The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind arrived to significant anticipation five years after its predecessor, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Taking place in the Dunmer land of Vvardenfell, Morrowind promised an expanded world, deeper class customization, and hand-crafted environments with responsive physics and NPCs. While its critical reception was largely positive, with scores such as 9/10 from Game Informer and 9.4/10 from IGN, many reviews highlighted a notable disconnect between these high scores and specific criticisms.
Character creation offered extensive options, allowing players to design their avatars through a series of questions, choose from pre-set classes, or build a class from scratch. William Abner of GameSpy praised the game's introduction, which uses the player's backstory choices to set the stage and provide a tutorial for the interface. However, Abner found the question-based character creation method "blunt and superficial," while acknowledging the depth of the from-scratch creator, advising players to consult the manual for its intricacies.
Skill Progression and Combat
Morrowind's skill system, which ties character progression to the practice of specific skills rather than combat or quest completion, was lauded as a clever departure from genre conventions. Greg Kasavin of GameSpot noted that this system allows players to level up through activities relevant to their chosen playstyle, whether it be thieving or spellcasting. However, he also pointed out that certain skills were underdeveloped or easier to improve than others, and that the speechcraft skill, for example, devolved into a repetitive dice-roll mechanic akin to a slot machine, with NPCs reacting inconsistently to repeated attempts at bribery.
Combat drew significant criticism for its perceived clunkiness and lack of engagement. Edge magazine described it as a "horrid, stodgy mess," where a complex statistical system was masked by random mouse-clicking, undermining the first-person perspective. The interface for managing inventory and consuming items during combat, involving drag-and-drop menus, further detracted from player involvement. Simple AI routines were also cited, with NPCs often rushing into combat without strategic thought, such as neglecting to use doors.
World Design and Technical Performance
The vast, open-ended world of Morrowind was a double-edged sword for critics. While some, like IGN's Barry Brenesal, praised its remarkable detail and the sheer scope of exploration, detailing everything from giant mushrooms to intricate dungeons filled with unique creatures and alchemical ingredients, others found it disorienting. Edge magazine suggested that the world's size and freeform structure could lead to "long periods of aimless wandering and abject confusion." Mark Hoogland of All Game described the experience as "bewildering," with an overwhelming number of side quests and factions that could leave players unsure of their direction, though he conceded that devoted players would find months of content.
Kasavin echoed sentiments about the impressive environments, noting the realistic water effects, atmospheric lighting, and imaginative areas. However, he also pointed out that fast travel, while convenient, often resulted in a black loading screen with no visual representation of the journey, lessening the immersion.
Technical issues and bugs were also a recurring theme. Abner noted that while the graphics were immersive, the audio was less so, with limited voice acting and missed opportunities for atmospheric sound design. More critically, he detailed significant stability problems, requiring extensive troubleshooting with drivers and hardware acceleration settings just to play the game for extended periods. These issues often hampered positional audio capabilities. Furthermore, the game proved to be a "resource pig," with even recommended hardware struggling to run it smoothly at higher detail settings.
Despite these numerous criticisms, many reviewers found that Morrowind offered a compelling experience that transcended its flaws. Andrew Reiner of Game Informer suggested that the game's "undeniable charm" and its commitment to open-ended freedom, allowing players to pursue any activity they desire, led players to overlook its shortcomings. This unparalleled freedom, described as a single-player EverQuest, meant that players could invest a significant amount of time developing their characters and exploring the vast array of quests and guild missions available.