While The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is a rightfully revered RPG, it's no secret that the game hasn't aged too well in the last 20 years. The game's balance and gameplay mechanics can be frustrating and feel very outdated, and the game's graphics (while nostalgic) can be hard on the eyes much of the time.
Morrowind is still a game worth playing for its focus on player-driven progression, especially for a game from 2002, its complex narrative, and its unmatched ability to make the player feel like an outsider in an inhospitable world. Morrowind Rebirth is a mod that aims to fix many of the issues of the original version of the game, plus it adds expansions worth of new content for players to explore, too.
Updated May 9, 2022 by Erik Petrovich: As the years go on, Morrowind Rebirth continues to be one of the most popular Morrowind mods of all time. Having celebrated its 10th birthday last year, and looking forward to its 11th in 2022, Morrowind Rebirth is a passion project that now spans more than a decade of effort from the dedicated team behind it. Over time, there have been lots of Morrowind Rebirth changes, and it truly makes Morrowind reborn as a playable and enjoyable RPG among modern games. From new creatures to new areas, spells, and equipment, Morrowind Rebirth is an expansive Morrowind mod that radically changes (and improves) upon the already legendary RPG.
It Completely Changes Morrowind's Balance (And Gameplay)
Morrowind is known for its wildly heightened difficulty compared to its sequels Oblivion and Skyrim. Even in a time when unforgiving game mechanics were commonplace, Morrowind stood out. The Morrowind Rebirth mod makes a variety of balance changes throughout the game to make it less of an overbearing experience.
Many creatures have had their health lowered, and many weapons were given buffs to swing speed, too. In addition to tweaks to birth signs, armor, spells, and crafting, the game also removes several obtuse features. The Reflect trait has been removed from the game almost entirely, and starting spells and vendor items have been totally overhauled, too.
There Are Over 20 New Creatures...
The Morrowind Rebirth mod doesn't just change features of the original version of the game, it also brings plenty of new additions to the two-decade-old RPG. Among these additions are 20 new creatures, like the Swamp Scrib and Frost Monarch, most of whom have new spells and traits associated with them. These new creatures include –
- Slaughtersharks, Old Blue Fin, and Dreugh Warlord aquatic enemies
- Swamp Scribs
- Frost Monarch
- Creepers, who resemble goblins
- Blighted versions of normal enemies
- New textures to make certain enemies stand out
All of these new creatures are found in the game through normal progression having been integrated through Morrowind's leveled spawning lists. In addition to this, many creatures have been given a graphical overhaul, such as Blighted creatures who are now much more visually distinct from their normal versions.
...And Hundreds Of New Pieces Of Equipment And Spells
The Morrowind Rebirth mod changes a lot about equipment in the base version of the game, as nearly everything received alterations to their stats, like durability. The mod also introduces hundreds of new armor, weapons, clothing, and spells for players to try out alongside all the other changes of the mod. These new weapons and armaments include –
- Standard Weapons, like the Imperial Longbow, Imperial Spear, Nordic Mace, and Silver Halberd
- Unique Weapons, like Flesheater, Torment, Coldfang, and the Ebony Blade of Mephala
- Unique Armor Sets, like the Lifebinder, Blazeguard, Ghostwalker, or Plagueskin armors
- Unique Spells, in addition to major tweaks to existing spells and new, cheaper starting spells
All of the new armor, weapons, and clothing make sense in Morrowind's setting, nothing more alien than the already alien landscape of Vvardenfell, at least. Among the new spells are reworks of existing spells, whose former versions were removed from the game, as well as a variety of new spells that don't give the player an unfair advantage.
Many Regions and Cities Have Been Reworked
One of the highlights of the Morrowind Rebirth mod is its completely fresh take on Morrowind's cities and locale. Just about every settlement throughout the game has been given a complete facelift to improve their visuals and make each city feel unique and alive – Vivec, Balmora, and every other city are completely different in Morrowind Rebirth.
One of the most prominent changes that the mod makes is its mesh fixes. When viewing the landscape from high above, or in loading screens, grid lines and mesh errors are far less common.
New Locations And Dungeons In Morrowind Rebirth
In addition to altering and fixing existing locations in Morrowind, Morrowind Rebirth adds new places throughout the world to discover among other sweeping changes to the game's landscape, like a variety of dungeons spread throughout Vvardenfell.
Most major cities, and most smaller ones, are given more houses and more people to make them feel more lived-in. Plus, there are tons of new shops and points of interest to explore in places that were previously barren and boring. The mod does a lot more than just fix the game - it's an expansion too, after all.
Morrowind Rebirth Fixes A Variety of Exploits
One of the defining traits of the original version of Morrowind is that it's an utterly broken game if players know what they're doing. Spellcrafting, for instance, could be used to make a player nigh-unkillable at very low levels (or, conversely, soft-lock the player from progression entirely), and farming Dark Brotherhood assassins for gear was one of the best ways to make money early on.
With several spells removed from the Spellcrafting system, it's much more difficult to break the game to the players' advantage. A variety of changes that make it hard to farm gold, like a reduction in Dark Brotherhood gear value, much more of a realistic experience without being unfair. It's fun to break a game, but it feels better to earn those abilities the proper way rather than through exploits.
In General, Morrowind Becomes More Difficult, But More Fair
Morrowind Rebirth certainly doesn't make the third Elder Scrolls entry any easier, but neither does it make it ridiculously harder. Morrowind was known for the extremes of its difficulty, where one moment a player could be reaping in the gold and the next they find themselves unable to progress at all thanks to a lack of high-level gear or simple bad hit-chance luck.
If the mod could be summed up in a few words, Morrowind Rebirth makes the game a little bit more difficult, thanks to reduced gold, better NPC behavior, and other changes. However, it also becomes a much more fair game where players are able to learn the ropes and get through the experience without anything becoming an obtuse obstacle, even if it is more of a challenge overall.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is available for PC and on the original Xbox (though the console version cannot be modded).