Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2369 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,686 out of 2369
  2. Mixed: 489 out of 2369
  3. Negative: 194 out of 2369
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  1. papisotoromek
    Oct 2, 2014
    3
    How's this possible, that so repetitive and frustrating game is so high-ranked and praised by both critics and gamers.
    Story is simply boring and cliche, moreover it's not within the spirit of LOTR books or movies. It has revenge driven hero who's absolutely dull and says nothing interesting through the whole game.
    Nemesis system at first glance is very interesting, but in short time    How's this possible, that so repetitive and frustrating game is so high-ranked and praised by both critics and gamers.
    Story is simply boring and cliche, moreover it's not within the spirit of LOTR books or movies. It has revenge driven hero who's absolutely dull and says nothing interesting through the whole game.
    Nemesis system at first glance is very interesting, but in short time becomes a great problem. Yes, the orcs are different, promote when they kill you and it's more or less engaging, but when you realize that it never ends it's no fun anymore. New orcs replace dead ones and you can fight with them whole eternity. The same problem is about wandering through the map. Mordor is very small and cramped and overcrowded with opponents who's respawning all the time. It's no pleasure when you cannot find peace anywhere on the map and you are forced to fight or run straight and try to escape from next and next hordes of enemies.
    Fight is simply mashing buttons but when it's taking to long, orcs are gathering quickly and you're outnumbered and powerless. Then you die and some random orc is promoting forthwith. As I said it's very frustrating and repetitive.
    Next great problem is camera which is uneasy to operate and during the fights is to close to our hero. Because of this we cannot see all enemies and sometimes we don't even now that we could block some attack from behind.
    Graphics are mediocre and it's the same with the sound.
    If this game would provide compelling story and develop Nemesis system into something bigger than never-ending orcs replacement and rotation, it could be just good one, but it's not satisfying at all and essentially is a very small game with no interesting content.    … Expand
  2. navlasop
    Oct 7, 2014
    0
    Consolised.
    Linear Gameplay.
    Linear Power progression.
    WB's PR company trying to get it more shiney by any means they can. (Just google Shadow of Mordor Review Pressure Allegations)
  3. velvetmeds
    Oct 12, 2014
    0
    This game is incredibly overrated, wtf are reviewers and users thinking? The game has good fighting/combat, though even that is entirely ripped off of Batman Arkham (which still does it better than this game), everything else is a yawn fest. Bland, empty, lifeless open world which is a chore to travel through, boring story, lots of useless padding of the kind that you find in many UbisoftThis game is incredibly overrated, wtf are reviewers and users thinking? The game has good fighting/combat, though even that is entirely ripped off of Batman Arkham (which still does it better than this game), everything else is a yawn fest. Bland, empty, lifeless open world which is a chore to travel through, boring story, lots of useless padding of the kind that you find in many Ubisoft games... damn. This game would have been a lot better with a more tight, focused experience instead of trying to do many things and artificially increasing play time. But i guess this is what gamers want nowadays, doesn't matter if it's boring or not, they just want it to take hours to play through. Quantity over quality mentality...which i disagree with.… Expand
  4. Putin2000
    Sep 30, 2014
    1
    If you take the gameplay of Assassins creed and mix it with the combat system of Batman arkam asylum you will have Shadow of Mordor. Its a hack and slash with some funny stuff thrown in (the enemy system) but in the end it all comes down to grinding through hordes of generic orcs while spamming attack (left click) and deflect (right click).

    On top of that, add in uninteresting story,    If you take the gameplay of Assassins creed and mix it with the combat system of Batman arkam asylum you will have Shadow of Mordor. Its a hack and slash with some funny stuff thrown in (the enemy system) but in the end it all comes down to grinding through hordes of generic orcs while spamming attack (left click) and deflect (right click).

