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

Levyne

Banned
well I just died for the first time, two Captains teamed up to take me down (neither of which was in the area he was supposed to be in)

in fact they were both on the opposite side of the map from where they were supposed to be, what's the point of showing a target area for when you are trying to take out a Captain if they just show up wherever?

Check their stats, I think there is a "hunter" tendency or such that says they will venture out to find you. I'm not entirely sure, though, since I never paid attention to that.
 

Arrrammis

Member
Just to confirm, Gaf, branded Captains don't do anything special other than showing up and fighting for you, do they? No cinematics of them revolting, etc? Seems like simply killing them is the better option.

Much obliged!

If you dominate them (grab them and press triangle) after branding them, you can order them to do stuff, like work to become a bodyguard for one of the war chiefs. If you choose this, you help them through a power struggle, and then they can try to assassinate the war chief, and if you help them win, they'll become the new chief, putting many more orcs under your control.
 
I gotta disagree with people who think Branding should've been introduced earlier. I like how it doesn't come until halfway through the main missions because it completely changes how you approach combat. I've gone from being a crazed bringer of death in the first half to a slightly less crazed commander with some weird almost parental protective instincts kicking in. I've begun to split the army screen into My Homies vs. Sauron's Scum and all the scum have received death threats cause we coming. Plus I have lots of random foot soldiers dotted around the map that I'm shocked the game actually keeps in memory. They keep getting mashed by Graugs and eaten by Caragors though. :/
 

cackhyena

Member
This game may not be the prettiest overall, but the skyboxes and the vistas, the backgrounds, mountain tops and whatnot all lit up look pretty damn amazing to me. Almost painterly at times.
 

Sanctuary

Member
This is the most overrated game I've seen here. It's just frustrating to play. I'm doing a main yellow mission (well, I WAS doing it till I just X'd out of the game) where I have to kill 5 supporters with "combat or ground executions". Millions of guys show up and it's just a horrible experience. You can't get any executions off because you're getting hit out of the animation every two seconds. Call me a terrible gamer or whatever but this isn't fun, it's way too fucking hard and frustrating. I'm done with this shit game. I should have bought it on PS4 so I could at least resell it. Each damn encounter takes an hour because a million guys show up due to the alarm. Even when you kill the guy sounding the alarm a new one goes and does it. Wtf is that? I'm done. /ragequit


Also, Branding should have been one of the earlier missions, not fucking 12-13 main missions in.

After reading your first post, I thought the game was actually boring you because the combat was too repetitive and easy for you. Now it just appears that you're actually pretty bad at the game, unless this is just a mock post.

Another orc will try to raise the alarm if you're too slow at finishing off the 2-8 remaining orcs that are left after you killed off the first runner, but if you took out or branded a handful of orcs in the area you're going to fight an elite, you shouldn't be having swarms and swarms of enemies constantly coming.

The hardest part I've found was when having to do missions within one of the earlier Strongholds. It's pretty big, and there's a ton of enemies setup in such a way that it's easy for you to lose track of who might be running off. It's not impossible though with even a little planning. You should also be using the campfires, wasp-thing nests and caragor meat to kill off a bunch of enemies before they are even aware of you.

The game is slightly overrated--or at least the Nemesis system definitely is--but not for the reasons you've given. Branding is also like the 8th or so main mission,
 

hbkdx12

Member
So I've branded a few bodyguards that belong to warchiefs and everytime i go to face the warchiefs the bodyguard are lagging way behind getting caught up fighting other orcs or some shit before i even summon them to fight for me. Is this happening to anyone else?
 
This game may not be the prettiest overall, but the skyboxes and the vistas, the backgrounds, mountain tops and whatnot all lit up look pretty damn amazing to me. Almost painterly at times.

I agree. If you get bogged down in the small details you can to pick it apart, but the art style, atmospheric effects, and world lighting on the whole look great IMO.

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Beautiful screenshots!
Yeah, those are some great shots, man.
Very nice screens! Game can be a real looker sometimes.

Thx :)

Wasn't expecting to like how the game looks so much. Even with all the hours of streaming they did pre-release, they never really slowed down to show off the world. I've love to see what the team can do tackling a more natural and dense lived in environment in MIddle-earth with houses, inns, castles, etc.
 
If you dominate them (grab them and press triangle) after branding them, you can order them to do stuff, like work to become a bodyguard for one of the war chiefs. If you choose this, you help them through a power struggle, and then they can try to assassinate the war chief, and if you help them win, they'll become the new chief, putting many more orcs under your control.

