Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I think I would be fair in saying that it has been a somewhat disappointing year for gamers. Between a slew of delays (Arkham Knight being the one that hurt the most), some games that didn't quite live up to their unrealistic, lofty expectations (i.e. Watch Dogs and Destiny), and a substantial lack of anything that felt truly "next-gen", it kind of seems like a year where we have gotten a bunch of solid titles, but no true stand-out, "WOW" experiences, assuming you're not counting The Last of Us: Remastered.  

Granted, there are still quite a few awesome games that await us...my most anticipated easily being Far Cry 4 followed by Assassin's Creed: Unity, and possibly the new Call of Duty Advanced Warfare because it looks like a substantial change of pace for the series. But even despite that list, my Game of the Year so far for 2014 was inFAMOUS: Second Son, which was an amazing game, but not one that I think is deserving of such a coveted title.

Probably the least gory of all photos in here. SoM
features an awesome photo mode, of which ALL
pictures in this post were taken from my PS4
play through!

About a month ago, a weird things happened that doesn't often happen to me in the gaming industry: I was caught completely off guard. I had heard rumblings of this new Lord of the Rings game, but didn't pay it much mind. Most gamers know that many movie-based world games don't turn out so well (of course there are exceptions) and the Lord of the Rings franchise hadn't had a really good game since the excellent PS2/Xbox movie-tie-ins, one of the few exceptions to the aforementioned rule. In my disinterest in Shadow of Mordor, I really was mislead to believe by my own ignorance that it was a turn-based RPG set in the world of Lord of the Rings, further turning off my interest as I don't enjoy that play style. But then reviews started pouring in...and they were good. Putting aside my near-shock that a decent Lord of the Rings game was a reality, I did some further research into the game. A Mature-rated, original story, Arkham City-style game all set in the epic mythology of Lord of the Rings? It took me about 1 hour to decide that I needed to play this game, and ASAP.

Now I sit here, writing this review, to tell you that Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is the beginning to a fantastic new franchise and currently sits atop my list of candidates for Game of the Year.

Was that Uruk just eating chocolate pudding?!
Peanut butter and JEALOUS!!

Shadow of Mordor's story takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Personally, I thought it would be a throw-away tale of some random hero, Talion, that wouldn't have much to do with the world. Wrong again, Jordan! Shadow of Mordor's story is incredible and woven perfectly into the background lore of Tolkien's world. To speak to it too much would give a lot away, but let's just say that it's brutal, features a few HUGE surprises and tie-ins to the story that mainstream audiences are familiar with, and even has Gollum as a somewhat-prominent character. Our hero, Talion, is spiritually fused with a dead elf, Celebrimbor, which grants him all his badass powers. I was intrigued by what was going on for most of the time, I could easily keep track of the players and the plot, and many of the additional characters introduced were fantastic, some even bringing some much-needed comedy to the dark tone. And although the ending is a bit of an unnecessary cliffhanger following an extremely disappointing final boss fight, the story as a whole is one of the year's best and a perfect example of how this medium can expand on already rich and established universes.  

"Stop stabbing yourself! Stop stabbing yourself!"

The world the game is set in is rather bleak because, well, it's Mordor. For a solid 10-15 hours of the game, I got very acquainted with the map and began wondering, "Is this it?". Just about the time I was about to mark it as a mental "CON", I played a story mission and it opened up an entirely new map, much different from the one before it. There was lush greenery, streams, and more...a part of Mordor I never knew existed but apparently it acts as the fertile land used to feed the army of Sauron. Makes sense, and I was very appreciative of the game for holding it from me as a surprise until about halfway through. The landscapes themselves aren't the best open worlds ever created, but they are well designed. Littered in cliffs, archaic ruins, and massive strongholds, there is enough variety to keep things interesting. Climbing these features is well implemented, think a more accessible Assassin's Creed, and Talion has a mad vertical leap, making climbing much faster. However, and it's probably the games largest fault, climbing around and navigating while climbing can be atrocious at times with Talion getting stuck or confused or just not doing what you are telling him to. Several times when I pressed "X" to climb up or "O" to drop down it seemed like the game was completely ignoring my commands. Shadow of Mordor isn't the first game to feature this issue, many Assassin's Creed games are still plagued by it, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

"Ok so this ear piercing is going to hurt a bit...just hold stilllll" *Hand slips* "Oh s**t!"
This Uruk did not survive his cosmetic endeavors...

Decapitation #12,987 right there!

Luckily the rest of the gameplay is absolutely fantastic. Granted, it's almost an exact clone of the near-perfect Arkham series, but it's a strong one, and possibly even better. The combat flows incredibly well and many of the issues that were present in Batman's arsenal of moves, are gone here. Talion immediately responds to any button you press while in open combat and his array of powers, moves, and finishers are dazzling. It's here where the game's Mature rating is well earned with the power to burst orc and Uruk heads into pulp, cut them clean off, or slide them down violently on your sword., among a plethora of other, awesome executions. The uber-focus on decapitations was a bit odd, if not completely comical by the 1000th time you lop a head off, but I'm guessing that's because the developers programmed the head as the only detachable part of the body. Hopefully in the sequel, we get arms, legs, waists, etc. for some total carnage of the Dark Lord's army! After about 40 hours, the combat still seems fresh and exciting to me, although I do imagine that at some point, it will get tiresome. Equally as impressive is the game's long ranged combat via bow and arrow, as well as its stealth. Both are well implemented, easy to become good at, and almost equally as gleefully brutal as the swordplay. To make a long story short, Shadow of Mordor takes all of the good things about the Arkham gameplay, fixes most of its issues, and makes you a total badass with amazing powers.

