Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

One of the greatest lord of the rings Novels with the perfect ai and Nemesis system

quite fun, but nothing original here of substance tbh

My first experience playing Shadow of Mordor was many, many years ago, back when I first got my PS3. To say it disappointed me would be quite the understatement, though hindsight being what it is, I eventually realized that was because I was playing one of, if not THE worst possible version of the game. I could write an entire review based on that de-make, but suffice to say, I didn’t really imagine myself ever returning to this. But curiosity reeled me in once more, and thus my journey through Mordor began anew.

I’ll cut immediately to the chase and talk about what is, undoubtedly, the greatest feat of this title: the nemesis system. The simplistic yet internally complex mechanic presented is unlike anything else I’ve seen (I’ve read online that the mechanic is supposedly patented, perhaps explaining that absence in other games). Being able to directly manipulate the strength of your enemies, pitting captains and warlords against one another, wiping out leaders with their own troops, sending death threats between captains to boost rewards at the cost of a more difficult battle. The list goes on and on, with the possibilities for any conflict being seemingly endless. It is, legitimately, one of the coolest systems I’ve seen in any game, ever.

The rest of the game is…perfectly fine. The gameplay can be pretty addicting as a result of the aforementioned system, though collectibles are shockingly easy to obtain, and the missions can feel a bit samey after a while. At times it felt like I was playing a slightly tamer Assassin’s Creed game, which isn’t necessarily an insult or a compliment. To be perfectly honest, I was a little confused as to why it was nominated for GOTY in 2014, but after looking at the other nominees, I suppose I can see why.

I’m glad I was able to put to rest my history with this game, and though I’m not nearly as big a fan as others made it sound like I would be, I can still appreciate this game for the innovations it brought to the industry, even if they’re not exactly being utilized.

I really, really did not like this. It's really boring, the story is clicheed and the balancing is completely off. The graphics are still quite good, but that's mostly it. I played through the story as fast as possible and thought about going through the dlc as well (it's on the disc of the game of year edition) but during the second mission with the dwarf I un-installed it and I don't think of going back.

The Nemesis system rocks 🤘

I regretted buying it in the first 14-15 hrs. Then BOOM!!!
Wow am so glad that I didn't uninstall it. I hope to play shadow of war too eventhough I heard it is not as fun s this.