Shadow of Mordor

Well, so far, I have to say it's very pretty (everything on max except for Ultra textures) - but it's also somewhat aimless.

Not sure if I can stay motivated enough to play it for long - but the gameplay is pleasant enough. It plays exactly like you'd expect from a game that combines Arkham City with Assassin's Creed. Very derivative, but there's a nice amount of upgrades and powers to play around with.

I'm happy to report that mouse/keyboard works well, even if the mouse camera movement is somewhat stubborn in a very console-ish manner. But you get used to it.
 
Well, so far, I have to say it's very pretty (everything on max except for Ultra textures) - but it's also somewhat aimless.

Not sure if I can stay motivated enough to play it for long - but the gameplay is pleasant enough. It plays exactly like you'd expect from a game that combines Arkham City with Assassin's Creed. Very derivative, but there's a nice amount of upgrades and powers to play around with.

I'm happy to report that mouse/keyboard works well, even if the mouse camera movement is somewhat stubborn in a very console-ish manner. But you get used to it.

Good to hear about m&k. Will be downloading when I get home.
 
Downloaded the Ultra textures from Steam. Pretty stupid way they did this, as you first have to accept an install from some website - and then you have to restart Steam. Even worse is that you can have settings on Ultra textures even without the actual files - and the game doesn't tell you.

However, once I finally got it working - I'm happy to report that Ultra textures doesn't bog down my system at all. There's a very slight occasional stutter - but that's really all.

I'm not sure I can tell the difference, visually, though ;)

Another positive, I have to say, is how the Captain Orcs drop runes (you add these to your weapons) - and they work kinda like loot in Diablo games. As in, they have different rarities and they seem to have a lot of different effects. That adds a neat loot-hunt aspect to the game, which is something I didn't expect.
 
Well, so far, I have to say it's very pretty (everything on max except for Ultra textures) - but it's also somewhat aimless.

Not sure if I can stay motivated enough to play it for long - but the gameplay is pleasant enough. It plays exactly like you'd expect from a game that combines Arkham City with Assassin's Creed. Very derivative, but there's a nice amount of upgrades and powers to play around with.

I'm happy to report that mouse/keyboard works well, even if the mouse camera movement is somewhat stubborn in a very console-ish manner. But you get used to it.

Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions? I know it's not an rpg as such but are there characters to interact with? Are there towns to explore? Are there side quests if so what are they like? Is there any point to exploring the open world? Are there things to find if you explore?

Cheers.
 
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I hope that if this game does well, it turns LOTR gaming history around. They seem to be using that open-world mechanic that's been so successful, and they're exploring a not-very-well-covered part of Middle Earth history and geography. I'd love to see a similar game exploring Fornost or old Arnor in the old days (I know War in the North did, but I mean, like, earlier)…or even something entirely different.

I don't know if I'll buy this one - there's too many other games I want this fall - but I'm excited at what this game could do for the franchise. Let's hope it raises the bar.
 
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Do you mind if I ask a couple of questions? I know it's not an rpg as such but are there characters to interact with? Are there towns to explore? Are there side quests if so what are they like? Is there any point to exploring the open world? Are there things to find if you explore?

Cheers.

I might not be the best person to ask, as I've only played it for 4-5 hours.

So, I can only give you answers in terms of what I've seen so far - and what my experience with this kind of game tells me. So keep that in mind.

When you start quests, you often interact with characters - but it's pure cutscene stuff and there doesn't seem to be any kind of dialogue choice or similar.

There are no towns so far, only ruins, camps, and towers. There are side quests, but they've been very "systemic" up until now - as in you kill X amount of creatures or you find X amount of plants. They don't seem to have much of interest beyond the rewards. There is a built-in "relic-hunt" of sorts, where you find old items or artifacts that give you bits of LotR lore once you find a hidden spot on the item. Pretty silly system, frankly.

I've yet to find a point to exploring the world, beyond experiencing the rather dreary scenery (technically, it looks great though), except to find the relics and items that are already marked on the map. There's nothing hidden, so far, and I don't think the game is good for exploration, really.

It's very much like Assassin's Creed, GTA, and the recent Batman games. It's super gamey - and everything is systemic, as in it's part of some predictable gameplay system, instead of something that's cared for by a designer and done by hand.

It's the norm for how they make these games, I suppose. They design a handful of systems, like item hunts, Nemesis, and so on - and then they don't really have to bother doing the work of actually making unique quests for the side stuff. They just adjust a few variables in a mission editor and record some dialogue to make them seem less generated, I guess. Doesn't work for me, though.

The good parts, so far, are the combat, the upgrades, and the visuals. The rest is a big fat meh to me.

I'd probably give it 6.5 or 7 right now. We'll see if it changes once I get around to really diving into it.

Keep in mind that I'm not one to be dazzled by visuals if the rest isn't up to snuff. If I was, it would be 7.5 or 8.
 
