Scary here again and this time I am playing Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. I haven't really played through the entire game yet, but I wanted to give you my opinions and some ideas as to how it does well, and where it falls short.
Needless to say, this game is very, very violent. Don't get me wrong, I love violence in video games, because it lets me be that person that probably wouldn't be accepted in our real world society so much. However, if you are the kind of person that doesn't do well with gore, blood, more gore, bone, tendons and more gore being thrown around every 1.3 seconds - this game probably isn't for you and you should turn away.
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| Rated B, for BLOODY AS HELL. |
Without giving too much away - you are a man who's family has been horribly slain. A dark power is returning to the land you call home, and it's up to you to stop it. But that's pretty much where the cliches end.
Shadow of Mordor is a dark, unsettling story told in the universe of Middle Earth. It has some references to the Lord of the Rings content, but doesn't necessarily focus on it. It is its own thing, and that's good.
The game is completely explorable from the very beginning; albeit you have to find, climb, and unlock "towers" to grant you a better view and a lay of the land as seen in games such as Assassin's Creed.
You can play at your own pace, go where you want to go, and do what you want to do. The map is often laden with the main story missions (outlined in gold); but, if you like, you can stray off the beaten path and go hunting for relics. Or, do the many side missions that give you the resources you need to improve your character through various perks and unlockable "talents".
This "Dark Lord" as he is called in the game is the one and only antagonist; however he has a massive army that you have to fight through in order to avenge your family and ultimately restore the peace. The people that haven't been brutally murdered by the dark lord Saron (if I spelled that correctly) have been turned into slaves to fuel the Urok war machine (kind of like orcs, but far uglier, and much more brutal). The many slave drivers as well as other captains and warchiefs in Saron's army are the ones you need to get through. The trouble is, they don't like to die much. And once you play the game, you'll know. It's called the nemesis system, and I will get into it a little later.
Along your path, you are haunted by a wraith - who you eventually bond with and team up with to perform amazing moves and help you make your way through the story. You and this wraith are somehow connected through the pain of loss, and you help one another down the long road ahead. I don't know the wraith's purpose towards the end game, as I have not yet gotten to that point, but I am sure the skills you learn from him will be invaluable to your success.
In Shadow or Mordor, the enemies (namely the captains) you face are as sinfully ugly as they are
vicious and brutal. Each has certain strengths, weaknesses, and a set amount of power. And, each vies for control and power through various activities with and against other would-be captains as they try to climb the hierarchy that is the chain of command in the army. A captain may hold a feast for his men to bolster their troops, or engage in a duel against another captain in a show of power. More often than not, if one of these captains is successful in his mission, or manages to kill you, he immediately takes a promotion to the next highest point of power where there was a vacancy. He grows in power, toughness, gains many strengths and loses some weaknesses, making him that much more difficult to take down. Keep in mind though that you don't have to be killed by a captain - if you are killed by just a regular Uruk, they too get promoted so long as there is a spot in the entry level rank - and become a captain themselves. Captains drop runes when you kill them - and the rune they drop depends on if you killed them using a weakness. If you killed them with a stealth attack, you will get a rune for your dagger. If you killed them from afar with your bow, you will get a rune for your bow. And if you killed them with a melee finisher, you will get a rune for your sword. However, you HAVE to kill them using one of their weaknesses to guarantee the rune for that weapon - else it will be random and at a lower quality.
So let's talk about the nemesis system. As I mentioned above, ranks are filled according to the successes and downfalls of captains. The only true way to really kill a captain is to cut his head off, or he will return stronger and more difficult to kill. The nemesis system works in such a way as to provide infinite (theoretically) replay value by forwarding time throughout the game (through different methods - some which are controlled by the player). Thus, allowing for endless ranks of captains to fill the voids of their fallen comrades. If you're not careful, all the men you killed can have their places filled and you will have to take out even more captains to get to the dark lord himself.
This is a cool, albeit sometimes annoying idea; as I find myself sometimes being overwhelmed and killed, and having just wasted several hours of my time because all those captains I had just killed got replaced. This does however, add a touch of realism and significant challenge to the game - which I really enjoy. And, getting that kill on the increasing difficulty of captains and other enemies feels great.
