I haven't written many reviews, but sometimes it's warranted. Morrowind is a decent game, I won't lie. But it's not the object of worship many make it out to be. I'll stick to some of the "bad" aspects; any of the other gushing reviews can fill you in on the rest. The game is characterized by so much sameness, everywhere. If you're a casual gamer (buying a title almost 20 years old?), you might not notice or be bothered, much. But if you're a modder, a serious gamer, or even just launch the editor once, the curtain will come down, the world of Morrowind will crumble before your eyes. Everything is static meshes glued to more static meshes. These vast dungeons they speak of are nothing but cookie cutter corridors glued together, often in the very same (or at least very similar) configuration you just saw in a dungeon an hour ago. Buildings, dungeons, boulders--all meshes plunked down on a convex world mesh, over and over and over, it's always the same thing. The art is quite bad. The animation is terrible (you realize this is a Bethesda title). Gameplay balance, you say? What's that? This is honestly the worst aspect of the game. Touted as 'freedom', Morrowind has almost no direction. Yes, there is a plot, and you should follow it. Because if you don't, the game is little more than a solo wander-kill-repeat fest through sameness. The (ab)use of leveled lists is offensive. That you can kill a god within twenty minutes of starting is shameful. That you can craft weapons and armor that permit you to leap across the entire world, become essentially immortal, and stun-hack anything (even a god) to death is laughable, disgraceful, ridiculous, game-ruining. That Bethesda keeps doing it going forward... well, that's a different discussion. There's a lot more to say, but I'll summarize with: if you want to try it out, by all means do so. But wait for a really deep sale. That, or just wait for the next "graphically enhanced" re-installment of the same game from you-know-who.
Bought this on HB a while back. How you feel about this game is going to come down to what you're looking for, ultimately. I was into Principia at the time, which is the king of simulated mechanical/eletrical/physical interactivity. If you can imagine it, there's almost surely a way to do it, in Principia. I bought Besiege hoping that it would be Principia with a point/fun game attached to it. Not so much. I've now left both Principia and Besiege behind because neither have much pull. That said, the Besiege devs are clearly still working, and they do have "fun" in mind behind their design, so I'm hoping they will make a great little title out of this by the time it reaches completion. Right now, it's like Principia Lite (really lite) and has limited playability/fun factor. Build your contraption -- usually some kind of vehicle with a bomb launcher or battering ram -- blow up a village (etc.), rinse repeat. Shrug. Still watching and waiting, hopeful.
If the only true measure of art is the emotion it inspires, then this is a work of art indeed. When you play the mother badger, you do move through a loose corridor, but it is often (particularly toward the end) quite loose. In fact, you might be scrambling to figure out where you're supposed to go. Without spoilers, this was touching, uplifting, frightening, chilling, heart-wrenching, nerve-wracking, and it will bring out the fight in you. The ending is... well, you have to see it. My hat is off to the developers, Might and Delight. Get this game if you have a heart.
If all of the other reviews didn't make it clear, this game punishes. In fact, a bit too much for me. I got it free during the summer sale, and am glad I didn't have to pay. If you're into this type of game with a rogue like twist (shortcuts do ease the burn a bit) you'll probably love it. I've only seen a few bugs (mostly menu and display issues), but I didn't play for long. Instead, a let's play showed me how lame I am at this type of game, and demonstrate that it is fast paced and an at least somewhat interesting challenge. But I've got more important and better things to do with my time than be punished so severely. And I grew up in arcades (when they were new), so it's not about "kids these days..."