I've played it for some time now, and I agree with DArtagnan. The combat system is fun and the visuals excellent, but it all feels a bit generic after a while. I have mostly been exploring and doing side quests for now though, so my perception might change after I play more of the main quest.

All in all, I still prefer Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag to Shadow of Mordor, mostly because exploration feels more worthwhile and the locations have more of an atmosphere.
 
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Finished it. This has to be THE most "consolish" game I've ever played but the first several hours were pretty fun.

So basically you play as a ranger that's picked up some spirit powers and now you're going to go out and slaughter uruk (aka beefy orcs) and maybe a few beasties, too... but mostly uruk.

Make no mistake - this is all about the action. The story is very thinly spread over the course of the game. You're not going to be interacting with NPCs, buying/selling loot, or making important choices. You do need to pick what skills to advance but, by the end of the game, you should get enough AP to get nearly all the skills so you're really picking whether you want the skills now or later.

There are several overloaded controls and they cause some problems. 'E' to drain an enemy... OR jump down and hang from a ledge. If you're near a ledge and an enemy, well, who knows what you'll get. Convincing your ranger to climb a wall instead of doing a forward roll can drive you batty, too. Keyboard options do not let you divide these actions up between different commands.

The camera deserves some mention, too. DO NOT get into a fight near a wall! If you do, start hitting space and turning until you get out because you aren't going to be able to see anything but a few prompts. Seriously, aside from a graug, walls are the most deadly things in the game. (And yes, I once died trying to scale down a wall that a graug was up against. It seems the graug did not suffer from bad camera angles.)

You get one and only one save file for your play-through. You can't pick when to save, either. If you quit in the middle of a mission then you automatically abandon it. Normally this would drive me into a rage but the missions are all pretty short things and dying doesn't mean 'game over.' In fact, it powers the most unique thing about this game, the Nemesis System.

Sauron has an army of uruk and that army needs leadership. So how is an upwardly mobile uruk supposed to become a leader? Why, by killing off ghostly rangers! If you manage to get yourself killed by an uruk, that uruk will be given a name, some strengths and weaknesses, and be promoted to captain.

These captains are what really makes the game, IMHO. The rank and file uruk are pretty dull but each of these guys has a list of strengths and weaknesses that make you think about how you're going to deal with them. One might be vulnerable to stealth attacks so you can finish him off quickly if you can sneak up on him, another might be scared of caragor and will run from battle (and his own guards), and still another might be a beast hunter that can easily kill a caragor and will recover all health when he does. And a few of them can come back from the dead!

Yep, an occasional captain will become your nemesis and, when defeated, will show up again - only stronger and uglier. You can be in the middle of a mission or even fighting another captain when your nemesis will saunter in and start whacking on you! He'll remember what's gone before, too. If you ran away from him before, he'll taunt you for it later!

I had a great nemesis early in the game but, once I beat him so many times that even the other uruk couldn't stand to look at him, he stopped showing up and nobody really replaced him. A couple more uruk made a return visit but the rest just stayed dead. I'm guessing you have to get killed by a captain to give him nemesis powers and, well, that brings up another problem...

This game is Easy. Even if you do get defeated (likely near a wall), you'll probably get a "second chance" by satisfying a little quick time mouse move and keypress. Once you get used to those, you become mighty difficult to defeat. You also get to defeat the final two bosses with some easy quick time events.

So basically the game is pretty fun in the early going as you figure out how to kill captains and elite captains, always looking over your shoulder to see if your nemesis is going to toss a javelin at you while you're doing it. Golum makes an appearance, too. But twenty hours in you're probably going to start getting restless. The side missions are super repetitive and there's only so many strengths and weaknesses an uruk can have so even the captain battles start to get repetitive. They toss in the ability to dominate uruk and turn them to your side which gives the battles some new life for a bit but it also makes the game even easier. A lot of folks seem to simply stop doing the side missions and stick with just the main story missions. I did keep doing the side missions and was rewarded with... a few achievements.

Overall, yeah, get this game if you like action games similar to the Batman series... but not until the price gets under $20. You'll probably start to get bored around half way through. Don't do what I did - just go for the gold mission markers and be done with it.
 
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Thanks for that review giving a great impression of the game's feel. It confirms my decision to wait for a sale and buy it if I feel like playing an action game.
 
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Good review!

It mirrors my experience - except I couldn't be bothered to actually play it much.

Excellent but hollow, if that makes sense ;)
 
I agree with most everything here. Fun for a while, but shallow. Batman: Arkham City did a better job with lore, IMO. I wasn't even a Batman fan, but was really sucked in by the various mini bosses, bosses, hidden areas, secrets and scape of lore. This game, not so much.

Also, the orcs NEVER shut up. Even an orc walking alone is constantly spouting guttural Cockney nonsense to himself.
 
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They do talk about some of your recent actions, which is pretty cool, but the generic chat does get old by the end.

P.S. That caragor's HUGE!
 
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