Buy The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition

Like Skyrim? Like being the Dragonborn?

Sit back and let me tell you something.

Dragonborn is nobody compared to the Nerevarine. Dragonborn needed fast travel, dual-wielding and a Voice-Weapon to get the job done. You gotta walk up the Throat of the World? Nerevarine could levitate over the Red Mountain! Skyrim took so many ideas from Morrowind it decided to drop the act for the Dragonborn DLC and just send you back to Solstheim because Skyrim didn't have enough giant mushrooms and ash-wastes.

Nerevarine could enchant rings to make Sauron bow down like a punk.

He killed more vampires than the sun.

He could float, heal diseases and walk on water, which makes me wonder about the theological ramifications of this game.

He slayed more Nords than Alduin.

Nerevarine, man.

Nerevarine for the president of Tamriel.

My opinionated review for:
Disclaimer : I have played all of the TES games in reverse order so my praise for the game is not pure nostalgia.

Gameplay: This game is the pinnacle of the TES saga. Every RPG element is here and works well. Upon startup, you are greeted with a rather bland title screen. What makes it so special is the iconic theme of Morrowind that has appeared by variation in all of the later TES games. Clicking new game will send start a skippable intro video and then the game starts. Your backstory is that you were sent to Vvardenfell under the orders of the emporer. This backstory is vague enough for you to be creative with your story, unlike Fallout 3 or Oblivion. You will be awoken by a Dunmer named "Juib" who then asks you for your name. This is the character creation process. You will then select one of 14 races, a class, and a birthsign. It is short and sweet enough to not be annoying like Skyrim's god-long intro sequence. You will collect your papers and orders from the census offices and then you're off. No intro dungeon. No forced story. Nothing. This is where most people are lost. They are so used to the handholding from the newer TES games. You will have to read your journal for info. So you open it up and it says to deliver a package to some guy in Balmora? Where is Balmora? Players will then proceed to run around and then get killed by a mudcrab because they don't understand the stat based combat. That is the beauty of this game. Nothing will be handed to you except insults for being an outlander. What would you do in this situation? Ask for directions of course. The dialogue system is made so that you can ask a npc about almost everything that your character knows of. Unlike Skyrim's 3 phrases that nobody cares about, you can ask about secrets,rumors,services,work, about the dungeon you just delved, an assassin that attacked you, and even a weird dream that you may have had. It is very in-depth. There is also a disposition system where you can ahave enemies based on race,guild, or even for the fact that you are a criminal! Not everyone will be your friend, just like real life, so stay close to those who you trust. You have a diverse range of skills that are all useful in their own ways. You cannot master them all, so train wisely! Attributes are availiable as well, unlike Skyrim. This game is a true RPG, so don't expect action based combat. If you wonder why you can't hit anyone, it is because you are not properly trained with the current weapon you are using. It makes more sense if you think about it. Some may say it is extremely boring and tedious, but I say it is fair, seeing how you should not be able to pick up a weapon and automatically start killing with it. If you prefer to stay out of conflict, there is a great alchemy system availiable. You have multiple tools to mess with and to this day, I still haven't fully understood the sytem. There are many other systems in the game but I cannot fully explain them all or we'll be here for days.

Art: In order to judge and old game's graphics in a modern day, you must compare other games that came out the same year. Going by that, I say the game looked fairly well. It has a lot to look at and read (tons of books availiable!) and while the animations may be a little unbelievable and robotic, they get the job done. One thing you may notice about Morrowind compared to other RPG's, is how alien it feels. That is the prime charm of Morrowind. Think Japanese culture mixed with Mayan culture. There are not a lot of video settings available, so you may need to download Morrowind Graphics Extender if you want to fully customise the graphics and short view distance and low fov.

Music/Sound: This game has one of the best soundtracks ever. Composed by Jeremy Soule, every track is movie quality and always keeps a great feeling inside. It adds to the atmosphere in a big way. The sound design is great as well, although ambience is rather dead, the music makes up for it. The voice acting is top notch, although sometimes non-existent, or maybe I'm just spoiled by Skyrim.

