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

That makes very little sense. When someone says LOTR they are obviously talking about Middle-Earth and what people had imagined from reading the books or what was seen on screen. Mordor was also a major plot point in LOTR too.

When I say "LOTR" I am usually talking about the events within those 3 books.

When talking of "Middle-Earth" you can be referencing the events of the book but also anything within the mythos Tolkien created, which spans The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, Letters from Tolkien, etc...
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
When I say "LOTR" I am usually talking about the events within those 3 books.

When talking of "Middle-Earth" you can be referencing the events of the book but also anything within the mythos Tolkien created, which spans The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, Letters from Tolkien, etc...
Since SoM's Story is very closely tied to the background story of the Rings of Power I'd say calling it a LotR game isnt exactly wrong.
 

Arsenic13

Member
Quick question: Downloading the game now and have a 3GB GPU with over 6gb of available video memory -is that enough for the texture pack?
 

Hystzen

Member
Just causing chaos and staying on the bridge in Barad Nurn makes me feel like Aragon in two towers all needed was to toss a dwarf.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Quick question: Downloading the game now and have a 3GB GPU with over 6gb of available video memory -is that enough for the texture pack?

Most likely not unless you don't care about stable framerates. I was using a GTX 780 pretty heavily overclocked with everything on Ultra, but without the texture pack and it sustained 60 fps the majority of the time, but with the occasional dip to 48. Considering some of the results people had posted in the performance thread, using a 4gb card I kind of doubt it. I mean, you'd probably be able to play it, but you would get drops down to 15 fps at times.

Guys, I'm about to simply walk into Mordor. Any tips?

Run!

When I say "LOTR" I am usually talking about the events within those 3 books.

When talking of "Middle-Earth" you can be referencing the events of the book but also anything within the mythos Tolkien created, which spans The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, Letters from Tolkien, etc...

You realize you're just arguing semantics right? It's painfully obvious what setting someone is referencing when they say "LOTR". That includes The Hobbit and events from The Silmarillion that actually took place on Middle-Earth. Both The Hobbit and LOTR are the most well known Tolkien works by far, and both of them took place on Middle-Earth.
 
If that was true i'd have finished the game alteady. And I'm not a slow player. This also contradics all of the reviews I watched.
I also think we shouldn't use players who rush though as standard.

It's not about rushing. I completed every mission in the game except for some hunting ones in less than 20 hours. The main story alone certainly isn't that long. It's a game that you can 100% easily in 25 hours.
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
It's not about rushing. I completed every mission in the game except for some hunting ones in less than 20 hours. The main story alone certainly isn't that long. It's a game where you came 100% easily in 25 hours.
I guess i just have to enjoy every moment then. :)
 

krpiper

Member
I beat diablo 3 is it worth trading in for this? Even though I know very little about lord of the rings?

The combat looks fun but the nemsis system looks amazing is it as great as it looks?
 

Kamina

Golden Boy
I beat diablo 3 is it worth trading in for this? Even though I know very little about lord of the rings?

The combat looks fun but the nemsis system looks amazing is it as great as it looks?
What do you you mean by 'I beat diablo 3'?
 
I keep seeing people's screenshots with alternate outfits. How do you get those? Was it a pre order bonus? I bought the game a few days after release.

I don't see anywhere in the options where you can change outfits...
 

Sanctuary

Member
What do you you mean by 'I beat diablo 3'?

LOL.

I beat diablo 3 is it worth trading in for this? Even though I know very little about lord of the rings?

The combat looks fun but the nemsis system looks amazing is it as great as it looks?

If you have no desire to grind out paragon levels, search for much better gear and do rifts/greater rifts then yes, it's worth trading in.

I'm left-handed and playing with the mouse/keyboards combo but it got the same problem as in witcher 2 ... mouse QTE are inverted... kinda boring to get random death because of this :( ony bad point about the game tho.

btw any way to invert the texture or something to correct this? i don't want to relearn how to play it on pad cause pad sucks ...

