A true role-playing game is more than just accumulating stats and items. It's not about watching your "experience" meter grow until you gain a level. Real role-playing allows you to genuinely step into another world, live out another life, create an alternate personality, make decisions with that character, and live out the consequences of your choices. (Or, at least you live with them until you reload your saved game...)

This year one RPG gave us that incredible experience, and wrapped it up in a package that was remarkably haunting and beautiful. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind lived up to its genre-refining predecessors with amazing graphics, great sound, and an immensely flexible character creation and development system. But that just scratches the surface.

What really wins over fans of Morrowind is the depth of the game world. No two parts of the game map are alike, and every nook and cranny is populated by unique beasts or talkative NPCs. Although it takes place in a fantasy setting, this is no generic swords-elves-dragons-n'-dwarves deal. Morrowind has its own unique culture, its own history, its own factions and politics, all supported by reams and reams of well-written in-game dialogue and texts. As you make your mark in the world you have to begin choosing sides with the argumentative locals. You feel that you're really a part of Morrowind, but even more than that, the world feels like a real place.

The game engine is a real work of art. Pieces of furniture and miscellaneous knick-knacks fill every home, and you can move or loot or play with just about anything. You can even rob or kill anyone you meet, provided you're ready to deal with the weighty arm of the law. The result? Total immersion in a fantasy world!

Thanks to an easy-to-use world builder and game editor, users have spent the last several months adding their own missions, items, and more into the game. Plus, an expansion pack just hit the shelves. Most of us haven't even finished exploring the original game world, and yet the supply of additional content seems nearly bottomless. For creating a compelling alternate universe that drew us in and still hasn't let us go, Morrowind earns our respect. And our "RPG of the Year Award."



Next: The Runner Up RPG Awards...
PC  |  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17