Entertainment Value: Like any other TES game, you can sink an infinite amount of hours into it. There is always something new to explore in Morrowind, a new dungeon, new npc, new weapon, etc. I consider it the best in the series followed by Skyrim. If you are an RPG fan and you don't care if you have to put in a little work to enjoy what this game has to offer, you will most likely enjoy what Morrowind has to offer. And if you are not pleased with how the game looks or plays, there is an active modding community available that will fix every issue you have.

Score:
I love Morrowind to death, so of course this review was biased, but I feel you cannot help and enjoy the land of Morrowind just like me. With Skywind coming soon, we may get another chance to explore this land once again.


Thank you for reading.

Use a dead guy's leg as a weapon. Your move Skyrim.




10/10 septims

Morrowind is the peak of Bethesda's game making history. No question. I have played this game for almost 70 hours and I have never beaten the main questline because this game is so engaging that I get side-tracked every time by the multitude of side-quests to undertake, and with the two expansions, and the fair number of mods put out by the community, I have resigned to playing another 70 before I do complete the story, and I will love every minute of it.

If you've played Oblivion and you enjoyed that, you will love Morrowind.

If your only Elder Scrolls experience is with Skyrim, I highly recommend that you try Oblivion first, because Morrowind is quite a dated game, but if you do that, then go for it because you will not regret it.

PLAY THIS GAME. YOU CAN WEAR CLOTHES UNDER YOUR ARMOR AND ROBES OVER IT JUST BUY IT NOW PLEASE.

Field	Rating	Review
Graphics	6.5	Poor Morrowind has not aged well at all. Though not terrible, it is a bit jarring to return to from the beauty that is Skyrim. However, with the upcoming Skywind project (and currently available texture packs), keep your eyes peeled. Morrowind is well worth exploring, despite being a little tough on the eyes at times. (Graphics are not used in the overall score, due to the game's age.)
Gameplay	10	The epitome of an open-world RPG, Morrowind not only pushed the envelope, it lit it on fire and hand-crafted a new one. Classic RPG elements come into play with your skills, leveled up according to you. Quest giver giving you lip? Kill him, take back your items. Short on cash? Steal it from whoever you want, just be prepared to pay the price if you're caught. You cannot go wrong with Morrowind, which captures the magic of another world like no other game out there.
Story	10	A long, arching plot with plenty of diverse character interactions. As you progress, your fame grows, and the world reacts to this. Experience the joy of embracing your destiny to save Morrowind. With countless sidequests and unique zones to explore, and tons of lore to discover, Morrowind has many stories to tell. But most of all, yours.
Multiplayer	N/A	Sadly, this game can only be enjoyed alone.
Replayability	7	Never has any game absorbed more of my time than Morrowind. You'll never play it the same twice. Once Skywind comes out, expect this number to jump plenty high, as Morrowind deserves your time, and will be even more beautiful than it was when it first released.
Overall	9.3/10	Morrowind captured the magic of exploration and gaming for me. I have extremely fond memories of this game, and highly recommend it to anyone, and everyone. Even without the upcoming Skywind mod, Morrowind is a game you should pick up. Do NOT miss out on the pinnacle of the Elder Scrolls series, and a legend among games.

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Edit: Reworked scoring so that the age of the game and its graphics weren't damaging the overall rating, as that's not very fair for older games. Also reworded the overall review to focus more on Morrowind instead of Skywind. Fixed some styling.

Book reading simulator 2002

Morrowind makes me both happy and sad.

Happy because it's a wonderful game with something new around every corner. It's a game that you can actually get lost in.

It makes me sad because games like this just aren't made anymore. Skyrim is just so vastly different, that it's really quite sad to see what they could have done with Skyrim that they didn't.

To know greatness, you must first learn your heritage. Play this game and you will understand what they are talking about in Oblivion and Skyrim to a far better degree. The game is far more detailed than Oblivion and is on par with Skyrim if not exceeding. (I say this as skyrim is voiced and morrowind is text based, er go, allowing more lore)

Buy it, play it, and know greatness of another era.