The game was clearly designed to be played with a controller, and I would never even consider playing this type of game with a mouse and keyboard when given the option. Mouse and keyboard are the way to go with a lot of RPGs and especially FPS, but action/adventure games? Not so much.
 

DoK_-

Neo Member
I'm left-handed and playing with the mouse/keyboards combo but it got the same problem as in witcher 2 ... mouse QTE are inverted... kinda boring to get random death because of this :( ony bad point about the game tho.

btw any way to invert the texture or something to correct this? i don't want to relearn how to play it on pad cause pad sucks ...
 

graywolf323

Member
It's frustrating as hell and feels like an artificial way to bump up the difficulty. People in this thread claim they're just captains that were already in the area but after 10 hours I'm pretty convinced they just randomly teleport to your location in the middle of fights.

definitely feels like they teleport in to me too
 
I hate zathra the warrior. I managed to catch him as he was fleeing but he fell off a cliff so I couldn't cut his head off. I look forward to seeing him again.
 

jett

D-Member
I feel like I'm missing something, or maybe not. This feels like a game I've already played many times. Combat is lifted verbatim from the Arkham games, and the mission design is not all that dissimilar from the AssCreed games(that and the fact that the world is filled with these little side missions to do and useless crap to pick up). Problem is I've grown fatigued of both franchises. :p It's certainly mindless fun like most of these "loitering" open world games are, I've reached the second area but I'm not really finding it compelling.

I'm left-handed and playing with the mouse/keyboards combo but it got the same problem as in witcher 2 ... mouse QTE are inverted... kinda boring to get random death because of this :( ony bad point about the game tho.

btw any way to invert the texture or something to correct this? i don't want to relearn how to play it on pad cause pad sucks ...

Probably not want you want to hear, but you really need to invest in a controller.
 
I feel like I'm missing something, or maybe not. This feels like a game I've already played many times. Combat is lifted verbatim from the Arkham games, and the mission design is not all that dissimilar from the AssCreed games(that and the fact that the world is filled with these little side missions to do and useless crap to pick up). Problem is I've grown fatigued of both franchises. :p It's certainly mindless fun like most of these "loitering" open world games are, but I'm not really finding it compelling.

You're not really missing anything. The game is mostly pretty standard genre fare other than the hook of the nemesis system.
 

andtucholski

Neo Member
I've been playing for 3-4 days by now. Great title. At one point I literary forgot about the main storyline and just started doing all those little challenges and red fights between captains. I like the feeling of being a ranger with such a great balance between stealth mastery and combat skills.

One interesting thing I observed is that the random factor is my main "I LOVE THAT!" thing as well as my main "OH SCREW THIS" thing :)

Good situation: I'm sitting at the top of some tower and trying to think through my approach to a given captain. Suddenly, a wild graug appears. The training field turns to mess and I diving down into this perfect mess that allows me to proceed unnoticed as I want to.

Bad situation: Hey, wait. It's not a graug. It's the second captain! And his six shield-wielding friends!

But, hey. Noone said Mordor was an easy place.
 

Bowler

Member
Just like in destiny, I'm struggling to find any legendary runes (or anything good). Should I die some extra times to rank up the captains or what?
 

IvorB

Member

Good point. Run is better than walk I guess. Speaking of which, what's with the Resident Evil-style movement?

Also can someone who has finished the story tell me there is a reason why the Black Hand would consign his victims to a fate that involves them attaining supernatural powers? Seems counter-productive...
 

-Snooze-

Banned
Very good game, but I can't help but think a larger budget sequel will improve on every aspect. I hope it sells well enough to justify it.
 

ViviOggi

Member
Just like in destiny, I'm struggling to find any legendary runes (or anything good). Should I die some extra times to rank up the captains or what?

Do story missions until you get the ability to brand Uruks. This allows you to dominate them and send death threats to captains, which will increase the chances of them dropping epic runes.
 
You need to just focus on doing
the Gollum missions. It's the second or third that unlocks that ability.

Oh damn, I totally forgot about him, I was so focused on getting revenge, he completely slipped my mind.

Thanks for the reminder, will definitely do those when I get on tonight.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Good point. Run is better than walk I guess. Speaking of which, what's with the Resident Evil-style movement?

Also can someone who has finished the story tell me there is a reason why the Black Hand would consign his victims to a fate that involves them attaining supernatural powers? Seems counter-productive...

I am not completely sure if this is exactly what was going on, but I believe
who they were really after was Celebrimor (it's stated Sauron wanted him to rejoin the fold). To get his spirit to return they needed a host body, and it was later revealed that Celebrimor chose Talion...for reasons never explained, or I simply missed. I believe the Black Hand kept doing blood sacrifices trying to draw back Celebrimor, but he never returned until the round of sacrifices landed on Talion. Later on the Black Hand forces Celebrimor out of Talion to force him to merge with him since Celebrimor did not willingly rejoin Sauron.

So it seems that Talion is rather insignificant as far as the Black Hand is concerned.
 

sixamp

Member
will this run the texture pack ? i run the game at 1080 on high and its butter smooth. havent tried ultra or the textures.

i have an

amd 955 phenom 2 black edition
12 gig system ram
amd 7850 2 gb
 

Lanrutcon

Member
LOL.



If you have no desire to grind out paragon levels, search for much better gear and do rifts/greater rifts then yes, it's worth trading in.



The game was clearly designed to be played with a controller, and I would never even consider playing this type of game with a mouse and keyboard when given the option. Mouse and keyboard are the way to go with a lot of RPGs and especially FPS, but action/adventure games? Not so much.

Any action/adventure game with ranged fire tends to benefit dramatically from m&k. Headshots all day long, point and click.

If anything, I wish this game used more keys: the context sensitive nature of the controls (a byproduct of being designed for a controller) tends to fuck up when things get hectic. I get vaults when I want rolls, I get grabs when I want to pick up a rune, etc. This, and the lack of precise targeting when faced with a mob, is the only thing bothering me about the game, and it's a minor complaint.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
This game runs soo smooth and looks soo good on my PC. Down sampling from 150% (2880 x 1620). Everything max except textures set to high and AO set to high.
 

Grief.exe

Member
will this run the texture pack ? i run the game at 1080 on high and its butter smooth. havent tried ultra or the textures.

i have an

amd 955 phenom 2 black edition
12 gig system ram
amd 7850 2 gb

You can run it, but it seems they way Monolith used to stream textures is unoptimized.

With a card that has less than 6GB of VRAM you will have occasional stutter, for a relatively negligible benefit.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Any action/adventure game with ranged fire tends to benefit dramatically from m&k. Headshots all day long, point and click.

To each their own and all that (and I do agree that games that require somewhat precise aiming get better aiming through a mouse), but you do have focus in this game. Which is basically bullet time that slows down time more than long enough for you to use a controller to get off multiple headshots. The bow shooting is a very small portion of the game anyway and it doesn't justify using a mouse and keyboard for a control scheme that is pretty obviously designed for a controller.

As for the running vs rolling stuff (I just rolled and I want to run...sorry gotta WALK for 2-3 seconds before you can run!), I completely agree that it sucks pretty bad in this game as does a lot of the parkour that seems to get really confused on what to do. The reviews were raving about how fluid it was, but all I could think was how utterly not fluid it was. I didn't have the Assassin's Creed issues where the game acts like your guy is made of rubber and you can't stop hopping/bouncing everywhere but where you actually want to go, but I had issues that were similarly bad all throughout.

I'm 4 hours in and now I really want to relearn how to play on mouse + kb now that I see how valuable bow aiming is with shadow strike stuff. Just seems daunting with all the keys. Maybe I should start a new save slot to do some early tutorials that way?


I just don't get it. This isn't an FPS and shadow strike does not require precision aiming at all. You just need to put your reticle anywhere on the gigantic body mass and press A (or X). The game is slowing down time through the entire process too.
 

