You are reading the most futile article ever written. There's barely room to scratch the surface of the enormous world that is Bethesda Softworks' Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The first major Xbox roleplaying game, and one of the most expansive, liberating, immersive first-person RPGs ever made simply can't be confined to what we mortals call a "First Encounter." But by Daedra, I can try.
Morrowind is the third Elder Scrolls title, though the first two-Arena and Daggerfall-were PC games; the last one came out in 1996. Morrowind draws on this history, but isn't a slave to it. Indeed, the easy learning curve is one of the elements that lend so much depth to the game.
You start off onboard a prison ship pulling into the small coastal village of Seyda Neen. As your character awakens, your only friend (apparently) greets you and asks if you can remember your name. Just like that, the name selection menu pops up. Then you're led off of the boat into a census and excise office, where a guard stops and asks whence you came. Ding! The race-selection menu then offers you a choice between ten player species, including the reptilian, water-breathing Argonians; the agile, feline Khajiit; hulking green orcs; along with three Elf subspecies and four types of humans. Each race receives appropriate skill bonuses that make them better for certain careers. Orcs make great warriors, for example, because they're better with weapons, fighting, and armor skills. But with a little effort, anyone of any race can do virtually anything.
Once off the boat, you'll reach the Imperial census office and choose what type of character you want to play using one of three ingenious methods with increasing levels of detail-control: You can answer the census taker's "personality test" (which chooses a class based on your answers to hypothetical questions), choosing from an exgensive list of ready-made classes, or creating your own class from scratch. The choice of class dictates which skills you have and how well you perform them.. Finally, you'll pick the Morrowind constellation under which you were born. Your star-sign grants special powers-The Shadow, for instance, lets you become invisible; The Warrior boosts your attack skills; and The Apprentice grants a bonus to "magicka" (that's magic to you and me).
Once you settle on a class and walk out the door, you're on your own. There is nothing like a linear story line, just the one you build for yourself as you meet new people, ask questions, make friends, attack enemies, and improve your abilities. As in the previous two Elder Scrolls games, you are free to wander all over the place. But remember: just because you can try to swim around the entire island does not mean you should. To put it another way, if you find a nest of vampires within a few hours of getting off the boat, good for you-but you'd better wait until you have a few more levels of experience under your belt before heading in with stakes and holy water.
All told, Morrowind offers hundreds of quests, probably thousands of hours of quality gaming, and a single-player roleplaying experience without equal on this or any other console system. Unlike games like Final Fantasy, you are in control. You build the story, you choose the hero, and ultimately, you decide the fate of Morrowind... unless it decides yours first.