Morrowind is by far the greatest open world RPG ever, and shows all the potential games like this have. Beautiful story, so many secrets - and with many quests and dialog thats actually useful, your time will surely be consumed. Replay value is high especially with a quick start vs Oblivion or Skyrim's lame storytelling effort. Get the Overhaul 3.0 for the graphics if you can't stand them.

Where has my life gone?

CHIM

In Oblivion, you are an assistant to the hero prophesied by the stars and the dream of a king, and go on to greatness as foretold. In Skyrim, you are a natural hero born with dragon blood and the innate ability to speak the language of dragons, and go on to greatness as foretold. In each game, along the way, you are seen as the savior of many guilds, groups, and towns, even if they are in conflict with each other in some way.

In Morrowind, you are placed in Vvardenfell by order of the Emperor because you match a supposed prophecy. With the Daedric prince Azura's assistance for the sake of her revenge, you force yourself into the position of fulfilling said prophecy under guidance from the Blades, and by going to the hard work of convincing everyone you really are the prophesied one. You don't know if you really fit the bill, but you'll be damned if everyone else won't believe it.

You climb your way up the ladder of each guild or ruling house you join, fighting your way to the top each time. It's a long, hard road through many cracked and broken pathways, but you clamber up the pile of corpses you made with One-Clan-Under-Moon-And-Star wrapped around your finger, and an ancient Dwemer hammer in your hand. You reap what you sow.

This is a sign of how different this game is from its successors and predecessors. A story which questions deification, worship, and prophecy; a world racked by cataclysmic blight storms and the threat of a mortal-turned-insane-god; gameplay that greatly encourages a close eye to character building and leveling; and a plot which culminates in the death of gods and the destruction of that which deifies mortals. This is why Morrowind is so much different than its peers.

Is the gameplay to everyone's liking? Of course not. Those unexperienced with character building, and those without the patience to take in the world around you, won't find much to enjoy in this game. That's the key word. Patience. It's encouraged, and rewarded in spades. Don't play this game if you started at Oblivion or Skyrim. There's very little chance that you'll find this an enjoyable experience.

For those with the open mind and the patience, this is an incredibly worthy experience that will suck you in and never let you go. Play this only if you know how to manipulate chance and skill to your favor, and how to make your way through a harsh, unforgiving, and challenging world.

i highly reccomend this game to anyone who likes the elder scrolls series and also doesent like to be babied with when and where to go, you get a simple journal and a map, no waypoints or quest markers.

you actualy have to think in this one

*saw stairs*
*spam jump*
Your Acrobatics skill increased to 45


10/10 would jump again

Ahhhh, Morriwnd.

Even since 2002 (wow, it's been 12 years already), it's been a beautiful, immersive world (especially to me, who started the Elder Scrolls series with Morrowind) where story and sidequests are equally as enthralling to each other as the strange sense of magic you feel when exploring the vast, ash-barren countryside of Vvardenfel.

Although while in today's standards, the graphics do appear to have suffered some, that only adds to the pure nostalgia for those of us who have played this when this was the cutting-edge of RPG and sandbox production. Sure, you don't have many options for hair or face, and yes, the sluggish walk and dicey combat system can be a bit off-putting. But past it all, when you've finally gotten to that comfortable place where you can run faster than a slug on a Sunday and hit more times than you'll miss, you begin to appreciate the game as more than just a piece of software. You really do begin to see it as an adventure into a foreign land. A place where you've never been before, but will surely uncover its secrets in due time.

And thanks to the good people of the Internet, mods have been created that help with issues in game, such as the overall graphics (especially NPC and player models, such as the Better Bodies mod) and whatever else you might consider to be a problem or upgrade-worthy factor. The fact of the matter is, that when the dust has settled and all is said and done, Morrowind still remains one of the cornerstone RPGs of yesteryear, and I certainly know that it'll forever be one of the defining games for the RPG genre.

9/10, Thank you based Azura

No matter how far into the future from now it may be, and no matter how many signs of age this game shows... I will always be able to pick it up and play through it again. Why? It's difficult to put into words. But something about Morrowind's universe captivated me from the very first moment I reached the city of Balmora. I really can't explain it. There is a certain ambience that emanates from that particular city. Some people feel it, others don't. Part of me believes that this is the dividing-line between the people that can drop hundreds of hours into Morrowind in the blink of an eye and the people who just can't get into it. Both viewpoints are understandable. The other part of me thinks that maybe I'm reading far too much into a simple video game. Who's to say? The only thing that I can say for sure is that Morrowind is anything but simple.

I've played through this game many, MANY times since it's release and I always stumble across something I've never encountered before. It never fails. Sometimes it's flavor text that helps me piece together a story I didn't fully understand before... occassionally I'll find some unique artifact or item that I had never found previously. There is always something out there, subtle or not, to enrich the experience for me even more. And that's part of what keeps me coming back.

I highly recommend installing MGSO for Morrowind (old and new players alike). It's a compilation of some of the best mods on the market for Morrowind. It essentially gives Morrowind a facelift. I know some of you may not feel like taking the time to figure the modding-aspect of the game, but when it comes to MGSO you have nothing to worry about. It literally installs itself for you.

What to say... Well I could start by saying its possibly my favorite Elder Scrolls game. For those of you not in the know of what the Elder Scrolls series is, let the Spectre tell you it's an RPG series started in March 1994 with The Elder Scrolls I: Arena.

What you do in the game is your choice, whether you want to be an assassin who's good with heavy armor, a straight up tank, or a noble adventuring mage. The goal of the series is to make you feel immersed in another universe, play another life. Now the series started to go downhill and it wasn't looking good for Bethesda. So they put Todd Howard in the lead for the development of Morrowind. Now Todd, he figured if it might be their last game they might as well go out with a bang or try to revive the series (atleast thats what I think) and had the team work on Morrowind and put their all into it. Of course this worked tremendously.

Now lets get back into the review shall we? Hmmm... Where was I? Oh yes! I remember now, favorite elder scrolls game blah blah blah no one cares. Now let me tell why this is.

1. The game is rich with quests that could take you weeks or more to complete and lots of detail and places that can take you months to see. The amount of NPCs is astonishing (even though the dialog might not always be to interesting), and the fact that the are all individually named with the exception of the respawning guards.

2. The openess is impressive even with todays standards. You could start a new character and right after you finish the quick character creation/tutorial bit you can go where ever you want! No need for the completion of the main quest when you've got exploring to do!

3. The map size is huge, it will take some time for you to fill your map. You could be walking for half an hour thinking you've made a lot of progress, but when you look at your map you see you only walked half the world. Better walk a few more huh?

Now I could keep going with this review praising this game but ther really is no point. There are very few cons, but I'll name a couple and they won't be of much significance I can assure you.

1. Steep learning curve for new players, trust me. It you're transitioning from a game like Skyrim then you're in for a surprise. Welcome to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Prepare to Die Edition! But don't worry, you'll learn sooner or later.

2. Lack of dialog. You could talk to 20 NPCs with the same things to say. While this can get a little boring looking for quests or an overall interesting NPC.

3. The view distance is terrible. Now I know this game came out in 2002 but the game is made to put the entire view distence rendering on the CPU. Now I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure if most games from that time period do that but I doubt it. Bethesda just didn't optimize it very well. Whatever I guess, it's realistic, seriously, who can see more then 50 feet ahead of themselves?

I guess that will conlude this "short" review. I know you would like to keep reading this "amazing" review but I gotta go. This is Spectre signing off, see ya!

-Kyle (a.k.a. Hunaptra or Spectre)

EDIT

I played Morrowing for some time and realized one thing: it requires patience. You must invest more hours it it before it shines before you in all it's glory.

Battle system is one of the cons of ESIII. For those who are not in the know: battle system is based on a random chance of hitting. The higher your, say, short sword skill is, the higher the chance for your strike to be successful. Not a lot of fun, to say the least.

Animations are bad, sounds repeat too often but that's about it with downsides.

