|
|
 |
 |
|
Morrowind Review |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Morrowind
|
Buy Game: |
|
| Game Info |
|
Morrowind is a huge game. So huge it will likely be too intimidating and complex for some casual gamers to pick up. It's the first true RPG for the Xbox and one of the most anticipated games available for the Xbox right now. Having extensively played both versions, here is my full review of Morrowind: Elder Scrolls 3 for the Xbox
Morrrowind is a no-holds barred hardcore Role-Playing Game that is full of quest after quest and challenge after challenge. You have the option of choosing your race, class, sex, and star sign as part of your introduction into the world of Morrowind. Your race, class, and star sign will be important as they will largely decide how your character interacts with others and what career or life choices are best for him/her. Choose a warrior, you'll be better at fighting and land more powerful attacks, or choose a mage and concentrate on defeating others with majicka.
How you play the game is entirely up to the gamer. Where you go is also up to you, as are who you associate yourself with, and what profession or guild you decide to align yoursself with. Talking to other people in the game will open up new quests and also yield valuable information that will help you along your way. Exploring is done on foot for the most part, although Silt Striders (huge long-legged insect-like creatures) are a fast and safe way to travel long distances. Walking those same distances is possible, and even allows you to practice your fighting or spellcasting abilities on bugs, animals, and even a few criminals or theives that you may come across. You'll learn early in the game that killing criminals is perfectly acceptable, but attacking commoners or those who don't attack you first is a very bad idea. Kill an innocent, even if no one sees, and prepare to be on the local law enforcment official's most wanted list. Trust me... even an annoying old lady with rat problems and a strange pillow fetish isn't fair game for target practice... as much as you may want to off her yourself.
The battle setup is in real-time, which means there is no taking turns as in some other RPG-type games. However, if you're not a fighter by nature, this scheme may not be great for you, because if you're not skilled in fighting, you'll land one attack for every 10 or so attempted. Which frustrrated me to no end my first time thru, as I am used to games such as Hunter or DOA3, where nearly every attack hits it's target.
In comparison to the PC version I was surprised to find the Xbox version of Morrowind extremely easy to control and even easier to navigate the menus than the PC version. I can honestly say that to me, the Xbox version of Morrowind is much more immersive and easy to get a handle on than the PC version. I know many PC gamers may disagree with me, but the control scheme is essentially set up to mimic Halo and works very well. Every button on the controller is used and each becomes quite intuituve as the game progresses.
There are more things to do in this game, it's likely you'll never ever do all there is to do in Morrowind, but you'll most likely spend over 100 hours just going thru the game for the first time.
Immediately noticable upon playing Morrowind for the first time is the blocky and unrefined look of the character's faces. Regardless of the race or sex you choose, the faces turn out horribly and have obscenely sharp edges. Surprisingly enough the character's bodies, armor, and weapons are substantially better but still not great in and of themselves. All this can be forgiven to some extent due to the fact that the overall detail and size of the environments is very impressive. The water in most areas looks great, but in others it looks a tad sub-par. The animations on most characters is decent, but can be choppy at times, and there is slightly noticable slowdown when there is a lot of action going on on-screen at once. The graphics on the PC version are only marginally better, but the faces are still just as bad.
All that being said, Morrowind is still a good looking game and it's graphical drawbacks do not effect the gameplay or enjoyment of the game. Although a little more detail on the facial features would have helped immensely.
soundtrack in Morrowind is at first impressive and grand, but quickly beecomes tedious as it's the only music you'll find in the game. As far as I could tell, the music does not change to match the action in the game, but just goes along at it's own pace. There are minor changes, but nothing you'd normally notice unless you were listening specifically for the changes. Character acting is actually done very well, although it does get a tad annoying when every character you pass greets you vocally regardless of whether you're facing them or not. Environmental sounds are good, with rain, footsteps, and weapon sounds all in place.
Replay value is not as much of an issue with Morrowind as it is with other games due to it's almost incompletable length. It's likely that even if one were to play the game for over 200 hours they would still not be able to complete the side quests and do all there is to do in Morrowind.
Having logged over 35 hours inbetween the two versions of Morrowind I am definitely hooked on the game and the adventure it provides. Being the first RPG on the console, Morrowind sets a high standard for future offferings in terms of scale and quality, even if not in terms of graphics. Morrowind is highly recommended for any fan of RPGs or even casual RPGers, but it may take some getting used to for those not familiar with RPG's and how they work. It's been said before, but Morrowind is a hardcore RPG you likely won't find the likes of on any other console. It's a great game, even with i's flaws, and deserves the praise it's been receiveing.
Review By: JakeT
Scores
|
|
|
|
