Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

[Threash]

This is just plain orc killing nemesis hunting huh there is a main story? fun.

[Hawkbit]

Man, I could watch that benchmark video a few more times. Gorgeous, and like Ezio transplated from Italy to Lara Croft's most recent island.

Jeezus, openiing sequence, awesome. Rest of the game could suck and I already love it.

Yeah -- was pretty impressed with the whole opening backstory fusion of past/present/whereami?  Need to remap the key combos or something -- don't like playing Twister on the keyboard just to do necessary combos (and I refuse to use a controller on my PC).

The thing I really liked is how fast it was before it dumped me into the actual game.  I'd have to time it, but it felt like a 15 minute tutorial, max.  Compared to Assassin's Creed, where the tutorial is chapters 1-10 of 12 total. 

[Rokal]

The thing I really liked is how fast it was before it dumped me into the actual game.  I'd have to time it, but it felt like a 15 minute tutorial, max.  Compared to Assassin's Creed, where the tutorial is chapters 1-10 of 12 total.  

Definitely enjoyed that I got to play as the main character in this game without spending 6-8 hours playing as some other douchebag (thanks AC3!)

[Nija]

This is just plain orc killing nemesis hunting huh there is a main story? fun.

For me, this is an orc holocaust simulator.

[Venkman]

I think it's funny there was some type of controversy about this game. Most of the most popular games of all time have largely been murder simulators. Orcs and their proxies in other themes have continually been portrayed as the only-ever-doing-evil-ever-and-always bad guys since they were written.

And yet THIS is the game people point at. Not CoD, not Arkham Asylum, not WoW. I can't say I blame them though.

I wonder if it's because of two converging factors:

• The behaviors. Not just the graphics, but how the designers built in the emotions. They really nailed it so well, you see the rage, fear, love. They're past the uncanny valley.
• Wierd entertainment trope where every bad guy of old is being recast as either misunderstood or doing bad in the name of good. Palpatine was really just fighting corruption. Dracula just wanted to save his people. Shit, someone's bound to make a movie about how Stalin was just trying to prevent the spread of a deadly virus in Stalingrad. Maybe they're programming us for a return to an age of enlightened despotism /politics

Anyway, I can see what some are saying. It doesn't mean I feel it personally. As a character, the bad guys of the ages killed my wife and son, and left me in purgatory, for literally no reason other than conquest. I'm not going to feel bad about them just because they realized they bit off way more than they can chew. 

The thing I really liked is how fast it was before it dumped me into the actual game.  I'd have to time it, but it felt like a 15 minute tutorial, max.  Compared to Assassin's Creed, where the tutorial is chapters 1-10 of 12 total.  

Definitely enjoyed that I got to play as the main character in this game without spending 6-8 hours playing as some other douchebag (thanks AC3!)

Ha, yea I know right? AC4 did it much better, but still, tutorial was like half the game. It's not necessarily all that bad, and SoM (that an acronym for this?) does it too. You just sprinkle in what the player needs to know only when they need to know it. Much better than the old days of reading an entire manual before launching, or doing hours of JUST tutorial stuff before starting to achieve real progress in the game proper.

[Ingmar]

Actually people did have an issue with WoW for one of the exact same reasons - the torture quest in one of the opening Lich King zones.

[Maven]

I wrote a long passionate letter against the inclusion of that quest to Alex Afrasiabi, a.k.a. Foror. That quest took the self-image of the player character from "I'm doing the right thing to help people" into Jack Bauer territory.

I wanted the option of "If torturing this person is so important, you do it." Not much better but a compromise.

[schild]

[Morat20]

I read the 360/PS3 versions would have a scaled down Nemesis system -- but no actual hard facts on what "scaled down" actually means. Only source for that seems to be an interview eight months ago...

[Maven]

wat.

wat?

[Azazel]

Actually people did have an issue with WoW for one of the exact same reasons - the torture quest in one of the opening Lich King zones.

I'd forgotten about that one. Had to look it up, but now I remember it. I wonder if it was a "clever" comment on the US' use of "torture states" in the ongoing War on Terror? Let's face it, though - In the context of a game like WoW where I lay genocide to whole populations of sentient <whatever lives in this zone> humanoids and animals alike - many of whom are just existing and not bothering anyone - I'm not too fussed. MMO characters are just slaughterfiends. I'm just going to kill hundreds of not-African animals in Nagrond "to help people"? No, it's for the characters's own selfish ends. And that's without even mentioning the Nesingwary quests.

I have similar views on it in GTA5, and I expect, will have here. The actions of the characters we play in these games are already hideously ugly.

