Reviewed: June 30, 2003
Reviewed by: Elias Fixler
Publisher
Bethesda Softworks
Developer
Bethesda Softworks
Released: June 6, 2003
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
9
9
8
9
9.3
System Requirements
Recommended System
So, you’ve traveled the length and breadth of the land, righting the wrongs of the world and championing the causes of the just. Or perhaps you’ve pursued personal gain, caused mischief, or trod the path of pure evil as is your desire. Either way, you’ve seen all there is to see, and now you’ve returned home to Vvardenfell for a much needed rest.
You place your magical tomes upon the shelf, your collected herbs in tinted jars, and your weapons on their wall hooks. It seems you’ve barely removed your boots and retired to the hearth with a large mug of ale in your hand and an audience gathered round the fire, intent on hearing of your exploits, when the call to adventure yet again rings in your ears. What do you do?
The developers at Bethesda Softworks are betting you’ll answer that call, and it’d be a pretty good bet. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and its first expansion pack, Tribunal, together form one of the finest role-playing experiences in the history of computer gaming. A huge and wondrous world, a beefy main storyline with numerous quests, and an open ended play style not seen since Daggerfall made these must-have titles for fantasy roleplayers. It’s no wonder that there’s a whole legion of devoted fans ready to explore the icy regions revealed in the latest expansion in the series: Bloodmoon.
Bloodmoon takes you on a journey north of Vvardenfell to the Island of Solstheim, a winter land with a look and climate quite different from that of its southern neighbor, and with its own promise of new adventures- and new perils.
A potentially lucrative mining colony has begun construction here, and it’s up to you, if you so choose, to see to the colony’s success. Of course, there’s more to this situation than meets the eye. Werewolves and prophecies are thrown into the mix, as are the machinations of the locals, in this case the Nords, and the realization that you are playing a greater role in the scheme of things than you first thought.
The developers must be given credit for striving to make this add-on something more than a collection of new skins and quests. Bloodmoon differs from its predecessors in subtle, yet significant ways which serve to make the game a new and slightly different experience. For one thing, of the three Morrowind installments, Bloodmoon strikes the best balance yet between an open ended, free form environment and a tight story line. For another, setting the expansion as a separate region rather than as a new area within the boundaries of Vvardenfell, allows for a fresh perspective on the world of Tamriel and the relations between its peoples.
What truly established Morrowind as a well-fleshed world was the existence of a strong back-story; the history of Vvardenfell and the relationships between the various factions was well mapped, ready for the player to discover even as the main story line unfolded. In Vvardenfell, one could feel the undercurrents in the relationships between the elves and those they considered “outlanders”, and even among themselves (to mistake an Altmer for a Dunmer or vice versa can be a grievous insult). Here in Solstheim, the world is given a Nordic flavor (the Nords of Morrowind that is, who bear more than a passing resemblance to the Nords of the “real world”).
The most notable improvement to Bloodmoon is the player’s ability to affect the game’s outcome by his choices. In Morrowind, despite the existence of multiple paths, all roads led to Rome. Killing a character or befriending him, joining one faction versus another, each choice opened some doors and closed others. However, following the story led to a single conclusion. Not so in Bloodmoon where even the final outcome is in question, depending on whether one follows the path of good or the path of evil. The dynamic, branching story is an exciting touch and adds to the game’s replayability.
One choice in particular has been well touted, that of becoming a werewolf. Allowing oneself to be bitten by a werewolf and become so afflicted gives the player not merely a different path to follow (opening up some quests, closing off others), but a whole different playing style. In wolf form, the player has incredible strength and vitality, but cannot use weapons or magic. It’s like, well it’s like playing the game as an animal rather than a sorcerer/rogue/warrior, and it’s a fresh take on the genre. Be warned, allowing yourself to be spotted during transformation fingers you as an abomination for the rest of the game, making it difficult to complete. Save your progress often; this is good advice in general, but here especially.