Ooh. Thanks, dude. Will experiment later.
 
I could still never get over the "boxy" look of all of the geometry though. So much of the game looks really unnatural as though someone chisled out the landscape.

That bugs me a bit, too, but sometimes when I stop and take it all in... The environmental effects, lighting, mountain backdrop, etc., all come together to form some pretty gorgeous vistas.
 

Tizoc

Member
So here's a funny-ish thing that happened (late game spoilers)
I order one of my Branded warchiefs to attack an unbranded one.
This unbranded has a captain whose weakness include being 1 hit KO-ed if stealth attacked.
I stealth brand him, then his warchief gets killed. The captain I branded becomes the new warchief!
This turned out easier than I expected lol
 

LAUGHTREY

Modesty becomes a woman
This isn't really a story spoiler, but I'll tag it anyway just in case people don't want to know when they're near the end:

You get branding and commanding Captains to kill Warchiefs entirely too late in the game. it's like more than half way over by the time you get full control over the nemesis system.

This game has the most abrupt start, and ending to any game I've ever played, except maybe Pac-Man.
 

CodeNfX

Member
Question. I have GCU and I see on best buy it still have the $10 certificate but when clicking on the list of games on the preorder section, it's empty. Anyone know if I will still get the $10 even though it's no longer for preorder?
 
So here's a funny-ish thing that happened (late game spoilers)
I order one of my Branded warchiefs to attack an unbranded one.
This unbranded has a captain whose weakness include being 1 hit KO-ed if stealth attacked.
I stealth brand him, then his warchief gets killed. The captain I branded becomes the new warchief!
This turned out easier than I expected lol

Similar thing happened to me.
 

Grief.exe

Member
So I've branded a few bodyguards that belong to warchiefs and everytime i go to face the warchiefs the bodyguard are lagging way behind getting caught up fighting other orcs or some shit before i even summon them to fight for me. Is this happening to anyone else?

They generally spawn together, so initiate early on. You can always turn back to the group of branded body guards, the warchief should follow you.
 

axb2013

Member
The location they are trying to depict isn't doing the visuals any favors either, Mordor won't get as many tourists as a tropical island or even Shire for that matter.

For those that claim it's too hard, just learn exactly how much attention you can handle and don't be stubborn, sneak out to replenish health/focus and come back, don't try to take everyone out in one bite. It's easy to lure out enemies out of strongholds where they have archer coverage and others supporting them. The difficulty peaks before the end but nothing that can't be handled.

Early I invited too much attention, I ended up going in circles around a building and using stealth to thin the herd and then killing the captains.
 
so...i should buy this game, shouldnt i

I mean its as good as people keep suggesting it is right? It wasn't really on my radar at all but the more ive seen and heard of it, the more i like.

this month is brutal for games however...
 
This isn't really a story spoiler, but I'll tag it anyway just in case people don't want to know when they're near the end:

You get branding and commanding Captains to kill Warchiefs entirely too late in the game. it's like more than half way over by the time you get full control over the nemesis system.

This game has the most abrupt start, and ending to any game I've ever played, except maybe Pac-Man.

Agreed. While I enjoyed every minute of it, it feels like they ran out of time refining and developing some of the ideas. E.g. so few story missions, clunky traversal,
lacklustre final bossfight
, and lack of reward or incentive for side missions and weapon challenges.

Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if there was originally supposed to be a
third area
.
 
so...i should buy this game, shouldnt i

I mean its as good as people keep suggesting it is right? It wasn't really on my radar at all but the more ive seen and heard of it, the more i like.

this month is brutal for games however...

It's basically an Assassin's Creed (that doesn't feel like it's based off a cookie-cutter design like nearly every Ubisoft open world game) with Arkham combat that gets brutally difficult at times. It's really fun and it's a breath of fresh air if you're sick of the yearly franchises like I am.
 

Edmond Dantès

Dantès the White
Is it possible for him to craft a new ring and that to somehow still fit within the canon?
Yes indeed. Saruman himself had forged a Ring of Power, although it lacked the finesse of Celebrimbor and Sauron's attempts due to his lack of knowledge, at least compared to the aforementioned ringmakers.
 
Really glad people are enjoying this game. I've genuinely been having so much fun with it as well. I was always interested from the second they announced the nemesis system, hats off to the devs.
 
I was starting to get a little bored (probably because I've been doing so much side stuff), but this branding stuff is pretty cool. Second area is a little nicer looking the first, too. Still kind of a lackluster open world, but at least it's not so brown. I haven't really been able to play for more than a couple hours at a time before starting to lose interest, but for those chunks of time it's still really fun.