[Merusk]

Daughter wanted a new game and likes arkham  and assassins creed so I bought this yesterday.  Installed it on my machine today and oh look it's 3am. Damnit. 

[Ironwood]

Yeah.  Your Daughter.

Yeah.  That'll work.

 

[Lantyssa]

I read the 360/PS3 versions would have a scaled down Nemesis system -- but no actual hard facts on what "scaled down" actually means. Only source for that seems to be an interview eight months ago...

According to the video review above, it doesn't exist at all in those versions.

[Maledict]

without the nemesis system you may as well toss this game in  he bin. It's an alright game but it really needs the nemesis system to make it all hang together.

[Threash]

So "the shadow of mordor" is me right? not like sauron or some shit.

[Merusk]

Yeah.  Your Daughter.

Yeah.  That'll work.

 

Ha.  I was tempted based on this thread, yes, but had resolved to wait until a sale. Then on Friday evening she asked, "Dad can we buy a new game? I'm bored of Skyrim and Fallout and Sims 4 sucks." I knew what had to be done. It was fate.

[Venkman]

Daughter wanted a new game and likes arkham  and assassins creed so I bought this yesterday.  Installed it on my machine today and oh look it's 3am. Damnit.  

Ha I know right? 2am on Friday "night", and I was aggravated because that meant I couldn't stay up stupid late last night. But did anyway. Fucking game. Last time I played this obsessively was GW2 launch, and I got double pneumonia for my troubles  

[Sobelius]

without the nemesis system you may as well toss this game in  he bin. It's an alright game but it really needs the nemesis system to make it all hang together.

Been enjoying everything else as well -- voice acting, writing, the constant uruk smack-talk, the environments, the unlocking of 'memories' -- the whole bit -- truly greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, the Nemesis system adds a lot for those who've played the stalker/dark-crusader style game before, but if the rest of it were shit I'm not sure the Nemesis system alone would save it.

Add to all this, at 10 hours of play I've seen ZERO bugs on the PC version so far. Not a single "glitch" or clipped piece of gear or messed up cut scene or bugged ability.

Plus riding a Caragor and using it to wiping the ground with uruks. After sneaking around for most of those 10 hours it was a catharsis to be able to let loose and just go ape shit on the uruks.

[lamaros]

Fine fine, I'll buy a new PC so I can play this. You guys don't have to be so pushy though...

[schild]

I very badly want this to go on sale. I can't rationalize spending $50 on a licensed LOTR game.

[murdoc]

Yeah.  Your Daughter.

Yeah.  That'll work.

 

One of the boys snuck up and caught me playing this and now is 'popping the heads' of his toys like Daddy does in his game.

[Lantyssa]

Ha I know right? 2am on Friday "night", and I was aggravated because that meant I couldn't stay up stupid late last night. But did anyway. Fucking game. Last time I played this obsessively was GW2 launch, and I got double pneumonia for my troubles  

But at least you ended up with more time off to 'recover', right?

[Venkman]

Heh yea. Capped my second character while taking some time off from work while I shoulda been taking time off from the thing that caused it! Hair of the dog moment 

I very badly want this to go on sale. I can't rationalize spending $50 on a licensed LOTR game.

Eh, this is about as much a "licensed LOTR game" as Arkham Asylum is a "licensed Batman game". That wouldn't be a reason not to pick this up.

You not liking the sounds of Arkham Asylum and Assassins Creed now, that's a good reason to not spend $50

without the nemesis system you may as well toss this game in  he bin. It's an alright game but it really needs the nemesis system to make it all hang together.

Been enjoying everything else as well -- voice acting, writing, the constant uruk smack-talk, the environments, the unlocking of 'memories' -- the whole bit -- truly greater than the sum of its parts. Yes, the Nemesis system adds a lot for those who've played the stalker/dark-crusader style game before, but if the rest of it were shit I'm not sure the Nemesis system alone would save it.

Add to all this, at 10 hours of play I've seen ZERO bugs on the PC version so far. Not a single "glitch" or clipped piece of gear or messed up cut scene or bugged ability.

Plus riding a Caragor and using it to wiping the ground with uruks. After sneaking around for most of those 10 hours it was a catharsis to be able to let loose and just go ape shit on the uruks.

All of this. I keep expecting it to crash while we're in pre-first-patch phase.

But also: saying only the Nemesis system saves this from the bin is kinda like saying only destuctable buildings saves Battlefield 3 from the bin It's core to the game, not some tacked on badge system.

[schild]

I watched a few videos. Looks more Infamous than Assassins Creed. I actually finished Infamous. Enjoyed it.