I don't believe he will be having any strep throat any time soon. Mainly because he doesn't have a
throat anymore. And he's dead. So...yeah

Genius feature. It could completely change games
like this forever.

But both the awesome story and amazing gameplay are but icing on the cake once you learn about Shadow of Mordor's crowning achievement: the Nemesis system. It's the most innovative gameplay feature that I've encountered in a very long time and, if it grows to other popular series, it could substantially impact the face of gaming. Basically this system is a hierarchy built within the enemies in the game. There are the warchiefs (at the top), and then three levels of captains. There are constantly events that the captains partake in throughout the world, whether you are present or not, that increase their power. Killing a captain or a warchief leaves an open spot for another Uruk to be promoted from further down in the hierarchy. While this may all sound a bit boring, it makes a HUGE difference in one aspect: player death. When you die, the orc that kills you is automatically promoted into the hierarchy. If a captain kills you, their power automatically raises. Following every death is a jaw dropping number of events in the hierarchy, all shown brilliantly in the Nemesis system home-screen which is essentially the game taunting you for your death. It's a daunting feature that keeps you coming back for more, mainly out of pure revenge for the Uruk that killed you. Furthermore, each captain and warchief has strengths and weaknesses past what normal enemy NPCs have, making matching up with them much more challenging in some instances. While battling some of these Big Bads, you can take action against them such as telling them to take a death threat to another captain, increasing his power, killing them outright, or "branding" them as your own and making them attack for you (my personal favorite). It's a game within a game and the opportunities it presents are genius, funny, and just plain fun. It's tough to explain the details much more than that but just know that it's the highlight of game, and the first truly "next gen" feature I've really appreciated since the new consoles have launched.


Photo mode for the win!

Who knew Mordor was so beautiful?
Can you say "next vacation spot"?

Want to hear more about what makes Shadow of Mordor so damn awesome? How about some stunning graphics (not the best, but still impressive)? How about innovative sound design, specifically on the PS4 where several effects play through the controller itself? How about a phenomenal original score reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings films? What about a somewhat-deep upgrade system of skills, powers, and weapons? It's all here and it's all fantastic.
I could honestly gush for another 1,000 words about how much I loved Shadow of Mordor...it's just that much fun, and honestly it's the first surprising game of the year. In a gaming period where a lot of games are somewhat overhyped, it was awesome to play a game that was so underhyped, at least by myself, that I was blown away by the time it was all said and done. And who am I kidding? I'm not done playing this game. Not at all.

I still got another 20,000 decapitations to serve out to the ugly, greasy hordes of orcs in Mordor!

Sorry. Nerd-rage is sometimes a very powerful emotion.

CONS:

• The final boss battle was pretty disappointing and the cliffhanger was a tad lame given how great the rest of the story is
• Some truly horrendous climbing at times where Talion  completely ignores the buttons you are pressing. Easily the game's biggest blemish
• Not a huge issue, but the hyper-focus on decapitations is a bit ridiculous. Eventually it just becomes hilarious
• It hasn't reached this point for me, but I'm guessing that at a certain point all the combat becomes repetitive
• If you are NOT a fan of Tolkien's universe, this game will be significantly less special for you. Being a Lord of the Rings fan makes this game just that much more incredible

PROS:

• A captivating story that is ingeniously integrated into the overarching Lord of the Rings plot that we all know and love. I was very surprised by some of the relationships to the original material and how dark the story was
• Talion and Celebrimbor are well thought out characters, each have their own heartache and backstory, and each are memorable
• The gameplay is tight, addicting, and FUN. Sword combat is the highlight while stealth and long range are both well implemented as well. Traversing the environment is well designed and fluid, other than the aforementioned climbing issues from time to time
• A Mature rated Lord of the Rings game is what fans wanted and this game delivers. Buckets of orc blood are spilled and the executions are inventive, brutal, and awesome. Not to mention all the slow motion decapitations
• At first the audio playing through the PS4 controller seemed gimmicky, but by the end of the game it was something that I appreciated very much. It signals when things are near, when your character does certain actions, or in the heat of intense battles when swords clang. A small, but effective feature that I grew to adore
• The Nemesis System is a game changer. It has depth, much like a chess game, and makes death an exciting feature where you will watch half a dozen Uruks get more powerful before you respawn. Truly a revolutionary next-gen feature
• Strong graphics, particularly during cut-scenes
• Photo mode!
• Awesome original score
• An out-of-nowhere surprise that basically ends up being the best Lord of the Rings-based game ever made. Just an absolute delight in more ways than one and an incredibly strong start to what I hope is a long-living series

Rath's Review Score: 9.5/10

If you would like to see some of my very own PS4 gameplay...

CLICK HERE!!! (Ork decapitations included)