    On top of that, add in uninteresting story, booring characters, small map, BONUSES AND COLLECTABLES and mediocre graphics and you have a 4 out of 10.    … Expand
  5. ekolet
    Oct 13, 2014
    0
    Classic AAA moneygrabber.
    Exteremely repetitive gameplay gets old after 1 hours, crappy storytelling. Horrible and boring combat. Doesnt worth more than 10 bucks.
  6. NemesisBruh
    Feb 7, 2021
    0
    Imagine patenting the nemesis system, despite your game being an Assassin's Creed re-skin. Not to mention that nemesis system itself existed long before this game. The industry is built on innovating existing ideas. Everything is inspired by something that came before it. That's how games, art, music, writing, culture itself and everything else works. Patenting the nemesis system is likeImagine patenting the nemesis system, despite your game being an Assassin's Creed re-skin. Not to mention that nemesis system itself existed long before this game. The industry is built on innovating existing ideas. Everything is inspired by something that came before it. That's how games, art, music, writing, culture itself and everything else works. Patenting the nemesis system is like patenting a color blue, or like patenting an the idea of a powerful corrupting item in storytelling. WB Games needs to back down on this.… Expand
  7. Oleksandr_
    Feb 10, 2021
    0
    Patenting the nemesis system, despite your game being created base on others' ideas. The industry is built on innovating of existing ideas.
  8. BetaVersion
    Sep 5, 2015
    4
    One of the most boring and repetitive games i have played in a long time. Shadow of Mordor is an excellent example of degradation of AAA (or should i say "console") gaming.
  9. Namya
    Mar 27, 2015
    4
    Like someone said .. its like playing assasins creed but u kill orcs...it took me 20 hours to finish it... if u are a "GAMER" its a short game!! It was harder to kill the warchiefs than the epic enemies... it took 2 hits of e and a spacebar to kill sauron...wtf??????
  10. kasmar45
    Oct 14, 2014
    3
    I have never completely figured out all the controls for this game on the PC. Usually I am used to learning all of that in the tutorial. This game that did not happen. The tutorials' main function should be to teach you how to play the game. SoM does not do that. You die too quickly in the tutorial to learn anything. So, I give SoM a big zero for the tutorial.

    Since I never learned    I have never completely figured out all the controls for this game on the PC. Usually I am used to learning all of that in the tutorial. This game that did not happen. The tutorials' main function should be to teach you how to play the game. SoM does not do that. You die too quickly in the tutorial to learn anything. So, I give SoM a big zero for the tutorial.

    Since I never learned anything in the tutorial about the game play, I was unable to do anything except roam about in stealth and kill single orcs that I could find. Anything more than that, I died almost immediately. I never figured out how to handle the massive orc attacks that happen when you attack an orc captain. I gave this game a two for newbie playability.

