[Timgt5]

Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor
Assassins’ Creed, Batman Arkham and Soul Reaver meet in Tolkien's Sandbox
A review by Timgt5

Since the hugely successful Peter Jackson films brought JRR Tolkein’s epic mythology Lord of the Rings back into our collective consciousness in 2001, the game industry has rushed in to take advantage of gamers’ continued interest in the narrative. Studios have released everything from Hack and Slashers to RPGs to RTS games based on the world created out by Tolkien in the late 1930s. In 2014 Monolith productions added its entry into the long list of LOTR based games. Does Shadow of Mordor bring the epicness? Read on…

Middle Earth, Shadow of Mordor
Release Date September 2014
Type: Action RPG
Genre: High Fantasy, LOTR related
Platforms PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 PC (Windows)
Rating M (mature)

Highs: Excellent visuals and Sound, Fluid Combat, terrific music score, “Nemisis system” deep gameplay, well written narrative.

Lows: early stages can be frustrating, can feel a bit repitative at times.

Plot: Shadow of Mordor is set in Middle Earth, specifically in Mordor, between the end of the Hobbit and the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring. At this time Mordor still functions as a somewhat normal kingdom, Sauron has only begun his second rise to power (Resulting in the War of the Ring). The Uraks/Orcs are not fully united under his control and demonstrate great autonomy with a lot of factional in-fighting.

Our story centers around a ranger named Talion. Talion was part of a garrison charged by Gondor with containing the Orcs on the other side of the Black Gate. His wife and teen son are stationed with him. One day a large force of Orcs led by the Black Hand (one of Sauron’s Chief lieutenants) overwhelm Talion’s garrison capturing Talion and his family. The Black Hand ritiuallistically sacrifices Tallion’s wife and son, in order to summon the Elven Wraith Celimbor (who we later learn was a key in forging the rings) Instead of coming to the aid of the Black Hand, Celimbor, having lost all his memories (due to being a wraith for centuries) merges instead with the dying Talion. The two form a symbotic relationship and work together to both recover Celimbor’s past and disrupt Sauron’s plan.

The story feels like a solidly written bit of fan fiction. The narrative references the books throughout and the player encounters Golem (Who can see Celimbor due to his corruption by the One Ring). Overall game and story integrate well.

Game Play: Shadow of Mordor is an action/RPG hybrid set in an open world. The player controls Talion throughout the game as he seeks to disrupt Sauron’s forces and avenge his fallen family. Like most of its kind the game play is broken down into some familiar components, combat, resource gathering, main and side mission quests.

Combat: The game’s combat system feels like a cross between Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham series. Talion engages in acrobatic sword play at closer ranges and can employ his wraith bow for longer range kills. Talion will struggle at first against even the lower level Orcs, but once experience is gained and runes are acquired (they are used to upgrade Talion’s arsenal) Talion becomes quite the sword master, able to take out large numbers of grunts and overpower even the toughest of Mordor’s captains. Combat in general becomes satisfying, the overall flow feels like it was lifted from the Batman Arkham series. Talion moves fluidly, there is no real defensive blcoking but there is an effective one button attack counter similar to what is used in Assassin's Creed. At higher levels Talion gains access to lethal countermoves that end up with the enemy forces literally losing their heads or simply having them explode ala Mortal Kombat. Like Hitman and Assassins' Creed, Talion can also take the stealth approach sneaking up on enemies and taking them out before they knew what hit them. Of paticular challenge are the various Orc captains. These are stronger Orcs that require additional strategy and planning to take out as they suffer less from the weaknesses of lower Orcs. The highest are the Warchiefs, which can be very difficult to kill.

The Nemesis System-This is one area where Shadow of Mordor adds a unique mechanic to the genre. At this point Sauran does not have full control of the Orcs. The Orcs are still largely independent and are grouped in factions, gangs and even small armies. Talion can use this to his advantage. Targeting certain Orcs for assassination allows Talion to get close to the higher ranks. In the first half of the game Talion’s goal is to elimimate at least 4 of the warchiefs. The danger of the system is that if Orcs succeed in killing off Talion they move up in rank and become stronger, and in a bit of comedy when Talion comes across them again they will trash talk him and remind him of how they got the best of him on the last encounter. In the second half of the game Talion can gain control over the Orcs and make them do his bidding for a limited time. Eventually he will use this to recruit an army of Orcs to overthrow Sauron himself.

Other Missions-Like many in the open world genre, Shadow of Mordor adds a number of side quests for various rewards. I found most to be satisfying without the feeling of padding for padding’s sake. Throughout the game you assist outcasts, free slaves and collect artifacts to help the wraith recover his memory and add to the story. You also have several encounters with Gollem.

Sights and Sounds: Shadow of Mordor is handsome title. The environment is in two distinct halves. The first is where Sauron is the strongest. Here much of Mordor has been stripped mined and the environment is bleak and drab. Unlike the version portrayed in the Lord of the Rings, however it still has functioning villages and encampments. The second part of the envrionment is an area of Mordor largely untouched by Sauran, full of green rolling hills and forests.

Character models are pretty good as well, with Talion having solid detail. There are a lot of Orcs with various looks, clothes and builds all done well. Combat animations are well done. Water, smoke and other visual effects are about par for a modern game. Nothing here really advances the state of the art, but nothing here disappoints either.

The sound quality is good, background effects are nicely balanced. The PS4 version gets some nice use out of the Dual Shock’s built in speaker. Voice acting is impressive, the cast being led by the always excellent Troy Baker (Bioshock Infinite, Uncharted 4)as Talion. Nolan North (Uncharted Series) plays one of the major villains (always a treat) and Claudia Black (Farscape, Uncharted 2 and 3) plays a major supporting role as does Alistar Duncan( Soul Reaver 2). The score is appropriate and works well with the action and the narrative. The only real irritation seems to be that the developers felt all the Orcs had to have the same thick cockney accent, as if they all hailed from downtown London.

Kids Corner: Language is not really an issue here, nor is are nudity/sexual situations. The game is rated M (mature) due primarily to some rather graphic violence (Talion decapitates, stabs and dismembers A LOT of Orcs) and blood shed.

In Summary: Shadow of Mordor is a very good open world action title. If you like games like Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham series, this one will be right in your wheelhouse, especially at the sub-$20 price this is now selling for at major retailers. If you are LOTR fan, this game makes for a satisfying expansion of the lore surrounding this great epic.

Trailer below: