Saturday 23 August 2003
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Pic of the day: The Nordic forests of Solstheim. (Screenshot from Bloodmoon.) Blooodmoooon!
Bloodmoon is the second expansion pack for Morrowind, itself
the third game in the series called This time, another island has been added. Named Solstheim, it is smaller than the island of Vvardenfell, on which the original game takes place. It is still pretty big. And it is different. This island belongs to Skyrim, the land of the Nords. It is partly covered in snow and conifers, and the natives are Nords rather than Dark Elves. ***Skyrim is based on Scandinavia. The Nords are blond and rugged. Their magic tends to be frost-based, which makes no sense at all since Nords are inherently resistant to frost. If they had used fire-based magic, it would work just as well against other Nords, which could have come in handy. The place is crawling with reavers (like vikings) and berserkers, as well as the frost witches and of course various hostile wildlife. Rumor has it that there are other, worse creatures out there too ... half man, half wolf, combining the worst of the two: Fast and strong as an animal, cunning as a man, more bloodthirsty than either. The werewolves have come ... and on the night when the moons turn to blood, there will be no mercy! Yes, Bloodmoon is the werewolf expansion. Werewolves were a mainstay in Daggerfall, and many players (including me) routinely played as a werewolf. In Bloodmoon, the werewolves have a harder time of it. If you are ever seen changing to or from werewolf form, you are outed and people will hunt you down in any form. I have heard that this holds true even if you immediately kill all witnesses. I don't know from personal experience yet, as I have only spent a couple days on the island and not seen any werewolves. It is a good idea to not travel to Solstheim before you've leveled up for a while. Level 30 is good, although you can certainly visit and start the first quests at an earlier level. But even at level 30+, you may have trouble if you run into a pack of reavers and don't have good healing potions on you. Ranged weapons come in handy as both reavers and wolves tend to cluster together, and you really don't want to get them all at once. My current character is not well suited to be a werewolf anyway. He is a Summoner, a tank-mage who wears full armor and shield to protect himself while his summoned allies tear at the enemy. He also uses potions of healing to endure the beating, and werewolves cannot use potions while in were-form, nor can they use weapons or magic items. Luckily you don't need to be a werewolf to enjoy Bloodmoon. There is a complete story line in which you are on the opposing side, defending the fledgling colony against the lycanthropes. One of the main attractions is to help a new colony grow. You will actually see it change over time, with new buildings and stuff. At least that's what more experienced players say, again I have not come that far. ***So, do I recommend Bloodmoon so far? Well, if you want werewolves, there is no choice. And I recommend getting either Tribunal or Bloodmoon for the improved journal system. Tribunal is confined to one city, and not all that big; most of the action happens in its extensive sewer / tunnel / dungeon underground. In contrast, Bloodmoon is largely outdoors, indeed it adds a lot of outdoors with a whole new subarctic climate zone. Some people claim that the game is less stable with Bloodmoon, more prone to crashes. I have not seen any change. (It is still a good idea to save regularly, of course.) All in all, it is just an add-on. It is not revolutionary. It is just more of the same ... with snow and werewolves. |
Partly cloudy, but fairly warm again. |
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