Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Producer: Warner Brothers
Release Date: September 30, 2014
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Rating: Mature
Genre: Action RPG
Stab in the Dark
Written by Jesse Seilhan
You know the drill: movie games suck. Between the short development cycle, lack of risk-taking, and cookie-cutter storylines, games based on films or books never live up to the source material. Lord of the Rings has had a particularly rough go of it, as games built around both the movies and the books have been forgettable, to say the least. But every once in awhile, a game comes out that doesn’t tie its hitch to the established franchise and breaks the prior mold. With Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, we finally have a LotR game that embraces the lore while blazing its own trail, introducing a brand new character named Tallion who is on a revenge-quest to take down Sauron. If none of these names or places sound familiar, don’t worry, as the game is pretty badass regardless of its setting and might be the first real next-gen game of this short console cycle.
The story, the little that exists, is bad. I have to get this out of the way, as the “wife and child die, husband/father seeks revenge” story is beyond trite at this stage of video game design. Tallion is a fairly bland character, filled with stereotypical quips and confused looks while he stomps around. Luckily, the ghost-person that lives within him is way more interesting and provides a nice balance to Tallion’s vanilla performance (done by illustrious voice actor Troy Baker). Luckily, everything around Tallion is interesting, as the Nemesis System is the real draw in this game. This is the name given to the structure that all enemies in the game operate within, creating a hierarchy of Orcs, from the lowliest of low to the fearsome warchiefs that rule the land. Killing someone at the top creates a vacuum that is filled by the next orc on the totem pole, and his spot is then filled by someone lower, and so on. Each warchief has a guard or more, and by taking out those guards, the big bads become easier to eliminate.
This creates some impressive in-game storytelling, as each orc that kills Tallion gets promoted in the world. You often meet enemies that destroyed you before, but now they have more guards, less weaknesses, and at least one solid line of dialogue berating you for being a loser that has already tasted his blade. While the main story missions involve some named characters, none of them are as impressive as the lowly orc that climbed his way to the top by killing you over and over, ultimately ruling a part of Mordor and awaiting your revenge. The battle system is straight-up Batman style, with normal attacks, stuns, flips, and counters, all based on the rhythm of button presses. Tallion’s upgrade tree allows for some instant kills, slowing down time, and the ability to mount beasts and use them in battle. Stealth plays a huge part as well, as you stalk plenty of enemies that you then either kill, interrogate (in order to figure out the weaknesses of high-ranking foes), or brand, a process that turns the orc to your side. This creates a whole different aspect of the game, where your branded orcs can turn on their fellow monsters in battle and help you turn the tide, especially when you’ve branded the toughest warchiefs in the game.
Ultimately, this game is a great version of a bunch of other games: Batman’s combat, Assassin Creed’s traversal, and nameless other clones of those two games, but the Nemesis system is the perfect differentiator that makes this game a must-play. While not the perfect game, it is engrossing in a way that most games never are, creating dynamic and unique situations between you and the endless amount of bloodthirsty foes ready to rise the ranks and defeat you. Throw in some hunting and gathering side-quests, a random Gollum cameo, and plenty of decapitations, and you have one of the best games of the year.