Zeth

Member
I'm 4 hours in and now I really want to relearn how to play on mouse + kb now that I see how valuable bow aiming is with shadow strike stuff. Just seems daunting with all the keys. Maybe I should start a new save slot to do some early tutorials that way?
 

phoenixyz

Member
What happens if I have a couple of branded "normal" Orcs and Captain's nearby and use Dispatch. Will they all die, or only the standard Orcs?
 
Since SoM's Story is very closely tied to the background story of the Rings of Power I'd say calling it a LotR game isnt exactly wrong.
The Ring of Power is a central part to The Hobbit, would you call a game set during the events of The Hobbit a "LOTR Game"?

You realize you're just arguing semantics right? It's painfully obvious what setting someone is referencing when they say "LOTR". That includes The Hobbit and events from The Silmarillion that actually took place on Middle-Earth. Both The Hobbit and LOTR are the most well known Tolkien works by far, and both of them took place on Middle-Earth.

And here I thought "LOTR" referred to "Lord of the Rings", not "Lord Of the Rings and all that other stuff that isn't Lord of the Rings but we'll include it anyways because of idiots"

What happens if I have a couple of branded "normal" Orcs and Captain's nearby and use Dispatch. Will they all die, or only the standard Orcs?

Only the ones close enough to show as "Icons" in the lower left of the screen (the blue dorito or skull with numbers beside them) will die if you dispatch them.
 

antitrop

Member
Wish you could see how many enemies you've killed in the game. Feels like a few thousands in just a few hours playtime..

Yeah, the game has surprisingly weak stat tracking. You have to load a saved game just to see how long you've been playing.

Considering these games are just checklist collectathons, that's pretty inexcusable.
 

ViviOggi

Member
There's actually pretty neat stat tracking functionality...

screen480x480.jpeg

... in the iPad-only companion app. What an unbelievably stupid trend this is.
 

antitrop

Member
I love it when tracking the war chiefs, you find them and that chanting music kicks in. It sound great with the gold headset on.

Yes, any time one of the war chiefs appears with the chanting is one of the coolest moments in all of video games for 2014.

I was so fucking pumped to take them on, it was great.
 

lmbotiva

Junior Member
i thought that when you decapitated an uruk he was dead, first i killed him with fire, then he came back with half of this face burned, after that i took hid head off and now he showed up again with a freaking sack in in his head rapped around ropes, only showing his eyes, this game is crazy
 
Just completed the game (100%) and the climactic battles were hilarious.

I was expecting an epic struggle, but I guess my war chiefs were trying to get home in time for dinner or something because they just wrecked the shit out of the Talons. I only managed to take down one out of the five before it was just *SLOW MOTION DEATH*x4, literally one after the other with barely a second between them.
 

cackhyena

Member
There's actually pretty neat stat tracking functionality...



... in the iPad-only companion app. What an unbelievably stupid trend this is.
It is dumb. GTA puts most games to shame with their stat tracking still. I do dig the app, though. I have nearly twice the dagger kills as the community average. I like me some stealth.
 

iNvid02

Member
the ending was a bit anticlimactic huh

felt like i had faced more orcs just fucking around in strongholds in the first area than everything thats thrown at you towards the end. my branded guys just tore shit up and i sliced through the talons really quickly.

still this was a load of fun, nemesis system is just briliant. onto the GOTY list you go
 
Just completed the game (100%) and the climactic battles were hilarious.

I was expecting an epic struggle, but I guess my war chiefs were trying to get home in time for dinner or something because they just wrecked the shit out of the Talons. I only managed to take down one out of the five before it was just *SLOW MOTION DEATH*x4, literally one after the other with barely a second between them.

same thing happened to me but i chalked it up to
my warchiefs being high level. i leveled them up before i did the mission so 3 of them were like lvl 20, one was lvl 18 and the last one was lvl 16.
 
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