The potential for a sequel with this is huge.
 
Dear Skak Hot-Tongs,

Why wont you stay dead?!?! How fucked up must I make you before you just die?!?!

Seriously though, I am absolutely loving this game and it is a strong contender for my GOTY and I may buy it again on Steam Sale 1st chance I get. I'm not even half way through the game yet and I can't wait for a sequel.
 

brerwolfe

Member
Anyone else exploiting the uruks' inability to look up?

Also, when I get in trouble during a fight I'll climb a nearby ledge and wait for my health to regenerate. Apparently they can't follow me unless there's a ladder nearby, that's how I took out the first war chief. I feel dirty, but it got the job done.
 

leng jai

Member
This game may not be the prettiest overall, but the skyboxes and the vistas, the backgrounds, mountain tops and whatnot all lit up look pretty damn amazing to me. Almost painterly at times.

They game can certainly look great at times but the main issue is that the environmental design is lacking for the vast majority of Mordor.
 

Pudge

Member
Anyone try the trials yet? Think it's really weird they're only making it available for a limited time. Not what I thought they meant when they said they'd unlock over time.

You get them all with the Season Pass, so I assume they'll be separate DLC down the line.
 

cackhyena

Member
They game can certainly look great at times it the main issue is that the environmental design is lacking for the vast majority of Mordor.
I agree. The architecture is for the most part, super rudimentary, even by last gen standards. They have a few really well done buildings, monuments and stuff I've come across, but the majority is very copy/paste and lacking in unique design. Unlike AC, where I get bored with the moment to moment gameplay shortly and the environments can carry me through, this game's combat and nemesis system easily pull it through its shortcomings. I have to force myself not to go after one more captain, challenge, artifact...whatever. I haven't been this determined to clear a map of objectives in a game since, well, I can't even remember.
 

LAUGHTREY

Modesty becomes a woman
Edmond Dantès;132930869 said:
Yes indeed. Saruman himself had forged a Ring of Power, although it lacked the finesse of Celebrimbor and Sauron's attempts due to his lack of knowledge, at least compared to the aforementioned ringmakers.

A lot of stuff in Tolkein is described in myth like fashion, like the crafting of the rings. Somehow they get imbued with some sort of magic, but how and what they do is never explained except The One Ring.

Even in the game it's just him pounding on the anvil. They sure didn't have a problem putting Celebrimbor as the co-creator of The One Ring, why not show how it is imbued with power and not just a well-crafted gold band.

I also never understood how the 3 elf rings were controlled by The One if Sauron never touched them. How can he just have power over something just because it's similar? Why not make a magic pair of pants and just rule over everyone who also wore pants?
 
So is it recommended that you allow a captain/orc to kill you to enrich the nemesis system a bit?

I've come close to death a few times, almost got dealt a killing blow...but I haven't died once yet.
 

MuggerMD

Banned
Is the Death Threat skill worth it? Also I'm confused by the tool tip, do you death threat the captain? Or just a random Orc?
 

Sanctuary

Member
How far in does the new area open up?

If you do nothing but the main story missions, about three hours. If you're doing a lot of the side missions, it's around six to eight hours as previously posted.

Is the Death Threat skill worth it? Also I'm confused by the tool tip, do you death threat the captain? Or just a random Orc?

Worms can send Death Threats to Captains. Captains can send them to Captains and Warchiefs. The main purpose of them is to increase the likelyhood of an epic rune dropping when you kill them. It also causes whoever was threatened to spawn 4-8 bodyguards too (*non elite, scrubby orcs).
 

Corpekata

Banned
So is it recommended that you allow a captain/orc to kill you to enrich the nemesis system a bit?

I've come close to death a few times, almost got dealt a killing blow...but I haven't died once yet.

No, you'll eventually get swarmed or get an unlucky blow. If you want to maybe up the stakes most of the side missions can be played with the captains still active so I'd try your hand at that for some higher stakes.
 
You guys should try be brazilian once in a while, this game doesn't release until the 16th around here. I'm dying seeing images and reading everything about it.
 

Unai

Member
I've been playing since release here in Brazil. No vpn needed on steam. He is probably playing on consoles.
 
If you do nothing but the main story missions, about three hours. If you're doing a lot of the side missions, it's around six to eight hours as previously posted.

I'm just about to move on to the second area and I'm 13hrs in. I've done a ton of side missions, tho, so I'm probably not very representative of the norm. Lol
 
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