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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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