The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

It's hard to name any RPGs that have even come close to Morrowind's immersiveness and expansiveness, save Daggerfall, the previous game in the Elder Scrolls series. Tom Hall's Anachronox comes close, but that game is really a mix of genres and hard to directly compare to Morrowind.

Like Anachronox, it's clear that a lot of love went into Morrowind. You can truly become lost in this game for hours and hours and even forget to eat or sleep. Hopefully Morrowind will achieve the sales it deserves, and we will see further continuations of the series. Looking back on Daggerfall, it's really amazing how far the game industry has come in 5 years.

It has been joked that during every Elder Scrolls game produced by Bethesda Softworks, they've never repeated the same mistake twice in games - they've invented *new* mistakes with each one. Before Bloodmoon, there was Morrowind - considered an excellent game, despite serious performance issues. Before Morrowind, there was Battlespire, a game considered good, despite an aging engine that should have been replaced. Before Battlespire, there was Daggerfall - commended but considered the buggiest games in history.

Bloodmoon, the second expansion of Morrowind, continues this trend.

Like most Bethesda games, Bloodmoon hits on so many positive notes, you want to love it. Essentially, Bloodmoon is more like Morrowind than Tribunal was. Whereas Tribunal consisted of essentially a series of small indoor buildings (even the 'open air' areas are indoor areas), Bloodmoon consists of a fully-designed island, off the shore of the main island.

In Tribunal, you feel you're being lead from Room A to Room B to Room C. In Bloodmoon, you're given an entire island to play with. A player can choose to do the Plot Quest, or aid the construction of a mining town - which takes roughly as long as the Plot Quest to accomplish. If none of those strike your fancy, there's enough non-plot quests to keep a player far busier than they were in Tribunal.

All this is great, but (as I alluded to) Bloodmoon continues Bethesda's history with their games. Bloodmoon amplifies the already-shaky performance issues with Morrowind. For some, the myriad of trees on the Bloodmoon island will lower performance. For others, the snowstorm effect will do it. Many others have reported that even installing Bloodmoon has lowered performance significantly.

Overall, Bloodmoon is like most of the Elder Scrolls games - the execution of a very good idea hampers the playability and enjoyment of the game.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is, quite simply, the best RPG ever! The story is so broad and the world is so open. My only gripe is that you can only wander throughout the island of Vvardenfell. I wish that Bethesda would release an expansion of the entire province of Morrowind, or even better, the entire continent of Tamriel. All that aside, this is still the best RPG ever! You start out on a ship. You have been a prisoner of the Imperials, but the Emperor has set you free, though you don't know why. After you give your race, sign, and class, there is absolutely nothing that you have to do. But, there is plenty that you can do. You can do whatever you want. There is a main quest, but there is no pressure to get started on it. You can join one or more of various factions and guilds. You can become a thief or an assassin. There is no end to what you can do. If you have the Bloodmoon and Tribunal expansion packs, there is even more for you to do. It is possible to play this game for weeks at a time and never run out of things to do. It's great fun. Everyone should own this on either the PC or the X-Box.

9.8/10

if you are bored of those shooter ups like halo and Doom. then i would definitely recommend this! this is perhaps the best game ever that i have played! although sometimes it can get a bit boring, but the plot is excellent and there's always something exciting happening in Morrowind! you could become a bounty hunter and hunt outlaws! or hunt the local and dangerous wildlife and demons! or even become an outlaw yourself! game play 10/10 plot 10/10 graphics 9.9/10! this is better than Halo and all of those. i've always thought that halo was a bit boring because you do the same thing over and over again. but in Morrowind you can do the main plot thousands of times and never get bored! get the game of the year version though it's better!

"The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind" is, in my mind, the best RPG that's been produced to date. It is the only completely open-ended RPG that I've seen. With virtually no limitations placed on where you can go or what you can do, it propels itself into a whole new level of RPG. In fact, this game allows almost too much freedom. At times it can be overwhelming and exhausting, but those things are also what make it refreshing. There are numerous factions and outfits that you can join completely at your own discretion. The game also has a unique system of remembering what you've done. Like I said, you're free to do whatever you want, whenever you want to do it. You can kill anyone, rob anyone, fight anyone, etc., and there are several ways that you can do each. There is a thin storyline that drives the game forward, which you are free to pursue or not at your leisure.