GameSpy Morrowind Preview

Like the title says, GameSpy lays out a two page Xbox preview of Morrowind. Since the Xbox and PC are identical in terms of content, anyone with a PC interested in the game should read it. I did, however, think that the screenshots they posted either a) didn’t do the game justice, or b) looked as if the distance slider was drawn too close. I wonder if the distance slider is going to be an option in the Xbox version. One would hope. Anyway, here’s a snippet:

Some console fans might find the seeming lack of a linear plot an annoyance. At this stage of the game’s development there is a little of that “what do I do now?” frustration. Morrowind has a linear plot that designers estimate at about 40 hours assuming you skip the hundreds of hours of ancillary quests. But you’d be better off relaxing and going with the flow; “What do I do now?” becomes “What can I do now?” The world is filled with more than enough stuff to do to keep you from feeling aimless. It’s entirely possible that you’ll be on track to finishing the game and something will happen that puts you on a compelling side-quest. Additionally, there are several guilds you can join sending you on missions. What’s remarkable is that these missions tend to be compelling and rewarding. The designers seemed to have consciously avoided “step and fetch” missions and simple “go kill that thing” busywork.

That they did, thank goodness.