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Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor |OT| One Title to rule them all

If there was even a chance of many low scores we would not be seeing reviews until release day like almost every other release where publishers know they have a game that doesn't stand up to the hype. This game will average an 8.5 Metacritic at least, I'm sure of it, but doubters gonna doubt I guess. I've heard so many game reviewers talk about an upcoming game that's gonna really surprise people and I'm 99% sure they're all referring to Shadow of Mordor.
Yeah, the fact that it seems they will take any and every opportunity shows to me at least that they are very confident in the project. As far as media, I think Watch_Dogs mention is a bit unfair, as up until that point there hadn't been many games that looked like that. So I think the media excitement at the time was fair as it looked bad ass.
I find this generations emphasis on streaming to be a fantastic for this. Day one, this game is going to be all over live with PlayStation.
Spot on. The ability to stream directly from each console is fantastic as you can get unfiltered opinions of pretty much any game free of publisher/studio/etc pressure.
 
Dude you should totally buy Alien Colonial Marines and Big Rigs. Don't believe the haters

I bought Alien Colonial Marines but never Big Rigs because that clearly is shit in a disk. While A:CM was highly disappointing and average, it was alright when you played it in co-op with friends/family, many laughs to be had. The multiplayer however was better than I expected to be honest but then again, that's not saying much.

Having saying that, as I stated, Anything that interests me in the slightest then I am going to get and judge it on my own, not some other person.
 

nnodley

Neo Member
I seriously can't decide whether I want to buy this now or wait a bit? I'm so close to jumping in and preordering!
 
I bought Alien Colonial Marines but never Big Rigs because that clearly is shit in a disk. While A:CM was highly disappointing and average, it was alright when you played it in co-op with friends/family, many laughs to be had. The multiplayer however was better than I expected to be honest but then again, that's not saying much.

Having saying that, as I stated, Anything that interests me in the slightest then I am going to get and judge it on my own, not some other person.
Yup. You and I have pretty much the same exact opinion of A:CM. I played it with a buddy and we laughed our asses off and had a good time with it.
I seriously can't decide whether I want to buy this now or wait a bit? I'm so close to jumping in and preordering!
Just wait a few more days. Reviews are coming in a few days with plenty of time left over to preorder if you wanted to.
 

DSix

Banned
With that thread title, I came in expecting Boromir gifs, and I only got one on page 5.

You disappoint me gaf.
 

nnodley

Neo Member
Just wait a few more days. Reviews are coming in a few days with plenty of time left over to preorder if you wanted to.
Yeah, I probably will wait till reviews come out. I may not even preorder since there is not really any preorder bonuses I want so there's no point for me to really.
 

Marcel

Member
Looks interesting. The Nemesis system they've created is intriguing. Haven't heard very much about the overall game though, which is a bit worrying.

Then again, we heard a lot about Destiny and look how that turned out.
 
Looks interesting. The Nemesis system they've created is intriguing. Haven't heard very much about the overall game though, which is a bit worrying.

Then again, we heard a lot about Destiny and look how that turned out.

millions of people love it is how that turned out lol

in this case, if the dev is holding back showing any story or narrative so as not to reveal spoilers, then i'm all for it. i really admire that.
 
Woah nice to get reviews before release day, though I preordered already

Hopefully it doesn't backfire and they wish they did a Destiny
 

Mentok

Banned
tumblr_macxnmhRRk1rcl33co1_500.jpg


I can't wait for this.
 

1337Sauce

Member
Able to get my hands on a copy tomorrow afternoon, so I will definitely be posting my impressions after a couple hours tomorrow night as well as streaming if you guys are interested!
 

1337Sauce

Member
Will you be streaming through a potato, 1337sauce? I don't think I can handle it if you are.



Shadow of Mordor |OT5| It's Talion's Destiny

No don't worry haha! I haven't decided if I'm going to grab the Xbox One or PS4 version yet (currently thinking PS4), but either way I will be streaming from the Twitch app on either console!
 
No don't worry haha! I haven't decided if I'm going to grab the Xbox One or PS4 version yet (currently thinking PS4), but either way I will be streaming from the Twitch app on either console!

Ah, ok. I may catch it then.

Shadow of Mordor |OT2| Talion Never Walks in Mordor
 
If they're putting the review embargo up an entire weekend before launch, the game can't really be bad, can it? If nothing else, just really good?
 

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
I'm confidently expecting higher than that. I'm expecting 8.0-8.5. Game looks mechanically solid, polished, and story/presentation values look very high quality.

I hope you're right, rather crave a solid action adventure on my pc
 
If they're putting the review embargo up an entire weekend before launch, the game can't really be bad, can it? If nothing else, just really good?

With all the footage they've shown, and the early embargo, it would suggest that they're confident the game will speak for itself. It also suggests (to me) that their marketing budget leaves a lot to be desired, and they're counting on positive word of mouth to drive sales. If the game is as good as it seems, this may be exactly what happens.

I really hope the combat system is up there with Batman: Arkham's. There's so many that mimic it, but none that nail it.
 

Jira

Member
If they're putting the review embargo up an entire weekend before launch, the game can't really be bad, can it? If nothing else, just really good?

Not only are they releasing reviews 4 days before launch, they've pushed the release date up multiple times, they gave the last gen version to another studio so they wouldn't have to devote resources to it and hamper the current gen versions, they've shown well over 10 hours of gameplay to press, and have let people at conventions play for 30 min each. I think it's safe to say they realize they have a damn good game on their hands. That kind of transparency is something that other developers need to strive for as it doesn't happen often enough.

In regards to marketing, word of mouth is the best type of marketing you can possibly hope for and also the cheapest.
 

