Elder Scrolls III Morrowind

Morrowind can be described with a single word: mind-numbingly-massive (okay, I cheated). You can do virtually anything you want. There is a main quest, but there are also hundreds of side quests (over 350 of them), and the game is completely nonlinear. You can be a hero, a villain, a pilgrim, a saint, or even a vampire. You name it, and chances are you can be it. There are also no geographical constraints; you can wander where you want, when you want.

The amount of control you have in Morrowind is stunning. When you create a character, you can either choose from premade classes, have one assigned to you depending on how you answer a questionnaire, or create your own class. You can also choose one of 13 signs under which your character is born, which will give you bonuses, handicaps, or both. There are so many stats and skills to accumulate, you can easily spend hours experimenting with character types before you even start the game.

Morrowind's magic system brings a tear to my eye--not only do you have seven schools of magic (Conjuration, Illusion, Destruction, Restoration, Mysticism, Alteration, Enchant), but you also have an alchemy system, from which you can create potions from ingredients you can either buy or find in the wild. In addition, you can trap the souls of enemies you kill and bind them into items to create magic artifacts. Very cool. And of course, there are all the scrolls, magical items, etc., that you find in your travels.

Another boon is the thieving system. You can pick locks, disarm traps, pick pockets, and learn acrobatics. You can taunt, insult, or intimidate others as well as haggle for better deals in the market. And since you can steal (or try to steal) almost every item you see, business is good! This game was designed with a thief's eye.

The game itself is gorgeous. The graphics, sound, frame rate... all smooth as silk. You can spend hours just looking at the outlandish scenery and picking the flowers (literally). The musical score is rousing, and never gets old. The different creatures and people have their own voices and sounds. This is a game that makes anything but high-end computers cry, and it works on the Xbox without a hitch.

Okay, so Bethesda's Morrowind sounds like the greatest thing since... well... Bethesda's Elder Scrolls II, but does it have any flaws? Well, Morrowind is definitely geared toward magic users and thieves, but it is lacking when it comes to fighting. There are many battles in Morrowind, but they boil down to clicking your button and hitting your foe with either a melee or missile weapon. That's it. Combat gets old fast. In addition, the travel journal is purely elementary. It lists all the quests you undertake, but there is no way to sort them, or erase quests that you have finished. After a while, it takes a long time to find information. This is probably the biggest flaw in the game.

Bottom line: Morrowind is a PC-style RPG for a PC-style console. This game is reason enough to buy an Xbox, and will have hard-core RPG fans singing its praises for years to come. --Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• Thief and magic-user heaven
• Do whatever you want
• Beautiful graphics and sound

• Simplistic battle system
• Can't sort/edit quests in travel journal