Added @ 25th May -06, 12:02
by ~shedoggy
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Morrowind is a solid real-time fantasy RPG and a worthy third installment in the excellent Elder Scrolls series.
[picture1] I always feel a little bit hesitant before trying out First Person 3D games that aren't shooters. Similar games that immediately spring to mind are Heretic and Hexen by iD games, Drakkan by Psygnosis, Thief by Eidos Interactive and Severance: Blade of Darkness by Codemasters. All pretty decent games but, except for heretic which was really a blastem-up game, there is a small amount of frustration in playing a hand-to-hand combat game in first person or third-person chase cam.
One reason for this is the complexity, if you want to have interesting non-repetitive action, you need the character to perform different kinds of moves and this compounds the already difficult FPS format. And, unlike in shooters which more or less play the same once you get used to one game, hand-to-hand combat games are hard to standardise. So, each time a new game comes out you're starting to learn new skills from scratch.
[picture6]The second reason is that it takes a lot of clever programming to get the dynamics of up-close first person interaction just right. As a 3D graphics programmer myself, I know that getting collision detection and character-to-object interactions looking real is an extremely difficult task.
Thankfully, by simplifying the interface, the developers of Morrowind seem to have got a reasonable balance so that these two factors don't become a major issue. Although your character can do different kinds of hand-to-hand attacks (slash, chop and thrust) you can get by fairly well with just one attack type OR you can choose to enable the "use best attack" option which will use the strongest type of attack available to your individual character and weapon. What's more, there are a fairly limited number of ways that you can interact with objects in the world. Mostly, this is just by pressing the USE key. This may be disappointing to some, who are used to hugely interactive worlds like those in Halflife 2. Sadly you can't do things like hack away at a chest that you can't open, or roll a boulder onto unsuspecting foes. But fancy dynamics doesn't always make for great gameplay and IMHO what Morrowind lacks in interaction, it more than makes up for by adding complexity elsewhere - such as in the hugely developed game world, engaging quests and wonderful character development system.
[picture5]The world of which we speak is the same one you would have encountered if you've played either or both of the prequels to Morrowind: Elder Scrolls Arena or Daggerfall. In this edition, you will explore the near and far reaches of the Island of Morrowind, a diverse land of cultures, creatures and (ummm...) coveted treasures.
[header]Gameplay[/header]
Essentially, an adventure RPG like many before it, despite being an FPS, it plays not too differently from well known RPGs such as Diablo, Neverwinter Nights and Ultima. The game borders on being an action game, in that real-time choices and reflexes can influence the outcome of battles to some degree. For instance, resting before a fight, choosing the most suitable attack at any given time and the knowledge of when to imbibe a quick healing potion will usually help prevent you from being completely hacked to pieces. But overall, chance, experience points and statistics are what really determine the outcome of an encounter with an enemy. And you'll find that no matter how skilled you are, you'll be hard-pressed to defeat an opponent of a much superior level unless you have a lot of good fortune.
[picture4]Gameplay is largely split between combat, exploration and character interaction. Combat, which we've already talked about, is a mixture of hand-to-hand fighting, spellcasting and magic item usage. Exploration is a complete joy due to the time the developers have invested in the game world, not just in modeling the rich terrain of the Morrowind pseudo-continent, but in giving character to the towns and cities that you will visit. It’s possible the game suffers a little from too much detail – causing sometimes frustrating load-time delays when you cross certain sectors, or when you cross between interior and exterior sections of the world. But exploration in general is quite interesting and not as difficult as I thought it would be. When a non-player character (NPC) gives you directions to certain hidden sites, they are quite easy to follow. The world is big and traveling on foot is slow so I recommend that if you're going to do a lot of cross-country exploration, you might want to cut down on baggage or buy lots of stamina enhancers.
