You will burn them, slice their necks, have fierce beasts maul them, throw them from ledges and still, some of them will find a way to return. Their wounds will be stitched together, left to heal on their own or even have iron platings stuck on them to prevent them from opening. That's their nature, and that of their homeland, Mordor, merciless, brutal and upredictable.

Enter Mordor as Talion, a ranger of the Black Gate. As soon as the tutorial finishes, you and your family have your throats slit as a sacrifice by the servants of Sauron. You are immediately banished from death however, since an ancient elven wraith possesses you, and you embark on your journey to avenge your family's death.

It's a pretty straightforward and shocking intro that will make you think "hey, this game's story seems brutal and interesting!" Unfortunately, that's also its best part. The rest of the storyline is shallow and feels as if the writers preferred to hunt Pokemon than write a bloody amazing scenario, one that this game is worth.

However, the rest of the game's elements are BLOODY AMAZING! Think of it like Batman: Arkham series and Assassin's Creed had a baby in the world of LOTR. It's that good, and more.

As an undead fella, Talion gives you the impression to be unstoppable without sacrificing the fear of defeat. As you progress, you unlock more powers and combat movements that you can tailor your battle style on. You can use stealth, force Uruks to fight for you, use beasts to do your dirty work, or straight-up massacre anyone that stands in your path. If you bite more than you can chew, though, you will find yourself respawning in the closest spawn point and the Uruk that dealt the killing blow being promoted or become stronger.

Mordor is alive. Uruks have not tamed the land and you will find patrols getting served by the local wildlife or slave camps where you can release the slaves for your benefit. Everywhere something is happening and you can sit back and watch, laughing, as a band of poor soldiers is getting skewered alive by gollum-like creatures. Or you can join the fray and leave none, orc and beast alike, standing. Your choice.

Since we talk about Uruks, here is where the game shines. They come in many professions, from slavers and hunters to assassins and archers. Their place in the army defines their weaponry and general attitude. Uruks have their own society, with soldiers, various forms of captains and always 5 warchiefs. An Uruk can progress through the ranks randomly, by killing Talion, killing other captains etc. Each Uruk likes and dislikes some of his peers, or he's even a bodyguard of a warchief. This information can be used to your advantage in order to clear Sauron's army more efficiently or take it under your control. Each Uruk has his strengths and weaknesses, like fear of fire or weakness to arrows, and you can find them out by interrogating worms, other Uruks that possess such knowledge.

Killing one of them does not always guarantee a success. If they get in a tough spot, Uruks might try to flee and learn from their encounter with you to counter your tactics. You are also in for a surprise once you realise you did not do your job properly, and a captain stitched himself up and is really, really angry with you in your next encounter. Their dialogue changes as well, depending on their past encounters with you or their activities when you ambush them.

The game is simply beautiful. The animations, the graphics, the lighting, the vegetation, everything. Detail is everywhere, from the scars in the captains' faces to the laces in Talion's armor. It's a wonder to look at, and certain known landmarks like the Black Gate inspire awe and a sense of greatness as you explore them.

On the downside, while meddling with the Uruk hierarchy will never bore you, some side quests will leave you bored out of your mind. The slave side-quests are always about rescuing 3 of them and gear-related quests are usually around stealth, long-range encounters or straight-up slaughter. It gets pretty dull quickly, and that's a big minus.

It's a game that's worth your time (and money). Its beauty combined with its unpredictable battles and fluid, intense battle system will keep you hooked and wanting for more, even if the story will not amaze you and tends to be forgotten quickly.

And remember boys, always chop off their heads, or else they WILL come back. Probably.


9/10

10/10

4.5/10

9/10

Overall:

+ Action
+ Combat system
+ Graphics
+ Open world
+ Optimization
+ RPG skills
+ Sauron's Army
+ Story

Ratings: 10/10

This game was a pleasant surprise for me. I was simply expecting Assassin's Creed in Mordor but this game is so much more than that. In Shadow of Mordor you take on the role of Talion, a ranger who, along with his family, was killed by the Black Hand of Sauron. You eventually come back paired to Celebrimbor's spirit to take vengeance upon those who wronged you.

