After some suggestions, I decided to give Morrowind a shot. I can say this, that the game can very well be the game that will bring me back to the hardcore gaming that I’ve missed for the last year or so. It is definitely immersive, bombarding you with fiction from an alternate world of fantasy that can arguably be said to be as good as Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.

The biggest problem I first faced with Morrowind was the scale of the game. Morrowind is no ordinary RPG, as anyone with any knowledge of Bethesda Softworks will point out. It is more of a setup, a base for your RPG adventure, which you construct from the actions you undertake. That is, perhaps, the beauty of the game. It has a story, from what I can make out, but the level of freedom is astounding.

A second problem, one that I still have would be that of speed. The PC appeas to move at a lethargic rate, often making going through hallways a very long process. Running causes the PC to get fatigued, which is regenerating. I would personally have preffered at least the running speed to be the minimum walking speed, with an extra ‘Sprint’ functionality, like in Half-Life. Now that it’s on my mind, I really do miss Half-Life’s speed and fluidity of movement.

I love the writing in the game. It is way above the standard RPG fare. The game world is populated by what appears to be at least a hundred different books, each of which either dispense information on the massive game world, or tell a short story, or both. The book aesthetics also make reading a pleasure, and the journal in the game is perhaps the most lovely I’ve seen.

Sound is top-notch, with crisp sound effects, atmospheric sound and a beautfully magnificent soundtrack. It’s really the sort found in movies. Graphics look great as well. Considering the volume of the game, the graphics make a great compromise between performance and appearance, but allow almost no customization – you have to stick with what you get. The water looks exceptionally gorgeous, albeit seems to lack smoothness.

Morrowind is, in every definition of the term, epic. It’s a game you can never completely play in-and-out. But it sure as hell is awesome all the same. I appreciate Bethesda’s efforts in this: they have a truly respectable style of video games.