Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Review
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is Warner Bros and Monolith Productions’ very Assassins Creed-like Lord of the Rings game. In it you play Talion, a ranger of Gondor, out for some revenge against the Black Hand of Sauron, the dick who killed your family right in front of you!
What you can expect is a lot of what Ubisoft has been offering this past decade, especially when it comes to fighting and acrobatics, only set in Mordor before it all turned to post-apocalyptic crap. The mechanics are darn near identical to AC, which isn’t necessarily bad if you like that series. But summarizing the game that way doesn’t really do it justice. For one, stealth isn’t emphasized as much as it is in AC. While it’s smart to be sneaky early in the game, when you’re kind of weak, it’s also a viable option to charge in with sword a swinging wildly.
And then there’s the nemesis system.
In most games, the average enemy is a nameless, faceless piece of fodder that stands in the way of you reaching the boss. This has been the standard for decades. What the Shadow of Mordor does differently is have named enemies show up in battles from time to time. They’re more powerful and will appear later with injuries you’ve inflicted on them, looking to get a little revenge of their own. I’ve run into a few that were missing an eye and suffering burn wounds, which were mostly an accident; dude practically ran into that campfire on his own.
You’re also able to view the major players in Sauron’s army at any time and target specific orcs in order to destabilize the dark one’s power, which is also pretty motivating. You’ll find yourself turning aside from major goals constantly in order to attempt to ruin a feast or interrupt a duel between orc captains. I’ve tried it maybe half a dozen times in my first five hours in the game and lost every time.
But even losing in this game is kind of awesome. Why? Because when an enemy, named already or not, kills you, they increase in power and rise in rank, turning them into a more important nemesis you’ll have to face later on, making death in this game significant. There’s actually one deadly SOB in my game that’s killed me a few times and risen to terrifying heights. After torturing some orcs to gain some info on him (yeah, you can do that too), I’ve discovered he’s got almost no weaknesses and everything causes him to go into a murderous rage. I’m actually worried about running into him again.
On top of all this awesome is mounted beast combat, a huge and mostly seamless sandbox experience, and an ability upgrade system that’s varied and entertaining. Plus you don’t have to grind toward anything if you don’t feel like it.
Okay, some minor complaints. Detaching yourself from walls can be tough from time to time. I’ve been a few feet off the ground, with orcs approaching, and been unable to drop as easily as I’d like. Another issue is finishing off enemies. Generally, you have to use a finisher to kill a dazed enemy, which would be fine if their dazed state didn’t make them immune to regular attacks. I can be swinging my sword and it does nothing to them if they’re down and out. Can be frustrating.
Another thing, and it may be small to some, is the fact that the game seems to go against some of the lore Tolkien set down. The protagonist is killed and seemingly resurrected. Only one human in the history of Middle Earth, that I know of, has done that, according to Tolkien’s books: Luthien’s love for Beren was so great that it moved Mandos, a god, to resurrect the fallen warrior. If you don’t know what this tale is or do know and don’t care, then you probably won’t be bothered about the occasional departure from canon in Shadow of Mordor.
So what’s the bottom line for this game? You should try it. It’s the best I’ve played for the PS4 thus far and not just because of the system’s generally disappointing launch titles. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is genuinely good.
