REVIEWS

MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR

Since the golden age of 8bit computers, Middle Earth has been a beacon of light for developers when they wanted to make an epic game that was guaranteed to grab the public's attention. The 1980s saw the introduction of many of them, led by Melbourne House, which became famous for releases such as the classic The Hobbit, The Fellowship of The Ring, Crack of Doom and others. Several years later, the huge commercial success of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy led to an equally staggering increase in games based on the fantasy world of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, yet rarely could their quality be described as high, beyond a few honest efforts (and one notable MMO of course). Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor comes at a time when the storm of related games has long since died down, and the lack of rush to catch a movie tie-in allows it to comfortably take the title of one of the more accomplished games associated with this beloved lore. Let's take things from the beginning, though.

Set in the time between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, the story of Shadow of Mordor revolves around the ranger Talion, a brave but tormented hero whose fate plays a very ugly game: Witnessing the cold-blooded murder of his wife and child by the Black Hand of Sauron, and then ending up becoming a "sacrifice" to the ultimate lord of evil himself. Of course, if the story ended at that point, there would be no game to play, so Talion is brought back to life with the help of a powerful Elf elder who, aside from being a Wraith, remembers almost nothing of his rich past, or at least claims to.

Shadow of Mordor Shot1
Talion in the flesh. A bit like Aragorn, don't you think?

After a "typical" conversation, as well as a few sporadic flashbacks, the two protagonists discover that, despite being separated by many centuries, they share some common elements, such as hatred for Black Hand, whom they each want dead for different reasons: Talion to avenge his dead family, while the mysterious Elf for reasons we're not allowed to reveal just yet, as we'll destroy any possible trace of interest in the Shadow of Mordor plot. A script that is generally nothing remarkable, despite all the many "hidden" references to Tolkien's lore that occasionally make an appearance, partly because the protagonist Talion is almost uninteresting and trivial as a character, and partly because the plot develops in rather predictable and tepid patterns, with no particular flourishes even when we are now approaching its climax. Probably the people at Monolith wanted to put more emphasis on the gameplay of the game and left the script on the back burner, which raises questions, as with such a rich lore that the world of J.R.R. Tolkien has, it's a shame not to manage to create something truly exceptional.

"Swallowing" this sad fact and turning our attention to the main game, the truth is that the first minutes are a bit "numb". The reason is that the Assassin's Creed influences in its open-world gameplay setup and the similarities of the combat system to recent Batman games are pronounced to the point of ridiculousness. But it's at least unfair to describe Shadow of Mordor as "the Assassin's Creed in Middle-earth with the Batman battle system", as the creators have taken the necessary care with their "child" to make it a truly enjoyable experience. And the truth is that they more than succeed: Shadow of Mordor is one of the most fun open-world games to play this year.

Shadow of Mordor Shot2
By slaughtering a Captain, you gain not only material but also moral compensation for all that he has done to you up to that point.

The main materials used for its construction are the familiar ones you've come across in every game of the genre. You find yourself on a map representing a part of Mordor (a second one opens up later), which, although relatively small for a game of the genre, is really overflowing with activities and missions (both main and secondary), and it's surprising that many of them are accessible almost from the start. Of course, as you progress through the game, the number of activities multiplies, and the only thing you can be sure of is that you won't be left idle. On a regular basis you'll be able to engage in side-missions or any challenges, which not only award you experience points to improve your hero's attributes via a functional skill tree, but also a way to further upgrade your three main weapons (sword, bow and dagger). The positive thing about the whole quest thing is that, by all accounts, there is a respectable amount of variety: from hunting animals of various sizes and collecting plants, to freeing slaves and tracking down dangerous Orcs (or more correctly Uruks), where their general existence in the game equals the salt and pepper of the action.

So the line "Let's hunt some Orcs" takes on a whole new dimension in Shadow of Mordor, thanks to the much-coveted and touted Nemesis system. This system is the main innovation of the title, as it somehow "brings the game world to life", moving autonomously and in parallel with the protagonist's actions. In a nutshell, its function is as follows: as you undertake and complete missions, the high-ranking Orcs in the area literally kill each other to rise up the ranks of Sauron's armada, since as we all know, Orcs hate each other as much as they hate humans. The most powerful Orc that manages to prevail takes the place of the previous one and is leveled up, which makes it more durable and harder to defeat by Talion in a battle.

Shadow of Mordor Shot3
Talion is a skilled warrior and the combat system that the game incorporates helps a lot in this regard...

It is not unlikely that during your wanderings you will encounter a Captain Orc and, if you act accordingly (i.e., slaughter him without much ado), you can influence the current hierarchy. However, keep in mind that in order to eliminate, without much effort, a hardy Captain or Warchief Orc, which is always accompanied by militias of Orcs, you need to know his weaknesses. These weaknesses can be, for example, fear against fire or damage only with arrows, so consequently you need to base your tactics on them and exploit them properly. Just be careful because the information about their weaknesses is not offered to you ready on a plate, but you will have to discover them yourself either by violently interrogating an Orc-"Artemis Matsa" or by trying to fight them directly, at the risk of getting your face eaten and raising the level of the Orc that killed you! Yes, death in Shadow of Mordor is something that should not be taken lightly, as each failed attempt has the consequence of making the next one harder, so you ought to be properly prepared before attacking the level 17 Warchief that killed you.

