THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE: MORROWIND
Dunmer and Dunmer?
More than 15 years after its PC release, PlayStation users get to experience Morrowind, as Bethesda introduces the volcanic continent of Vvardenfell to The Elder Scrolls Online. Bethesda’s challenge was to bring it both to TESO players without losing the old magic and to complete newcomers without making them feel hopelessly out of their depths. The reimagining of this world is a triumph, from the iconic skyscraper mushrooms to ominous Daedric ruins. Even the pinkish hue that permeates the colour palette from Balmora to Vivec is spot-on. If you’re familiar with the original, you’ll feel it straight away: this is Vvardenfell. This is home. It’s a condensed version of home, however. Distances are compressed, and whereas its previous RPG incarnation was pebble-dashed with dungeons, this Vvardenfell, designed for an MMO, is more structured, with far less incentive for random exploration – the focus is more on questing.
BAD MOON RISING
Like the rest of TESO, Morrowind is set centuries before the numbered Elder Scrolls games (Skyrim was the most recent). It takes place 700 years before the events of the original Morrowind, and focuses on Lord Vivec, a living god and the only thing stopping a moonlet from deep-impacting the capital city. A mysterious illness is draining him of his divine energy. No prizes for guessing what your task is going to be. Over around 30 hours you’ll explore Vvardenfell and interact with its people (a complex network of Great Houses, noble assassins, and more cultists than you’d find in the audience at a Morrissey gig) in your mission to prevent them all going the way of the dinosaurs.
Quests are well written and well-acted, but too often their design boils down to “Go to location and press q”. And as this is a MMO, you’re not alone. High-traffic areas can devolve into large, leaderless bands of players caroming off enemies before stumbling onto the objective. It’s a maelstrom of panicked “Save him!”“Heal them!” and “Why I have I lost half my health!?”
I’m tackling these quests as the Warden, a new character class. It’s a nature-loving jack-of-all-trades: I mend wounds with tufts of happy mushrooms, buff allies with blizzard-coats of ice, and bring the smack down with summoned critters. There’s not enough visual razzmatazz to really sell these abilities but, on the positive side, Wardens have a pet bear as an ultimate ability. Any class that can turn the tide of battle with an asskicking bear can’t be all bad.
If you’re already an Elder Scrolls Online player, Morrowind will definitely expand your horizons. Lovers of the numbered games may find the restrictive combat and emphasis on questing over exploration more of a turnoff.
VERDICT
A beautiful restoration of a classic setting, but clumsy combat and a more constrained style make us wish even harder for a mainline return to Vvardenfell. Ed Campion