Characters that you can have useful interactions with are quite numerous and it's interesting that you have to look around to find people you get along better with, if you want good deals on items, advice or training. I should mention that it can get slightly repetitive if you hang around the same town too much, as eventually people tend to have the same responses to the common questions you ask of them. Also with respect to repetitiveness, I found that if you do a lot of walking between towns and cities, instead of taking the "express routes" (boat or sand-strider), you tend to encounter the same types of creatures over and over again which can get a little annoying even though it gets easier to dispose of them.
[header]Character Development[/header]
The beauty of the game and one of its characteristic features is it's amazing non-linearity. At no point are you ever told what you absolutely must do to complete the game. Although there are set events that come into play at certain trigger moments in the game - your development from zero to hero is almost entirely in your own hands. Something which at first can be baffling, as you wonder where to start. Similar to other RPG's you begin by choosing Race/Class/Attributes for your character picking a specialization which gives you advantages in certain skills which are used to determine your success at actions during the game. However, once chosen, you are in no way bound to a particular class-like behaviour. i.e. a warrior is free to spend lots of time casting spells if he chooses, and if he does so consistently he will become quite good at it too. In this aspect the game is reminiscent of games like Dungeon Siege, but with a lot more room to maneuver and customize your character. You are also free to behave like a benevolent Knight or an outright rogue and still manage to find and complete a huge amount of interesting quests and side-quests in the game.
[picture3]Outside of your character, you also develop in power by increasing your armor, weaponry and arsenal of magic items. Most items are subject to damage and wear and need to be repaired (usually at a cost) so it’s a good idea to equip yourself with a repair kit or spare weapons. You will also find miscellaneous items which can be combined with alchemy equipment and skills to produce custom magic items. So far I've largely been working on my warrior skills so I can't speak too much on the range of magic you can create but definitely there are tonnes of different ingredients you can collect - some of which you can use in pure unmixed form to impart small effects (good or bad) on your character. There is also a complex system of enchanting your favorite weapons by soultrapping creatures and with the help of a friendly mage, using their life force to impart some magical properties to your items.
[header]Graphics[/header]
[picture2]Somewhat dated now for the FPS genre, and, because of the long production time, nothing spectacular even when it initially came out, the game doesn't break many graphical records. Textures are of pretty standard quality, shadows and lighting are well done and the GPU is used well in things like Water reflection effects. Although it was cool to be able to pick up a piece of armor or weaponry and see your 3D character wear it (you can switch to 3rd person mode quite easily at any point in the game), I found the colours and designs somewhat boring and ugly... although they had some character - in many ways reminiscent of Sierra's excellent RPG Betrayal at Krondor. The one thing the game does excel in is the modelling of the huge gameworld. This is what the developers spent months and months working on and it is a marvel to behold. The number of nooks, crannies and what-not (a large percentage of which you might never see) that have been carefully crafted into the game is quite astounding and the scenery up close or at a distance is quite a joy to look at and lends to the atmosphere and believability of the game world.
[header]Summary[/header]
Morrowind is a really good game, with a few shortcomings that make it just short of great. On one hand there is a bit of a learning curve and it takes a little bit of patience to get to grips with the dynamics of the world. On the other hand playing it too much exposes some of the repetitiveness in some parts of the game e.g. recurring critters bugging you in country roads, characters saying the same things, and some quests that tend to seem too similar. I also thought the big cities were a little bit too large. Although somewhat realistic, they can be a bit of a pain to search through. Visually the game is interesting but not extremely pretty except for the landscape and shorelines which are a joy to watch.
However, the game definitely has more plus points than negatives and you'll like the game if you're a fan of fantasy RPGs. The developers seem to have done their homework and you'll find that it has some of the best features of a number of popular games of the same genre. You'll find the controls less difficult to get a hold of than some overambitious games like Severance, yet more interesting than more basic games such as Heretic. The stats and character development system is quite logical and the game overall achieves a good compromise between detail and playability. If you haven't had a go at this game yet - you should check it out. It's definitely worth a look and with the recent release of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you'll probably find it cheap in stores everywhere.
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Author: ~shedoggy
Views: 1750
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