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

This is great. After the mildly disappointing Destiny (love it with friends, hate it alone) I really cannot wait to getting my Talions (pun definitely intended) into this one. Batman combat, Creed traversal, quality plot, Last of Us quality acting and to top it off a cool new rival system.

Bring it on.
 
DrBo42 said:
Yeah like others have repeated, decapitation is the only way to be sure. The problem is that I'm not sure if decapitation is possible on some of the strength heavy orcs with multiple "invulnerable to __" affixes. If there's a way to ensure they kneel down at a certain health percentage then it's not really a problem. Time will tell.
Click to expand...

Wow, this is a REALLY big oversight from Monolith. Dead is dead whether by stabbing, beheading, Killed by Graug, you name it. Thats how i thought the Nemesis system was demonstrated. I can understand that reviewers frustration.

I also have not seen monolith mention this at all and i bet a lot of people dont know this can happen.
 
b0uncyfr0 said:
Wow, this is a REALLY big oversight from Monolith. Dead is dead whether by stabbing, beheading, Killed by Graug, you name it. Thats how i thought the Nemesis system was demonstrated. I can understand that reviewers frustration.

I also have not seen monolith mention this at all and i bet a lot of people dont know this can happen.
Click to expand...

They've mentioned it in multiple streams so they're not exactly hiding it. There's still a lot we don't know like whether decapitation is possible on every enemy and whether or not low health results in the surrender state. The latter enables the decap with the last chance mini-game. There's also the individual ability factor like how well you or I can play the game and plan encounters ahead of time. What is frustration due to difficulty to one person is an enjoyable challenge to another. Again, time will tell with a broader sample size.
 
Damaniel said:
The most shocking thing must be that a heavily hyped feature (the Nemesis system) actually managed to live up to the hype. I was expecting a solid action game with a Nemesis system that showed hints of brilliance but contained enough flaws/cracks to make you go 'yeah, this is OK, but it's still half-baked'. The fact that reviewers are pretty much universally praising the execution of Nemesis is very good for the game, and hopefully very good for our chances of getting more high quality emergent systems in future games. High quality next-gen graphics are nice, but the real promise of next-gen is making games more dynamic and less predictable, and it looks like Shadow of Mordor is leading the way.
Click to expand...

YES.

100% agree with that.
 
b0uncyfr0 said:
Wow, this is a REALLY big oversight from Monolith. Dead is dead whether by stabbing, beheading, Killed by Graug, you name it. Thats how i thought the Nemesis system was demonstrated. I can understand that reviewers frustration.

I also have not seen monolith mention this at all and i bet a lot of people dont know this can happen.
Click to expand...

I'm sure I read somewhere that this is in the LOTR lore. I'm probably talking shit and it's from something else entirely but it rings a bell that orcs have crazy regenerative powers and need to be decapitated. Like Highlanders.
 
Every time I've played this at preview events, I became more and more interested in trying out the final game - and this comes from someone who HATES all of the Middle-earth nonsense.

So, not at all surprised that it's getting good reviews. (A bit surprised at our good review, because the person who reviewed it is very tough on games. *heh*) Definitely had "sleeper hit in the making" written all over it.
 
DrBo42 said:
From what I've seen and read it's pretty close to the Arkham City map. But that's the size per region and there's 2 confirmed regions separated by a load.
Click to expand...

That's not bad at all. I'd have been satisfied with it just being as big as Arkham City, the gliding made the map feel smaller than it was.
 
After being initially hyped i had started to get a bad feeling this would be a disappointment, after reading reviews i'm back on board! Although i wonder if some of these good scores are partly due to low expectations.
 
I expected that game will be good, but it is nice to see that reviewers have liked the game.

Now decisions.... weather to buy it for PS4 or to wait few months for a better PC. Does PC version has any unique visuals [apart from 6GB Vram req for Ultra textuires]?
 
I'm on board. I've been on board for months!

I decided not to buy Hyrule Warriors strictly because of this game. Hopefully get around to that game at a later date when there is a sale or promo.
 
Great to see the reviews being so positive. Can't wait to pick this up now and finally a decent LOTRs game. Mind you, I liked The Third Age back on the old xbox too.
 
Still not sure or if this is going to be a sleeper hit or not but the positive reviews and score are definetly a good thing. The Destiny "backlash" might also help a bit, I really hope this game sells well.
 
Financial Post (who?) gives it 7/10. Some choice quotes that seem to dictate the score:

"It may be an open-world adventure, but it’s a fraction the size of, say, an Elder Scrolls game. Think 25 hours as opposed to 250 with a good deal of repetitive play."
Click to expand...

"It’s got terrific combat mechanics that at times make for sublimely satisfying medieval-style melee battles, but you need to be prepared for frustration and realize that – for better and worse – it’s not a casual gamer’s button-masher."
Click to expand...

"But these encounters are brief and eventually unfulfilling, seemingly added simply to pad out a thin story in need of a weightier, more complex plot.

