Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor Quick Review

Shadows of Mordor is a fantastic gameplay experience with an underwhelming story, which is sad since it is set in the famous Lord of the Rings universe. Its gameplay foundations are built on the Assassin's Creed series free running and stealth and the Arkham series combat mechanics and it adds to these with the very impressive "Nemesis" system. However the story is rather weak and even the combination of Troy Baker and Nolan North couldn't redeem it.

Taking this into account Shadows of Mordor is still an incredibly enjoyable experience. The system of manipulating and watching the interaction between different enemy captains and war chiefs is a marvel to behold. It is so incredibly satisfying to make a bodyguard betray his war chief, assist in the battle and watch as the bodyguard is crowned the new war chief, who you now control. The combat in the game feels fluid and fun, it takes everything from Arkham and makes it thoroughly gory. It is complimented by slowing time while using a bow, which is very much like playing out your Legolas fantasies. Also it makes it much more difficult. Ever play Assassin's Creed and feel like you can cut through everyone? Well even with wraith powers you still feel mortal in any close fought battle and I have personally died several times, even when playing it cagey. The game still retains a feeling of power and finesse but displays this constant tension, that death is only around the corner. One of the best parts of this is when you are killed, the Uruk that killed you will either increase in power or be promoted. It gives every battle a certain motivation that cannot be found in other games. They will even remember your last encounter and often taunt you!

A "Branded" Uruk Captain being promoted to Warchief

The enemy captains and war chiefs have their own individual traits and abilities that can be found out by gathering information form other Uruks. This adds a good amount of strategy to the game, as charging in and finding out that an Uruk captain is invulnerable to combat finishers, is not a solid strategy. It feels in game like Assassin's Creed should have felt, and every victory is so much sweeter. It sounds simple but making the highest ranking enemies both, the hardest to kill and the hardest to plan for, is a sound design choice.

An Uruk Captain and his traits

Unfortunately if you bought this game because you want to see some big name Lord of the Rings appearances, you're out of luck, as the game is set between the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's very unusual that a game studio would pay for a well known license and almost avoid the main content that makes LOTR what it is. However there is a fair amount of fan service in this game with references to the LOTR universe everywhere. Saruman is mentioned, Sauron is the unseen antagonist and of course Gollum makes an appearance, even if it isn't Andy Serkis. So I suppose it hits the spot if you're into the universe itself and not its main characters. Which is still an enthralling world to be immersed in.

The main character of the game is Talion an "Aragorn like" ranger who is murdered along with his wife and son in a blood ritual. His fate is intertwined with a wraith who is clearly of elven origin but has lost his memories. Talion is banished from death and the only way to break the curse seems to be to help the wraith in finding out about his past which ties in to the very making of the one ring and Sauron's rise to power.

Talion voiced by Troy Baker

Most of the gameplay consists of planning to kill a target or complete an objective then sneaking into a stronghold and carrying this out. There are quite a few side challenge missions and a few missions that require you to tame a certain beast or find an artifact, but there is not much in the way of variety in this game. Perhaps if the developers had another year to write a compelling story and add more variety in missions it would be a contender for game of the year. Overall Shadow of Mordor is a game that feels a little under its potential but the gameplay at its core is so satisfying that you'll find it easy to forgive. Go sink several hours into this compelling universe

