Seriously. The game becomes about 500% better a decent ways into
Nurnen
.
I was fairly dark on it 5 or so hours ago due to factors such as repetition and power duels not making much sense a lot of the time, but the whole branding meta-game is fantastic. Now I understand the praise for the Nemesis System.
Come to think of it, a pared down iteration of branding should have been introduced earlier on to get us salivating and stave off the mid-game drudgery.
One of the few games I've ACTUALLY finished in a LONG ass time!
It's not a game of the year, nor is it the prettiest, nor the best storyteller, but I'll be damned if I didn't have fun screwing around with the unique mechanics offered.
Without Nemesis, this game is even blander than the blandest Assassin's Creed.
With the Nemesis system, I think this game is able to stand up there as a good game that you can have a lot of fun with.
The story is incredibly weak and extremely cliched in parts, but where the story shines is the little stories you create while wandering Mordor. The captains you face, the power struggles you resolve, the warchiefs you control; I'm surprised at the amount of character these enemies have. The fact they remember things you do and things they see really gives me a sense that the actions I perform in the world 'actually have an effect'. Bit of an ending spoiler in the next part, but the
end parts where all your warchiefs come out and it's you against a crowd of other bosses is awesome as fuck! The very last battle as well even had you riding a caragor, so even if you had some caragor upgrades, they wouldn't go to waste!
That was one epic battle and I only wish it was a bit longer and there were more enemies around.
The graphics were generally ok. The art design is kind of drab and dull, but that's Mordor for you. There is a lot of reusing of assets and some of the bases seem extremely similar in design, but I guess Mordor isn't exactly brimming with architects. My frames dipped when there was a ton of action going on screen, and it did affect my timing a bit, but not to ragequit point. Talion himself is pretty generic as well as Celebrimbor, but the Uruk and Orc designs and the VARIETY of designs is just so captivating and really shows the thought the design team had on them. Really, the enemies are the star of the game.
The gameplay itself is pretty standard AC fare. Those familiar with the AC series should feel at home and perhaps a bit more pleased with how they make the climbing fast and efficient so you're not wasting too much time climbing and skulking around. There were a few parts where I got stuck or the camera got in the way, and this really pissed me off at times, but for the most part it was tolerable. The combat is similar to the Batman series, but adds finishers so you can manipulate the battlefield to your liking; you can brand enemies mid battle to provide support and you can insta-kill enemies to thin their ranks. On top of all this, it seemed to me that the people in charge of battle really took a good long look at the
Mr. Freeze battle
in Batman. That was my favourite battles last gen since you had you use a variety of moves and environmental attacks to get the job done. Same goes for here; I've been reading how some of you have had problems with warchiefs, but I never had a problem with them. I exploited their weaknesses, whether it was the bugs, the caragors, poisoning the wine, stealth-killing them out, or just having them turn on each other (I can't believe that was an actual weakness; to freak out when your bodyguards turn on you). The breadth of ways for you to go about killing your enemies is amazing and extremely satisfying.
The nemesis system really shines here and I hope a sequel or another game takes this and builds upon it. It adds a layer of story that is going to be different for everyone and it's crafted in such a way that allows a gamer to become more engrossed in it. I've read some of the encounters in this thread and I've just laughed my ass off at some of them. They're even interesting to other people! I was telling my cousin, who really doesn't play games anymore, about all the weird stuff and the little stories that come out from the nemesis system and he seemed really into it. The only thing I would've changed here is for more options for you to choose from when you brand an enemy; it's pretty much attack another captain or warchief and that's it.
The sound and voice acting were pretty good. It was serviceable and didn't detract from the experience at all. I will point out that the chants REALLY add a level of atmosphere to a battle especially when a warchief comes out. Some of you mentioned it's very wrestling-esque in nature, and I agree; it really helps build up the tension in the battle. I remember the first time I fought a warchief and they chanted his name in the battle, that really took me for a loop and I thought it was just for that one battle; turns out it's not and it happens for all warchief battles. Unfortunately, I never faced a Duce
All in all, I think it's a game that fans of AC and Batman should play as it provides structure they're familiar with and then adds the spice of the nemesis system to give it that little extra kick.
