If you haven't been hiding under a rock someplace for the last couple of years and you're an Xbox player, you have probably heard of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. You may not have actually played the game, it is surely not be for everyone, but you've almost certainly heard about this enormous, open-ended RPG that lets the player be anything, do anything and go anywhere their little heart desires. At this point, I will not debate whether the game deserved the high praise it has received (it did), but rather if the new Game of the Year Edition is worth your hard-earned cash. The short answer is yes. But there are some caveats to that. If the game's playing style did not appeal to you when you first played it, there is nothing here that will change that. If you're a fan of the original or the price tag scared you off, this one is for you.
What Bethesda Softworks has done in the Game of the Year Edition is put the original The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind together with the two PC expansions, The Elder Scrolls III:Tribunal and The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon, into one big package for the lucky Xbox player. A game that used to only have a couple hundred hours of play time, suddenly has a hundred plus more. (Doing anything for the next few months?) And for the price of one game, this is major gaming value.
To recap the game of Morrowind briefly, the player is dropped off a prison ship in the land of Morrowind at the city of Seyda Neen. After some release processing, during which you'll set up your character, you're dumped into the population to pretty much do what you want. The strength of Morrowind is that you may live as you desire. Be noble or a complete scoundrel. Whatever you choose to do, there are consequences to all actions. The world is alive and there are many people to meet and quests that may be undertaken. Everything the player does contributes to his experience and skills. There are no constraints put on where the player may go in Morrowind. Don't like the path? Wander cross-country and see the sights of the wild. The ability to play in just about any manner is what gives Morrowind almost limitless game life.
This open-ended structure of the game is both its strength and weakness. This is why some people don't like playing this type of game. With no structure it is easy to just wander aimlessly never seeming to accomplish much. A Japanese RPG this is not.
Anyway, if you are a fan of the original Morrowind and would love to spend many more hours in this amazing world, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind- Game of the Year Edition is what you've been waiting for. Both Tribunal and Bloodmoon offer new lands to explore, new people to interact with, new items to acquire, new enemies to fight and new quests to undertake. The game of course allows players to use the saved games from the original Morrowind and to continue the development of their character.
The two major new areas to explore are the city of Mournhold in the Tribunal expansion and the northern island of Solstheim from the Bloodmoon expansion. Be careful on the island of Solstheim as there be werewolves here! It is definitely a new facet of your character to experiment with if one of the critters happens to take a bite of you.
It has been more than a year since the original Morrowind was released, so the graphics do show some signs of aging and the GOTY edition really can't do anything about that. Despite its age, sound is still top notch. The combination of good graphics and great sound combine to fully immerse the player in a lush environment that is all too easy to get lost in for more hours than you really intended to.
If there is a weakness to this package, it is the loading times. Some seem to go on forever. If you're killed, start the game reloading before you go to the kitchen to feed your game-emaciated body. It will probably be done by the time you get back.
So let's sum it all up, shall we. If you bought the original Morrowind and put it down shortly thereafter because the sheer size and scope of the thing overwhelmed you, the GOTY edition is an even bigger intimidator and you should probably give it a miss. On the other hand, if you would like to try questing in the land of Morrowind for the first time or played the original game until you actually started dressing like your character and addressing the neighbor's dog as "outlander", better get to your game store and pick up The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Game of the Year Edition right away. There are more lands yet to explore.
