stay smooth and strong which is no small feat, especially given the massive open, expansive environments in this game. The character models look pretty good, but there’s some clipping in between, and a lot of clipping when you walk on any type of terrain. Don’t let that bother you however, as most people can easily look past this. The game can be viewed from either a first or third person perspective, which makes the balance of viewing and combat easier. There’s also a fully 3D camera that you can rotate around your character, so you can see how he/she looks like on all fronts when you put a new suit of armor on. Overall, the graphics are impressive, even by today’s standards.
Sound- 7/10
The sound is mostly good. The voice acting is good, the weather sound effects are really good and most of the environmental sounds are acceptable. As for your character, there were some sounds I really liked. For instance, when you pull out a sword, it sounds like you are pulling out a sword. The footsteps sound good, but I would have preferred more variety to them. The water sounds very lifelike, and the combat sounds are decent enough. However, I would have preferred more dialogue to each character, and more voices for the wide selection of characters. The characters only have a few lines to them, and most of the characters sound the same. Other than that however, the sound is still good, but nothing too spectacular.
Gameplay- 9/10
This is an outstanding game when it comes to the gameplay aspect. To start off, it’s a RPG, which means that you get to design your own character. But you have never experienced designing your own character until you have played this game. To start off, you can design your character down to the smallest trait. You can pick your sex, race, class, everything. You can then design the properties for your class if you choose to create a custom character. You can pick the major, minor, and miscellaneous skills. The major skills level up faster than other skills, and you can even receive training for each specific skill. The best part of the game however, is that for once, you don’t need to follow the storyline. You can do whatever you want. You can break into people’s houses, and steal their stuff and sell it to the highest bidder. You can go around killing people, or take on the Imperial Guard. You can simply explore the wilderness, find caverns and explore them. You can assassinate important people crucial to the storyline, join a faction and many other things. As for combat, there are many ways you can conduct it, and can conduct it in either a first person or third person perspective. I prefer the first person because it’s easier to do. The combat can get frustrating at times, and may seem somewhat clunky, but this game was not based solely on combat, it was built for many more things. There are a variety of types of armor that you can use to help take less damage, and can even receive training to be more flexible while wearing them. The possibilities are endless. With 400 mini quests at your disposal, this game should keep you bust for at least 100 hours, maybe longer. If you buy the game of the year edition, you receive the two expansion packs which add even more replay value to an already outstanding game. All you need to do is use your imagination.
Overall, if you are willing to use your imagination to fill in a few blanks, you can find long hours of enjoyment out of this game.