Many fans aren’t quite ready to turn down Morrowind, the third entry in Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series, and gameplay footage from the fan remake of Skywind showcases the work the team has put into the project so far . While Skyrim is considered the highest-selling entry in the fantasy franchise, TES3 still has a loyal following, and many consider the game a classic in the role-playing game genre.
For those who don’t know, Skywind is an unofficial remake of Morrowind in the Skyrim engine, developed by numerous fans and volunteers. It takes the former and rebuilds it to be closer to the latter in visual acuity. However, the team is committed to maintaining what made TES3 so iconic at the time, so it will preserve what players love about this old-school game while giving it a graphical makeover using Bethesda’s Creation Engine toolkit. The project has been in the works pretty much since the release of Skyrim, and now some footage of the remake has emerged.
Fans interested in this modern take on Morrowind can now check out 20 minutes of gameplay footage showing what the game currently looks like, as spotted by PC Gamer. In the video, the player can be seen adventuring around Molag Amur, a volcanic region southeast of Vvardenfell. Those familiar with Morrowind and Skyrim will immediately notice the visual improvements in the former. Also interesting is the use of full voice acting, a feature the original game didn’t have, largely due to limitations at the time. While the video shows Skywind with TES5 assets, such as the UI and an in-game compass, it still looks and feels like the influential 2002 role-playing game.
For many veteran players, it’s hard to imagine that Morrowind is now 20 years old. It has aged significantly over the decades, but its unique visuals set it apart from anything in the Elder Scrolls series before or since. At the time of writing, there’s no word on when Skywind will release, but anyone interested in playing it will need a legal copy of Skyrim: Special Edition and Morrowind: Game of the Year, which includes the Bloodmoon and Tribunal expansion packs.
After all these years, it’s nice to see that people are still tinkering with Morrowind, even though in this case it’s a complete remake. Skywind isn’t just a way for fans to play TES3 in a more modern engine, it’s also a testament to how far video game development has come in the past two decades.
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind was released in 2002 for the PC and the original Xbox.