    Exploring the land is fair. It is not spectacular, but just okay. Mainly it is a lot of towers, ballistas , and orc camps. Nothing too exciting or pleasing to look at. I gave the graphics a four.    … Expand
  11. vargolocke
    Oct 11, 2014
    4
    While i was playing Shadow of Mordor i was constantly thinking about Watch Dogs and their similar gameplay.
    They both are sandbox action adventures but that constant itch was too big for me.
    I like the saurons army hate and fear sistem but the tower forges and side misions are a pure W_D copy.
  12. StanleyC
    Oct 15, 2014
    3
    Perhaps I went into this game with too high expectations. I was probably stupid: I expected an open world, sandbox type game where I could experiment with different playing styles - something like Skyrim. Instead I found a game which quickly became a dull and repetitious exercise in button pushing. The controls are somewhat unpredictable and inconsistent. At first the visuals arePerhaps I went into this game with too high expectations. I was probably stupid: I expected an open world, sandbox type game where I could experiment with different playing styles - something like Skyrim. Instead I found a game which quickly became a dull and repetitious exercise in button pushing. The controls are somewhat unpredictable and inconsistent. At first the visuals are impressive but after a couple of hours staring at ruined towers and devastated landscapes the whole thing becomes too monotonous. The Nemesis system is a good idea and one I hope to see in future, better games but its inclusion here doesn't redeem this game from its status as an interesting failure - to me at least. I have a bad case of buyers remorse.… Expand
  13. slinge
    Oct 16, 2014
    4
    I dont get the hype about this game. Sure it is fun to slay some orchs but that is about it. Rpg elements is zero, you don't get any new weapons only new abilitys like more arrows.. I can't even finish the story because of a bug with no warcheif available to brand. No story at all. Fun game if you wanna hack and slash though
  14. Perigorn
    Oct 17, 2014
    3
    This game is highly overated. The controls are horrible and you are forced to play on a gamepad to get any kind of accuracy. The storyline is boring and has nothing to do with Middle earth really. It's a grind of a game. And did I really need to see his kid and wife getting their throats cut in the intro, I mean really?
  15. mpelley92
    Oct 24, 2014
    2
    Terribly linear, hack and slash, boring gameplay. If you want to have even more pleasure (and spend the same amount of time) go to an amusement park. Avoid this game. The story is very very short. They want you to shell out your money for "DLCs" which should have been included in the game in the first place. Total game cost? $100. For 20 hours of measly, boring, run-of-the-mill gameplay.Terribly linear, hack and slash, boring gameplay. If you want to have even more pleasure (and spend the same amount of time) go to an amusement park. Avoid this game. The story is very very short. They want you to shell out your money for "DLCs" which should have been included in the game in the first place. Total game cost? $100. For 20 hours of measly, boring, run-of-the-mill gameplay. Only plus about this game? It actually has decent graphics and special effects. Played it only for that.… Expand
  16. ElNova
    Oct 19, 2015
    0
    this is a game made for the new gamers, these gamers that like button smashing, repetitive gameplay, cliche and stupid story, all of this packed with great graphics, animation and gameplay.
    if ur an olds school gamer, this might not be for you, if you are from the new generation of gamers you probably love this game.

    hope this helps.
  17. Phallex
    Jan 6, 2015
    3
    Can't say I enjoy this game much. Not sure what all the hype is about. It's just the combat/interaction system from Assassin's Creed games (which I also find really dull, so hey-ho maybe it's just me) in a LoTR (sort of) setting. With a bit of a story...

    I'm already bored of the combat system, though I think it might be more rewarding with a controller. It can be a bit tricky to hit all    Can't say I enjoy this game much. Not sure what all the hype is about. It's just the combat/interaction system from Assassin's Creed games (which I also find really dull, so hey-ho maybe it's just me) in a LoTR (sort of) setting. With a bit of a story...

    I'm already bored of the combat system, though I think it might be more rewarding with a controller. It can be a bit tricky to hit all the timings right on a keyboard and keep the camera at the right angle with a mouse. I keep blocking off my own view with buildings and objects when I perform 'specials'.