I don't really understand the visual criticism. It is Mordor, a desolate, war-torn land that has had so many armies trample through that it is going to be a barren wasteland. Why would you expect pretty vistas and lovely bright colours? That would be far worse than the current atmosphere.
I'd argue that this current setting is god damn amazing, and makes the game's atmosphere even better. Especially with the varying weather, this game is just so damn awesome.
Seriously. The game becomes about 500% better a decent ways into
Nurnen
.
I was fairly dark on it 5 or so hours ago due to factors such as repetition and power duels not making much sense a lot of the time, but the whole branding meta-game is fantastic. Now I understand the praise for the Nemesis System.
Come to think of it, a pared down iteration of branding should have been introduced earlier on to get us salivating and stave off the mid-game drudgery.
Same for me. I got really bored with the early game stuff, but the branding has really won me over. Just spent quite a few hours getting all my captains promoted to warcheifs.
It's been a while since you've played the Batman games hasn't it? Batman has finishers as well, or at least it has the exact same system where you can do special "enders" after reaching a specific combo count.
I don't really understand the visual criticism. It is Mordor, a desolate, war-torn land that has had so many armies trample through that it is going to be a barren wasteland. Why would you expect pretty vistas and lovely bright colours? That would be far worse than the current atmosphere.
I'd argue that this current setting is god damn amazing, and makes the game's atmosphere even better. Especially with the varying weather, this game is just so damn awesome.
Because it's very, very ugly and not in a good way. Yes, you can take some screenshots that are less ugly, but that doesn't make them breathtaking or anything. Honestly, the closest this game comes to visually is Dragon Age 2. It looks better, but not much aside from the vegetation and orc models. It looks like it was designed for last gen first and then ported over to current gen/PC which is why the geometry is so terrible. It gets really dull to look at regardless due to the overall aesthetics and being stuck in Mordor the entire time with very little variety in scenery.
Don't really need "bright colors", but I need more than green, brown and grey.
got all the artifacts and listened to their memories and the achievement didnt unlock...great...it was literally for nothing now
Edit: oh, spoke too soon. Went through every artifact and there were three that I hadnt gotten the memory to for some reason. Could have swore I did them all as I picked them up
The environment looks like it's created in some limited map maker tool. There are barely a handful of different looking camp combinations, all having the same rock formations, ledges, walls etc.
Even the second area (as refreshing as it was to see green) looks worse. Looking out into the horizon and you see a terribly low poly looking game world. All the plains are flat, perfectly video game carved areas. Not much effort was put into the trees either. Individually they look great but there are areas where a bunch are lined up in a row all at the same angle and rotation. It just looks lazy and lifeless because of it.
The characters look great and the overall image quality is superb but the actual world itself is disappointing.
You should be doing more story missions. Not only are you not getting the variation of the orc types, you don't get branding which is a huge part of the nemesis system until the second map. It makes it into this game of chess where you try to make your branded orcs into stronger ones.
So yeah, do more main story or you'll stick to fighting regular orcs.
You should be doing more story missions. Not only are you not getting the variation of the orc types, you don't get branding which is a huge part of the nemesis system until the second map. It makes it into this game of chess where you try to make your branded orcs into stronger ones.
So yeah, do more main story or you'll stick to fighting regular orcs.
Huh, according to the IGN guide, it's actually the 16th mission of 24. Although it definitely did not feel like that at all considering they are counting the prologue and many of the main "missions" take all of five minutes to complete. If I ever replay this game, I would definitely just rush through the story missions first to get branding since it takes very little time and then go back and do all of the other side missions that were actually interesting.
You should be doing more story missions. Not only are you not getting the variation of the orc types, you don't get branding which is a huge part of the nemesis system until the second map. It makes it into this game of chess where you try to make your branded orcs into stronger ones.
So yeah, do more main story or you'll stick to fighting regular orcs.