Wintry Solstheim has a new look and feel, most notably a different color palette, brighter and dominated of course by snowy whites which bring a welcome change from the darker color scheme of Morrowind and Tribunal. The abundant new wildlife, and the smattering of new weapons and items all have new skins which fit nicely into the “Solstheim look”, but perhaps the best visual treat here comes from the new weather patterns, especially the blizzards.
In a great touch, the dynamic story line I mentioned earlier has a visual component as well. Unlike the static cities and towns in Morrowind, the mining colony is a growing, changing, work in progress. One can actually see this growth as time passes in the game. More exciting is the fact that the player himself can play a role in the administration of the colony, whereupon its changes in appearance reflect the player’s decisions.
I can’t help but think of a little gem of a Playstation RPG called Suikoden. More like Shining Force than Final Fantasy, Suikoden had a truly cool gimmick. The player, who leads a revolt against an evil emperor, acquires a headquarters early in the game. As he recruits allies to his cause, these recruits take up residence in the headquarters, which grows and changes accordingly. If for example, he finds and recruits an armorer, an armory/weapons shop eventually opens up at the HQ. Bedrooms and meeting rooms are added at consistent pace as more and more recruits join the ranks, and even a gardener adds his unique touch to the open spaces around the fortress. Part of the fun of this game was returning home after a series of quests and exploring your own headquarters to see what had changed in your absence.
Comparing Suikoden to Morrowind is like comparing a tricycle to a tank, but still, the possibilities present themselves. Imagine a game of Morrowind’s complexity and magnitude, but where the player can build something truly massive that has a physical manifestation, like Suikoden’s rebel army with its fortress. Bloodmoon could be a small step in that direction. (I hope the people at Bethesda are thinking along those lines).
The graphics in Bloodmoon, though fresh, are not superior to those in the original game. You might be surprised to hear that I’m pleased about that. The truth is, I believe that a game’s expansion should be playable on the same computer as the original. Morrowind was one of the reasons I had to buy a new machine in the first place. I can sympathize with the player who can barely play a game on his rig, only to discover that an expansion or patch which supports some new Direct-X feature not only slows down frame rate or forces him to lower the resolution, but will actually cause his computer to start crashing.
Though I did not experience this personally, I do know people who have had issues with Morrowind slowing or crashing, though they have machines that supposedly meet the game’s minimum system requirements. I feel comfortable saying that if you’ve avoided or solved these problems already, they should not resurface with Bloodmoon.
Bloodmoon has a full complement of new creature sounds and ambient sound effects as well as some good voice-overs by the locals. Sadly there’s no new musical score. Although the original music is as superb as ever, some new riffs would have really supported that “new game” feel so evident everywhere else in Bloodmoon.
Bloodmoon is good for a minimum of thirty to forty hours of gameplay for those no nonsense players who just want to follow the plot to its conclusion. But as part of the larger world, the Island of Solstheim still holds the same potential for exploration and open play which takes away any limit to the amount of time one can spend developing his character or filling his coffers.
Bloodmoon also offers a greater possibility of replay than its predecessors. One might try both the werewolf and the traditional paths to the story’s conclusion, or else replay the game from a crossroads where a major decision was made in order to follow the opposite path. Keeping old game saves allows you to keep your options open.
Patches and upgrades introduced in Tribunal, such as the improved journal system and the means to flag map locations, are included on the Bloodmoon disk, so even those who did not purchase the earlier expansion can still benefit from goodies such as improved quest logs.
Bloodmoon is a must-have expansion for those who enjoyed Morrowind with or without Tribunal. In some ways, it is a continuation of a well-loved favorite, in others; it’s like a whole new game.
Some of you may have noticed that my overall score for Bloodmoon was a 9.3, which is strange since the highest individual score I awarded the expansion was a 9. I could say that GC reviewers are required to assign whole numbers to individual scores, with no such restriction on awarding our overall score, and I felt that no category deserved a perfect “10”. That would be true. But the actual reason is that, in the case of Bloodmoon, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.