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

Alright, I just got home with my PS4 copy and am ready to get stuck in. This better be as good as everyone's making it out to be.

Just remember: remove the head or they'll keep coming back... And no, you can't cut off the head on purpose.

(By the end of the game you'll know who your nemesis is.)
 

ironcreed

Banned
A face only a mother could love:

10646682_772706596126443_2413413224019860579_n.jpg
 

Sanctuary

Member
Just finished it, and I guess this would be only the second Assassin's Creed game I've finished. Was bored to death with the first, but finally finished it because I was wanting to play the series in order, greatly enjoyed most of AC2, then just got burnt out three-fourths of the way through and haven't looked back.

1. This is nothing but Assassin's Creed with Batman combat.

2. The combat is as easy as Batman, yet much more visceral and the sound effect with the wraith stun flurry attacks is pretty cool sounding. The only time it becomes "difficult" is when the alarm gets sounded. You're pretty much forced to run away and start again. Or at least find a high place to hide for a minute or two until things calm down.

3. The environment, while not particularly "ugly", looks terribly bland from both geometry and aesthetics. There's practically no variety. It's all browns and greens with some green until the second half, then it's all browns and greys with a lot of green. Assassin's Creed beats this game pretty badly with environmental and architectural detail. Batman completely demolishes this game in aesthetics and atmosphere.

4. The story is "serviceable" at best, with not a single character to actually care about. Assassin's Creed 2 had a way better narrative and the Batman games own both in regards to interesting characters.

5. Main quest line is extremely short (sub 6 hours short unless you're just really bad and die a lot). The majority of the game time revolves around collection garbage or Outcast missions that serve no purpose other than to give you money to buy weapon upgrades. I finished the game with 80% of the missions completed, all powers and upgrades and only completed 8/20 Outcast 4/10 "Survival", 4/10 "hunting". I saw no point at all in doing those. It's just a bunch of repetitive busywork that all games of this type suffer and seem to think it's meaningful gameplay when it's not. It's just garbage padding.

6. The weapon missions were just challenge maps. You don't actually get any reward for doing 10/10 sword, dagger, bow. Well, I guess if a skin job is a reward for you, then there's that.

7. Last fight was the most anticlimactic ever.

8. I saw zero purpose in doing any of the red icon missions after the final tier of upgrades was unlocked. Yet, plenty still exist after to reward you with Power that doesn't do anything.
 

MacBosse

Member
Just finished it, and I guess this would be only the second Assassin's Creed game I've finished. Was bored to death with the first, but finally finished it because I was wanting to play the series in order, greatly enjoyed most of AC2, then just got burnt out three-fourths of the way through and haven't looked back.

1. This is nothing but Assassin's Creed with Batman combat.

2. The combat is as easy as Batman, yet much more visceral and the sound effect with the wraith stun flurry attacks is pretty cool sounding. The only time it becomes "difficult" is when the alarm gets sounded. You're pretty much forced to run away and start again. Or at least find a high place to hide for a minute or two until things calm down.

3. The environment, while not particularly "ugly", looks terribly bland from both geometry and aesthetics. There's practically no variety. It's all browns and greens with some green until the second half, then it's all browns and greys with a lot of green. Assassin's Creed beats this game pretty badly with environmental and architectural detail. Batman completely demolishes this game in aesthetics and atmosphere.

4. The story is "serviceable" at best, with not a single character to actually care about. Assassin's Creed 2 had a way better narrative and the Batman games own both in regards to interesting characters.

5. Main quest line is extremely short (sub 6 hours short unless you're just really bad and die a lot). The majority of the game time revolves around collection garbage or Outcast missions that serve no purpose other than to give you money to buy weapon upgrades. I finished the game with 80% of the missions completed, all powers and upgrades and only completed 8/20 Outcast 4/10 "Survival", 4/10 "hunting". I saw no point at all in doing those. It's just a bunch of repetitive busywork that all games of this type suffer and seem to think it's meaningful gameplay when it's not. It's just garbage padding.

6. The weapon missions were just challenge maps. You don't actually get any reward for doing 10/10 sword, dagger, bow. Well, I guess if a skin job is a reward for you, then there's that.

7. Last fight was the most anticlimactic ever.

8. I saw zero purpose in doing any of the red icon missions after the final tier of upgrades was unlocked. Yet, plenty still exist after to reward you with Power that doesn't do anything.

Not a word about Shadow of Mordor's greatest feature?
 

Sanctuary

Member
Not a word about Shadow of Mordor's greatest feature?