Computer Game Genre's Week 2

Computer Game Genre's Sam Bizley

Genre name	Genre description	Genre example
Tower Defence Plants vs Zombies Kingdom Rush	A game that revolves around defending a certain point or perimeter on the map. It is usually played from a “bird’s eye” perspective and can be played on a PC, but is mainly played casually on a mobile phone or similar device. Players usually have to survive each round by preventing the enemies in the game from reaching a certain point.    It is a sub-genre under Strategy games and is very much aimed at the casual games market. Many of these games are free on the Apple Appstore or very cheap and often use monetisation to get their profits. Examples of this game are Plants vs Zombies, Kingdom Rush, Fieldrunners 2.	Plants versus Zombies is a tower defence game developed by PopCap for IOS, android and PC. It uses a slightly unorthodox grid based view where the aim of the game is to defend your garden from invading zombies.   You do this by using a budget of “Sun Power” to place various Plants on the grid which will defend against the zombies. It is more of a simplified version of the tower defence genre, but still uses the basic mechanics of defending a perimeter with stationary “towers” and survive the round gameplay.   This game is aimed at all ages. It uses children friendly images and simple gameplay but can still provide a substantial challenge to adults and children alike.
Beat ‘em up Double Dragon Castle Crashers	Usually a Sidescroller game where the objective is to fight and defeat all the enemies on the screen to progress to the next screen. There are traditionally no platforming elements and all the gameplay revolves around fighting enemies. The game sometimes incorporates power ups or health ups into the game.   This style of games was most popular in the 80’s and 90’s and was used in arcade cabinets. Back then it would have been targeting towards young to teenage kids who would go to the arcade or buy it for their home console. Today though, it is marketed towards those same people years later as nostalgia for their childhood memories. There are of course people new to these games but it is a far less popular genre now than it was in the past.   Examples of this genre are Double Dragon, Castle Crashers and Shank.	Caste Crashers is a more modern iteration of a beat 'em up game. The gameplay is heavily multiplayer and has four knights trying to fight against hordes of enemies to recover a mystical gem and save several princesses. The game is a beat 'em up game because it presents hordes of enemies that must be defeated before progression to the next screen or set of enemies. It also incorporates RPG elements as players are able to improve their abilities as they gain experience. This game is aimed at all audiences which is unusual for a beat 'em up. It's use of childlike characters makes it accessible to all ages and genders.
Roguelike Rogue Legacy Moria The Binding of Isaac	The term “Roguelike” has changed in meaning over the years but it mainly revolves around certain principles. These principles are Procedurally generated levels ie the experience is different every time. Permanent death ie that when a game over is reached you must start a new game from the very beginning. Finally in more traditional Roguelikes they are usually based around exploring some kind of dungeon or area.   Roguelike games can have a variety of other genre elements, and usually feature turn based strategy gameplay. Older examples of this genre are Moria(1983) inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s fiction and dnd(1975) which was conceived from the original table top game Dungeons and Dragons.   More modern examples of the genre which are more progressive are Rogue Legacy(2013), Risk of Rain(2013) and The Binding of Isaac(2011). In all of these games you have the three main principles of a Roguelike with other gameplay elements added on.	Faster than Light (FTL) is a turn based strategy roguelike game. You are the captain of a spaceship and you pilot through space trying to collect scrap to upgrade your ship and find new crew all whilst fleeing the enemy rebel fleet.   Your aim is to upgrade your ship enough so that as you progress along increasingly harder sectors you will be able to survive, and once you reach the last sector fight and defeat the rebel flagship in an extremely difficult boss battle.   The game is incredibly difficult and in my personal experience I have only been able to complete the “easy” mode about 5 times in around 150 tries. But it has a distinct addictiveness to it, and it always feels like victory could just be around the corner.   The game uses a real time/turn based strategy system as its approach to combat. You can control your crew and all your various ship systems ie weapons, shields, engine, hacking etc in real time, but you can also pause the game at any time to think about exactly what you are going to do.   The game is accessible to all ages, genders and ethnicities but because of its space exploration theme it is targeted more towards those people who grew up in the 80s when there was a large amount of media created under the genre of Sci-Fi. Since there has never really been a popular Star Trek game or similar iteration, this game scratches that itch rather well.
Survival Horror Resident Evil 4 Amnesia: The Dark Descent Alan Wake	Survival Horror is a genre where you are usually just a lone single character and you must struggle against overwhelming odds. The situation usually presented is like those in horror films, with some sort of unknown enemy trying to find and kill you.   The player is often at a distinct disadvantage to the enemy that they are fighting, and usually have to manage very limited resources just to stay alive. The game attempts to create a feeling of suspense through constantly being a moment away from death.   This game is aimed more towards mature audiences as it usually has very adult subject matter and the feeling of fear it creates may disturb younger people. Some examples of this game genre are Resident Evil, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Outlast, Alone in the Dark, Alan Wake.	Alan Wake is a game made for Xbox 360 and PC in 2010 developed by Remedy Entertainment. The game revolves around Alan Wake a crime fiction novelist who's wife disappears mysteriously on a vacation together. The gameplay consists of using light as a weapon to weaken "shadows" and finishing them off with firearms. This game is survival horror because you are forever being chased by a dark presence more powerful than yourself and resource management is key to surviving. After major encounters, you nearly always feel that you barely had enough resources to survive, which is synonymous to the survival horror experience. This particular game does not feature as much mature content as other survival horror games but there is still a heavy theme of disturbing horror so is not suitable for young children. Otherwise this genre is aimed at all people as it features very cinematic, engaging story telling throughout.