However, a victory against an Orc officer has the corresponding benefits to Talion's progress, which are worth sweating a little more for: on the one hand you accumulate Power points that unlock the next Tier of the Skill Tree, on the other hand the runes they cast when they breathe their last breath can be placed on one of your three weapons and significantly boost the hero's performance in battle. Remarkably here too, the variety of runes is far from negligible and you can easily spend a couple of hours clearing the map of ranked Orcs, a process that hardly gets boring, mainly because Orcs have their own personalities and rarely will the progression of a battle be exactly the same as the previous one, while their belligerent and arrogant disposition towards you provoke primitive feelings of hatred and a strong desire to impale their head on the nearest stake...

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The Orcs fight each other and we enjoy the spectacle.

Aiding the successful implementation of the Nemesis System is the Batman-like battle system, which in Shadow of Mordor finds an incredibly fun implementation. Accurate and unobtrusive in response, not limited to mindless button-mashing but requiring technique on the part of the player, combos and counters come out effortlessly and are very impressive, and even when you need to employ stealth methods, the game doesn't miss. Talion's amazing wraith bow can cause panic, especially when combined with environmental traps, while with the dagger it's possible to silently annihilate entire divisions of Orcs. We object, however, to the completely unnecessary QTE that don't offer the slightest thrill on the battlefield - thankfully they are very rare instances that will annoy you with their sometimes tight time limits.

However, once you spend a lot of time boosting Talion's powers, the hero becomes truly powerful, and this is perhaps where Shadow of Mordor's biggest flaw presents itself: the game becomes easier than it should and than you'd expect. Contributing to this is the rather silly behaviour of the Orcs, who most of the time fight like they're wielding a sword for the first time and you're only in danger when they bend you under the weight of their numbers (whenever you simply put your feet on their shoulders), when you move into the shadows you have to petition for them to get a scent, and in the event that they spot you and you run away from their range, they stop their pursuit and return to their positions as if nothing's wrong. We said, Orcs are...putty, but not like that!

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Yes, you will find some animals and even ride them!

In my personal opinion, the low quality of the AI doesn't really hurt or ruin the experience you get from the game. Shadow of Mordor is packed with content, it requires hours of engagement to discover everything (completionists will be particularly happy with what they see), the core gameplay mechanics work seamlessly, with the combat and Nemesis system dominating and leading to some battles of epic proportions, especially towards the end of the game when you learn the Brand/Dominate technique and can now acquire... company.

Moving on to the technical side of the game, much ado was made about the game's exorbitant VRAM requirements for the graphics card. We are happy to announce that by no means are things as bad as they were presented. It may indeed be that for the Ultra settings, the game needs a high-end graphics card to cope at playable levels, but on the test system listed below with the "despicable" 760GTX 2GB, Shadow of Mordor ran at consistently high frame rates on the high settings, with minimal slowdowns and with the visuals proving to be gorgeous and barely below the coveted Ultra settings. Superbly designed environments, with muted colours dominating (as is natural in a region like Mordor), mostly very good quality textures, thoughtful animation and impressive weather effects. The soundtrack is of the same high standard, with the orchestral soundtrack including some very interesting tracks to silence the action, while no complaints can be found in the voice-overs - the cast's performance is professional even in the difficult role of Gollum, where the actor "replacing" Andy Serkis does an exemplary job.

To sum up, Monolith Productions managed to surprise and present a very worthwhile game that will be appreciated by fans of open-world games, while Tolkien fans will always have an extra reason to love it. It's by no means the perfect game, but it sets a very solid foundation for a superior sequel that might just make a difference. Some things are ill to hear when the world's in Shadows.

debeSpecs

Review code was provided by Zegetron

Pros

  • Smart implementation of the Nemesis System
  • Fun combat system
  • Very good technical sector
  • A map full of activities that guarantee long hours of gameplay

Cons

  • "Lukewarm" story
  • Low-quality AI
  • The use of Quick Time Events is completely unnecessary
RANKING - 85%

85%

Γιώργος Δεμπεγιώτης

Lover of action, shooter, adventure, RPG's and sometimes racing games, he prefers mainly single-player gaming. Every now and then he breaks out into a multi, but he doesn't overdo it.

6 Comments

  1. Ναι! :p

    Βασικά θυμόμουν ότι υπήρχε ένα με τον ίδιο/παρόμοιο τίτλο, αλλά δεν ήμουν σίγουρος. Thanks for the heads up!

  2. Αν και λάτρης του κόσμου του Τόλκιν δε με ενθουσιάζει ιδιαίτερα το παιχνίδι. Ίσως του δώσω μια ευκαιρία σε κάποια καλή έκπτωση.
    Ωραίο review Γιώργο.

  3. Μπράβο Γιώργο αναλυτικός και κατατοπιστικός.
    Τα μόνα αρνητικά που διακρίνω είναι τα qte που ευτυχώς ειναι ελάχιστα και η ΑΙ που παρόμοια θέματα συναντάς σε πολλά παιχνίδια οπότε αυτα δεν είναι αρκετά να με κρατήσουν μακριά απο τον τίτλο.

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