I know I just barely scratched the surface here, and didn't really go into very much detail. But that's because I feel that this game is worth playing, and that you really need to enjoy it for yourself to understand how well the game works.
Aesthetically the game is beautiful. Mind you, on the PC version, even a $5000 rig will struggle with Ultra settings, as they are unbelievably high in texture and shadow quality. The audio fidelity is equally as impressive with a subtle but noticeable score and extremely well done voice acting. The action is vicious and in your face, but the stealth system allows you to go more at your pace, and enjoy the view of the scenery along the way. The combat is very Batman-ish and provides satisfying yet challenging combat with a variety of weapons, enemies, and moves to learn and pull off.
I must say that the difficulty ramps up quite a bit so don't charge into story missions head-on without doing a few quests on the side; although it is completely possible to just power through the story if you are patient enough.
Thanks so much for reading, and let me know what you thought of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Till next time, stay classy.
Scary
This "Dark Lord" as he is called in the game is the one and only antagonist; however he has a massive army that you have to fight through in order to avenge your family and ultimately restore the peace. The people that haven't been brutally murdered by the dark lord Saron (if I spelled that correctly) have been turned into slaves to fuel the Urok war machine (kind of like orcs, but far uglier, and much more brutal). The many slave drivers as well as other captains and warchiefs in Saron's army are the ones you need to get through. The trouble is, they don't like to die much. And once you play the game, you'll know. It's called the nemesis system, and I will get into it a little later.
In Shadow or Mordor, the enemies (namely the captains) you face are as sinfully ugly as they are vicious and brutal. Each has certain strengths, weaknesses, and a set amount of power. And, each vies for control and power through various activities with and against other would-be captains as they try to climb the hierarchy that is the chain of command in the army. A captain may hold a feast for his men to bolster their troops, or engage in a duel against another captain in a show of power. More often than not, if one of these captains is successful in his mission, or manages to kill you, he immediately takes a promotion to the next highest point of power where there was a vacancy. He grows in power, toughness, gains many strengths and loses some weaknesses, making him that much more difficult to take down. Keep in mind though that you don't have to be killed by a captain - if you are killed by just a regular Uruk, they too get promoted so long as there is a spot in the entry level rank - and become a captain themselves. Captains drop runes when you kill them - and the rune they drop depends on if you killed them using a weakness. If you killed them with a stealth attack, you will get a rune for your dagger. If you killed them from afar with your bow, you will get a rune for your bow. And if you killed them with a melee finisher, you will get a rune for your sword. However, you HAVE to kill them using one of their weaknesses to guarantee the rune for that weapon - else it will be random and at a lower quality.
So let's talk about the nemesis system. As I mentioned above, ranks are filled according to the successes and downfalls of captains. The only true way to really kill a captain is to cut his head off, or he will return stronger and more difficult to kill. The nemesis system works in such a way as to provide infinite (theoretically) replay value by forwarding time throughout the game (through different methods - some which are controlled by the player). Thus, allowing for endless ranks of captains to fill the voids of their fallen comrades. If you're not careful, all the men you killed can have their places filled and you will have to take out even more captains to get to the dark lord himself.
This is a cool, albeit sometimes annoying idea; as I find myself sometimes being overwhelmed and killed, and having just wasted several hours of my time because all those captains I had just killed got replaced. This does however, add a touch of realism and significant challenge to the game - which I really enjoy. And, getting that kill on the increasing difficulty of captains and other enemies feels great.
I know I just barely scratched the surface here, and didn't really go into very much detail. But that's because I feel that this game is worth playing, and that you really need to enjoy it for yourself to understand how well the game works.
Aesthetically the game is beautiful. Mind you, on the PC version, even a $5000 rig will struggle with Ultra settings, as they are unbelievably high in texture and shadow quality. The audio fidelity is equally as impressive with a subtle but noticeable score and extremely well done voice acting. The action is vicious and in your face, but the stealth system allows you to go more at your pace, and enjoy the view of the scenery along the way. The combat is very Batman-ish and provides satisfying yet challenging combat with a variety of weapons, enemies, and moves to learn and pull off.
I must say that the difficulty ramps up quite a bit so don't charge into story missions head-on without doing a few quests on the side; although it is completely possible to just power through the story if you are patient enough.
Thanks so much for reading, and let me know what you thought of Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Till next time, stay classy.
Scary
