For those reasons, and for the walking -- oh, the interminable walking -- Morrowind lost me almost immediately. Sing the praises of open-ended role-playing all you like, but to me the enormity of the gaming world, while certainly immersive and beautiful, was its greatest drawback. As much as I loved to bend over and smell the virtual roses, it was hard for me to derive most of my thrills simply by commuting from dungeon to dungeon.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal packs all of its challenges and intrigues into the treacherous capitol city of Mournhold, introducing players to an entirely new set of adventures while allowing them the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the very high-and-mightiest characters in the game's lore. While most fans of the open-endedness of the original game might find themselves cramped by the confines of the city, there's more than enough to keep them occupied during their stay.

The expansion actually begins as soon as it's installed and the game is loaded. The first time players rest on their journeys, they're attacked by a mysterious and formidable assassin, and soon find their steps dogged by his comrades. In order to unravel the mystery of why they've been targeted for death, players must draw on the contacts they've made elsewhere in Morrowind, and finally find themselves directed to the fabled capitol city of the province.

Upon arriving, players are quickly drawn into the world around them. While certainly not as extensive as the vast countrysides of the original, Mournhold definitely does hold its share of surprises, including a number of amusing side-quests that give the city much of its color. Scripted events certainly seem to work better there, though it's hard to say whether to credit that to the setting or the experience of the Bethesda production team. In either case, Mournhold is definitely an attention-grabber, and there's plenty for wandering eyes to look at.

That said, it's not long at all before players will begin to feel the linear tug of Tribunal. Somehow connected to the attempts on the players' lives is a tense rivalry between the newly installed King of Morrowind and the Temple of Almalexia, one of the three divine heroes who founded the Tribunal. In no time at all, players will find themselves plumbing the depths of the city sewers, exploring long-ruined cities, gathering artifacts and awakening old magicks, even as they try to determine the truth about just what's behind the unrest in Mournhold.Assuming they don't take on some of the smaller missions, like spying on an unfaithful spouse or rescuing a gambling mage from a beating at the hands of his bookies, players will still have a lot on their hands during their visit.

Of course, to survive it, they're going to need some help. Thankfully, Bethesda has added the ability for players to hire on some mercenary assistance to get them through some of the tougher patches in the game, which is an entirely welcome addition. If that isn't company enough, players can also purchase a number of different types of pets, three of which can be following along at any given time. With the right combination, players can assemble quite a useful squad to follow them around the pits of Mournhold, though the game's pathfinding is occasionally a bit frustrating -- for instance, I was forced to abandon my own henchman, Calvus, when he got stuck in a fountain in Mournhold's central square and couldn't jump high enough to get out.

On top of that, a number of improvements have been made to the game's interface, including a difficulty slider bar and a much-needed overhaul to the journal system. Now players are finally able to sort quests by subject, title or date, allowing them to keep much closer track of what they're expect to do. Add to that the ability to annotate the auto-map, and Morrowind becomes an easier game to play than ever.

That is, until you get to combat, and then it rapidly becomes one of the most difficult games in recent memory. Players who have run through the entirety of the original Morrowind campaign, armed to the teeth with the finest, most ancient and terrible weapons and magic available will still find a stiff challenge in some of Tribunal's later battles. A number of new monster types are available to test players' mettles, as well as powered-up versions of more familiar creatures from the mainland, and all of them are enough to keep the outcome of battle from being certain.

Indeed, those players who haven't completed the original campaign might consider backing away from Tribunal until they've gotten a little more experience under their belts. All other things aside, battle is still a matter of mashing on the mouse button and strafing as wildly as possible, which can mean very little if the character isn't experienced enough. The expansion offers a free back door in the form of a teleport back to the mainland, granting players the chance to bookmark their progress and return when they're a bit more capable. I lost count of the number of times my own Breton spellsword met a bitter, painful fate in the sewers of Mournhold before he was finally powerful enough to take on even the lowest-level opponents.

Plus, while I certainly found it gave the game's story more depth, many fans of Morrowind will likely find Tribunal to be overly confining. While there's some opportunity to play the Imperial Monarchy and the Temple of Almalexia against each other, in fact the quests are very linear. That the quests are long and involved might not be nearly enough to balance out the inability for players to follow their own path, no matter how interesting the underlying story might be.

Despite all of that, Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal provides Morrowind fans with exactly what they're looking for -- more adventures, more enemies, more experience and more treasure. For those players who simply can't get enough of the expansive experience of Morrowind, there's plenty to recommend the intrigues of Tribunal; and for those who have yet to even make their way through the original game, Tribunal adds sufficient depth to make a strong game even stronger.