Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Reviews
It’s sad to say, but the story of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is dismissible, luckily in favor of the facilitating gameplay that does manage to captivate for hours on end, with less need for drab exposition to boot.
Shadow of Mordor is an excellent game that is elevated by the Nemesis System and its many other features working together. It's a great tale in Middle Earth that is faithful to the concepts of Tolkien's world and echoes the tragedy of the likes of Hamlet and Macbeth. I highly recommend this game on new-gen platforms and PC where you can truly appreciate the Nemesis System and open world in all its hi-def epic nature.
But wow, I've enjoyed it.
A highly polished and generally entertaining romp, but it's missing a vital spark to bring everything together.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a strong foray into the Tolkien universe, backed up by popular combat from other major action series, with its own free-running style to boot.
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is simply a worthy Lord of the Rings title that stands as a title in its own right apart from the movies, but a title that honors the movies nonetheless.
While not perfect, Shadow of Mordor surpasses expectations - it's fun, engaging and truly impressive. The Nemesis System is a stroke of genius and sets this game apart from its competitors. A serious contender for Game of the Year.
Dark, compelling, and occasionally unflinchingly brutal, Shadow of Mordor is Lord of the Rings for grown-ups. It's not just a good game based on an established franchise, but a fantastic game in its own right and one that deserves to be judged purely by its own merits, and not by what has come before.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is an entertaining game. It is a great take on Lord of the Rings lore and delivers an engaging open-world experience that PS4 and Xbox One owners will thoroughly enjoy. The repetitive mission structure is disappointing, but the game's world, characters, Nemesis System, and the storyline make this game a must-play for fans of The Lord of the Ring and open-world games.
With its top-notch aesthetics, richly flowing action, and uniquely personal ecosystem of foes, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one game you'll be happy to go there and back again with.
With a gripping story, refined gameplay and some bold new ideas, Shadow of Mordor is a must-have title.
If you embrace the tactical nature of its combat, which is rarely resolved on a single battlefield, then Shadow of Mordor stands largely without flaws.
[T]his game is like the One Ring: it'll take much for it to ebb away into the shores of time, but will surface in our memories for years to come due to its "preciousss" novelty.
All I have to say about that final fight: bulls***t
The bottom line here is that if you have a passing interest in Tolkien's work, and you liked the Arkham or Assassin's Creed games, then you owe it to yourself to give Shadow of Mordor a shot. As for avid fans of Tolkien, the retconning of certain pieces of lore might upset you but this is hardly the first time a Lord of the Rings game has done that, and at least the "game" part is actually good this time. Just don't go in expecting a story on the scale of The Lord of the Rings or detailed environments, they just aren't there.
Shadow of Mordor is a fun action title that continues to sprinkle enjoyable tactical options in front of the player even in the later stages of the game. It keeps a combat heavy, tried and tested formula from becoming stagnant, while borrowing mechanics from a variety of game franchises it nevertheless comes from a gaming pedigree itself. Where Assassin's Creed and Batman are becoming repetitive, Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor has managed to create an open world action fantasy RPG that has new life, albeit, slightly undead.
Shadow of Mordor is an automatic recommendation for anyone who enjoys 3rd-person melee combat action games. Whether you're a Tolkien fan or not, you'll find a lot to love in the game's satisfying combat and innovative mechanics.
None of this is to say that Shadow of Mordor isn't a great time, especially once you get to the second half of it, but it definitely feels more like a proof of concept more than a fully accomplished idea. The withholding of the uruk turning mechanic until the second half makes no real sense to me, and hurts the game pretty significantly, leaving the first half feeling slightly purposeless and confusing in terms of what you're supposed to do with all these systems. But once it gets going it offers something fresh and original, and at the same time something only a game with the budget of Shadow of Mordor could really accomplish, and that's extremely laudable.
The two things stated above do not change the fact that Shadow Of Mordor is amazing game that should be played by any action game fan. While it certainly needs a few tweaks to be a perfect game it has a legitimate shot at game of the year. The journey is well worth taking and you will not regret playing Middle-earth Shadow Of Mordor.
Admittedly, traversing the map and knocking out events can get repetitive after a while, even with fast traveling unlocked. By making you care about even lesser enemies, however, Shadow of Mordor turns what's normally mindless filler into a worthwhile encounter. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got another Uruk to hunt down.