Morrowind is what might be termed a traditional Role Playing Game (RPG). The action takes place on an island called Vvardenfell and you start as a newly released prisoner. As is normal for such a game you know not why you were imprisoned or why you have been set free, only that the Emperor has ordered it. Character selection and determination of statistics is cleverly done by talking to customs officials. You select your race but for character class you have the choice of choosing a predefined class, answering a series of questions and the class is picked depending on your answers or you can define your own class. There are 10 character races to choose from each with it's own strengths and weaknesses and no less than 21 character classes based on 3 skill sets, combat, magic and stealth. On top of that you then get to choose from 13 birth signs which add more depth.
Every character class can access all of the 27 skills available. You have 5 major and 5 minor skills which start off more developed than the others. Level advancement is achieved by improving the major skills by using them, there are no experience points. Once you have gained a total of 10 skill point increases from any combination of the major skills you get to increase any 3 attributes (strength, intelligence etc) out of the 8 available. If you have not realised it by now character choice and development is complex and deserves a lot of your attention at the start of the game.
Once you have left the customs post you are then free to do whatever you want. Vvardenfell is apparently only 3 miles across but it is packed with hundreds of things to do. You can ignore the main quest and simply wander around in the wilderness exploring, picking flowers, herbs and roots to sell or make into potions yourself, fighting off the occasional creature along the way. Or you can join one of the guilds and carry out quests for them earning ranks and reputation along the way. You can trap creatures souls in soulstones and use then to enchant items for sale or personal use. Or you could simply go for the main quest and ignore everything else.
This is a massive, massive free flowing adventure with little or no restrictions on what you can do or what you can become. Skills can be increased not only by using them but by finding and paying trainers or finding and reading books. You can bribe or flatter people for better prices and information. You can steal anything from anyone, but if you get caught you could end up back in jail. There is just so much you can do.
In fact it is so huge that I can't see many people having the patience to complete it. I reckon it's going to take hundreds of hours to play through. With the huge options in character classes and development it also has considerable replay value, but again I'm not sure many people will play it again once complete
Coming out as it did just a few weeks after Dungeon Siege comparisons are inevitable although I would not put Morrowind in the same category as Gas Powered Games effort. For a start you are on your own in Morrowind apart from the occasional NPC who tags along in certain quests. It also plays best as a first person game although a third person view is an option. Overall I think they are two completely different subdivisions of the RPG genre and therefore can't be easily compared. I will say however that in my opinion Morrowind is by far the superior title.
Combat is straightforward enough requiring you to point at the enemy and click the mouse. Each weapon has 3 different attack methods (each casuing different amounts of damage) depending on which direction your character is moving when you strike. You can simplify it further by having the "always use best attack" option on. Spell effects are fairly simple from what I've seen so far, not having the graphical splendour of say Baldur's Gate. There are a huge number of spells available (including any you make yourself) and a vast array of magical potions too. Apart from specific enemies there are plenty of beasties in the wilderness to contend with and what you meet out there is nicely determined by your level. So there is no need to worry about stumbling into impossible situations early in the game. In fact from what I have seen the game is very well balanced despite the incredible complexity.
A good RPG needs good interaction with non player characters and there are hundreds of individually named NPC's on Vvardenfell. There are perhaps 30 or so towns, villages and hamlets each with a fair population all of whom you can talk to. Everyone can in some way assist you either with information, quests, training or bartering spells, potions, repairing weapons and armour or just giving you a friendly hint. There is a lot of repetition in what they say and all the guards look like they have been cloned. There are also only a few different voices used.
There are hundreds of quests which you can embark on usually given to you by the leaders of guilds you join. Completion is rewarded with either straight cash or some useful items. Quests range in complexity and difficulty and there is usually more than one way to complete them, combat not always being necessary. Many necessitate travel but getting around the island can be achieved in a number of ways, either by walking which takes a fair amount of time (and can get a little boring until you can increase your speed) or you can use various transportation services like gigantic insects, boats and via the mages guild teleportation. There are also spells which can be used to get around quickly.
So far I haven't mentioned graphics and if you are going to get the most out of this game then you are going to need a fairly powerful system. A Geforce graphics card with 64Mb of memory and a fast processor and lots of memory are essential. The reward however is fantastic. Graphically this is a beautiful game and more than once I have found myself just standing watching the sun set or the clouds drifting across the sky. The day/night cycle and weather is fantastically well represented and really helps you to get into the atmosphere. Loading times are also very good. The graphics are supplemented nicely by excellent sound effects.
The one thing that I haven't liked so far is the journal. This records everything you have done and each quest you are given as well as information you have gained. The trouble is that this is recorded in real time and completed quests don't get written out. This is fine if you only do one quest at a time but if you accept several then you will find yourself like I did having to plow through pages and pages to find what I was supposed to be doing. Worse it is not always obvious who gave you the quest in the first place. There is an index of topics which you can browse and there are hyperlinks to important characters and information but to find anything you need to remember names of NPC's and places and that isn't always easy to do.
Overall this is a fantastically huge and complex game which will keep you at the keyboard for months. And if you get fed up playing it you can always use the editor which comes with the game to add characters, buildings, magic items, quests and anything else you want. The editor produces "plug ins" and there are several available at the Morrowind site as well as on the Internet.
Anyway that's enough for now, back to Vvardenfell for me.