Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

[K0ZZ]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

This was a game I had as a rental only for the longest time, but having read the IGN review and the comparisons that it drew, essentially melding the combat from Arkham, with the stealth of AC (and a blend of the pair's open worlds), it came together beautifully. Easily my best gaming purchase this year, I checked my time and it's around 40 hours, in only a week or so?

I haven't spent 40 hours on almost any game and I still haven't beaten in, the living worlds is such a huge feature, I love how you end up getting rivalries that aren't prescripted and change with each game, and the community play is a nice little addition as well.

[42]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Always use the environment to your advantage. Shoot open cages, shoot down bait traps, shoot down mag flies nests, shoot fire pits, shoot the weak spots of walls, etc.

And as a reminder when doing the above: Hit L1 (on PS4) to enter Wraith World to EASILY spot out those advantage points while planning your attack.

[Valdarez]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Didn't die at all during onset of game, but die more times than I can count now. Usually killed by a Caragor or due to being Poisoned and subsequently losing all health.

Doing all the side missions and such and pacing out the Story mode so I can have it all wrapped up roughly at the same time. Like that it shows me how many main story missions there are so I can plan it out and play it the way I want to play/enjoy it.

[DTX3]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I'm glad that I entered this thread because I'm absolutely loving this game.


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[daniel77733]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Doing all the side missions and such and pacing out the Story mode so I can have it all wrapped up roughly at the same time. Like that it shows me how many main story missions there are so I can plan it out and play it the way I want to play/enjoy it.

I'm doing the same thing. Have four story missions and two hunting missions left in the game. Everything else is at 100%. Definitely a very good game.

[Eman5805]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I don't know if I'll ever kill all those damn Warchiefs. lol

I'm forced to do so much grinding so I can get enough abilities to take 'em on. Plus, I know I'm gonna take out their bodyguards first, but one is the guy I can't beat no matter what. I can't vault on him. He's immune to ranged attacks. And can summon more baddies to fight. AND he's enraged by caragors.

And then I ran into an uruk who can do some kind of area of effect poison attack. Merks me everytime. I'm so dependent on that triangle prompt...

Edit: Had a funny open world sandbox kinda deal where a warchief was just out on his own with some body guard tailing him. Not sure what he was doing. But he was walking right for me hiding in a bush. I was like "Really?" so I looked at his weakness, sure enough. He could be taken out with a stealth kill, so I went right up to his back and got him.

Also, my GOD, this friggin' The Elder guy won't stay dead. But I fixed his butt. I had JUST upgraded my Flurry Kill to make their heads pop. He won't be coming back from THAT, will ya? You damn coward!

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Yeah War Chiefs and Captains do leave their compounds and walk around quite a lot. That is one thing I loved about the game, it is literally a living world. People are constantly on the move walking around to other areas of the map doing their own thing.

[daniel77733]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

After about 55 hours, I have finished the game with 100% completion. My review (Sony PlayStation 4) -

VIDEO - 9/10
Graphics, environments, character models, animations, atmosphere etc. all greatly done with a lot of detail. Facial expressions are excellent, game is simply a pleasure to look at and the world feels alive with all the enemies constantly around and moving about which in turn makes you feel immersed in the world.

AUDIO - 9/10
Music, sound, voice acting are all excellent and fit the mood, battle, area, mission, etc. to near perfection. The "one liners" when battling Captains and War Chiefs were great and always accurate especially if you're defeated by one of them and fighting them again. Also, if you're high above, sometimes, you'll get called out by the Captain or War Chief below.

GAME PLAY - 8/10
While the game itself plays good, the main negative was at times the horrible camera, loose controls and bad button configuration which hurts the rest of the game play to where at times, it's extremely frustrating and aggravating. The constant re-spawning of enemies doesn't help as every time you turn around, you're stuck in yet another grinding battle. While it's good that the world is filled with enemies as opposed to empty spots, it does get annoying sometimes because you would like to have one on one fights but it rarely happens.

The nemesis system is virtually never ending. Even after just finishing the game, there's new War-Chiefs and Captains that you can kill or brand. Love the ability to gather Intel to unlock the enemies strengths and weaknesses. The one thing that I don't like though is the fact that you can kill Captains and War Chiefs but they'll return unless you decapitate them. Personally, once I kill an enemy, that enemy should be dead but that's just my own personal gripe. When you die is when the nemesis system really kicks in. The Uruk that kills you gets a promotion and others get promoted as well. Best thing is that when fighting a Captain or War Chief who killed you, they'll taunt you the second time.

The runes add to your abilities and while there's several different runes, you'll notice that there's simply different percentages based on the level of the rune. Higher the level, the higher the percentage of the ability the rune provides.

There's also abilities that you can unlock via XP which are gained by defeating enemies and is where the constant grinding of fighting enemies comes into play. There's also attributes that you can purchase via the game's monetary system. There's also a "power" bar that after getting enough points opens up the next tier of attributes. The ability and attribute setup is good but also fairly easy and simple.

The health system is one that im not a fan of. While there's ways of regenerating health via the runes and attributes, the main way of gaining health is by finding the herbs which after cutting them, gives you back all of your health. Another way is by fast traveling to any tower which automatically refills your health, bow and arrow meter and the quantity of arrows you can carry. Would have preferred the ability to carry the herbs and use them when needed.