The Nemesis system? It was way more hyped up than what was delivered. I died exactly three times to named Orcs. Once was at the very beginning and he was accompanied by six others and the alarm sounded. The second time was being two-shot by a poisoned crossbow and the third was being ambushed by a second elite, while a third magically spawned in the middle of a fight even though there was only the one named Orc anywhere in my area before I initiated the fight.

I guess if I had died to the same guy over and over again, or he escaped repeatedly I might think "Damn, that guy really pissed me off, he's my nemesis!", but I never experienced that. The same Elites/Captains returning again and again after you've killed them with scars or metal plates while trash talking you about your previous encounters was both kind of cool yet utterly stupid at the same time.

As I said in a previous post, it seems like Monolith had this really awesome concept, but never fleshed it out enough. The whole power struggle, orc vs orc thing felt like a sidebar more than something that actually mattered one bit to the actual game.
 

Sesuadra

Unconfirmed Member
i love the game. i have my nemesis right now...somethingsomething the assassin.

oh and to the person on my friends list who killed him, THANKS!
yesterday i killed him two times. once i pushed him in fire and after that he came back burned..then i sliced him up.

and that is my biggest problem with the game..you do not control if he cuts of his head or does something else.

besides that..wow! really. but it is hard to follow the main quest. i just get lost killing orcs.

i should try to foliow the main quest before it burns out.

but so far..WOW.
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
Just finished the game. 60% of completion in almost 18 hours. This is by far the the biggest surprise of the year so far and decently long too, only the ending left me scratching my head...
Time for a new Ring? Will Talion and Celebrimbor forge a new Ring of Power to challenge Sauron?
 

MattyG

Banned
This game makes me feel like such a badass. I branded one warchief's 3 bodyguards and went to do the mission to lure him out. The mission was to kill 20 orcs. I failed the first time, but when I went back there were THREE captains there. I don't know how the hell I did it, but I ended up getting the 20 kills, branding the 3 captains, and chasing the warchief halfway across the region.
 

MacBosse

Member
The Nemesis system? It was way more hyped up than what was delivered. I died exactly three times to named Orcs. Once was at the very beginning and he was accompanied by six others and the alarm sounded. The second time was being two-shot by a poisoned crossbow and the third was being ambushed by a second elite, while a third magically spawned in the middle of a fight even though there was only the one named Orc anywhere in my area before I initiated the fight.

I guess if I had died to the same guy over and over again, or he escaped repeatedly I might think "Damn, that guy really pissed me off, he's my nemesis!", but I never experienced that. The same Elites/Captains returning again and again after you've killed them with scars or metal plates while trash talking you about your previous encounters was both kind of cool yet utterly stupid at the same time.

As I said in a previous post, it seems like Monolith had this really awesome concept, but never fleshed it out enough. The whole power struggle, orc vs orc thing felt like a sidebar more than something that actually mattered one bit to the actual game.

Alright cool. Thanks for fleshing out your argument!

I agree on many points but I think that my general feelings towards the nemesis system kind of outshines any imperfections I find in the game. The nemesis system is the game for me.
 
Just finished the game. 60% of completion in almost 18 hours. This is by far the the biggest surprise of the year so far and decently long too, only the ending left me scratching my head...
Time for a new Ring? Will Talion and Celebrimbor forge a new Ring of Power to challenge Sauron?

If you noticed Talions eyes glowed red instead of blue in the end, so I am thinking he's corrupt
 
I actually like how the longsword originally looks, the fully upgraded sword looks more...
elven.

I think that's kind of the point as the flavor text says
Celebrimbor reforged the weapons with the tales of Talions exploits during those Legend missions.
 

zychi

Banned
Finished the main story part of the game missed a key part of one of the cut scenes I think. Could someone explain to me what I missed?

Who did the wife hit with the axe? My dog was hacking up something and I looked away when it happened. I just saw her strike someone with the magical axe
 
Alright, I just got home with my PS4 copy and am ready to get stuck in. This better be as good as everyone's making it out to be.

1. Get far enough in the game until you have branding. You unlock it in the second area. It adds a whole new layer of depth.

2. If not that get far enough until you start unlocking more enemy types. If not you'll be fighting the same enemies with the same strategies.

3. If the game is too easy and you want a challenge, you can remove the counter button call-out and other stuff from the screen. Without those you'll need to pay way more attention and will probably die more often.
 
i'm 2 or 3 hours in and the game is pretty cool. one thing though: is there a way to finish off your opponent while he is standing? it seems all my "brutal" kills they get dizzy standing up, then i sweep the leg karate kid style, THEN i brutally kill them on the ground. i tried to do the R2+Square while they are standing but nothing happens
 

Jolkien

Member
i'm 2 or 3 hours in and the game is pretty cool. one thing though: is there a way to finish off your opponent while he is standing? it seems all my "brutal" kills they get dizzy standing up, then i sweep the leg karate kid style, THEN i brutally kill them on the ground. i tried to do the R2+Square while they are standing but nothing happens

You can grab them while they are stunned standing up (some captains have immunity) but to brutal kill them they have to be on the ground. Standing up you will get 4 combo you can pull to dispatch ennemy, multiple options opens up as you play.
 

Laekon

Member
I lost all love of this game tonight. Basically two elite captains body guards are invulnerable from melee attacks and stuns and 8 arrows don't take them to half health. They also can't vaulted over. I'm not sure if the shoulder charge ability works on higher level captains but as of right now it's not possible for me to kill these 2 bodyguards. I spent over an hour trying to use explosions, caragor, flies, and getting them 1 on 1 and it got me no where.
 

zychi

Banned
I lost all love of this game tonight. Basically two elite captains body guards are invulnerable from melee attacks and stuns and 8 arrows don't take them to half health. They also can't vaulted over. I'm not sure if the shoulder charge ability works on higher level captains but as of right now it's not possible for me to kill these 2 bodyguards. I spent over an hour trying to use explosions, caragor, flies, and getting them 1 on 1 and it got me no where.

you'll get a skill later that takes care of these guys.
 

Skyzard

Banned
I lost all love of this game tonight. Basically two elite captains body guards are invulnerable from melee attacks and stuns and 8 arrows don't take them to half health. They also can't vaulted over. I'm not sure if the shoulder charge ability works on higher level captains but as of right now it's not possible for me to kill these 2 bodyguards. I spent over an hour trying to use explosions, caragor, flies, and getting them 1 on 1 and it got me no where.

Invulnerable to stealth kills?

Sneak up behind or above and press x/square (while sneaking) :)
 

Sanctuary

Member
It doesn't unlock anything. Besides a trophy/achievement.

The very definition of busywork. These are all easy enough to find, but the game literally shows you exactly where they are, it's like "what's the point?". Oh yeah, padding. Getting you to run from point A to B just to reveal a bit of extra picture that didn't really take any amount of effort at all.
It would be one thing if these "challenges" actually held any kind of reward, but aside from Miriam, or XP, they don't. Similarly with the artifacts. They add a very small bit of lore to the game, but I just started taking my headphones off or skipping the reveal text entirely near the end. Sitting through such slow exposition again and again is draining and it's hard to simply read it while they are talking at the same time.
 

Laekon

Member
you'll get a skill later that takes care of these guys.

Is that shoulder bash? I have that tier open but haven't gotten the skill.

Invulnerable to stealth kills?

Sneak up behind or above and press x/square (while sneaking) :)

Yes they are invulnerable to stealth attacks. They are only weak to range and melee but then the shield and the vault resistance makes them invulnerable to melee.
 

Jolkien

Member
Is that shoulder bash? I have that tier open but haven't gotten the skill.



Yes they are invulnerable to stealth attacks. They are only weak to range and melee but then the shield and the vault resistance makes them invulnerable to melee.

I platinumed the game and I never encountered enemies that couldn't die ? Normally if you can't vault sometimes you can use your stun on them, on if you attack them in the back. You can also get up your kill streak and go for execution if he isn't combat master it should land.

I personally never used shoulder charge (trained it very late and never though about it). Do you have shadow strike ? That could potentially also work. If you can dominate turn a few guys on him it'll make it alot easier to hit him in the back.
 

Braag

Member
I think that's kind of the point as the flavor text says
Celebrimbor reforged the weapons with the tales of Talions exploits during those Legend missions.

Aye. You're right though, they do look great with the dark ranger outfit since it also looks a bit more elegant compared to Talion's default tattered outfit.
 

fedexpeon

Banned
Finally beat the game.
And lol, Sauron is such a scrub in this game from that one cutscene from the last great war.
He got destroyed so easy and had to use a cheap trick to win the war.

I can see why he is an eyeball in the mountain because he has no combat skill at all.
I know the game isn't cannon, but Celebrimbor and the war were, and boy, did the Dark Lord fight like a scrub. Worse than my grandpa at swinging a table spoon.
This also helps add to the reason why the Dark Lord needed the Ring in LOTR because he knew he would get rocked by every heroes in the story.
 

