Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Shadow of Mordor is probably the worst videogame adaptation I have ever played. It's really impressive how little respect they had for the source material, so impressive in fact that in a way it's actually a good thing, not caring about Tolkien's desecrated corpse actually allows the developers to do insane things that are fun and make sense for a videogame.

But that's also the problem, Monolith has such fun destroying the lore that things get way too stupid, basically making a fantasy version of the WWE completely devoid of any gravitas or pathos, a world full of one-dimensional characters seeking revenge and power. Having a "dynamic story" by virtue of the nemesis system is completely pointless if the characters are fucking stupid orcs with no character of their own that just repeat the same randomized patterns over and over again.

I've heard that the sequel to this is basically just an improvement on every aspect and that gets me really excited because I loved a lot of the foundation but not much of the execution.

This game is most famous for the patented nemesis system and like, yeah, that's the best part. Some top tier catharsis came from finally killing an orc I'd died to a bunch of times and accidentally leveled up a bunch.

I didn't like the combat at first but came to realise that its actually just difficult and requires you to use all the tools at your disposal. Just spamming attack and parry isn't really an option. Though, once I got the hang of the combat and stopped losing fights I wouldn't say it was incredibly fun combat. Also, I wish stealth was more viable.

Scaling walls was neat but trying to detach from them was a nightmare and the jumping and parkour controls were incredibly imprecise. Never knew where I was going to land.

The story was utterly forgettable and felt incredibly truncated. Just not compelling at all. The world felt pretty lifeless and small, I never really felt like I was a part of something bigger.

Ending boss fights were neat but I had no connection to the narrative so I was just happy for them to be done.

The game is fun for a while, then it turns redundant by the time you arrive in the second map (where there are luxuriant green landscapes... in Mordor?). There are too many boring side quests to accomplish, items to collect that don't teach much about the lore, or "slaves to save"/"lieutenants to kill" type-quests that pop up every now and then.

I think the nemesis system is not a bad system per se, but I find myself skipping the who-killed-who-and-who-replaced-who explanations after some hours ingame. I just don't care which Orc, that I'm going to slay anyway, got promoted! And for a strange reason, some lieutenants kept standing in my way, even though I was sure I killed them several times. Their boring long-winded speech made me eye-rolling. Shut up, I have heard this many times before!

Fortunately, the main quests are quite interesting: you meet several characters (most of them lack depth, and reveal to be as serviceable as the protagonist, but the villains are charismatic), you go hunt fantastic creatures of Middle-Earth, and you engage in epic battles, where you can exploit the skills and fighting techniques you learnt earlier.

Speaking of the fighting system, I appreciate the fluid interactions and the many possibilities you have to slay Orcs. Every combat is a pleasure, and the enemies grow harder and harder to beat. The stealth system is quite good too, even if climbing can be imprecise at times and irritating.

In summary, this is a satisfying game, for LOTR fans and action-adventure players, but there is a little something lacking. Oh, and the ending, sadly, fucking sucks... I mean, you become a war machine on your way to confront Sauron's right-hand man... only to beat him in a thirty-seconds QTE! Ok then...

Shadow of Mordor is a decent game that is ruined by one fatal flaw: It's too easy.

As advertised everywhere, a big part of the game is the "Nemesis System", where orcs that kill you become more powerful and rise in the ranks of Sauron's army. This works very well at the beginning of the game, forcing you to actually plan your encounters with your powerful enemies in order to defeat them. Unfortunately, over the course of the game you gain many new powers and abilities - but the orcs don't. At about the halfway point of the game, you've become a nearly invincible badass that can slaughter dozens of enemies in one go. This also means that there is no challenge left in the game and in turn it becomes rather dull. The boring environments and unengaging story don't help it either.

This title may seem sarcastic and very negative, but it isn't negative. Because despite of all of the cliches this game borrows from other games (especially some games by ubisoft and the arkham games) it somehow manages to make it all into a very fun concise game that although being very repetitive manages to stay fairly interesting all the way through.
Recommended especially for pc because you can get it very cheap these days.

The Xbox 360 version of this game is what finally convinced me that the Xbone and PS4 were necessary upgrades. Due to being an adult at the time, I was less focused on the "shiny new videogame box" part, and more on the "$400" part for the first time. This is the game that I look back at when I think about the Scarlet or the PS5. I may not think we need it now, but I'll change my tune when another game like this comes out.

This version is playable. When you're in the game itself, it plays exactly like how you'd expect it to. There's no stutter or anything.
However, the load times are ridiculous. I don't just mean the "load the level" times. Pausing and unpausing the game requires a load time. I've played the Xbone version, which does all this smoothly. But on 360, every time I wanted to upgrade my abilities or look at the map, I'd be treated to a loading screen. I've never seen anything like it before or since.

It may be a bit late to say this now, but do not play this on Xbox 360 if you have any other options.