Jira

Member
Gamestop QA

Q. How many names are there for the Orcs?

We have scores of names and titles within the game and when you combine those, we have thousands and thousands of names within the game for players to experience.

Q. Is the main character a new face to LotR or are you using a pre-existing character?

He's actually both. We have Talion who's a Ranger of the Black Gate who is unique to our story but we also have Celebrimbor who is a character that is existent in the lore. He's actually the guy that created the Rings of Power.

Q. If there is an ecosystem in Mordor, will there be herbivores for predators to hunt that you can also mount?

Who needs herbivores when you have amazing predators that are running around in Mordor that you can actually mount and kick some serious Uruk butt?

Q. I know you can control enemies with your wraith powers, but what about bosses and chieftans?

Well absolutely. You can definitely control warchiefs and captains and that's actually key to building your army to ultimately take on Sauron.

Q. How long will the game be?

With the Nemesis System being a big component of our game, playtime can vary greatly between player and player but our campaign has play-tested at around 30 hours.

Q. There are many ways to handle the Nemesis System, though is it possible to dominate every single Orc we come across?

Well yes, it's actually possible to dominate every single Orc that you come across but that would be super, super difficult. I've tried it, and it's not easy.

Q. Will there be a large weapon/armor variety?

There's definitely a good weapon and armor variety. Basically what we offer is we have three weapons: We have Talion's dagger, we have his sword, and we have Celebrimbor's bow and then even within those weapons there's a fairly deep progression that allows for good growth for the player.

Q. Are Orcs the only enemies in the game or will Humans and Elves make an appearance?

We've got lots of cool characters that are going to make an appearance. We have Elves, we have Humans, we have a blustery Dwarf, we have Gollum. Lots and lots and lots of cool touch points to the lore and lots of interesting deliveries of their characters to the narrative.

Q. How far do you have to be in the game ti you can start branding enemies?

That power is unlocked somewhere around the half-way point in the game when you meet Queen Marwen.

Q. Will there be any kind of multiplayer/co-op mode?

No, but we do have a really cool thing called "Vendettas" where you can avenge your friend's death in your game.

Q. How did you guys go about designing the world of Shadow of Mordor?

Well obviously we're super big fans of the lore. We certainly looked at the films and Peter Jackson's visions. We also went back and looked at all of the illustrations and conceptual designs that have been done within the lore. But for there, what we really wanted to do, was we wanted to do was we wanted to show Mordor during a time of transition because obviously our story takes place between 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' and one of the few big words or "tag-words" that we used were (A) Authenticity, we also really tried to approach it as if it was a true historical piece. So what does that mean? Well with the new-generation hardware and what that's all capable of, the ability to get this level of highly-realistic presentation is now possible. So with the world we looked at influences from Yellowstone National Park, we looked at influences from Iceland, we looked at influences from New Zealand, but even more interestingly we actually went and did some on-location shoots in Eastern Washington. I don't know if a lot of people know this, but Eastern Washington is a very, very volcanic area. There's an area called the "Colombia River Plateau" which was very volcanic. Many, many thousands of years ago there were some great floods so obviously this area was fertile ground as far as how we developed some of the visuals that you see in the different worlds in the game. The other component to our development was utilizing Weta so very early on we worked with them to try to understand their development process and really wanted to leverage them to help bring that authenticity to the presentation of the world. But going down even to the microscopic level, when we were looking at these locations, and volcanic locations, and the type of sediment and Geography, we were very, very conscious of trying to ensure that the rock types that we used were consistent with that type of Geology; the foliage that was used was very consistent with that type of Geology; the architecture that was presented in the world was very consistent. So we definitely wanted to present the world that people know and love and in many cases, a lot of the locations that we show, people have never really seen or absolutely have never had the chance to run around in and really was excited about the opportunity of delivering that immersive experience in a place that people are familiar with. Or maybe not familiar with, either way. But the goal was immersion; the goal was authenticity, a heightened sense of realism, and making it feel as if it was a historical piece.
 

Mentok

Banned
Q. Will there be a large weapon/armor variety?

There's definitely a good weapon and armor variety. Basically what we offer is we have three weapons: We have Talion's dagger, we have his sword, and we have Celebrimbor's bow and then even within those weapons there's a fairly deep progression that allows for good growth for the player.

So there IS armour variety? I know they have said that you have your set weapons, but I was never sure about armour. That's cool.
 

VanWinkle

Member
Does this have open world like Skyrim or is it like Kingdoms of Amalur?

It's not like Skyrim. But in addition to some additional story-only locations, there are two or three open sandbox areas that are pretty large, with missions, and exploration, and collectibles, and caves, and, of course, the nemesis stuff to do.
 
I'm expecting something around 8.0 or 8.5 in the metascore.

I really hope this doesn't turn into another Alien colonial marines fiasco.
 
It's not like Skyrim. But in addition to some additional story-only locations, there are two or three open sandbox areas that are pretty large, with missions, and exploration, and collectibles, and caves, and, of course, the nemesis stuff to do.

Okay. That kinda dampens the interest a little bit because I wanted to explore the LOTR universe in a vast open world. Sequel might do it for me. Anyways PC version is preordered. Hoping for a solid port.
 

KingJolly

Banned
I bought Alien Colonial Marines but never Big Rigs because that clearly is shit in a disk. While A:CM was highly disappointing and average, it was alright when you played it in co-op with friends/family, many laughs to be had. The multiplayer however was better than I expected to be honest but then again, that's not saying much.

Having saying that, as I stated, Anything that interests me in the slightest then I am going to get and judge it on my own, not some other person.


Don't knock it till you try it ;)
 
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