You start this epic journey on a boat. You've just arrived on the province of Morrowind from a prison camp and you're to meet a man in the city of Balmora. It's all hush hush as the Imperial council and King ordered your release. Once you step into the costal city of Seyda Neen however, what you do next is completely up to you.

The innovative touches start early. Character creation is accomplished via a truly novel approach. Before you enter the city, you'll be asked to fill out a few identity forms. Here, you'll be able to choose your name, race, sex and the sign you were born under. You'll also be able to choose a predefined character class or make your own using a variety of major, minor and miscellaneous skills. Bethesda claims there are over a billion possible characters.

As you explore, you'll be treated to a massive world filled with trees, sprawling cities and towering mountains. This, however, is where you may run into problems. The game's engine is more than capable of rendering these enormous landscapes and populated cities, but getting a decent frame rate while you look at them is a trick. Even a high end PC will strain to maintain 15fps in the outdoors. The only way we found to improve performance is to reduce draw distance, increase fog or eliminate shadows. Even then, though, the game is far from smooth.

It's rather unfortunate since Morrowind sports some great textures and is huge in scope and size. You'll find yourself sitting and watching a sunset, or gazing into the heavens at night from time to time.

The game's soundtrack is certainly a great composition that will have your heart soaring, especially early on. Morrowind's title track especially promises adventure and wonder. Unfortunately, the magic begins to wear thin as you'll hear the somewhat limited tracks over and over.

In fact, many sounds seem a little off throughout the game - especially in battle. Some are misplaced. Others don't seem to relate to the action they are supposed to represent. It's not a huge distraction, but rather something you notice over time.

Expect to do a lot of reading in Morrowind. There are over six full six novels worth of text, and while the reading is not all mandatory, it's a wonderful way to immerse yourself in the game.

When you're not reading, you can explore the province (which in itself is a daunting task), follow the main storyline or participate in any of hundreds of quests. Along the way, you'll have access to thousands of different weapon, armor and clothing options, each giving you a unique look and flare. You'll also come across powerful weapons enchanted in a variety of effects, both offensive and defensive, and you'll be able to enchant your own.

While navigating and playing Morrowind may seem overwhelming, the game sports an intuitive window-like system. You're able to resize inventory, spell or map windows. Drag and drop items in and out of inventory and assign hotkeys to some of your most used spells. Combat, unfortunately, isn't quite as intuitive.

The highest praise for Morrowind is there's always something to do. Whether its stealing a staff from a powerful sorcerer, collecting fungi samples for an aspiring wizard or taking care of bandits on the road, the game appeals to all segments of the RPG world. If you find a particular spot that's too difficult, leave and level up a bit and when you return, you may be strong enough to beat it.

As sweeping as the game is, there are some problems: The traps system is quite basic. Very little skill is involved and you're even told when a door or chest is trapped, eliminating much of the suspense. It's quite easy to find weapons or armor that are powerful early in the game, which can make a novice warrior a bit stronger than they should be. The game also starts very slowly meaning you'll have trouble dispatching a simple rat.

NPC's are spotty at best when it comes to reacting to you. You may be well liked by a character and they'll still insult you when you walk by them. Characters don't tend to move much if ever from the place you've found them, which detracts a bit from the breathing living world you've grown to love. Naturally, there are a few bugs, but most minor and none that crash your machine.

Ultimately, Morrowind is a game that attempts to be an epic, and generally succeeds. Despite the quibbles in performance, minor bugs, Morrowind is more an experience than a game. While its completely open ended nature may be a turn off for some, Morrowind is a journey every true RPG fan should take.

Kevin Viana