Game play wise this game plays like a combination of Assassin's Creed and the Batman Arkham games. Climbing objects and moving around will feel familiar to any Assassin's Creed veteran, and the combat will be easy to pick up for those who have played the Batman games. While the influences are clear and direct, they don't make the game any less original overall.

One of the hooks of this game is the nemesis system involved with the Orc warlords. There are a ton of options for how to lure out and dispose of these warlords and while you'll be dealing with most outside of the story there are some that are saved for special story related events. This doesn't take away the feeling of this being an open world game, however, as there is almost always something to collect or a side mission to complete.

From a production standpoint the game shines. The voice acting is great all around and the game looks phenomenal (especially the Orcs). My only complaint is that the color palette is pretty much static throughout the game (although this was likely intentional to make you feel like you are in the hopeless land or Mordor).

Achievement wise this game is pretty easy. There are special kill achievements, achievements related to the nemesis system, and DLC achievements that will truly challenge you. Even though each DLC comes with a super pain in the butt achievement they do flesh out the story a bit more and are worth picking up as well.

Overall, Middle-earth: Shadow or Mordor doesn't fail to entertain and is a great action-adventure game that looks, sounds, and plays great.

9/10

A very brutal open world game that takes part before LOR and dlc that is even before that during the creation of the rings. I liked it have to master skills and plan attacks watching ranks of the Uruks and Orcs to topple Mordor. The cut scenes are pretty great and I looked forward to them as a LOR nerd. Being able to convert the enemy that was a game changer and glad saved for near end. Long story short its pretty much Assassins Creed Middle Earth that has Batman Arhkam Series Batvision.

Only downsides are the Bright Lord DLC you can not see anything and need to keep Raith Vision on to see targets and the fact that I have twin Radeon 7770 that render majestic graphics but make the game lag like hell so I can play on High graphics with delay or low-normal with really good screen rate other than that nothing else negative.

Slick controls, tons of optional challenges and collectibles, a few innovative game mechanics and multiple progression systems make this is very fun game. It stays mostly true to Tolkien's mythology, though it takes a few liberties in order to tell its story properly. I especially liked the collectibles that gave you a voice-acted glimpse into the past.
My biggest problem is that the combat becomes crazy easy once you unlock certain abilities and Runes. Even the hardest warchiefs and their bodyguards become easy to defeat if you know how to chain your abilities right.

All in alI highly recommend this game, though the DLC is a bit of a mixed bag.

first impressions of the game:
♥♥♥♥ing sweet game
very well optimized
looks great
buy it on bundlestars for $9.99

Bought this off a Steam sale with 75% off for the Full GOTY edition and honestly after playing, I feel guilty for not have paid the just price for what it deserves.

Having said that, this would pretty much sum up my review for the game, from which you could tell the extent of my appreciation for the game.

Damn awesome game. The graphics are just as great as the visceral gameplay. Very nice progression that makes the combat not seem repetitive. Lots of collectibles and side questy goodness. Don't know anything about the lore, but didn't matter, everything blends nicely and they even let you skip all cutscenes!

Waiting for Horde version of this game where I go around smashing human, night elf, and gnome faces in as an orc. LOK-TAR OGAR!

Decapitation never gets old

Easily the best game based on the Lord of The Rings books/movies that I've played in my life. Main game review; I haven't played the DLCs yet.

Pros:
-Fluid gameplay
-A rather easy combat system that echoes Batman Arkham style
-Vibrant open world
-Skills and weapon modding to tailor your play style
-Story and lore is pretty good
-Every captains or higher rank has unique advantages and disadvantages makes each of them a unique mini boss to play with
-Sauron's Army including Nemesis/Rivalry makes each almost every enemy unique. (Those normal orcs that kill you can 'rank up' and could possibly be your new nemesis)

Cons:
-Not enough enemy types. Sure there are captains or higher rank and spear throwers or big cats, but honestly i expected a lot more types to challenge myself.
-Boss battles doesn't really appeal or feel very unique. That fight with the legendary graug is a too typical 'dodge and hit' fight and the black captains, tower of sauron oh god they feel like the normal sauron army captains. The hammer of sauron is pretty good for the first time you do it and the black hand/Sauron final boss was just too bland. It was all reduced to quick-time events button clicking. I expected A LOT MORE when freaking Sauron is fighting you.


Overall though, the awards and critic review it has proves that this is indeed a good game if not your own experiences.