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Once again, Bethesda Softworks has thrown more Morrowind at fans, who by now must be drowning in fantasy-goodness. This latest offering allows players to explore the brand new island of Solstheim, which is located northwest of Vvardenfell, and provides up to 40 hours of play.
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Bloodmoon seamlessly adds itself to the normal Morrowind world (as Tribunal did), and simply starts whenever you ask about the “Latest Rumors.” You will be told of the new fort of Frostmoth, in Solstheim, and how to get there. Once in Solstheim, you will receive many different quests, either stemming from the imperial guard, the East Empire Company, or from being a werewolf. If you choose the human quests you will fight against the werewolves and foresee the building of the East Empire’s colony Raven Rock. For those who like to explore, however, there are plenty of caves, tombs, and dungeons scattered across the island.
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The main draw for Bloodmoon is in the option to become a werewolf, of course. Choosing to become a werewolf, however, is difficult since you have to be attacked by one, contract the disease called Sanies Lupinus, and survive (should you be immune to disease there is a way to become a werewolf through the main quest). After three days of having the disease you will become a werewolf, and you’ll be on your way to fulfill your werewolf desires. Being a werewolf has its ups and downs, but for the most part it is new and exciting.
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The advantages of being a werewolf come from your enhanced physical abilities, you can run, jump, and fight (with your claws) much better than before. Your new found abilities allow you to take on many creatures, and easily I might add, that you may not have been able to when your normal self. You also gain several abilities such as “Eye of the Wolf” and regeneration. I did like the fact that becoming a werewolf gave the game a new direction, since being the hero all the time tends to become boring. Despite the fact that Morrowind has always allowed you to just be whatever you want, this time if you want to be a bad guy you have some direction.
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As for the disadvantages, I think there are too many. As a werewolf, you cannot use your inventory, magic, and you cannot pick up anything. You are only allowed to use your claws, which damage only the opponent’s health (Normal hand to hand also damages a target’s fatigue). Keeping with common myths of werewolves, silver weapons are not your best friends, however, they do not kill you instantly, they just do double damage. Additionally, everything in the game from animals to people, are not your friends, and almost all will attack you on sight. If you are seen changing into a werewolf or back into a human you’re screwed, since all guards will attack your human form for the rest of the game. Complicating the werewolf experience furthermore is your hunger, which requires an NPC death every night, or you will lose some health every hour.
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Graphically, Bloodmoon remains at the same level as the original Morrowind game, and much like Tribunal it adds an array of new weapons, creatures, and interiors/exteriors. The new creatures in the game, including Bears, Boars, and Wolves, populate most of the land, as well as Nordic people (whose best description is somewhere around hippies, minus the mind-altering drugs, but adding plenty of booze). All of the models look decent and add much to the theme of Bloodmoon. Most of the enemies were easy (for my level 20 character), but enemies like the Spriggans, tree women with three lives, did present some troubles. New weather effects like blizzards and snow also improve the experience of Bloodmoon, and give it a natural feel. NPCs that are in the blizzards will cover their face, adding to the overall realistic feeling.
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Other things that Bloodmoon offers are new sounds to accompany the new creatures and the weather/environment of Solstheim. All the enhancements from Tribunal such as Seller Max, the note system for maps, and the updated journal sorting are included in Bloodmoon, so if you don’t own Tribunal you will still get them.
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Overall, I enjoyed Bloodmoon more than Tribunal mostly due to the werewolf option that it offers. Once again, Bethesda Softworks has produced a high quality add on to its already huge game, Morrowind. Bloodmoon’s release price, which is somewhere in the $30 range, may dissuade those who want a lot of RPGing for their dollar, but I do implore everyone who liked Morrowind to take a look at Bloodmoon and what it offers. For X-Boxers, if you want to play Bloodmoon, you will not have to wait long since Bethesda is releasing a Game of the Year version of Morrwind for X-Box, which will include Bloodmoon and Tribunal, and should be priced around $39.99.
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System Requirements:
- (minimum) Windows ME/98 128MB RAM
- Windows
XP/2000 256MB RAM
- 500 MHZ Intel Pentium III, Celeron, or AMD Athlon
processor
- 8x CD/DVD-ROM Drive
- 1 GB free hard disk pace
- DirectX 8.1, 32MB
Direct3d Compatible video card with 32-bit color support and DirectX 8.1
compatible driver
- DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card (recommended) 800 MHz+
Pentium III or AMD
- 256MB RAM, NVIDA GeForce2 GTS or ATI Radeon 7500 or
faster video card
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