[Threash]

While you can play it like Assassin's Creed if that is what you enjoy you can just as easily wade into every pack of orcs you see if you feel like it.  Most of my fights are a lot more like the crazy 88 fight in Kill Bill than anything else.

[Merusk]

My problem is I only seem to get into those kind of brawls in the middle of Strongholds, which have a neverending supply of orcs.  My fingers hurt after a while and I have to run.

[bhodi]

The combat gets dead easy once you get the blink strike ability.

It's probably the best tech demo (for the nemesis system) I've ever played.

It's fun, but it's not $50 fun. The story is tacked-on garbage.

[Khaldun]

So much like for what this does right.

No "must kill rats" opening. (Though you can kill rats as a later side quest!)

Tutorial is very easy, ability gain is stretched out very naturally.

Just about the right balance between "ok, I'm bored now with the side quests, time to go on" and a main questline that's actually interesting. Even after you find out who your wraith partner is, there are plenty of things to discover.

Gameplay is very forgiving and yet there are benefits to some kinds of high-skill work with the mechanics. I can level up the dagger and bow easily enough but the sword is hard work until you've levelled a while--unless you're really good at the block and fatality mechanics.

Orc dialogue is remarkably varied and situationally aware. They really switch to a different tree when you've been spotted but not located, when you're skulking around in the bushes, when you're up high and no one knows it--and it almost never repeats in a simple or obvious way.

Udun feels 'organic' in a sensible way. Orcs come and go in a way that makes sense.

[lamaros]

So is the story interesting or tacked on garbage, you guys need to come to a consensus!

[Trippy]

Combat is more like the Arkhams. The Assassin's Creed combat systems are incredibly simplistic (supposedly the upcoming Unity is more complex). The Arkhams and this game have much more variety in moves and things you can do in combat. It does have the "whistle", bushes, and stealth kill mechanics of the Assassin's Creeds so it does borrow liberally for both sets of games.

I have been playing my game more in the AC-style with mostly stealth kills since you get more XP that way and for some reason most of the games I'm playing right now on my PS4 are stealth games -- The Last of Us, Assassin's Creed 4, and now Shadow of Mordor -- so I'm in that mindset.

[Morat20]

I read the 360/PS3 versions would have a scaled down Nemesis system -- but no actual hard facts on what "scaled down" actually means. Only source for that seems to be an interview eight months ago...

According to the video review above, it doesn't exist at all in those versions.

Well, this might push me into the PS4. My wife still wants an Xbox One (we chose Xbox 360 over PS3) and I have no idea why. I've got a spare HDMI slot on my tv, so I can leave the Xbox 360 in.

[Trippy]

So is the story interesting or tacked on garbage, you guys need to come to a consensus!

I'm about 1/3 through and I think the story, while simplistic, is fine so far. And there's a lot of Middle-earth lore baked into the game which will likely appeal to Tolkien nerds.

[Koyasha]

My only trouble with this game so far is that it's too easy, and it doesn't have a difficulty setting to make it harder.  Common orcs are shit easy to kill once I've gotten used to the combat system.  Bosses are no problem anymore either, even if I don't know their mechanics; wound up getting into a huge fight in a stronghold, it attracted 3 captains, none of which I had intel on at the time...I killed them, along with a couple hundred more orcs, and didn't die, I eventually just ran off from that.  Game would be much better if it had a difficulty setting that I could turn up to keep it challenging.  It was difficult early on, but that was pure unfamiliarity with the mechanics and still getting used to it.  If I could keep that difficulty level throughout the entire game even as I become more familiar with the mechanics it would be great.

[bhodi]

So is the story interesting or tacked on garbage, you guys need to come to a consensus!

I should probably note that I don't give a shit about middle earth lore and never have. My eyes just skip over names and places with too many vowels that all sound the same. I give Tolkien his due for the influence / creation of the genre, but I'm not a linguist and I don't think he created a particularly compelling world. The game does nothing to bring what little world he has to life. Names seem sprinkled haphazardly in. Look, MORDOR. You recognize that one, right? Gollem is wedged in for no good reason. And they constantly drop quotes from the book like sage wisdom and I just have to groan.

Blah blah somethor did a thing in tothien and it made the murdrocs mad and they had been guarding the wall of holtrash for thousands of years ever since the llithids appeared and oh my god I just don't care.

And the hero? I smoulder with generic rage might as well been made for him. He's a completely uninteresting cardboard cutout who lost his wife and son to orcs who were cut down / sacrificed in front of him and oh my god I still don't care. A dwarf sidekick who's all bluster? How original! What really, adding the 'number killed competition' from the movie? Lathering it on a bit thick aren't you?

This game is a great orc murdering simulator, though. A++ would murder orcs again.