Greatness is Earned

User Rating: 9 | Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor XONE

Over the years, there have been numerous games set in the universe created by Tolkein. Some of the games released were quite fun, others not so much, but even the fun games were just shy of greatness. In my opinion, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is the first one to truly earn greatness. It is a fantastic game. It's the first game in middle-earth to truly have its own original story while still being faithful to the lore. The game draws inspiration from other titles such as Assassin's Creed and Batman: Arkham City, but the game takes those inspirations and uses them in a very fun and meaningful way. The game's nemesis system is the highlight, but the game as a whole is wildly fun even without the nemesis system. The game isn't perfect, but it has earned greatness.

Story - 8.5: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor takes place after the events of The Hobbit when Sauron and his black captains return to Mordor. You play as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor and a guardian of the black gate. On the night of Sauron's return, as you would expect, everyone, including Talion, is killed. Talion and his family become the victims of a blood sacrifice by the black captains in an effort to summon a wraith. Against their intentions, the wraith inhabits Talion instead. Talion is banished from death and is unable to rest for eternity with his family. Thus begins an epic tale of revenge and redemption. I wouldn't necessarily call the story epic, but it is very good. The opening moments of the game are dark and memorable establishing the main villains from the beginning. The three main villains, the Hammer, the Tower, and the Black Hand of Sauron, are very intriguing villains who look and sound like they have a dark history. They are not the kind of people you want to meet. Unfortunately, the story doesn't utilize these villains as well as it could have and should have. Nothing they say or do is nearly as memorable as their introduction. The plot of the story isn't really worthwhile. Nothing unexpected or surprising really happens. However, what the story does very well is its characters and themes. The game makes good use of existing characters such as Gollum, who is as creepy and slippery as ever, and it also introduces you to new characters such as a clever dwarf named Torvin, a cowardly orc named Ratbag, and Talion himself. The wraith is an existing character in the lore of middle-earth. At first, the amnesiac wraith feels a little dry and plain, but as he discovers his identity, he becomes far more interesting. He has a good rapport with Talion and occasionally serves as the darker version of Talion's conscience. Talion is an excellent character. This is done in large part by Troy Baker's performance as Talion. He is a well written, well thought out character who you care for. You feel bad for him throughout as he struggles with the loss of his family, and his longing to be with them again in eternity. He and his family have a past that is reflected in how he acts and treats people. He is an excellent addition to middle-earth. The ending is fairly disappointing, but my complaint isn't about what happens; my issue is with how it was executed. This is because the gameplay wasn't used systemically enough with the story to make the ending have more impact. SPOILER, there is no final boss fight. It's a quick time event. If it had a final boss fight with the Black Hand and then had the quick time event, I would have no problem. Without the boss fight, the ending feels rushed.

Gameplay - 9.5: It's difficult to play this game without noticing the similarities with Assassin's Creed and Batman. It has the climbing of AC and the combat and stealth of Batman. But, it is so fun that you don't even care. You can spend hours just roaming Mordor murdering every work that dares cross your path. It truly is a sandbox where the game throws you all these different toys to play with. What makes the sandbox even more fun to play with, is the nemesis system. In case you don't no what that is, the nemesis system is a new feature where every single orc has the potential to become your nemesis. Every orc captain is unique in every play through with their own personalities, hatreds, fears, strengths, weakness, and history. If you encounter a captain and either he kills you or he simply survives the encounter, he will remember you. If an orc, captain or a simply pawn manages to kill you, they will grow in strength and move up in the orc rankings of orc society. A nameless orc has the potential to rise up as your nemesis and even become a warchief. What makes it work so well is that the game is difficult. You may think you're invincible at first, but it is really easy to be swarmed by dozens of orcs and captains. The game can be very frustrating in all the best ways. It's maddening t be once again killed by your nemesis, but it feels so satisfying to eventually plunge your sword down his throat. There would be no point to all of these tools if the game was easy. Since it's difficult, you have to be smart. You can do this by gathering intel on each captain and reveal their strengths and weaknesses. Often times those strengths, weaknesses, hatreds, and fears can be created by your encounters with them. If you almost kill a captain with a caragor and he survives, for instance, he could develop a fear or a hatred of caragors. The system helps you create your own stories in Mordor making the game easily repayable. If you ever get tired of continuously messing with orc society, there are plenty of other fun side missions to keep you busy. My only gameplay issue is the lack of a proper boss fight in the end. Also, the boss fight with the Tower of Sauron could have been made more challenging. All in all, the gameplay is ridiculously fun and will keep you entertained even if you don't much care for the story.

Graphics/Performance - 9.5: The land of Mordor is absolutely stunning. Everything looks dreadful and dark just like Mordor should. Even the grassy fields feel dark because you can feel a sense of the darkness that is coming. The character models look stunning an everything runs smoothly even with dozens of orcs on screen at a time. There are the occasional glitches. In one case very early on in my first playthrough, I killed a captain and took his rune. An hour later, I fought the exact same captain. Exactly the same. I killed him and claimed the exact same rude. It never happened again in either of my playthroughs, but it is worth mentioning that it happened at all.

Verdict - 9.0: I've play plenty of Lord of the Rings games over the years, buy Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is by far the best one to date. If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings, action-adventure games, or simply great games in general, go buy this game. Greatness is earned, and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor has earned its greatness.

I hope you found my review helpful!