Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor | Review Thread - Welcome to Middle Earf

TimeEffect said:
A sequel would be great, but it's great to see this start off so well!

A bigger open world with more sidequests and lore will really take this game into the top of the cream for the generation.

I'm good with picking up random doo-dads too. Any idea what they are? Does the world have cool places where you can do some small exploring to find the collectibles or are they more straightforward?
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The collectibles all have neat lore and story behind them. Very solid polish and thoughtfulness there.

Collecting them is 100% straightforward though. They're dots on the map.
 
Was on the fence with this game, but between the great reviews and Blizzard/Bungie dragging their ass a bit in terms of patching I think I'll just grab it.
 
This was on my 'Wait until December and see if I can squeeze the money out between GTAV & Unity.'

Now it's 'How am I going to be able to afford all the geamez', especially as COD:AW is looking pretty darn tasty too...

I'm not even thinking about Feb next year. I literally get a burning sensation where my wallet is in my pocket.
 
GDJustin said:
No - I would say the opposite. 100% speculation on my part, but it feels like your abilities and the nemesis system came first, game world last.

There's fortresses dotting the map and each of them are filled with interesting enemy patrols, stealth spots, ways to infiltrate in, get a vantage point, orc lookouts, etc. They're all polished and fun. But they kinda just seemed plopped into the map and running to and from these enemy encampments isn't especially interesting. I don't think I could look at a screenshot and have any clue where in the game world it is, for example. Beyond knowing which of the two maps its on.

It's not something I've thought about in the moment when playing, which I want to re-emphasize. The game is amazing. When specifically prompted about the environment, I'll answer. But when considering the whole package, it doesn't weigh down the fun.
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Very interesting, thank you for your impressions!

One more question if you will - sorta environment related... do mounts have trouble traversing all of the hills, bumps, and doodads, or is it as effortless as the trailers make it appear? Like, is it a GTA situation where trees are indestructible and stop you in your path (when mounted)?
 
GDJustin said:
The collectibles all have neat lore and story behind them. Very solid polish and thoughtfulness there.

Collecting them is 100% straightforward though. They're dots on the map.
Click to expand...

Oh I have another question. In all the gameplay I've seen, the only two times of day were the sort of muggy midday and the rainy night. Are there more times of day or any more variety to that?
 
TAJ said:
Effectively $38 for some people on console, too.
And $30 on PC.
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spk said:
Huh?
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He might mean that if you buy console games, you better be a Best Buy GCU member (get it as soon as it's on sale) and pre-order.

GCU gets you 20% off all sealed (any game that isn't used, whether on sale or a new release) and then you also get $10 back for pre-ordering.

$60 Shadow of Mordor
$48 with GCU discount
$38 after pre-order reward

MHWilliams said:
Due to shipping issues, I got my game late. Not done with it yet, but I have my mid-game impressions up.

Every single open-world game needs to outright steal the Nemesis System.
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Hope other studios are paying attention, especially with the scores so far.
 
I did not expect this. I listen to the Joystiq podcast and they were pretty hyped about this, guess the hype was true.

Might be picking this up if my brother doesn't.
 
Kind of left this behind in my mind since Unity is sooooo close but... I may have to dominate some fools if this dips down in price even just a leeeetle bit.
 
MHWilliams said:
Every single open-world game needs to outright steal the Nemesis System.
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Arkham Asylum really set the standard for combat in an action/adventure title, and that got copied to hell and back. If SoM manages to do the same for quest design, we may just see it again... and again... and again, with a different name.
 
Looks great. Now I convinced to buy it, but FH 2 is coming out in the same day, so will probably buy it after a while.
 
LurkerPrime said:
Very interesting, thank you for your impressions!

One more question if you will - sorta environment related... do mounts have trouble traversing all of the hills, bumps, and doodads, or is it as effortless as the trailers make it appear? Like, is it a GTA situation where trees are indestructible and stop you in your path (when mounted)?
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The mounts are surprisingly awesome. Run into a ledge and they... climb it. Which is pretty mind-blowing, when you think about it.

Additionally, when you dismount, they go apeshit and start attacking orcs for you. :) Which makes sense, since they're mind-controlled beasts.

