Jonny Austin finds that taking some time away from the real world and immersing yourself in a fantasy one can be good for your 'elf.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind forms part of a triumvirate of long-awaited RPGs to hit the PC during the summer(ish) months of this year. Dungeon Siege, which made a less than wonderful impression on yours truly, was released a few weeks back, Neverwinter Nights is just around the corner, and right now we’ve got Morrowind to contend with. One of the most important aspects of role-playing games is the ability to create a totally unique character geared to your playing style, and this is something that Morrowind accomplishes with panache. You start the game in the hold of a slave ship, stripped of all but your clothes, and given orders to deliver a package to a man in a town a few days travel away.

The following sequence sees you go through customs, and take release papers to the captain. You’ll have a name, a race, a gender, a birthsign and a set of skills by the time you’re a free man (or woman, or ugly-as-sin bipedal lizard-freak). There are three ways to choose what class of character you will become. You can answer a set of ten situation-based ethical questions which will automatically determine your class, you can select a class from 21 predetermined classes, or you could just create your own class from scratch. The freedom to be who you want to be is immense.

As you venture out into the world of Morrowind, starting with the tiny port town of Seyda Neen, on the large island of Vvardenfell (only two of many immensely silly and derivative nonsense names), you immediately start nattering with NPCs (Non-Player Characters), whose reactions to you alter depending on your appearance and actions.

What soon becomes apparent is that this is a world with rules. And armed soldiers on patrol in the settlements. Unlike most RPGs, you can’t just walk into someone’s house and rifle through their underwear drawers looking for loose gold, in front of the proprietors. I started off desperate to be law-abiding, but when I walked into a house and was attacked by a woman who I hadn’t seen was in there, for swiping her oil lamp, I had no option but to axe her to death. A shopkeeper provided the second notch on my axe after he took offence to me filching a few items from a barrel when I thought he wasn’t looking.

My next mistake was trying to pick the lock of someone’s front door while he was stood in the vicinity. One cry for help later and I’m surrounded by guards. One fine later and I’m out of pocket but I’ve learnt a lesson - if you’re gonna break into someone’s house, kill ‘em first. Oh, and I wouldn’t recommend stealing a few expensive items from an empty room in the Mages Guild, heading down to the basement and attempting to sell them on to a very powerful wizard who also happens to be the previous owner. Ouch.

This illusion of a living, breathing world, with laws, customs and a functioning society is mostly conjured very well, and once you get the hang of things you can settle in very effectively. It’s a good idea to be agreeable with people as well, as I discovered when I found out that a woman I’d taken great pleasure in taunting was a member of the same Warrior Guild as me. As you’re an outlander, people will often react unfavourably to you anyway, and will remember their impression of you later. You can manipulate this of course, but it depends to an extent on your race / character class, and your oratory skills - which can be improved with training.

There is a huge all-encompassing storyline / quest for you to undertake, should you want to, but along the way there are hundreds of other quests to get to grips with, from simple pest extermination to treasure recovery to wiping out a bunch of monsters making life difficult for the locals. You’ll no doubt end up joining at least one Guild, which means discount training and as many quests as you want to undertake, but you can also freelance, taking on jobs from people you meet in the street. It’ll take some while to complete, but really get into it and this game could easily last you until next summer - it’s that huge. It even comes with The Elder Scrolls Construction Set, a world creator/editor that will allow the more ambitious among you to edit and change the world in just about any way you see fit, or even create a new one.

Personally I know nothing of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons system that forms the backbone to many RPGs, but Morrowind, unlike the forthcoming AD & D-powered Neverwinter Nights, runs on its own set of rules. Your stats, and expertise in certain skills rise over time through use, but can be bolstered by going to the locals for a wide-range of training exercises.

Combat, magic and item use is all handled impressively, and getting to grips with the interface is a doddle. All the action happens in real-time and firing off spells and swiping / shooting with your melee / ranged weapon is as simple as pressing a key to ready yourself and hitting the mouse button a few times while dodging incoming attacks.

Disappointments are few and far between. It’s a shame, given the real-world feel to a lot of the game, that NPCs never seem to move far. The Dreamcast’s Shenmue series excelled in this area and while it was occasionally annoying looking for someone and not knowing whereabouts they were, it would add an extra air of authenticity to Morrowind if shopkeepers didn’t stay up behind the counter all night, if taverns weren’t open 24 hours a day and if people in the street didn’t wander aimlessly round a small set path for eternity.

NPC conversation can be slightly annoying too. The dialogue is handled relatively well, allowing you to pick up on parts of the conversation and ask further questions, but many NPCs offer exactly the same lines in terms of conversation - add that to the fact that many look alike and you have a small problem with differentiation. When the characterisation, dialogue and voice-acting is done well though, it’s done very well.

Also done very well is the score. Which will mostly be described as 'epic'. You know what it sounds like already, with folky and orchestral vistas being sonically painted in your mind by the very respectable musical accompaniment. This is one area where games are currently eclipsing films, and it’s because of titles like this.

Visually this is certainly one of the finest titles to grace the PC. With most of the action happening through the first-person perspective (hitting TAB takes you to 3rd person but it doesn’t work as well) you get a ground-level view of the world that RPG titles like this don’t normally afford. And it’s a beautiful world, one of the most splendiferous seen in any game to date on a top PC. The towns are architecturally sound, the fantasy elements of the design inspired, the character/monster model design is great and technically it’s superb with real-time shadowing, great water and lighting effects and a very impressive level of detail.

What Morrowind represents is a giant step forward for freedom in RPG gaming. If you want, you can even seek out a vampire sect and become a creature of the undead yourself. Your strength and certain other stats will go through the roof, but you may have to live a life ridiculed by normal people and prodded with sticks. There is a cure of course, if you can find it. The depth and complexity to this title is awe-inducing to say the least. Within some pretty massive boundaries, you can do what you want.

Despite the lack of multiplayer support, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of those games you could literally spend your life in. Are recent real-world events getting you down? Are bills are getting to much to bear, is life in general dealing you more problems than you can handle? Then run, hide and ignore your woes until they go away. Lose yourself in the land of Morrowind, allow yourself a smile and set off for epic adventures in a dangerous and wonderful place. It's tough to get into but very rewarding and very highly recommended. And please try to keep your accidental axe-murder tally under a hundred.