Morrowind : Game Of The Year Edition for PC Add-On Reviews
Set in the fictional Elder Scrolls universe, Morrowind: Game of the Year Edition, combines the original Morrowind with its two add-ons “Bloodmoon” and “Tribunal”. Essentially, it’s three related stories in one package.
Morrowind itself, sees the player cast into the shoes of a recently pardoned prisoner, who is relocated to Morrowind. Little does the character know what part he or she will have in the unfolding of the legend that progresses. At first the game play is a bit slow. This could be to allow the newer players to gently ease their way into the game, however a few of the early quests do introduce the players to combat. Thankfully, the game auto-levels the difficulty in game to match both the character’s current level, and the difficulty the game has been placed upon
The first add-on, “Tribunal”, sees the player gaining access to Mournhold which comes complete with an entirely new main quest, equipment and much more. This first sees the character as the target of an assassination attempt, and their search for information inside of the walls of Mournhold.
While no where as big, Mournhold itself is constructed in such as way that all areas are easy to get to. However, without the size, it does lose some of the impressiveness that Morrowind had. That is, of course, until the player starts to explore the underground areas and work on the side quests.
The second add-on, “Bloodmoon”, sees the player traveling to the snow covered wilderness of Solstheim and much like the first add-on, comes complete with it’s own new quests and equipment. These include a founding of a colony, and the main quest that involves working with the Imperial legion.
Unfortunately, Morrowind does have some areas that could be improved. One prime example are plot holes big enough to drive a bus through… sideways. The main quest could have been enhanced so much through thoughtful plotting. It seems to have a giant shift from the character being a nobody, to becoming an integral part in the unfolding of a quest. Thankfully, this isn’t repeated as much in the add-ons.
Another disappointing aspect of Morrowind itself is due to one particular type of creature, the Cliff Racer. This creature appears at all levels, and seems to be something that annoys the majority of players. Very often, a character can strike out into the wilderness and encounter several of the other creatures, including countless hordes of Cliff Racers. It appears that these creatures will not be placed on Morrowind’s endangered species list anytime soon.
Some of the side-quests that are available are in fact single missions. They have no relation to the missions that follow them, or the missions that come before them. Careful planning could have seen major sub-plots growing into full fledged quests that lead the character into differing aspects of Morrowind and offering them choices of what to do and how to handle them.
The first add-on, “Tribunal”, as mentioned above, does offer a new area to explore. While the topside of the city is small compared to the landscape of Morrowind itself, it captures the feel of the city rather well. In fact, it could be assumed that the area portrayed here pays attention to small areas. There are plenty of surprises to be found for a player who is willing to invest time in this add-on. This also gives the player a choice of which to side to join.
The second and last, “Bloodmoon”, sees a new Island added to Morrowind. This can be reached by ship, or by a variety of other means, even swimming. This adds an entirely new slant on the Morrowind expansion by putting the character in several new situations, one of which sees the formation of a colony. The main quest, at one point, can become extremely frustrating and annoying due to references in an a book the character finds.
A very impressive feature of Morrowind is the player created content side. These player made add-ons can include numerous and countless things. Examples include player controlled ships, the ability to craft new items, and even entirely new land masses complete with new flora and fauna for the player to explore.
This post is part of the series: Morrowind Reviews
View various reviews of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as well as a look at the official game guide.