I guess it is kind of like chess, if when you play chess you shoot a squirt gun in the face of the other player to distract them from what is really going on. Raising your orc's power requires nothing more than you figting the guy they are supposed to actually be fighting.
Also, if you ever watch them try to duel one another, it's painfully apparent that the orc special abilities, weaknesses or immunities were only designed with the player in mind. They never use or exploit them against one another. They just whack away with basic attacks.
Huh, according to the IGN guide, it's actually the 16th mission of 24, although it definitely did not feel like that at all considering they are counting the prologue and many of the main "missions" take all of five minutes to complete.
I guess it is kind of like chess, if when you play chess you shoot a squirt gun in the face of the other player to distract them from what is really going on. Raising your orc's power requires nothing more than you figting the guy they are supposed to actually be fighting.
Also, if you ever watch them try to duel one another, it's painfully apparent that the orc special abilities, weaknesses or immunities were only designed with the player in mind. They never use or exploit them against one another. They just whack away with basic attacks.
Well you do know you can brand an orc and advance time right? It's not really chess then sure. It's just whether your orc is lucky.
They should really give you the option to give them an order and then let you advance time to see if it worked.
I had a random nameless orc I forgot about get turned into a captain, then advanced until he was level 17 and a bodyguard without any input from my part lol
I don't really understand the visual criticism. It is Mordor, a desolate, war-torn land that has had so many armies trample through that it is going to be a barren wasteland. Why would you expect pretty vistas and lovely bright colours? That would be far worse than the current atmosphere.
I'd argue that this current setting is god damn amazing, and makes the game's atmosphere even better. Especially with the varying weather, this game is just so damn awesome.
You can still make an "ugly" setting visually appealing. There's way too much cut and pasting going on and you can barely differentiate from each area. Vast amounts of Mordor are completed barren save for some knee high rock walls - that just comes across at lazy to me. Where are the unique landmarks? There are barely any memorable locations which is disappointing for a LOTR title. One Captain has more care and personality in their visual design than the whole of Mordor.
For anyone on the fence: buy this game! The Nemesis system is so much more next-gen than anything in Destiny, or in Infamous for that matter. There's a reason they can't do it on the PS3.
This is my obsession: Zog the Shadow (Power 13)
I've killed him so many times now, I kind of feel more like he's a villager in my town in Animal Crossing than an enemy. He doesn't taunt me. We're buds. He's just excited to be in the movie. He was the first captain I ran into on the South Black Road, and I just loved his name. Now, I have a plan to keep killing him without decapitating until he's super OP and becomes the head honcho War Chief of War Chiefs who gets on top and stays on top. Last death: I mauled him with a Caragor. The way he always smiles at me. . . . I love you, Zog!
I also love this dude, for his name as much as anything: Ukrom Sawbones
And this chap was a lowly bodyguard who got me while I was picking up my rune and is now making his way up the ranks. Another looker: Hork the Crippler
I've only taken out 2 War Chiefs and am dying to get to the next map, but I just don't want to rush this game on any level. I'm taking breaks, not playing everyday, gathering lots of intel, and just roaming around riding tigers and kicking ass. My GOTY by a mile. Nice work, Monolith. Thanks for this one, bros xD
You know what's hilarious in this game? When an enemy flees and his animation kicks into x200 and starts running like an old black and white comedy film.
You know what's hilarious in this game? When an enemy flees and his animation kicks into x200 and starts running like an old black and white comedy film.
So I sought out a specific power mission to kill a certain captain during a hunt.
Okay easy enough, managed to kill him albeit he powered up after winning the hunt, then another captain appeared out of nowhere. Okay I'll kill him as well. That wasn't so bad
Third captain appears, this one is like Power 12, immune to combat and combat finishers as well as ranged. Also he doesn't like being grabbed and I don't yet have combat drain
Did I mention I was in the middle of a field?
My Solution? Run around a cart, breaking his line of sight, sneak up behind him and stealth attack which did about 1/5th of his health so yeah did that like 5 times in a row
This game can get nuts at times. One warchief encounter I just had involved 3 captains at the same time. That was not easy
For anyone on the fence: buy this game! The Nemesis system is so much more next-gen than anything in Destiny, or in Infamous for that matter. There's a reason they can't do it on the PS3.
