NOTE: This review is based on about 20 hours of gameplay.
Morrowind very nearly transcends being a computer game. It almost feels more like a fantasy role-playing campaign simulator. While there is a strong central story arc to the game, its paced in such a way to allow you to move through it slowly. I suppose if you wanted you could quickly advance thru the main plot, but then you would be missing out on the most immersive computer game worlds ever designed.
Graphically the game is very pretty, but it doesn't compare with other upcoming modern games such as Unreal2 & DOOM3. Yet the environment is beautiful enough to make you stop every once in awhile and take in a gorgeous sunset, or watch an ashstorm howl thru a mountain valley. Oh, and the water...well that DOES look as good (or better) than Unreal2 & DOOM3, assuming you have a high end video card that supports all the detail. Its honestly like looking at a picture of real water on top of a computer generated landscape. Also, the animations are fairly stiff. Definitely not bad, but certainly not as good as what we'll see in the next generation of shooters.
What is simply mind-blowing about this game is the seemingly infinite detail. The world is HUGE. We're talking running across all of EQ's norath HUGE. We're talking all of Wolfenstein fitting in a small corner of Morrowind HUGE. Yet somehow, EVERY SINGLE NOOK AND CRANNY is brimming with detail. Not a single fractally generated terrain in site. Even the smallest hovel or bandit campsite has lovingly placed items and furniture (all real world objects) that tells the story of the place. Every small cave is a different little world, with its own reason for being that fits within the grand backstory of Morrowind. You'll find smuggler's coves, family burial tombs that have been overrun with undead. Bandit hideouts, wizard caves, mines to explore, even off the coast many times you will find ruins and caves in the water! These caves have NOTHING to do with the story at all, yet each cave is a small adventure itself! For example the smugglers cave near the starting town has several occupants, and they each have their little sleeping spots with bedrolls (that you can use to rest if you so choose), you find campfires with food and drink, silverware, and of course loot they've acquired. It just all makes perfect sense. Its diametrically opposed to the old Daggerfall in which you'd wander down empty hallways fighting seemingly random monsters that jumped out of doors now and then. Now you find necromancer shrines light a blood red by candles scattered about the place. Fighting your way (or sneaking, or however you choose to play the game) back to the deepest recess you find an odd assortment of ritual bells lined up, then a rise to a small shrine surrounded by more red candles. All the while exploring this place you hear a deep thrumming sound (unexplainable), and as you approach the shrine you hear whispers from nowhere. It just drips with atmosphere and that is just one single little tiny, insignificant, unimportant side location in this MASSIVE world.
Everything is like that. I have no idea how they could possibly fill this large of a gameworld with such minute detail, but they did. Also as amazing as the level of detail is the politics of the world! There is a VERY solid backstory which you can learn either by talking to people or by studying the MANY MANY varied books on the subject (in game of course!). Just the politics within the mages guild has occupied most of my oh so small 20 hours of game play. And I see no end in sight.
And if that weren't enough, the simple level design is just stunning. There are vistas that, even when drawn with this "adequately pretty" game engine just make you stop and stare slackjawed. The first time I spied the mushroom towers of Sara Morith (sp?)I actually hunched back in my chair and said 'whoa'. The game's infinite detail almost always keeps you engrossed and immersed, but every now and then you see something so awesome it slaps you out of your immersion and makes you sit back and think. If ever a game has deserved to be called a work of art, this is the one.
While this game would definitely allow you to play with only a minimum of combat (hard but possible), most people will spend much of their time in battle. The battle system at its simplest level is, well, simple. There are 3 basic attack styles you can use with any weapon, thrust, slash, and chop. But each weapon excels in one of those types. You can manually decide with each swing which type you want to use, but when I realized I always tried to just use the most damaging style for a weapon, I turned on "always use best attack" and never looked back. Thus, melee combat is just me standing near an enemy and clicking until it dies. Sounds boring eh? Not hardly. Factor in that if I want to I could try and step back between swings, then forward to strike. That only works with slow monsters though, then perhaps I could try finding a tall vantage and firing down with my bow (archery is VERY solidly implemented by the way for all you wannabe Legolases' out there). Or perhaps I want to just stand back and use fireball. Or perhaps I want to cast fly, then drop summoned monsters on them to fight. Or perhaps I want to charm some enemies and let them fight amongst themselves, or perhaps I want to find some NPC help and bring them along and let them fight while I just stand back and heal them, or else...well I could go on and on. This game is DEEP. There are MANY MANY ways to progress thru areas, its very reminescent of Deus Ex in that regard. And its not entirely spell centric as you'd expect. The thievish arts are well represented as well. With enough skill (and base stat) in running you can outrun most things. With a high enough acrobatics skill you can make jumps that most Tribes players would envy. With enough sneak ability you could sneak past just about any enemy in the game (or the odd guard whom you want to avoid since you recently robbed his mother's house blind). There are traps and locks that need to be dealt with too by a thief with adequate skill.
There are some rough edges like stuttering animations at the edge of your viewing distance. Some pathing mistakes resulting in critters getting caught here and there (but actually, given the diverse geometry of the game, and the number of modes of travel enemies may use (swim, fly, run) the pathing is incredibly solid). Clipping lines in the otherwise unbelievably good looking water, but they are so minor in this colossal achievement of a game, I feel dirty for even mentioning them.
If you enjoy computer RPGs you owe it to yourself to buy this game. And you better buy it now if you intend to finish before the summer is over :)
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