    Looking at other's reviews I'd have to agree with them on the cons - it's the same thing over and over and over and over and over....very grindy, with a levelling system that rewards you with slightly more interesting/easier ways to grind. The nemesis thing...is an interesting idea, but who really cares what level the orc you're fighting is? Or how much he's climbed the ranks of the army? He still just hits you and you hit him until one of you is dead...    … Expand
  18. sealjo
    Oct 12, 2014
    2
    I fell for the hype and got this game. Big mistake. When you get into combat you often have to dispose enemies quickly, otherwise you'll get swarmed and can't win. I'm a casual gamer and as such I tend not to get into trouble power gamers avoid, this results in another and yet another death.
    There is also no difficulty settings in this game. So if you are just average (or worse) you are    I fell for the hype and got this game. Big mistake. When you get into combat you often have to dispose enemies quickly, otherwise you'll get swarmed and can't win. I'm a casual gamer and as such I tend not to get into trouble power gamers avoid, this results in another and yet another death.
    There is also no difficulty settings in this game. So if you are just average (or worse) you are supposed to sneak all the time, avoid right out confrontation and generally act from the shadows. A more aggressive playing style is forbidden and punished by the Nemesis system. So in short, if you are very good at these kind of games you can play it as you want, if not this is a stealth game so you better LOVE sneaking or you will get punished by nemesis's getting stronger and stronger.. .    … Expand
  19. Ananisapta
    Oct 28, 2014
    1
    Be warned that the initial release of this game does not reliably save your progress and makes no backup files. It is possible to put forty or more hours into the game and then find that all your progress has been lost. Manual backup of gamedata.sav is highly recommended!
  20. LoganTM17
    Oct 10, 2014
    3
    This game, while with excellent mechanics, fun gameplay, and interesting story, managed to be the most incredibly disappointing game I have played in years. After playing for 3 days, I had the game break so badly that i had to close it through task manager and try again. When I opened it back up, my 12 gameplay hours had been reverted to 5 even though I had saved and quit every coupleThis game, while with excellent mechanics, fun gameplay, and interesting story, managed to be the most incredibly disappointing game I have played in years. After playing for 3 days, I had the game break so badly that i had to close it through task manager and try again. When I opened it back up, my 12 gameplay hours had been reverted to 5 even though I had saved and quit every couple hours. I went back and played the game again and got my progress back, and overall, I was extremely happy with the game, until 3 days later, it happened again. Except this time, the entirety of my play-through disappeared. I am done with this bugged game. This level of frustration is unacceptable for any AAA title. I'm better off saving the 34 GB of disk space this monstrosity hogs.… Expand
  21. Zuthilios
    Oct 6, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. SPOILERS

    I'm sorry, but the ending is just incredibly awful.

    Not the story, but the gameplay. They built up the Tower to be one of the greatest characters I've ever seen out there, the build up to his fight, the suspense, his sheer presence was absolutely AMAZING. And then it took all but 3 minutes if not less to kill him, it was just, so... disappointing.

    Then you don't even get to fight the Black Hand and suddenly Sauron appears out of no where and then you kill him with... I can't even think of a way to capitalize on this point because it's just so weak... 3 quick time event buttons, the end.

    This game was brilliant, but the ending was just such an unbelievable let down, I'm sure it'll be finding its place pretty high up there on a top 10 worst endings list sometime.

    P.S. I also went around afterwards to find all the collectibles and that was also ridiculously disappointing, don't bother, nothing happens.    … Expand
  22. daphnis26
    Nov 13, 2014
    3
    I loved The Lord of the Rings as a teen. I read the books over and over and over again. Back then the internet barely existed and I certainly didn't have access to it so I'd sift through bookstores and libraries hunting down every scrap of information I could find on Middle Earth. I'd secretely tear out pages when no one was looking and bring them home to my archive.

    It was also around    I loved The Lord of the Rings as a teen. I read the books over and over and over again. Back then the internet barely existed and I certainly didn't have access to it so I'd sift through bookstores and libraries hunting down every scrap of information I could find on Middle Earth. I'd secretely tear out pages when no one was looking and bring them home to my archive.

    It was also around this time that I discovered PC gaming, and one of my first games was a fantasy adventure game called Drakan, a vast and beautifully rendered world of endless mountains and seas, dark twisted places and hordes of goblins to kill and dismember. The worlds of Middle Earth and Drakan had one thing in common: they were immersive, I wanted to explore and learn everything about them. The developers of Drakan were later absorbed by Monolith to work on Shadow of Morder.

    Shadow of Morder is as impressive and hollow as a Hollywood movie.

