Product Details
 | The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition |
| List Price: | $29.95 |
| Price: | $8.40 |
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Product Description
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is the most detailed game world ever created, where you create and play any kind of character you can imagine. Morrowind sets a new standard in gaming with its incredible graphics, in-depth gameplay, and innovative character development. Experience the definitive version of this award-winning role-playing game. The definitive collection of the best RPG of 2002, including the original Morrowind plus both the Tribunal and Bloodmoon expansions and The Elder Scrolls Construction Set.Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1052 in Video Games
- Brand: Bethesda
- Model: 093155118409
- Released on: 2003-11-04
- ESRB Rating: Teen
- Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 95
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .63 pounds
Features
- Bundle of popular RPG and two expansion sets
- Adds 80 hours of gameplay and quests beyond Morrowind
- Explore the tundra of Solstheim and the cities of Mournhold and Sotha Sil
- Many new monsters
- For one player
Editorial Reviews
From the Manufacturer
An
epic, open-ended single-player RPG, Morrowind allows you to
create and play any kind of character imaginable. You can choose to
follow the main storyline and find the source of the evil blight that
plagues the land, or set off on your own to explore strange locations
and develop your character based on their actions throughout the game.
Featuring stunning 3D graphics, open-ended gameplay, and an incredible
level of detail and interactivity, Morrowind offers a gameplay
experience like no other.
In Tribunal, you journey to the
capital city of Morrowind, called Mournhold, to meet the other two
god-kings of Morrowind, Almalexia and Sotha Sil. Your journey will lead
you to the Clockwork City of Sotha Sil and massive, epic-sized dungeons,
where strange and deadly creatures await you, including goblins, lich
lords, and the mysterious Fabricants.
Bloodmoon takes you
to the frozen Island of Solstheim where you'll experience snow,
blizzards, and new creatures, including frost trolls, ice minions, and
wolves…just to name a few. You'll have a choice of stories to follow and
have the opportunity to defend the colony, take control over how the
colony is built up, and eliminate the werewolves. Or, you can decide to
join the werewolves and become one of them, opening up a whole new style
of gameplay.
Customer Reviews
Quite Possibly THE most Fantastic CRPG Ever!
This game will redefine the
computer role-playing game genre forever. If you have any interest in
CRPGs then this is the game for you. I picked up the original two years
ago and still play it to this day. The replay value is astounding. What
Morrowind has that no other CRPG comes close to is open-endedness. You
literally can wander anywhere your heart desires on the island (which is
massive to say the least). The graphics are fantastic, the experience
system is very realistic - you learn by doing - the more you do
something (successfully), the better you get. The world created is so
atmospherically saturating and immersive that you literally feel like
you are walking through a swamp (or wherever). Almost every single
shortcoming of this game has been overcome through the massive modding
community that supports Morrowind. Thus the potential universe for you
to explore is quite literally limitless. The original game promises over
200+ hours of gameplay to cover each and every possible quest (I
honestly think this is conservative given that you cannot possibly do a
all the quests with any particular PC). Each expansion adds at least
100+ hours of gameplay each. Then there is the mod community. Morrowind
ships with a construction set that allows even the most novice of us to
learn to create whatever worlds one desires. Some more clever people in
the modding community have gone well beyond the initial scope of the
construction set to enhance various aspects of the gameplay experience.
Quite frankly, as you are playing the game, if their is something you
think that should be improved, it has probably already been thought of
and their probably is a mod out there that can do it. If not, pull up
the construction set and go onto the chat bullentin boards to get some
help. The mod community for Morrowind is second to none and supports
people at all levels.
That being said, what kind of game is
Morrowind? As I said before, it is extremely immersive, extremely
detailed, extremely open-ended. What are the weak points?
Although it
is possible to gun through the primary quests in much less time than
the entire game encompasses, but why? If you want a game that can give
you a fast fix (say 30 minutes of action) then this is NOT the game for
you. The biggest hurdle most people face is getting familiar with the
game. When I first played the game, I initially became quickly
frustrated at the lethargic pace of progress my character was making.
