"Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor" I Can See It Now

 


    Have you always felt that many fantasy games/series were too unserious? Too whimsical and magical, not gritty and dark enough? Then Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is the game for you. If you are a big fan of the Lord of the Rings series at all I implore you to give this game a shot, and then play its sequel which I have yet to touch, but have high hopes for. This game truly is a marvel, and while yes, I do still think the incredibly hyped Nemesis system is a bit overrated, it eventually does click with you.

    Let me explain the tale of Gorful Ghul Slayer, my greatest nemesis who came back to life in the final steps of the games final battle, where we could once again clash blades as the comrades we were. Keep in mind all of this lore is in my end, but that's the beauty of the nemesis system, you sometimes end up seeing the same captains over and over again, leading you to feel like you've created some bond with them. Gorful came from a side captain who just happened to be at battles where I died, to being a staple, somehow becoming more powerful than any warchief I had faced, mostly by virtue of being around whenever I died trying to kill his boss.

    It brings up one issue I have with this game though, it doesn't really have a good difficulty scale. Frankly, the most difficult aspect of this game is the hordes of Orcs/enemies it throws at the player. It can truly be astonishing the horde the game decides to send your way, and that's pretty much the only way one would die. Luckily, it is remedied by the fact that one could easily just brand Orcs, which brings me to my next point.

    This game is so lucky it had the DLC, because while the main game is fun, the issue with it is that it's a bit on the short side, and so therefore this incredibly cool ability to create your own army on the fly is not supplied to you until the very end. Even the developers realized this grave mistake, and ended up making it the key feature in both the major story DLC's, and thank god they did because it is so satisfying to have your own army do all the fighting for you.

    My only real complaint is that, in terms of lore and worldbuilding/characters, this game is extremely weak in that department. I mean there's Torvin who's cool, and Lithariel who barely shows up, and that's pretty much it. This game relies heavily, and I mean heavily, on the gameplay to carry it, which I mean it does, but at the same time it'd be cool if it had more than just that y'know? If I had to compare this game, I think it reminds me most of Star Wars: Fallen Order because of just how polished both games feel, even if they both feel relatively small compared to other open-world RPG's

Final Score: 83/100

    I really enjoyed this game. Even if it was a bit short, and the quests could barely be considered quests if I'm going to be honest. If only it had a better story, then I could put this game up there with the Elder Scrolls or the Witchers. I'm sorry but the Witcher 3 clears this game kind of easily, you just become so much more invested in those games compared to these ones. I think the nemesis system is overrated, and that the story is pretty thin, which is an issue for someone who really loves games with good stories. Either way, play this game, you won't regret it.

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