Couch's Review - Spoliers -

[Couch]

Hello folks. I'd like to take some time to write a review for a game I recently platted. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. This is just my opinion of the game and nothing more. No need to tear my head off if you like/dislike the game/review.

 

 

TimeLine:

 

According to Wikipedia, the events take place between the hobbit and the lord of the rings' events.

 

Plot:

 

You play as Talion, a ranger captain. The story starts off with Talion teaching his Son how to fight in combat. Years pass and it shows the Father-son battle continuing with Talion being a ranger captain and his son being by his side. The story escalates rather quickly with the father-son team fighting Uroks (stronger version of orc), when the Black Hand (antagonist) and two of his fellow "henchmen" grab Talion, his son and wife. The wife and son are "sacrificed" in front of Talion moments before he is executed, however he does not die. His spirit somehow merges with another (Celebrimbor – we don't learn this for a while – call him wraith for short) spirit which in terms gains him some new abilities. Now alive and wanting revenge for his family's death, you play through the story meeting friends and allies who assist in taking back Mordor and defeating the Uroks. Early on you encounter Gollum who can see the wraith and assist's Talion in finding artifacts that uncovers who Celebrimbor was and what happened. You eventually learn he was the one who created the rings and that Sauron killed him and his family. During these events a second story is brewing. You assist an orc (ratbag) in becoming a war chief to weaken Sauron's army. You eventually get revenge on the Black Hand as well as his henchmen. You learn more about Sauron and how he got the ring and are able to kill him as well with the assistance of Celebrimbor after he merges with Sauron.

 

The game;

It is an open world action game with light RPG elements. The combat system is similar to that of the batman games which allows you to chain multiple attacks together. The larger the attack chain, the more special moves you can make. You have access to a sword, a bow and a dagger. The sword is for fighting close and personal, the bow for ranged attacks and the dagger for sneaking around. The travel if you will is very similar to the Assassin Creed games with the parkour and the running and jumping and climbing. Another tool up your sleeves are the wraith powers which let you see paths, find captains and explosives, to slowing down time when using a bow. With enough XP and currency you can unlock abilities and powers which will significantly assist in the combat of the game. There are also runes you can use to buff your weapons which drop from killing captains.

 

The best part of this game in my opinion is the nemesis system. Any enemy that kills you can become a captain in Sauron's army. Those captains all have different missions that either move up the ranks by killing other captains to fighting beasts to prove they're worthy to war chiefs to become a bodyguards. You can brand enemies into fighting on your side which in turn allows them to progress the ranks to become a leader. As they move up the ranks they get stronger which in turn makes them harder to kill.

Besides the main story missions, there are 10 separate side missions for each of your weapons. There are also 24 rescue missions where you free slaves from having to work for Sauron. There are also collectibles in terms of plants, enemies and relics that you need to find/hunt.

 

My thoughts:

 

Overall I thought the game was great. What the story lacked in, the combat/nemesis system made up for. It was a little overwhelming at first because you can literally be in a captain fight 2 seconds after starting the game and get your butt handed to you and that is what eventually takes the cake for me on this one. The combat is great. Getting a combo chain up to 100 is just awesome and hard but with so many different fighting moves and chaining techniques, it didn't get old. The atmosphere was pretty solid. There are lots of places to explore and roam in search for rescue missions or collectibles not to mention riding Caragors and Graugs to said locations.

 

The trophies were pretty easy except for a couple which required a lot of work. Branding 5 bodyguards to betray a war chief took the longest but was also the most satisfying because once he was dead, that lovely upgrade that lets you press the down directional button can be used. I won't spoil that for anyone. It took me 21 hours to get the plat which was probably the perfect amount of game time for this kind of game. There are two DLC packs that follow Torvin (A hunter you meet and teaches you how to hunt/ride enemy beasts in the main game) and another that follows Celebrimbor. I haven't played either but I assume they will be on par with the rest of the game.

 

Graphics were great. I only had one issue with the Frame rates dropping but a simple reboot of the game fixed that. Atmosphere is solid like I mentioned above. The audio never missed a beat. I give it an overall 8/10.

[Sir_Bee]

Hello folks. I'd like to take some time to write a review for a game I recently platted. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. This is just my opinion of the game and nothing more. No need to tear my head off if you like/dislike the game/review.

 

Would people really tear your head off if they liked your review? lol.

 

That being said, I agree with your assessment.  It was not a perfect game, but it was well worth my time to get through it.

[Couch]

Would people really tear your head off if they liked your review? lol.

 

That being said, I agree with your assessment.  It was not a perfect game, but it was well worth my time to get through it.

 

I've seen it all on this site. lol