The Epic Return to Middle Earth

Yes, ok, the Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor was released a while ago, but after completing it just last week and being so thoroughly impressed, I felt that I really needed to share this with you guys. For all of you who missed it, the _Shadow of Mordor _is a new Stealth-RPG style Lord of the Rings game, that takes between the happenings of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Its completely new material that aims to add a new franchise and lore to this already extensive world. You play as the ranger Talion, who, with his family, has been murdered by the Hand of Sauron, as Sauron returns to Mordor. Strangely enough you do not die, as your soul bonds with that of an ancient wraith. With your new added powers of the wraith you aim to uncover its past as well as avenge your loved ones.

The story of the game was absolutely outstanding. From start to finish I never felt that I wasn’t playing a cheap knock-off of a Tolkien story, but an actual proper story living and breathing in Middle Earth. Without revealing too much (even though I really want to gush about the epicness that is some scenes), I can tell you that we see the return of very familiar characters like Gollum, as well as being introduced to new ones that further the lore. All of the cutscenes were really well done, and the acting was all incredibly good. So good in fact that I actually felt like I was in my own personal Lord of the Rings movie. Very rarely have I gotten chills when playing a game, but I definitely got them in this game. While these shivers could been amplified because I love Lord of the Rings so much, there still is certainly something magical about this worthy admission to Middle Earth.

The game itself takes place in Mordor. Now the Mordor you probably have in mind, is the one portrayed in the movies, black, burned and full of lava. The Mordor of the Shadow of Mordor, could not be any different. Sauron has just returned back home, and his armies have not had a time to ravage this green landscape. Also, there is a super green area around the sea of Núrn! How else do you think that the Orcs would get their grub? Magic?! So, basically you are surrounded by green grass, ancient ruins of Human buildings, and great trees dotting the area you traverse. Furthermore, the creatures and Orcs that roam this land, do so at random, and gives the world a vibrancy and life I have found hard-pressed to find in most games.

The missions in the story, fit in extremely well, and the fact that I could do them at any time I wanted to removed the forced element that you sometimes have. All the missions I did themselves never really followed those clichéd RPG missions, where you collect stuff and grind away for better gear. In fact, I never felt that I needed to grind at any point, I rarely cared about my runes I had equipped because it was so fun to play.

The mechanics of the game, while quite similar to the Assassin’s Creed series, was still really well executed. The stealth element works really well, and I felt so amazing when I stealth dropped and cut a throat. The combat is also really fun, and holy shit those executions are really epic. While obviously there is a finite amount of animations, it never felt repetitive and I would whoop with joy when a particularly bloody came up. The only thing that I can say that slightly disappointed me was the whole mind control thing. I am definitely not saying its bad, and to be honest I didn’t really know what to expect, I still felt like there was something missing.

The thing that I really liked was the whole nemesis system! I brutally scarred one Orc leader while trying to kill him, but didn’t actually decapitate him, meaning he survived! I can tell you, he definitely didn’t take being mutilated well. His face was a horrible mass, and according to information I procured, he was actually unable to chew properly! Basically, the fact that I was able to uniquely influence the future of those I met, was an experience that I had never had before and to perfectly frank it was incredible. Furthermore the vendetta missions, which basically were just missions to kill Orc leaders, but with the twist that you were avenging the deaths of players who had been killed by these guys in their OWN game. This added a whole new dimension of interacting with other people’s worlds, and every time on of these came up, I dropped what I was doing to complete it.

In terms of the pedantic details, the graphics and sound track live up to the amazing standard set by all the other parts of this game. The graphics, are exceptional and if you have a graphic card that can handle the load, be ready to be awed by the visual detail that will burn your eyes. The water, lighting effects make for such an immersive experience and definitely the sharpest rendition of Middle Earth I have ever seen!

Now the one thing I was slightly worried about was replay value. Would I be able to pick this title up once I finished it? After messing about for 30 hours on this game, I can tell you definitely! Killing Orcs, doing sick combos and slowly taking control of Mordor was just so fun. I could have probably finished the game early if I hadn’t been messing about so much. Trust me, I will definitely be dipping back into the Shadow of Mordor pool again.

What I hope you have managed to convey in this review is how much this has managed to live up to my hyped expectations. I have this amazing ability of hyping upcoming games to the point that reality cannot possibly stand up to my imagination. This has ruined several game for me. As much as I tried to not get hyped for this game, I still did. I was super excited when I finally got my hands on it. In the back of my mind, I was truly afraid that I would once again be disappointed. However, this one time reality managed to not only hold up to my expectations but soundly beat them. The game made me fall in love with Lord of the Rings all over again. I would seriously recommend anyone getting it, as it is totally worth it.

Once I had finished the main story, all I could think was: “this was so incredibly good, where is the sequel, take my money.” Its not often that you get that feeling, and one I hope that you will also experience when completing this game.