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Gameplay

By now, you’re probably wondering about the combat and skill aspects of the game. The great thing about combat is that it’s pretty simple to get the hang of. Ranged weapons just require aiming and shooting, while melee weapons swing in the direction that you move and press the attack button at the same time. Handy hotkeys make it easy to switch weapons and use essential items in the heat of combat. Right clicking your mouse button will display your character’s vital stats and allow for manipulation and equipping of items and equipment. If, in the middle of combat, you feel you bit off more than you could chew, you can always try to run away. Although Morrowind probably does not have as many weapon and armour types as in other RPGs, there are enough variations to each one that you don’t really notice all too much.

Fortunately, the enchanting system in the game allows you to create your own unique items and weapons, usually with very powerful effects. Unfortunately this can lead to some potential balance issues, especially if you have things that produce continual effects. The game makes it much too easy to make “uber” weapons. In addition, it’s relatively easy to get a very powerful weapon very early into the game and use it, which negates a lot of the challenge. True you have to train your weapon skills to make yourself hit more, but if the game is designed so that anyone can pick up any weapon and use it, there had better be some limiting factor (like Dungeon Siege’s method of handling this problem). Morrowind, unfortunately, has no such limitations. Thankfully, to balance the game and making it less combat dependent, the other skills at your disposal. Even though your character may not have selected a certain skill as a major or a minor skill, it is still possible to advance with it, either simply by practicing the skill anyway, or by purchasing training. I can’t say with enough emphasis that these other non-combat skills are great for rounding out your character, or for someone who feels like playing a non-combat oriented character. These skills actually do give these characters a fighting chance and to advance despite a lack of combat skill. As an incentive, whenever you level up, the stats that the skills that you improved to get that level use will get extra bonuses if you decide to allocate advancement points to them.

Soundtrack

Musically speaking, Morrowind has an excellent soundtrack. If you happen to obtain the Collector’s Edition of the game, you will definitely be in for a treat, thanks to the included soundtrack CD that comes with it. The music that accompanies the game is very well done, and always fits what is going on. The wonder you feel when you explore the vast island of Morrowind is reflected nicely in the scores that get played while you’re out adventuring. The only problem is that there is too little of it! Most of the time you won’t notice but when you’re travelling to distant places that aren’t accessible by the island’s “transportation system,” you’ll be hearing some of these tunes over and over. The sound in the game is of a mixed bag. Most of the time the sound is passable and functional, but sometimes the sound comes from the wrong direction, or sounds muffled like it’s coming from the inside of a box. Also unfortunately, the voice acting in the game ranges from downright disturbing to good, depending on the NPC.

Bugs

Finally, no review about this game would be complete without mention of its bugs, many of which seem to pop up out of nowhere. Although they are actually rather infrequent, when they do appear it tends to be somewhat annoying and usually fatal to your game. For example, when doing transactions with merchants, the game can sometimes boot you back to your desktop. Sometimes the game does that even when you’re not really doing anything. The terrain is sort of buggy as well, as there are certain locations in the world where you can fall through the floor (like in the Mages Guild in Vivec or even sometimes in the countryside). Hopefully Bethesda will have all of these problems resolved by the time the next patch comes out.