For people who like fast action-oriented games, they will likely abandon
this game after 30 minutes because the pace is too slow and their
character is too weak to even handle a rat. It will likely take hours of
gameplay before your character has enough fortitude to wander through
the wilderness at night and not get killed by even the most benign of
critters. However, once you get past this initial hurdle, you will most
likely be hooked for life.
The other limitation of the game is
combat. Despite whatever weapon used, there are really only three
different moves a character can make: chop, slash, and thrust. For
fighter oriented characters, this gets quite boring after a couple of
hundreds of hours. However, this also offers up a new opportunity. If
you max out your fighting skills (say 100% with long swords) then why
not take up a little bit of magic with the same character? Unlike other
games, you are not restricted in any way in which skills you can pursue.
Another limitation this game has is the repetitiveness of dialogue,
voice acting and character graphics (I must remind you that what becomes
boringly repetitive for Morrowind is not on the same scale of most
other games as you will likely play the game several orders of magnitude
longer, as a result even the most creative aspects of the game will
seem a bit boring after, say 500+ hours of gameplay). However, as I
mentioned before, there are mods out there that add a great deal of
diversity to all of these constantly keeping the game fresh.
The
other significant limitation to the game is a lack of multiplayer. The
game was never designed with multiplayer in mind. Although some people
have tried modding it to be multiplayer, none have been successfull.
What makes Morrowind great: a completely immersive single-player
experience, is what keeps it from becoming multiplayer.
All in
all, a fantastic, unparalleled, single-player CRPG. A game that will
redefine the genre. For people who are willing to become immersed in a
limitless, unique world for hundreds of hours at a time. Not a game for
people looking for quick, fast action. This game truly takes time and
dedication to enjoy. It is addictive at some level, but you can also
leave it for months, come back to it and enjoy it anew. Any when you
finally think you have seen everything there is to see or would like to
change something to your liking, just hop onto the bulletin boards and
start downloading some mods. Quite limitless gameplay and probably the
most entertainment bang for your buck in gaming. Morrowind will likely
have replay value for years to come, since the mod community is still
growing strong.
On a side note: picking up the strategy guide is a
must for most fans of this game. If for nothing else than the maps that
show exactly where certain quest tidbits can be found. It is far too
easy to spend hours looking for the precise location of something in
several acres of terrain. After spending 6 gameplay hours looking for a
specific person in the vast city of Vivec, I gave up and bought the
strategy guide and found them in 10 minutes. Plus the fact that there is
SO much detail in the game that you can quite easily miss 90% of it
just by rushing through certain areas. I have revisited some areas 10
times and found something completely new (to me) each time.
Don't Hesitate
Morrowind is quite simply one
of the best RPGs of all time. For those who haven't played it, this
collection is an insanely good deal, and you shouldn't even think twice
about getting it.
The minute you start Morrowind you know that
this is a game unlike any other. Your character can be one of ten races,
each distinct in appearance and abilities. You can create your own
classes, emphasizing any of 26 skills and eight attributes. As you enter
the vast fully-3D world you advance your character by practicing and
improving chosen skills. This makes it practically impossible to create
the exact same character more than once.
The game world is simply
gigantic- Morrowind has a huge landmass that takes you upwards of a half
hour to run from one end to the other. The expansions Tribunal and
Bloodmoon (included in this edition) add the additional Mournhold city
and Solstheim island. All of the areas are chock full of enemies,
caverns, tombs, ruins, and non-player characters. Many of these give you
quests, which have rewards varying from gold to unique items. There are
hundreds of quests, weapons, items, objects, and distinct locations in
the game. I've played Morrowind for hundreds of hours and still
occasionally come across something I have never seen!
The main
story of Morrowind is well done and quite involved, and Tribunal and
Bloodmoon add additional main quests to the plot. However, unlike every
other RPG I've played, it's not at all compulsory to complete them. In
fact, you can simply go gallivanting about Vvardenfell doing whatever
you see fit- and have a good time at it too. There's plenty of towns and
people to talk to (and, naturally, to kill) and side quests to
complete. You can join one of three Great Houses and build a stronghold
for yourself, or join any of a half dozen other factions- all with
unique missions and rewards.
