Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor borrowed from other greats of its genre like Assassin’s Creed and Batman Arkham but here’s the review.
Original Summary
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros.
Interactive Entertainment. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in September 2014 and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2014.
The game takes place in the 60-year gap between the events of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. The family of Talion—voiced and motion captured by Troy Baker.
Talion is a ranger of Gondor responsible for guarding the Black Gate of Mordor, is killed by the armies of Sauron, but Talion is revived with “wraith-like abilities” and heads into Mordor to exact his revenge. — WIKIPEDIA
Back When
Released initially on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in September of 2014, this game was scooped up by many an eager fan of the Tolkien series of books and gamers alike.
A remaster of sorts was released later on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, and again, it was devoured by all, becoming one of the biggest sellers of both consoles early history.
I’ve Played This Before!
Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor borrowed from some other greats that had been all the rage around this time, its influences from Ubisoft‘s Assassin’s Creed series is more than obvious, as well as the Batman Arkham series combat.
The free form combat system allows you to play how you want, allowing you to gain the upper hand in most situations unless, of course, you are overrun by Orcs that is.
See, this game will tell you to play how you want, but will show you stealth routes through the game, making you play a bit safer, especially when dealing with a whole host of bad guys at once. Sometimes you will have to run away to take the win.
My Nemesis…
One thing that is really unique about this game is something they called the Nemesis System. See, you will die in this game, and the ones who killed you will remember you, and get a promotion in rank because of it.
You also will be able to use your unique abilities to take control of enemies, break them, and bend them to your will. You will be able to use these allies to take down enemy hordes, doing the dirty work for you in some respects.
It’s really cool to see this play out in-game as well, seeing the Orc you took over gain some measure of control, then ascend to War Chief, all the while, ready to take down the enemy from the inside.
A Grand Tale
You play as Talion, a Ranger who bonds with the Elven Wraith Spirit, Celebrimbor, both set out to avenge the death of loved ones and beat back the forces of Sauron.
While I won’t spoil it here, the story is excellent and adds a lot to the already established Tolkien universe.
You will meet a few fan-favorite characters from the film along the way, and you will see the depths to which your own characters will go for revenge.
On a side note, they did add DLC to this game that further expanded the story, even letting you play as the Dark Lord himself.
So, if you decide to snag this game, I recommend getting the year edition game because it already has all the DLC included.
You will find a couple of costumes for those of you who want to do it all with different outfits.
Summing Up
Summing up this review, let’s say this much. If you’re a fan of open-world adventure games, go buy it. If you’re a lover of all things Tolkien, go buy it.
If you’re a fan of the Assassin’s Creed games, go buy it. If you’re a fan of the Batman Arkham series free form combat system, go buy it.
Needless to say, you should pick this game up. It should be relatively cheap in most game stores, especially since the sequel came out a few years ago.
You may even be able to find a two-pack, giving you both games in the series, Shadows of Mordor and Shadow of War.
All in all, I give this game a solid 8 out of 10, well worth the purchase if you ask me.
So, there you go. Another review is in the bag. Until next time folks, I will see you in the game.
© Gothic Bite Magazine 