Pros:

Atmosphere. Burnt-out ashlands, giant mushrooms, swamps... The world and lore is one of a kind. Graphics are Ok so it all looks pretty neat.

Music is epic. I love almost every second of it.

Story is engaging.

Morrowind is harsh. No fast travel, no markers - just a map and your a.s.s. You have to read a f-n journal in order to understand where to go! That's terrific!

Weapons and armor break and you have to repair it. Essential for RPG's IMHO.

Some creatures cannot be hurt with particular weapons or skills. For instance, you can't hit the spirit with a common sword!!! Hell yeah! Now we're talking!

Game's pretty hard. Anyway, you can adjust difficulty but even on easy your butt can be kicked hard in the wilderness.

And about deepness. The world is really deep. Earlier I thought it's just an illusion but it's not. There are some filler NPC's and generic dungeons but really... There's so much to do here! Sidequests, reading books, crafting potions, kicking creatures' a.s.ses. And main story, of course.

Considering that the game came out in 2002 (technologies, you know) all downsides can be and ARE forgiven. Must play for every RPG, fantasy and ES fan.

I got this game after I got/played Skyrim so no nostalgia here
However i find this game to be an amazing ride!
The story just sucks you in and keeps you there tell you have to leave the screen

True the combat system is abit...harsh, but once you get used to it, its not as bad as some peopel make it out to be

Morrowind is a harsh but amazing place just waiting for you to explore!

Firstly, don't let the Steam statistics fool you: I have played hundreds of hours before having the game on Steam. The time for me to write a review of my favourite game ever has come, and I couldn't be happier. It was the year 1996, and the fairly young videogames studio of Bethesda was releasing The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, the successor of the modest, quite unnoticed first chapter, TES Arena. Presenting you to a world with deep RPG mechanics, a map of the size of Great Britain and the freedom to do whatever you wanted in a sandbox, 3D world, it has become a true legend among the other RPGs of the time. Changing the paradigm, it introduced dozens of brand new mechanics and improved anothers from Arena, making it the turning point for RPGs. Straight after the release of Daggerfall, Bethesda worked on an expansion called Battlespire, that was later turned into a standalone game, and Redguard, a more action-like, dumbed down game that explored the universe and developed the lore. Meanwhile, deep into the studios of Bethesda, more shocking, jawbreaking ideas for a new game started to appear. Making a full, huge 3D detailed world filled with creatures, NPCs, enemies and with a full day/night circle seemed like an utopia, and it actually was. Being developed allways at the edge of the time's hardware, a new TES started to get shape, something bold, something unique, something terrifying and creative. Thus, TES III: Morrowind was born.
Well, enough with the story. This review will be divided into 4 aspects, graphics, story/plot, gameplay and sound, and a consideration of som other aspects. Released in 2002, as mentioned, Morrowind had two additional expansions, Bloodmoon and Tribunal. Since this in the review of the GOTY Edition, it will also take into consideration all the expansions and official add-ons.

Graphics: this game runs in the Gamebryo Engine, the same engine that was used to make the next TES, Oblivion, and Fallout 3 and New Vegas, so it's an engine that spaned a very long lifetime. In 2002, the minimum requirements for this game were huge, and a state-of-the-art computer was necessary in order to run it in it's ful splendor. While some would think this was a bad optimization, in this case it's just the ludicrous ammount of details and material that was put into this game. The view distance was very short, even with the settings on the maximum, just to make the game able to run in that time's hardware. Nowadays, we can unlock those restrictions and see Morrowind in it's full splendor: for that time, it was just fantastic. From the water to the sky, going through the unique flora and the weird and suffering environment of volcanic formations, strange swamps and some environments that can't even be described due to their singularity make this one of the most inimaginable experiences in gaming. 96 out of 100.

