Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

DeadEyeDuk

Superhero Level Poster
I know there is something of a general reticence towards paying full price for game here, but sometimes it is good to play a new game when it comes out, especially when it is fun :) What else were you going to spend that 10 or 20 extra quid on Dek? :D
 

Deklore

Bright Spark
I know what you mean DED :), but I just get the feeling a few months down the line it'll be half the price and if I bought it now I would be suffering a lot of buyers remorse. I dunno why but games don't hold my attention nowadays like they did in the past and I just wouldn't get what I would consider my moneys worth if I bought it now.

I blame steam for all those blasted sales! :surrender:
 

Androcles

Rising Star
Im still in two minds on whether to get this game now or wait for a sale. Looks a lot of fun but not sure if its £30 worth of fun...

In my opinion no game is £30 worth of fun which is why I stopped buying consoles after the PS1 came out.
 

SmokeDarKnight

Author Level
Only game id have payed more for is Borderlands games.

As for Shadow of Mordor i think i just hit the wall. Its pretty boring now.
 

zoodinger

Member
I finished the game 100% today. It's not that hard to achieve, because every secret shows up on the map once you unlock the towers. However, it was fun to do, and I think this is the first game I bothered to finish 100% (with all the side-quests that aren't endless etc). Even now, there are random quests that pop up. I'm considering playing it all over again.

The battle is awesome, it's the same system with even some identical moves and upgrades, but it's more and less forgiving at the same time. More because I think it's easier to maintain your hit streak, but less forgiving because the enemies can get really tough. However, I felt the action was more strategic and it evolves as you and your enemies become stronger. For example, in the later parts of the game I purposely let the Uruks sound the alarm so that I can drain/brand a few and use them to heal (with +health on drain/brand runes) or just more easily build up hit streak points so that I can do the execution moves on the hardest enemies that are very hard to land hits on. The hardest enemies have weaknesses that you can exploit (i.e. they might fear fire or take extra damage from certain attacks) that you learn by gathering intel (by absorbing enemies that are "worms", finding documents in camps, or sometimes when rescuing prisoners from slavers).

Even though the enemies are very stupid stealth-wise, (enemy: "Someone just died in front of me? oh well, stuff happens.") I feel like the stealth aspect works really well, lol. It's actually really fast-paced and you don't usually have to take your time with it. Even if the enemy does see you, you don't lose your stealth advantage if you act within a second or so - and that's after the time it takes him to actually detect you. This is pretty cool, as I can literally just stealth-run a short distance towards an enemy that is facing me and take him out.

Your mistakes have permanent negative implications, but not impossible to recover from: Your enemies gradually become stronger, especially if they manage to kill you, but everything gets better once you do stop them. I'm absolutely loving this because it makes me actually feel the thrill of not wanting to die, but it did frustrate a lot of people. It's harder in the beginning, but it gets "easier" later. So, if the game seems impossibly hard at first, don't give up; it gets better, imo.

My annoyances are mostly at how every boss interrupts the battle to taunt you (it was cool at first, but it got annoying near the end), how sometimes the character will not do what you want him to (i.e. start climbing in the middle of a battle - but this sort of thing happens with every game that has a "freestyle" fighting system), and how the death from above is kind of buggy. I would have also liked playing a mode with ridiculously harder stealth.

I think if you liked the Arkham series, you'll also like this game. The battle is very similar, but the stealth aspects are very different. I feel like this game is how Assassin's Creed should have been.
 
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steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
This game is definitely on my 'to buy' list (unfortunately so are a few other things) so will wait for the sales :)
 

Deklore

Bright Spark
Well I took the plunge and purchased the game. Over 20hrs in and I have to say its very enjoyable. Am glad I bought it when I did and to answer my own question, I do think its worth 30 quid - well for me anyway. Kinda stopped playing the main missions half way through and set my own goals of branding every single captain and warchief (at the moment anyway).

I guess it can get repetitive, but you can say that about most games. The question is whether the repetitive action a game presents is something you enjoy or not.

I have to say it took me a while to get hooked. I was kind of a bit meh about this game till I started hitting around 8-9 hrs then it got its claws into me. I know everyone has mentioned it but the Nemesis system really keeps me coming back to this game in a way Arkham or AC couldn't. So all in all, a very enjoyable game - probably my favourite of the year so far (unless Farming Simulator 2015 can steal that crown).

PS - tried a few Vendetta missions but also got slaughtered by those Uruks that killed you guys (DED and Smoke) :surrender:
 
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SmokeDarKnight

Author Level
Well I took the plunge and purchased the game. Over 20hrs in and I have to say its very enjoyable. Am glad I bought it when I did and to answer my own question, I do think its worth 30 quid - well for me anyway. Kinda stopped playing the main missions half way through and set my own goals of branding every single captain and warchief (at the moment anyway).

I guess it can get repetitive, but you can say that about most games. The question is whether the repetitive action a game presents is something you enjoy or not.

I have to say it took me a while to get hooked. I was kind of a bit meh about this game till I started hitting around 8-9 hrs then it got its claws into me. I know everyone has mentioned it but the Nemesis system really keeps me coming back to this game in a way Arkham or AC couldn't. So all in all, a very enjoyable game - probably my favourite of the year so far (unless Farming Simulator 2015 can steal that crown).

PS - tried a few Vendetta missions but also got slaughtered by those Uruks that killed you guys (DED and Smoke) :surrender:

Did it come up with a message about Duk and myself?
 

Deklore

Bright Spark
Yes it does. When you move the cursor over the mission/quest it says who the Uruk is and who they killed. Im pretty sure I seen somewhere as well during the quest (probably when I highlighted the captain) it says how many times they have killed said person.

Was quite funny though one of the vendetta quests - when I met the Uruk he was like "Hey, I just killed someone that looked just like you. In fact I think it was you!"
 

DeadEyeDuk

Superhero Level Poster
THat might be a stretch...but I never go near Vendetta missions that relate to Gorman, because the Captains always seem to be power 20 plus...uhm, hells no :)
 

SmokeDarKnight

Author Level
THat might be a stretch...but I never go near Vendetta missions that relate to Gorman, because the Captains always seem to be power 20 plus...uhm, hells no :)

Yeah, theres something really wrong about running away too and i've had to do that a few times. Run in guns blazing then get one shotted by the captain and run and hide.

This game isn't geed for my self estime or ego.
 

Deklore

Bright Spark
Run in guns blazing then get one shotted by the captain and run and hide.

Basically this.

Wasn't always successful mind you which is why I have an insane lvl 20 Warchief that one shots me every time. He'd still be nowhere if it wasn't for me! *ahem* :whistling:
 

DeadEyeDuk

Superhero Level Poster
I got completely nailed doing a side mission yesterday. Killed some Ghuls only for mamma Ghul to show up and completely wrecked me because I was in a cave with about 100 little ones around me and there is only so many Wraith Flash thingies you can do :D Had no way to put distance between me and her to shoot thecrap out of her with my bow. Though I did enjoy the first bit, wading through umpteen little ghuls...somewhat satisfying :D
 
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