You know what's hilarious in this game? When an enemy flees and his animation kicks into x200 and starts running like an old black and white comedy film.
It also feels very scripted, because basically if there's anything that they can run out of your line of sight behind, and do so before you can catch up, they instantly vanish from existence.
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?
Ring-forging in scant detail was something Tolkien borrowed from primary myths in which the origins of magic rings are left shrouded in mystery. He carried on this tradition in his Legendarium.
The Rings of Power were just a conduit that enabled him to exert his will over the minds of those wearing them, it wasn't the Rings he controlled, rather the fëa (spirit) of the beings in possession of the Rings.
Just started this tonight and loving it so far. I'm still way early in the game, but it's fucking annoying when I end up fighting like, three captains at once. Otherwise the game is just stellar.
So, I saved Zog the Sadistic from being executed by Thrak of the Welts. I took Thrak's head in a glorious combat and Zog got scared and ran away. Literally minutes later, I run into Zog again and he tries to kill me. I liked Zog and was going to let him advance through the ranks, but dammit, I couldn't stand for that, so Zog's now dead too. Stupid orcs.
Also, a complaint.
I really, really wish they hadn't dragged
Gollum
into this. Middle-Earth (and Mordor) is a huge place. It is entirely possible to tell stories here without using the characters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a crutch.
So, I saved Zog the Sadistic from being executed by Thrak of the Welts. I took Thrak's head in a glorious combat and Zog got scared and ran away. Literally minutes later, I run into Zog again and he tries to kill me. I liked Zog and was going to let him advance through the ranks, but dammit, I couldn't stand for that, so Zog's now dead too. Stupid orcs.
Also, a complaint.
I really, really wish they hadn't dragged
Gollum
into this. Middle-Earth (and Mordor) is a huge place. It is entirely possible to tell stories here without using the characters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a crutch.
. That turd had killed me more times than I'd like to admit, usually when I was at low health and outnumbered and already engaged with another captain. An icon for power struggle event for me to party crash shows up. I found him inside a large building beneath the ledge I was perched on. I insta-killed him with a stealth take down and it was glorious. He never saw me coming.
into this. Middle-Earth (and Mordor) is a huge place. It is entirely possible to tell stories here without using the characters from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a crutch.
. That turd had killed me more times than I'd like to admit, usually when I was at low health and outnumbered and already engaged with another captain. An icon for power struggle event for me to party crash shows up. I found him inside a large building beneath the ledge I was perched on. I insta-killed him with a stealth take down and it was glorious. He never saw me coming.
No, not really aside from you being connected to a wraith, somewhat similar music, lots of orcs and constantly seeing Sauron and the rings of power in cutscenes. The "trolls" in this game also looked like the Rancor from Return of the Jedi.
Sorted it! For some reason. The dlcs hadn't downloaded. I was actually choosing the captain of the watch skin which DID download (my bad!). Not sure why they didn't download when redeemed.
I've played about 5 hours without most of my special edition stuff darnit!
I was asking a legitimate question actually though I can see how it came across as trolling. I've played about 10 hours but still haven't got past the 4 warchiefs mission. So far I've barely seen anything that is LOTR like besides Sauron's name and Gollum. Simply having orcs doesn't really indicate much though I suppose the wraith is a LOTR trademark. It definitely feels like they underused the IP from what I've seen so far.
I was asking a legitimate question actually though I can see how it came across as trolling. I've played about 10 hours but still haven't got past the 4 warchiefs mission. So far I've barely seen anything that is LOTR like besides Sauron's name and Gollum. Simply having orcs doesn't really indicate much though I suppose the wraith is a LOTR trademark. It definitely feels like they underused the IP from what I've seen so far.
I was actually agreeing with you. There are very few things in game that actually scream LOTR at all, and it's mostly in the exposition parts. Not the gameplay or even setting (which has been done to death in so many games that were based off of LOTR in the first place...).
