Xbox Classics Revisited - Morrowind

Written by Tommy Curry Monday, 07 November 2011 18:37

Almost a decade ago, I remember trading a copy of my prized Age of Empires 2 to a friend of mine for a new game he had been raving about. Upon playing the acquired game, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, I was blown away. I saw an expansive new world with massive adventure and limitless possibilities. Of course now, we have games like this all over the place -- Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Fable 3 -- the list goes on and for the most part they all contend as bigger games. Even The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion puts Morrowind's scope to shame. But forget all that, and remember back to 2002 -- when Xbox was in its infancy, pop groups ruled the earth and life was simple.

Having never heard of its precursors Arena or Daggerfall, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was immediately enthralled. It drops you in the middle of a fascinating and vibrant world with total control over the character. Starting off as a convict on a prisoner ship, you are let off at the island of Vvardenfell, an island in the province of Morrowind. You get to create a fully customizable character with different races, skills and attributes to choose from. As soon as the character is created, you're good to go.

Now that's more like it -- it only takes about five minutes to create a character, unlike more recent games that take half an hour to get past the intro (yes, even you Oblivion). Part of the fun is creating new characters with different stats and in Morrowind this can be done with ease.

Graphic-wise, Morrowind is fantastic for an early Xbox game. NPCs, landscapes and buildings look great and the design of the game stands out from other RPG's. Instead of the cliché medieval European setting, Bethesda took inspiration from all over the ancient world and fused it into a new world of its own.

Jeremy Soule's orchestrated compositions form what is easily one of the best soundtracks in any video game ever. The music is richly woven, atmospheric and epic, while staying subtle and complimenting the gameplay perfectly.

Players will have to fight their way through hordes of monsters with a combination of hacking-and-slashing and spell casting. There are hundreds of weapons to find and even more spells to create and discover. Stats can even be manipulated to allow both weapon and spell use for a single character. The sheer number of possibilities to create spells, enchantments, potions and the like is staggering.

Exploring Morrowind's rich and detailed world is the real draw for this game. There's so much to do it's insane. There are a dozen factions to enlist in including the Fighters Guild, Imperial Cult, Morag Tong (assassin's guild), etc. and each has specific members, beliefs and quests. The main quest finds you fulfilling the Nerevarine prophecy to defeat the evil Dagoth Ur and restoring peace to Vvardenfell.

But forget that. Although the main quest is highly enjoyable to play through, you're just bombarded with distractions at all times. Whether you're trekking along a hidden path under a canopy of giant mushrooms, rifling through piles of stores' junk or even just breezing through the hundreds of volumes and texts scattered throughout the game world, you'll be having an awesome time doing nothing.

Morrowind isn't perfect though. Glitches pop up all over the place, character animation is rigid, there's a god-awful amounts of cliff racers everywhere trying to kill you, etc. And despite all of the work put into the weapons and armour, combat in Morrowind falls flat on its nose. At a low level, you simply don't hit anything -- it looks tacky and it’s boring.

But these are just simple nit-picks that arise after playing the game for an extended amount of time. For the most part, the pros vastly outweigh the cons. Morrowind may be almost 10 years old, but this fine piece of RPG perfection feels like new every time start it up.

So what're you waiting for? Put on your armour, sharpen your sword and turn on your Xbox. Morrowind needs your help.