VanWinkle said:
Oh I have another question. In all the gameplay I've seen, the only two times of day were the sort of muggy midday and the rainy night. Are there more times of day or any more variety to that?
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Yes.
 
neogaffer1 said:
So he was expecting everybody else to give it lots of praise?
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Typical 3edgy5me reviewer who wants to be the one outlier just for clicks/fame. He knew dam well the game was going to be well reviewed so he gave it a lower score for his 15 min of review fame.
 
Holy. Fucking. Crap.

My nipples are ready! I hoped that this game gets reviewed well but to get these good of scores is amazing. I hope these reviews translate into sales.

Day one from the moment this game was revealed. Simply can't wait to play this.
 
Destructoid review said:
Ultimately, like many ambitious projects, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor doesn't deliver on everything it sets out to do. Although Monolith's heart is in the right place and the studio honors the lore, it doesn't really add anything that's worth seeing outside of some solid open world gameplay. It isn't a bad game, it just feels far too repetitive for its own good.
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Have to admit I'm a bit surprised. When first announced all I ever heard was how the game butchers Tolkien (of course thats true of all games to varying degrees).
 
GDJustin said:
The mounts are surprisingly awesome. Run into a ledge and they... climb it. Which is pretty mind-blowing, when you think about it.

Additionally, when you dismount, they go apeshit and start attacking orcs for you. :) Which makes sense, since they're mind-controlled beasts..
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This is the best possible outcome for mounts. Utterly fantastic news.

Thanks again!

Quasar said:
Have to admit I'm a bit surprised. When first announced all I ever heard was how the game butchers Tolkien (of course thats true of all games to varying degrees).
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It's easy to assume that when SoM's premise is basically "one man defeats the armies of Mordor." Hopefully it's as respectful as Dtoid says..
 
I seriously hope this is a first part of a series. There are too few good ME games around.

I thought the Hobbit movies would bring a string of new games and I've been surprised it didn't really happen. I was hoping to see another Battle for Middle Earth. :-(
 
Quasar said:
Have to admit I'm a bit surprised. When first announced all I ever heard was how the game butchers Tolkien (of course thats true of all games to varying degrees).
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That's only if you agree with the statement that Tolkien's works are meant to display some sort of message about pacifism.

"It does't feel like LOTR, waaa"

By what I've seen and the reviews say, the game is packed with lore and is written with the similarion in mind
 
What's the length we're looking at here? I read that Monolith said 30 hours to get through it for them, what do the reviews say?
 
I don't see the issue with what the Dtoid reviewer said. It didn't click for him. That's totally fine. He says he's not surprised that other people are giving it high scores because he can see why people would like it, but he wasn't one of them.

It's an opinion.
 
Einbroch said:
I don't see the issue with what the Dtoid reviewer said. It didn't click for him. That's totally fine. He says he's not surprised that other people are giving it high scores because he can see why people would like it, but he wasn't one of them.

It's an opinion.
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Yep reviews are peoples opinions. I don't see the game clicking for me either but if other people find it 10/10 goty then good for them.
 
Quasar said:
Have to admit I'm a bit surprised. When first announced all I ever heard was how the game butchers Tolkien (of course thats true of all games to varying degrees).
Click to expand...

I was a little surprised as well. I wasn't expecting Monolith to butcher the story/lore or anything like that. What caught me off guard is that some reviewers are giving the story really high praise. Makes me really excited to play it.
 
Thank goodness. I wanted this game to be good so bad. And all the 9s rolling in? Even better than I could have ever imagined. Pre-ordered.
 
Einbroch said:
I don't see the issue with what the Dtoid reviewer said. It didn't click for him. That's totally fine. He says he's not surprised that other people are giving it high scores because he can see why people would like it, but he wasn't one of them.

It's an opinion.
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Yes. There hasn't been a game made that would please everybody.
 
I really hope this is a big success and kicks off a "Middle-Earth" series that explores different locales and eras. Some of the stuff in The Silmarillion would just be incredible in a game.
 
This game wasnt even on my radar until today, hearing that its like a mix of assasins creed and batman makes me want to go out and buy it right now.

Well done Monolith.
 
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