Ferrio

Banned
Tried to avenge someone against a lvl 20 who was weak to everything but projectiles. Actually got him down really low... then he retreats... son of a bitch.
 
how long does it take until a warchief is replaced. I have one that has been straight up dead for ages, and two that are just lying there not completely dead
 

eshwaaz

Member
I absolutely love all of the incidental dialogue for the Uruk. There's a staggering amount of conversations and comments that add so much to the experience. It also makes it even more satisfying to butcher them right as they're saying something boastful or evil. Definitely shades of NOLF here.
 

reckless

Member
how long does it take until a warchief is replaced. I have one that has been straight up dead for ages, and two that are just lying there not completely dead

Die or advance time at a tower.
Captains/ Warchiefs will be promoted / get more powerful and new captains will be appointed.
 
Don't risk it man... the first day I got it I set it up for 20 minutes to get my PC config right and to check out the world and couldn't stop playing for 4 hours.

Should have taken your advice. I installed it and redeemed the pre-order codes and thought I’d just get the intro/tutorial out of the way, so I can hit the ground running tonight. Got to bed about half midnight and had to be up at 5 for work. It’s gonna be a long 12 hour shift. Had a lot of fun with it though, and I only completed 1 actual mission.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Man, I was fighting this captain and he had a whole bunch of Orcs on his side, I managed to put a few good hits in untill he decided to flee. I immediatly gave chase and I spotted a ruin along his escape route, I climbed that thing as fast as I could and just as he paused to see if I was still following, I came down on him with the fury of a thousand suns. There were about 10-20 orcs left in the area and they fled as they saw me mauling their beloved captain.

Stuff like this makes me love this game.
 
Do you guys keep all your runes or turn them in for currency?

I turned a bunch in so I could upgrade my health, but I'm seeing how many more runes you're using, and I think I should start keeping them, as EXP isn't that hard to come by (then again, neither are runes).
 
Die or advance time at a tower.
Captains/ Warchiefs will be promoted / get more powerful and new captains will be appointed.

You need to 'pass time' at one of the towers or die. I'm not sure the board shifts all that much in real time.

Ive been doing this for like 30 minutes, it doesnt seem to be doing anything involving warchiefs at all

well you could always replace them yourself.

Dont know how. Maybe I just need to progress more?
 
My solution doesn't work if you hope to fight them legitimately though. If you're doing it to have them up there or to get epic runes you could:

1. Brand an orc
2. Get him to warchief position
3. Give him bodyguards
4. Send him and his body guards death threats.
5. If you can't do 4 simply call him out to help out
6. You need the skill that allows you to kill branded orcs.
7. Get epic runes.
 

fedexpeon

Banned
Ive been doing this for like 30 minutes, it doesnt seem to be doing anything involving warchiefs at all



Dont know how. Maybe I just need to progress more?

You need to have the branding ability and the command button prompt unlocked to tell your captain it is time to murder the warchief or be promoted into warchief since they will be in 2nd command for that vacant position.
 

Braag

Member
The poet uruks are awesome. I sent a death treat to one and when I confronted him he said he couldn't rhyme for days because of the death treat he received....
 
You need to have the branding ability and the command button prompt unlocked to tell your captain it is time to murder the warchief.

oh ok, thats why. I dont even have branding yet. Is there a reason why the dead warchief wont go away and a captain takes his spot though?
 

KyleP29

Member
Ive been doing this for like 30 minutes, it doesnt seem to be doing anything involving warchiefs at all



Dont know how. Maybe I just need to progress more?

have you completed the first area of the main quest? My warchiefs for the first area weren't replaced till after a mission a couple before i headed off to the second area.
 
have you completed the first area of the main quest? My warchiefs for the first area weren't replaced till after a mission a couple before i headed off to the second area.

no, i just did the mission about
bringing down the statue
I guess I have done everything I can do in the first area then
 
Just beat the story mode.

Some tips about branding war chiefs:

Brand one, then send him off to riot with the others. At each riot brand the other war chief--considerably easier with backup.

Also, brand his captains while you do this. This way if your allies kill him, one of your men gets promoted.

On the story:

The stealth encounter with the Tower and then the quick time event with the Black Hand were easier than almost everything else in the game. Maybe because I'm a complete stealth player and don't like open combat, but I had a harder time with the Hammer than I did with either of the other black captains.

Also, that cliffhanger was a thing for sure. Not really annoyed as I would've expected to be because it still works with returning to clean up Mordor and allows for a sequel (which I'm already looking forward to).

I find it odd though. It feels like the first area alone could've been its own game. Maybe they developed it this way--create points to cut off at in case they don't get everything done. Maybe there's even a third area they didn't even get to finish? There are three black captains and two of them are lumped together, and one of those lumped together is just a qte...

This joins the Arkham games and Dead Rising 3 as one of the few open world games I'm actually willing to complete everything in. I think it's definitely one of the best games I've played this year, but it's also very draining--partly because of its difficulty. Branding all of these stealth invurnerable uruks is going to be a task, I can say that for sure.
 
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