After watching the final scene – which comes close to matching the game’s opening moments in terms of emotional punch, even if it leaves a least a couple of important problems unresolved – I was left with the thought that had I watched only it and the opening sequence I’d have absorbed pretty much all the meaningful storytelling that the game had to offer."
Click to expand...

Essentially, this guy wanted more story and a much easier game to go along with it in order to be happy.

http://business.financialpost.com/2...o-know-about-orc-hierarchies/?__lsa=ccca-1167
 
Game looks incredible.

I was telling myself I'd wait until it became cheaper after just picking up Destiny and buying NBA 2K15 soon also, but I don't think I have the willpower, haha.

Can never say no to anything LOTR related.
 
As happy as I am that the game is great, I'm even happier for Monolith. F.E.A.R. is one of my top-two shooters of all time, but ever since, they've never lived up to that legacy. But they're back now. Monolith is back.

Can't wait to play.
 
Looks like this turned out well which makes me happy. I was always interested in this game because of the nemesis system and it's good to know that it actually works.
 
All the people writing 'Wow, out of nowhere! With no hype!?"

There was a thread on the front page for nearly two months saying 'come in a be hyped with me'

Just because you're ignoring a game doesn't mean everyone else is.
 
Auctopus said:
All the people writing 'Wow, out of nowhere! With no hype!?"

There was a thread on the front page for nearly two months saying 'come in a be hyped with me'

Just because you're ignoring a game doesn't mean everyone else is.
Click to expand...

Damn, son. Hype just got hipster. Jokes aside I welcome any who jump in based on these new threads if it helps a good game get sales.
 
Auctopus said:
All the people writing 'Wow, out of nowhere! With no hype!?"

There was a thread on the front page for nearly two months saying 'come in a be hyped with me'

Just because you're ignoring a game doesn't mean everyone else is.
Click to expand...

It got almost no hype in the press. Everything was all "Destiny this and Destiny that" for a long time. With the sort of reviews this game is generating from those who have played it, it seems like all that Destiny hype should have been applied to this game.
 
DrBo42 said:
Damn, son. Hype just got hipster. Jokes aside I welcome any who jump in based on these new threads if it helps a good game get sales.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry. It didn't mean to come across as Hipster. It's great more people are playing the game, just a little ignorant to say how nobody thought this game was going to be good just because they weren't keeping an open mind.
 
Fantastic reviews.

Also, reading a couple (sorry, don't have the time just yet to read all of them) leads me to believe that no-one got the X1 version for review?

Pretty worrying with how the developers were dodging questions about the X1 version all the way back at E3...
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Fantastic reviews.

Also, reading a couple (sorry, don't have the time just yet to read all of them) leads me to believe that no-one got the X1 version for review?

Pretty worrying with how the developers were dodging questions about the X1 version all the way back at E3...
Click to expand...

It's the same deal as last fen when everyone always got the 360 version. This will be a thing for the time being.
 
Auctopus said:
Yeah, sorry. It didn't mean to come across as Hipster. It's great more people are playing the game, just a little ignorant to say how nobody thought this game was going to be good just because they weren't keeping an open mind.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's ignorance, there's a ton of titles and announcements battling for our time and attention. Some things just get missed. I still have no idea what The Evil Within is, for example.
 
Miles Quaritch said:
Fantastic reviews.

Also, reading a couple (sorry, don't have the time just yet to read all of them) leads me to believe that no-one got the X1 version for review?

Pretty worrying with how the developers were dodging questions about the X1 version all the way back at E3...
Click to expand...

That's how it is every generation. Last gen almost every publisher always sent out the 360 version of their game for review because the 360 was the more popular console, and 3rd party games were generally better on the 360. The PS3 caught up to the 360 after a good while, but by then publishers were used to send out review copies on the 360 so they kept doing it. It's the same this gen, only with the PS4 as the platform of choice.

So, I wouldn't read anything into them sending out PS4 review copies. That's how it's gonna be with most 3rd party games on both consoles for the whole generation.

Also, did not expect this game to review this well.
 
B-Dubs said:
It got almost no hype in the press. Everything was all "Destiny this and Destiny that" for a long time. With the sort of reviews this game is generating from those who have played it, it seems like all that Destiny hype should have been applied to this game.
Click to expand...
That's because the media are a mouth-piece for the publishers' marketing departments. You would hope they learned their lesson after Tifanfall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ghost of Yotei | Review Thread
Analysis Review  11 12 13 14 15
738
739
viveks86 replied
Hades 2 | Review Thread
Review  2 3 4
177
553
manfestival replied
Wizards of the Coast tries to position itself as a Monolith in gaming as they hire former Shadow of Mordor/Black Panther devs
19
261
Inspector Q replied
Lost Soul Aside | Review Thread
Review 
49
814
Gamer_By_Proxy replied
Dying Light: The Beast | Review Thread
Analysis Review  2 3 4
164
1K
Alpha Male replied
Top Bottom