Shadow of Mordor - Review @ TechRaptor

TechRaptor reviewed Shadow of Mordor:

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Review

Fans of the Tolkien universe of Lord of the Rings can be happy that they get a new change to dive in with Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. A third person action adventure game by WB Interactive and Monolith Productions for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC versions, or Behaviour Interactive if you have the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version. Some features of the game such as the Nemesis System have been cut back for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 but this was reviewed on the Xbox One so it will cover all of the features.
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As someone who has interest in the world of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings but also a fan of the Assassins Creed series and the Batman Arkham games I originally felt that I would play the game but I wouldn’t love it but Shadow of Mordor has completely enchanted me. There’s no time that you ever feel like there’s a 100% chance to win in any fight you come across as so many small factors can completely change the tide of battle. The story has me interested and wanting more but having the Nemesis System in place I still find myself taking off from my path to slay or learn about more Captains or take the challenge of defeating a War Chief. For fans of Lord of the Rings and the silmarillion I will warn you that there are some aspects of the game that do not line up with the canon lore but if you still want to experience a fun game set in a universe you know so well then you will enjoy Shadow of Mordor.
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Summary
Shadow of Mordor is an extremely fun action/adventure game set in middle-earth. Fans of the books and those who want to learn more will both enjoy the experience that this game has to offer.

More information.

Fans of the books and those who want to learn more will both enjoy the experience that this game has to offer.

LOL

The first one of these was fun for a few hours, then became exceedingly repetitious.

Lootboxes and micro-transactions. That is all.

Assassins Creed Games, Far Cry Games and often Ubisoft titles are always missing something for me. It's like they've got the open worlds down, but not enough tangible items to make exploration feel rewarding.

Originally Posted by Ripper
Lootboxes and micro-transactions. That is all.

If that's all you got, then you ain't got much. Plenty of people have said they are easily ignored.

They've got a bunch of DLC planned out through early Spring of next year, though. I'll be waiting for the complete version to show up before buying.

P.S. Steam says it's similar to a game I've played: Tales of Berseria! It's also action, fantasy, RPG, open world, single player.

Originally Posted by Embolus
Assassins Creed Games, Far Cry Games and often Ubisoft titles are always missing something for me. It's like they've got the open worlds down, but not enough tangible items to make exploration feel rewarding.

Yes. It's hard to pin down for me. I'm not sure it's any one thing. One prominent one is repetition. Beyond that, they just seem to lack a soul.

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
Yes. It's hard to pin down for me. I'm not sure it's any one thing. One prominent one is repetition. Beyond that, they just seem to lack a soul.

For me it's the "ant hill" behavior of the AI. When you step on an ant hill, they all run around like crazy, but then settle down and it's like nothing ever happened. They don't call the other ant hills for help, they don't go out and hunt you down until you're dead, they just forget about you. After doing that a dozen times in a Far Cry game, you realize there's no sentience behind the game at all, just a collection of ant hills.

Originally Posted by Ovenall
The first one of these was fun for a few hours, then became exceedingly repetitious.

I still do not understand how the first game succeeded in winning GOTY and such great ratings. It was awfully boring and repetitive.

Sometimes I think the majority of gamers turn their brain off when they play games or they are so intoxicated that they don't remember anything they did (or remember it very badly).

As someone who hates respawns with a passion, Shadow of Mordor is a game made to punish me for killing puppies if I ever do that. For some reason it was in my Steam library so I gave it a try. Oh the joy I felt when I clicked 'Uninstall'.

Originally Posted by Zloth
If that's all you got, then you ain't got much. Plenty of people have said they are easily ignored.

I understand the argument that if the lootboxes etc are easily ignorable, then a game may still be enjoyable, and worth buying for some. Personally, I take the view that these things are insidious, and in the longer term will undermine gaming quite significantly. So, I take a pretty militant stance on this stuff, and won't buy anything that engages in these practices.

There are exceptions, of course - types of games that have always had justifiable paid addons, like flight and racing sims that sell extra, accurate simulation models, tracks, etc, as they make them. But , for the sort of nonsense we see in Shadows, I'm out.

Oh, you guys are being too harsh. This is one of the best, deepest, most rewarding games since Coin Flip Simulator. Will it be heads? Will it be tails? Oooh, nervy, deep gaming like that hasn't been seen since… until today!!

Originally Posted by SSIGuy
Oh, you guys are being too harsh. This is one of the best, deepest, most rewarding games since Coin Flip Simulator. Will it be heads? Will it be tails? Oooh, nervy, deep gaming like that hasn't been seen since… until today!!

I actually have this.

It's a little app for my smartwatch, and I've used it a few times to settle disputes between my kids. You tap the watch's screen, and it flips a coin. I've got a couple of them. My favorite is a nice image of an ancient Roman coin.

Originally Posted by Capt. Huggy Face
I actually have this.

It's a little app for my smartwatch, and I've used it a few times to settle disputes between my kids. You tap the watch's screen, and it flips a coin. I've got a couple of them. My favorite is a nice image of an ancient Roman coin.

Yes, but does it have micro-transactions and loot boxes?!

No, just the one coin involved.

For fans of Lord of the Rings and the silmarillion I will warn you that there are some aspects of the game that do not line up with the canon lore

Well there's an understatement if I ever saw any.

Originally Posted by Ripper
Personally, I take the view that these things are insidious, and in the longer term will undermine gaming quite significantly. .

In the meantime, the crowdfunded scene keeps pushing out products after products that undermine gaming significantly.

"undermine gaming" ????? Are you saying crowdfunded games are a conspiracy to destory gaming ? that sounds like something a suite at EA or UBI would utter….

Rewritting:

"undermine gaming" ????? Are you saying corporate games are a conspiracy to destory gaming ? that sounds like something a crowdfunded studio member would utter….

Actually, this one is credible. Unlikely that suits from EA or Ubi hang on this site.
On the hand, crowdfunded devs do.

Not hard in fact.

Originally Posted by ChienAboyeur
Unlikely that suits from EA or Ubi hang on this site.

Very unlikely.
Would they adore posts here? Not just mine.
Well, why would they be here then?

Scared of their own audience, they escaped to social networks.