Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

Morrowind served as a great first introduction to RPGs, and ensured I'd be addicted forever. The character customization was well done in the beginning and gave you an amazing array of options from selecting your fantasy race to choosing the astrological signs under which you were born (which imbued you with different powers). After being granted your new-found freedom in a tiny seaport town, you are on your own with only a message directing you to someone's house in the larger inland town of Balmora. An incredible adventure awaits that will take you to the the very throne of gods to defeat an ancient evil. One of the criticisms of this game which I've read in the past was its utter open-endedness and its relative lack of instructions-- but this was the property I found most attractive. In the beginning you didn't have a map showing you where your contact in Balmora lived-- you had to find out where this town was from conversations with townspeople in the seaport town, and then travel and discover it. You had to scavenge and steal, then sell your acquired wares, to generate funds for the equipment, armor and weapons you'd need on your journey. Once arriving in Balmora you still had to wander and converse with townsfolk to eventually find your contact. The realism afforded by this open-ended world drew me in and I still recall the musical scores, the daedric ruins and searching the sprawling streets in massive cities like Vivec. The Game of the Year Edition included two fantastic expansions, Bloodmoon and Tribunal. In Bloodmoon you could choose, after being attacked by werewolves, whether or not to cure yourself or become one-- as you can imagine, the ride is as fun as it sounds (challenging too). If you missed out on this one, and find yourself all played out and waiting on that next 360 game that's coming out next month... you might want to check this 360-compatible game out in the interim. But beware-- if you get sucked in, it can easily become a 100+ hour experience and worth every minute.