Tamriel's ashy homeland of the Dark Elves is the source for many a Elder Scrolls hero's first memories—exploring ancient Dwemer ruins, sticking a spear into Dagoth Ur, or cursing the very words "cliff racer"—so it's small wonder a number of large-scale mods focus on overhauling the 2002 RPG. The massive Skywind effort is certainly exciting to look forward to, but some older projects are still steaming along quite nicely. Morrowind Rebirth has been around for a few years, and its latest update adds new areas to the game's already massive world.

Like other revamp mods, Rebirth builds upon the core game with a pile of small tweaks and upgrades noticeable pretty much everywhere. Bandits and the odd cultist roam roadways and trails, a familiar furnish to random encounters transported from newer Elder Scrolls games. Cities have far more citizens and travelers roaming around, and the buildings themselves have sharper textures replacing the older, smudgier visuals. More enemy types appear for vanquishing and looting, most of them hailing from Daedric or undead planes (it isn't an Elder Scrolls game without Draugr!). New and customized weapons and armor also await your possession, and many of them are nicely detailed motifs of Tamriel's various races such as Imperial, Nord, and Argonian.

I'm glad the changes don't go overboard with completely stripping away and replacing everything, but what it does change is a worthy alternative to the stock experience, and it's different enough to merit another adventure through Vvardenfell once more. Grab it off Mod DB , but take note: you'll probably have to start fresh if you're planning on jumping into an old save game with this mod switched on to avoid odd bugs.