For some reason, I’ve never been the biggest Lord of the Rings fan. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the world; I’ve seen all three Hobbit movie and thought they were pretty good generally, and the lore absolutely fascinates me. But it’s never been something I fell in love with, and that’s why I’ve never really bothered to play Shadow of Mordor.
I’ve heard generally good things though, but long time fans of the podcast will know that Lewis has informed me of his rather negative views on the game at length. Jim’s review of the game sits very distinctly on the other side of the debate, taking plenty of time to praise the game.
https://youtu.be/HoZgbPBGT04
The Nemesis system is at the core of Shadow of Mordor, and Jim seemed to be a fan of it from the off, saying that it “adds a whole new layer to the way in which players interact with enemy NPCs thanks to a persistent Uruk hierarchy”. In fact he went even further in praising it, citing it as a hook “that will keep players coming back for more, long after the ten-hour campaign”.
As for the all important combat, Jim compared it to the free flowing system that’s become a signature of the Batman: Arkham series, although he did note that it “feels much more fast-paced and forgiving”. The game’s stealth system also eases up on the player slightly more than other games, with Uruk’s “only be able to spot Talion when fairly close” and no instant raising of the alarm if they glimpse your arm briefly. Although it may feel too easy for some, Jim felt it was “empowering”, particularly when coupled with Talion’s Wraith abilities.
He also praised the game’s overall presentation, calling its graphics “a real treat” on the the PS4 and Xbox One, and highlighted the variety of Uruks that the game throws at you, enjoying the fact that you’ll “rarely ever encounter two of the same during a skirmish”, something that’s a real issue in other open world titles. The game’s sound design drew equal praise, and he thought that the soundtrack and voicework take the game’s “cinematic experience one step further”.
In fact it seems that the only real knock that Jim could find against the game were “occasional pacing issues”, and he ended up rating the game as a 9/10. He wrapped up his review by saying this:
Shadow of Mordor is without doubt the best Middle-earth game available on consoles. Though not entirely original (then again, what is nowadays?) all of the elements which it borrows flow in sync with Monolith’s intuitive Nemesis system, creating something both immensely fun and replayable. That’s not to say the game doesn’t start to lose steam, especially once you’ve hit the thirty-hour mark, long after you’ve finished the story and explored the world. Still, when you eventually come to that milestone you will undoubtedly have had your fill.
So Jim certainly enjoyed Monolith’s trip into Tolkien’s world, but did you? Whatever your thoughts on the game are, we’d love to hear from you. All you need to do is drop us a comment below, remembering to include a rating from the Buy It, Sale It, Plus It, Avoid It scale so we can get a sense of the community’s overall verdict in Monday’s WeView Verdict.
DingSpal1
Really enjoyed this one. I love the Lord of the Ring universe so this speaks to that side of me. The Nemesis system was the highlight of the game for me and something I would like to see being implemented in similar games (futures Arkham game?).
Regarding it’s heavy borrowing from the Arkham games combat system, I have no problem with it (I doubt it is a major issue seeing as both are published by WB games). If you are going to borrow a system from a game – it may as well be a great system from a pretty great game.
Buy It
Forrest_01
‘Lord of the Ring’ universe?? Sounds like porn to me! ;)
psychobudgie
An odd one for me this as on paper it ticks all the boxes. I had a terrible time with the Camera sensitivity and acceleration and found it caused such a distraction that I put the game down and never played it again. Other than the camera, the map was too sparse, and the story didn’t grab me at all. Combat was good though, but it is essentially the Batman combat mechanic so I was expecting it to be good fun in that atleast.
In a nutshell, the best Lord of the Rings game there is but unfortunately it swims upon a see of mediocrity and disappointments. The camera is awful, unless it was patched later on, but that ruined what remained for me. As it is not awful, Plus it unless you really, really like the Lord of the Rings, in which case you likely already have it.
james.warne.jw
I had a great time with this game, most of the time…
The mechanics are fantastic, giving an almost perfect balance of stealth and strength. The experience of scoping out your target, planting a sleeper agent and playing on their fears, sneaking in and finishing then off before fleeing off into the sunset without being caught is fantastic. But the punishment for being caught is not so significant that you cannot fight your way out should it all go belly up.
However, whenever the game tried to tell any of the anorexic story it all fell apart. At no point did I care for any of the characters (except Torvin, who seemed to have come in from another, much more fun plot), and Talion in particular is amongst the least interesting protagonists I’ve seen in some time. The plot just felt so thin and tagged on that it didn’t really deserve to fit into the lore of Middle-Earth.
I’m not going to say the game isn’t worth playing, but it’s far from perfect. SALE IT
Kennykazey
The nemesis system is interesting and gives the game a dynamic flair unlike anything we’ve seen before. But other than that it’s merely a competent and decent game, it never rises to greatness.
The protagonist is incredibly dull, and can’t even be saved by having both Troy Baker and Nolan North talking to you. The plot is completely uninteresting (typical revenge rubbish, might as well imagine you’re a hired orc-slayer and get on with it) and the setting is the most generic representation of Mordor imaginable.
The gameplay and controls however are solid enough and it’s certainly a good alternative to recent Assassins Creeds.
Shadow of Mordor is not a bad game by any stretch, it’s just not a great one either. There’s fun to be had, but I found it couldn’t keep my interest for more than a couple days.
Sale it.
Kennykazey
Oh, and The Hobbit films aren’t very good. This game is better. But read the books, that’s where it’s at.
Galahad-TheViper
Loved this game – for me it was the sleeper hit of last year. I found the formula a nice balance between Creed and Batman games and although it’s familiar as a result, it never felt stale. In fact I’d go on to say it perhaps even improved upon the source material; whereas Batman games always feel divided between Predator sequences or combat encounters, this game managed to find a nice middle ground where the player feels in control at all times and not just being pushed in the direction that the devs intended.
Seriously hoping to see a follow up / spiritual successor at some point.
Buy it
Megamoppy
Loved this game. Its basically a great mash of Assassins Credd and Batman arkham series and while the story is a little weak (Adding to a long established franchise, thats what tends to happen) the stories that you create are fantastic, so much so that I actually never completed the main story, just played around with the nemesis system.
The combat is incredibly satisfying but becomes almost a grind once you become godlike its just more and more mooks.
Its also a shame (though I can understand why) by the midpoint of the game all the Generals become invincible to stealth kills (which is the main way I like to play). If you play it long enough you also see through the nemesis system and how it works but i’m really excited to see how it’ll expand on the sequel(s), it has so much potential.
Buy it! (Out of interest did the PS3/360 versions ever come out?)