Average Gamer Review: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Average Gamer Review: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

 

I have never been hesitant to say that I am NOT a huge fan of the LOTR, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.  So when the announcement came out for Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, I can honestly say that it didn’t even cause a hint of a ripple on my radar.  It wasn’t until release day that I even took notice that it existed and did any reading up on it at all.  I actually owe the new and improved Steam storefront for even introducing me to it as it brought me into the curator page for the Cynical Brit who had just done the video review of the game the day before.

 

Of course being curious and having literally nothing else to do during my afternoon after I got off work I decided to watch his review of a game that I had previously had less than 0 interest in.  It’s safe to say that within the first 10 minutes of the review (once I got passed all the options overview) I was hooked.  This Nemesis System that he talked about and explained was something I had never seen or heard of before. It was (and still is in my eyes) completely revolutionary and hopefully something that all open world games adopt from now on. 

 

After watching that review I went on the hunt for any and all information I could find on the game which undoubtedly brought me to the r/shadowofmordor subreddit. It was on there that I came across numerous accounts of how the Nemesis System was working on a much more micro level. I knew it sounded like a great concept and in the grand scheme would really work, but would it translate to each individual’s play and game.  Well after about the 10^th story of how Turok the Handsome or Jab-Jab the Ruthless had killed one version of Talion (the main character in the game) or another and proceeded to have 5+ battles between the hero and foe, it was made aware that the game was able to create it’s own story.

 

As I played through the game I was completely enamored with the Nemesis System, I think I have played about 10 hours and am (maybe not even) 50% of the way through the story missions.  When I first started playing I found myself coming across one Uruk captain after another and of course I wasn’t about to run (the Nemesis System ensures that those Captains will remember if you run from the battle and taunt you with that information the next time you cross paths). This sounds like it could be troublesome or annoying after awhile but honestly it hasn’t gotten stale yet.  The fact that you can kill captains and they will be replaced by other Uruks to fill out Sauron’s ranks is quite intriguing.  The game really has no end point to the secondary story (the one you create through the Nemesis System).

 

That being said, I think there are a few hiccups with the game.  If you’ve played any Batmak Arkham games, you’ll be familiar with the fighting mechanics and how that works.  It does a fine job of implementing it, however there are times when it all seems a bit too easy.  It wouldn’t be inconceivable to go an entire playthrough and never once die.  This isn’t a huge issue, but some of the fun with the Nemesis System is to be killed by a general and watch him get more powerful or better yet get killed by a random peon who then gains notoriety and actually finds himself promoted to captain all as a result of your death at his hands. So having the ability to adjust difficulty would be an added bonus going forward.

 

If you’ve ever played an Assassins Creed game will be familiar with the stealth mechanics and I actually tend to think ME:SoM does a better job than most AC games do when it comes to stealth.  It’s one aspect of the game I find quite enjoyable although there are some missions that force you to be stealthy and result in instant fails if you get spotted.  I can see where that might rub some people the wrong way, but luckily those story missions haven’t been too prevalent so far during my playthrough.

 

Bottom line, as a non-LOTR fan, I can honestly say this is a must-play. Even if you decide to wait for the next steam sale or Black Friday, I would suggest you add this to your gaming library because I honestly think the Nemesis System is a huge step for open world games.  It’s not often you can play a game that ushers in a new mechanic that all games could (read: should) emulate.

 

9 Uruk Captains /10