The stealth in the game is excellent but the enemy AI detection and vision isn't good at times. You can run past enemies and their detection will stay yellow unless you decide to stand in the area. Being able to sneak up behind enemies and execute them is definitely satisfying. The shooting of the arrows via the bow is very good especially once you gain enough XP to increase the amount that you can carry as well as the stamina needed for slowing down time when shooting arrows. The sword fighting though is what you'll most likely do the most. I enjoyed it a lot and if it wasn't for my number one negative that I started this section with, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. The executions are brutal and gruesome but if you're attacked before completing one, the enemy that you were trying to execute will still be alive. This is annoying at times but realistic. Defending, blocking and countering is precise and fluid.

Overall, everything about the game play is great with the exception of the at times horrible camera, loose controls and bad button configuration. Trying to run away from enemies becomes harder when you have to rotate the camera at the same time which takes your thumb off the run button and will hurt you at times. Controls needed to be tighter, camera should automatically rotate behind you when you turn around and the button configuration should have copied Assassin's Creed instead of using a variation.

STORY - 8/10
While im not going to go into detail about the story as I don't want to spoil anything, I will say as someone who's never seen The Lord of the Rings movies, I enjoyed the story a lot and for what it is. Having only 20 story missions and learning how to brand an enemy 80% through the story was a letdown as you should have learned it and other stuff earlier. The different objectives and varying missions were satisfying. Never got bored. Did get aggravated, annoyed and frustrated at times but again, that has to do with my main negative. Enjoyed the ending but the final battles left a lot to be desired in my opinion. I'll leave it at that. Overall, very enjoyable and satisfying.

EXTRAS - 8.5/10
This category relates to all the other stuff that can be done to increase the game's length. You can collect artifacts and ithildin images. Outcast missions is where you rescue prisoners. There's also survival and hunting challenges. And finally, there's sword, bow and dagger missions. Doing all of these optional side missions, quests, etc. give you XP and/or Money that allows you to build up your abilities and attributes. I completed all of these and really enjoyed them all. There's also "red" and "blue" missions that due to the nemesis system are virtually endless. They include "duels", "power struggles" and more.

OVERALL - 8.5/10
Overall, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is an excellent open world hack and slash game with a beautifully detailed world, good story, excellent music, sound and voice acting as well and a solid upgrading system. The nemesis system virtually adds a never ending feel to the game. Definitely worth playing and while it's not saying much, Mordor is easily the best game of the year thus far and kicks off the final quarter of 2014 in excellent fashion.

EDIT: After sleeping on it, I decided to edit three ratings. Lowered the audio from 9.5/10 to 9/10 and the story from 8.5/10 to 8/10 and increased the game play rating from 7/10 to 8/10. Game play is very good but the camera, loose controls and bad button configuration is what lowers the score. Would be closer to a 9/10 if those three aspects of the game play were better. Overall, still an 8.5/10.

[AshamanCarnage]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I'm in need of some help, I trying to take down a captain who is immune to range, stealth, and combat. His only weakness is explosions, but I can never find a spot with enough explosions to take him down. Did I mention he has poison spears?

Super annoying baddie.

[Mabster]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I'm in need of some help, I trying to take down a captain who is immune to range, stealth, and combat. His only weakness is explosions, but I can never find a spot with enough explosions to take him down. Did I mention he has poison spears?

Super annoying baddie.

How about mounting a caragor?

[tessl]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Does your character level up in this game with improved attributes? Are more advanced weapons and armor available as you progress?

[daniel77733]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Does your character level up in this game with improved attributes? Are more advanced weapons and armor available as you progress?

There's no actual leveling up. The XP you gain is used to increase your abilities which ranges from increasing your health meter to opening up slots for the runes. You can have up to 5 runes equipped for each weapon. The runes basically improve your weapons in terms of hit percentage, strength, etc.

The attributes is mainly unlocking the abilities to "brand" enemies, "ride caragors" and a lot more. Your set weapons become better based on the runes you have equipped. As for armor, there isn't any. The runes simply have defensive percentages that will say 17% defense against ranged attacks (bow and spears).

Hope this helps.

[tessl]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

There's no actual leveling up. The XP you gain is used to increase your abilities which ranges from increasing your health meter to opening up slots for the runes. You can have up to 5 runes equipped for each weapon. The runes basically improve your weapons in terms of hit percentage, strength, etc.

The attributes is mainly unlocking the abilities to "brand" enemies, "ride caragors" and a lot more. Your set weapons become better based on the runes you have equipped. As for armor, there isn't any. The runes simply have defensive percentages that will say 17% defense against ranged attacks (bow and spears).

Hope this helps.

It does help, thanks. I'm guessing the best way to level up is to kill monsters?

[studbucket]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

It does help, thanks. I'm guessing the best way to level up is to kill monsters?

That helps, but doing main/side quests will you get a lot of XP for doing them (and killing orcs in the meantime). Killing orcs is something you'll find yourself doing all the time, even for little reasons like:

• They are in your path
• You need intel
• They are sitting by a campfire, so you can't help but make it explode
• You want to free some slaves
• It's fun to make them fight a caragor

At no point do I ever feel like I am grinding. I actually have more XP than I can use right now.

[AshamanCarnage]

Re: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

How about mounting a caragor?

Was about to try that but he has the ability that allows him to kill monsters quickly.