Morrowind's graphics are awesome- the
detail in the objects has to be seen to be believed. There isn't a
single sprite in the entire game, and both characters and terrain are
all extremely well done. The game world is thickly populated with all
manner of persons and objects, and you can explore in either first or
third person. This can be a problem, however, if your system isn't up to
it. If you can't see all the pretty graphics, the game isn't so fun, so
be sure you exceed the recommended system specifications. Morrowind
needs everything your PC has- there really is no such thing as too much
power with this game. In particular, the game looks a lot better if your
graphics card can run full-screen antialiasing with it.
Admittedly,
combat in Morrowind is rather straightforward and can get a bit dull.
You can shoot, hack, or nuke things up at will, and the ability to
create customized weapons and spells makes this fun in a Diablo-esque
way. Fighting isn't really the best part of the game, though. Rather,
the freedom is. You can go anywhere and do anything you want in any
order- a rather intoxicating degree of control that I've not seen in any
other game. In fact, I should warn new players that after playing
Morrowind other games- especially other RPGs- will seem extremely
constricting due to the lack of freedom.
That said, there's
another 'best' part of the game. That is the customizability of
Morrowind and the jaw-dropping amount of fan content already available
for download. With the editor you can change almost anything in the
game. With that and 3D Studio MAX you CAN change everything in the game-
and people have done so. Everything from total conversions to monster
additions, new items, new objects, new quests and areas, and even new
races and appearances are available for download. Due to the very
intuitive plugin system, addition of this content is simple (the only
problem being potential conflicts in plugins). If you take the time to
learn a bit about it, you can make your own items and locations with the
editor. Another warning here- this is more addictive than most
narcotics, and once you start you'll always see something else that
'needs improvement.' It is not unheard of for 'players' to spend more
time editing Morrowind than actually playing it.
Last of all, the
soundtrack is definitely worth mentioning. Jeremy Soule (Icewind Dale,
Total Annihilation, Neverwinter Nights) has composed one to remember.
Best of all, it's all there in mp3 format, and you can customize it as
well.
Even if you're not that much into RPGs, Morrowind is sure to
hold your attention for a very good, long time. While it's initially
not much of a challenge to play and there are a few sub-optimal
features, these problems can (and have been) addressed with the editor.
Though it lacks multiplayer mode, the game will almost certainly have
you hooked for as long as any game with multiplay, and then some.
There's a good reason there's no 'hours of play' figure on the box-
this, like almost everything else with Morrowind, is completely up to
you.
Morrowind is probably the best PC game ever released, in
terms of sheer entertainment value. It's almost certainly one of the top
ten RPGs of all time. If your computer can handle it, you should
definitely pick up a copy.
A Look at the
Strategy Guide
I recently discovered the
Morrowind Game of the Year strategy guide and thought that players would
like to know that it exists and is worth looking into if you are
becoming perplexed by the challenges of what is probably the world's
most detailed RPG.
This is the first guidebook that can cause
sudden-game-depression. You start out in one city on the continent of
Vvardenfell play for 20 or so hours and you begin to realize that you
have covered exact four tiny squares on the map. And the more you
wander, the more you find. Eventually you decide you want to get on with
it, but it gradually becomes clear that you aren't quite sure what 'it'
is. You break down, by the guide, and you finally realize that
Morrowind and its subgames are inconceivably huge.
There are
hundreds of cities, dungeons, fortresses, monsters, and NPCs. All with
individual stories. And the only way you have any hope of finding all of
them is to wander forever or buy the guide. The guide provides heavily
annotated maps, and descriptions of all the major and minor quests.
Various hints, and even discussions about what to do in Morrowind
between tasks (go out and kill a few diseased crabs). Even with all 400
pages, I doubt that the guide covers much more than half the
possibilities. The scouring of Vvardenfell could take years of play.
Even
with everything that is in the guide, there is yet more that I would
like to have seen. In particular, indexes and where found guides. I
guess the publishers decided that anything more than 400 pages would
scare away the average buyer. Seriously, though, a guide is almost a
necessity if you want to get full values from the game without
dedicating your life to it. It is well written and organized. I would
have preferred better quality printing but not at the price it likely
would have cost. If you get a chance pick it up, it will greatly
increase your appreciation of the game.
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