Simulation The Sims 4 Zoo Tycoon 2	A game that aims to simulate, usually realistically, some activity(ies) from real life. This can be considered potentially one of the largest genres as many games could be viewed as simulating real life. However the genre is usually attributed to games that are slow paced management games, such as the Sims, Civilisation or Zoo Tycoon.  Simulation games often include other genre’s elements such as RTS and RPG games.   This genre is accessible to all age ranges as they have certain simple aspects but a level of complexity as well.	Zoo Tycoon is a game where you must build up and manage your own Zoo. You are given a budget and you must bring in animals, breed them, hire and fire staff and build enclosures and tourist buildings to create a commercially successful zoo.  The success of your zoo depends mainly on the happiness of your visitors. The happier your visitors, the more visitors will come to your park, the more money from ticket sales you gain. This customer satisfaction is gained from showcasing exciting animals at your park and creating tourist buildings.   This game falls into the Simulation genre because it attempts to realistically replicate the running of a real life zoo.
Rhythm Guitar Hero Parappa the Rappa	A genre where the player must use rhythmic timing to press buttons corresponding to instructions on the screen to complete a level or a track. This genre is usually quite fast paced and often uses some kind of imitation, instrument controller to play the game.   This genre is aimed mainly towards a young audience but it encourages, especially with multiplayer functionality, families and groups of friends to all play the games together and so appeals to a wide range of audiences.   Examples of this genre are Parappa the Rappa(1996), Rockband(2007), Dance Dance Revolution.	The Guitar Hero series is an example of a rhythm game. It attempts to simulate the playing of lead, bass or rhythm guitar in various rock songs. The game uses a guitar style controller and the game is played by matching notes on the screen with coloured buttons on the fret board, whilst strumming the “string” part of the controller in time with the music.    The aim of the game is to get through the song with the highest possible score and a “lose state” is reached if the player consistently misses notes and upsets the crowd. Score is based on building up strings of notes hit, and then using a special bar built up throughout the song that multiplies the score for successful notes hit.    The game is targeted mainly towards more casual players who don’t have experience with real instruments but who wish to experience the same feeling. The game inspired many people to buy music and even take up the instruments used. The guitar hero series later added drum set and microphone controllers.
MMORPG Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game World of Warcraft Guild Wars 2	An MMO is a game that is played online with thousands of other players all interacting in some way. An RPG is a game where you create a persona or avatar for yourself and your goal is to continuously improve that character’s skills and abilities.   So an MMORPG combines these elements. These type of games usually have some sort of annual/monthly subscription fee that the player must play in order to access the game. They feature very large open worlds that have several hundred people playing online at any one time on a particular server. All of the players occupy the same world so are free and open to talk to each other and complete quests or explore together.   Examples of this genre are World of Warcraft(2004), Guild Wars 2(2012), Lord of the Rings Online(2007).	World of Warcraft is an MMORPG released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. It has a fantasy theme to the game and features a very large fictional map and many different fictional races and cultures. It is played on various servers where thousands of people can interact with one another in the game universe. The gameplay consists of various quests given by NPCs and interactions that, when carried out, yield rewards such as experience, gold, gear etc. This game is not targeted towards a particular age range, gender or ethnicity and there are all kinds of people that play this game. The game focuses on building up a fantasy persona that represents you in game. That way it is a much more welcoming and tolerant universe that encourages community.
Stealth Dishonored Hitman: Absolution	Stealth games can use other genre elements such as Action or Puzzle but they always adhere to the principle of avoiding enemies.   Usually the player controls a single agent and is usually very isolated. Their mission is often to infiltrate some area while avoiding detection. Some stealth games have you avoid several guards on your way to assassinating a single target and games like Thief have you steal a specific item or items instead.   Some games use shooting or hand to hand combat elements to compliment and add to the stealth gameplay. Some games from the stealth genre are Splinter Cell, Thief, Dishonored, Hitman.	Dishonored is a stealth/combat game where you are given missions to assassinate specific targets while attempting to remain undetected. The game can be played without the use of stealth but players who use stealth well are rewarded. The game uses special abilities such as the "blink" ability, which is a short teleport, to add to the basic structure of a stealth game. Because of the games theme of violence and assassination it is clearly targeted towards a more mature audience. It has an 18 rating in the UK and Europe.
Fighting games Tekken 6 Street Fighter III	Fighting game are video games that use a faux 2D plane of movement with usually the ability to rotate the camera around the characters in a 3D fashion. In fighting games the objective is to fight, usually a single opponent, until the time runs out or either player's health is depleted. These games can be played as single player but usually the best experience is gained by fighting against friends or online opponents. Some examples of fighting games are Street Fighter, Tekken, Fight Night, Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur. Fighting games are aimed more towards male audiences because of the heavy stereotypical male fighting theme, and often the female characters in the game are objectified with scantily clad character models.	Tekken 3 is the third installment in the Tekken fighting series and was made for Playstation 1 by Namco. It features very exaggerated characters that are mostly extremely muscular with zany hair styles and clothing. The females in the game have mostly very symmetrical, feminine features and are somewhat sexualised. The gameplay is the same as that of most fighting games. You fight a single opponent in multiple rounds and your objective is to deplete the opponents health before yours is depleted or the timer runs out.
Flight Secret Weapons over Normandy Starfox 64	Flight games are video games that focus primarily on the flight. Occasionally there are games like Superman 64 that fall under the flight genre without piloting aircraft but most do. Very few games are solely flight games and most incorporate combat elements in a military style game. Some examples of these military flight shooters are Secret Weapons over Normandy, Starfox 64, War Thunder and even the Battlefield series has a military flight aspect to the game.	Secret Weapons over Normandy is a game made for the Playstation 2 by Totally games in 2003. It is set in World War 2 and you are an American member of the British Royal Air Force who must go on several missions across all of the war torn parts of the world at that time. You face off against members of the Luftwaffe and the Japanese Air force in a flying combat game. The game aims to simulate military flight very accurately and includes things such as throttle control, stalling, banking, rolling, diving etc to make the experience feel genuine. This is coupled with realistic depictions of machine guns, bombs and WW2 missiles. The game is aimed more toward a teenage to mature male audience as the WW2 theme is more popular with men rather than women. It's adult themes of war and death are also not suitable for young children.