Gameplay: most people had their first contact with the TES series with the latest entry, TES V: Skyrim. Skyrim was good, but it was a game made to appeal to the casual masses, which it did. Some may also had their first contact with TES IV: Oblivion, which is, by far, the most equilibrated: the almost perfect balance between deep RPG, TES-like funcionalities, and accessibility for a smoother, more friendly experience. Yet, there is a more restrict group of gamers that had their first contact with Morrowind, or even with the oldest entries. These fans usually see the quality of the latest entries, but miss the deepness Morrowind had. the funcionalities Morowind had made it possible to do whatever you want: you want to be a vampire? You can! You want to be a werewolf? You can! you want to be a mercenary-like warrior working for a guild who gives you nasty jobs? You can! Of course all of that can be done in the other TES as well. the difference resides that in here you must have the appropriate skils to be able to do that and to even be able to accept various quests. This is just an example of the hardness Morrowind presents; From having to constantly sleep to recover health, to be unable to cast a spell properly, to the multiple hits you have to give and take in order to take down an adversary are, the confusion and sense of dispair is always present, making certain actions very rewardful. The only major problem are the menus, the combat system and the dialogue system: while they do their job, they are clumsy and could had been improved a lot. From the useless third person view to the very confusive journal and quest tracking, the interface and the combat is probably Morrowind's biggest flaw. And bugs, lots of bugs. Not as much as Oblivion and Skyrim, but yet, they started all here. 82 out of 100

Story-plot: you, as usual, start as a prisioner. This time, you were released under the order of the Emperor himself, and were dropped in the forsaken island of Vvardenfell, which is a island that comprehends about half of Morrowind's total area, and the home of the Red Mountain, a volano that hosts a mad god-like man inside called Dagoth-Ur. After your release, you do some research jobs for Caius Cosades, a Blade that answers directly to the Emperor. After that apparently uninteresting research you were doing, Caius tells you a very disturbing truth that leads you to a seires of dangerous situations, in order to prove yourself as the Nerevarine, a hero who would save Morrowind from the wrath of the Red Mountain and Dagoth Ur himself. While this is just the main quest, there are still other multiple quest-lines and lots of sidequests that are very interesting and immersive. You can pretty much obtain a huge ammount of lore from the conversations, where you can select multiple topics. The quest-lines on the expansions are also unique and interesting: in bloodmoon, you go to the damned island of Solshteim (the same as in Skyrim's DLC Dragonborn) and involve yourself in a werewolf-related situation. Tribunal starts as a attemp from the Dark Brotherhood to murder you, and leads you to the mainland capital of Morrowind, Mournhold. Here, you will mess with the gods. Without any negative aspect, the plot, and all the TES lore is one of the best ever made for an RPG of this kind. It only sins for the bad organization of the journal, as mentioned above, and could use some more cutscenes or bold scenes. Yet, it's wonderful in it's own way. 95 out of 100.

Sound: this is probably one of the most epic sountracks ever written for a game. May the Dunmer Gods bless the soul of Jeremy Soule for his geniousness. Also, it's filled with details: if you are not a Dunmer, Morrowind's native race of elves, you will be called some nasty and pejorative names by the people, allways depending on your race: a Orc will be called an Outlander with a very strong negative conotation, while a imperial will be seen as a "civilized" person. There are just some bugs, like the footsteps that are annoying and faulty, and the repetitive sound of "interacting with objects". 97 out of 100.

Other aspects: with a humongous longetivity, to the ammount of mods the community has made, this game can give you months of fun. The Construction Kit allows you to create your own mods in a fairly easy way (though you may need some geometry knowledge), and it has a very active community even in today's time. As usual, the final score is given by the average between the 4 forementioned aspects, plus a factor of correction based on thre other aspects. So, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, my favourite game ever, and the game that brought to me the world of RPGs end up with the great score of 96 out of 100. Greatest RPG of all time, in my opinion.

Morrowind: The revolutionary open-world RPG that set the standard for Western titles of the same genre and remains relevant and enjoyable today. A hands-down work of art, this beauty features an endless array of skills, magic, items, qeusts, and locations that will keep you exploring for hundreds and hundreds of hours. There are some bugs and balance issues, but I highly recommend this mod: http://www.ornitocopter.net/morrowind-overhaul/ to fix them and make the game more graphicly up-to-date.

10/10, a bargin at $20. Pick it up to experience the title that made gaming history.