    As soon as I step into the game I'm informed that I must kill spiders. Why? Why should I kill spiders? I haven't been convinced to kill them and I don't want to... but the UI informs me I must. So I kill a few spider... MISSION COMPLETE! Now the UI updates and tells me to kill flying creatures. Why should I? I really don't care, and I don't want to. Screw this, I'm going to explore. The UI pops up to inform me I must find and kill a slaver orc. I immediately begin scouring the horizon, excitedly plotting my kill. Then a dull UI prompt pops up to inform me the orc is located in "the next mission".

    The Next Mission? It feels like the programmers are speaking directly to me now. Why not use language from the lore, such as "Find him within the gates of Girith Gordor".

    On my way I encounter a band of orcs persuing an escaped slave. I hide and watch. 20 seconds later the slave escapes and the orcs stop their pursuit. One exclaims, "OH WELLLLL MUST HAVE BEEN RATS".
    So I run in and kill one, then climb up a tower to escape from the others. 20 seconds later "OH WELL, MUST HAVE BEEN RATS". I descend and kill the rest. Then more orcs spawn and begin to chase me so I ascend once again into my safe place. "OH WELL I GUESS IT WAS NOTHING"

    After repeating the orc killing-and-retreating-to-safetey process a few more times I decide to tackle the story mission. I am informed of the exact distance to the mission by the UI. I get there and am told to press "e" to enter the mission.

    I love being drawn into amazing fantasy worlds; to sink into rich atmosphere and lore, compelled to discover every hidden secret. Shadow of Morder does not provide this experience. Everything is force fed to you by UI messages and target markers. Maps tell you EXACTLY where to go and what to do. There is no discovery, no mystery, no higher narrative. It is pointless big budget action.

    I hope we get to explore Middle Earth again some day- without map markers and UI prompts.    … Expand
  23. Sky-Moondrift
    Oct 14, 2014
    2
    How this even qualifies as a "Game" is beyond me.

    There is no challenge and no reward in this. You just press the W key until you run into enemies and mash the left mouse button. How can anyone feel a sense of reward from combat when it's the equivalent of holding a child at arms length. The enemies DON'T DO ANYTHING, they don't Block, they don't Parry, they Don't Dodge. The combat    How this even qualifies as a "Game" is beyond me.

    There is no challenge and no reward in this. You just press the W key until you run into enemies and mash the left mouse button. How can anyone feel a sense of reward from combat when it's the equivalent of holding a child at arms length.

    The enemies DON'T DO ANYTHING, they don't Block, they don't Parry, they Don't Dodge. The combat is for retards - you can literally just win this whole game by mashing one button.

    I took on a boss Orc and he just stood there like a **** while I whaled on him over and over and over again. When I killed him I was like really ... *Turns game off"

    WTF is the point seriously. The game also runs like crap for the assets it has. I'm getting 40-50FPS at 1440p with 980 SLI - the game doesn't even have good graphics.

    Would have given it an 8 if the combat wasn't braindead.    … Expand
  24. EpicAdde
    Oct 7, 2014
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What can excite and disappoint gamers and make Tolkienists angry, at the same time? Shadow of Mordor, ladies and gents, Shadow of freakin' Mordor.
    First, we have a game that is the painfully obvious offspring of Batman Arkham Asylum and Assassin's Creed, both in gameplay and combat. I kid you not, gentle reader, if I say that this game by Monolith offers nothing new and original like its predecessors did.
    The combat is based on flashy moves (both swords and magic) and absolutely abusing the wraith arrow ("Elf Shot" or some drivel like that) and fighting the most stupid, slow and unchallenging AI we have seen since the GTA series. Only occasionally are you in any real danger, and that's when fighting bosses who either have an obscene amount of hit points or summons other NPCs to overhwelm you with numbers: but these can, in nine cases out of ten, be overcome by using stealth to assassinate them. I won't get too much into how they just let you go as well, 'cause that made no sense to me...
    The Nemesis system doesn't do it for me either, as it doesn't seem to make the game harder or deeper.

    Graphically, it's not very impressive. It's on par with AC in environments, but the general colour scheme is brown and grey, with the complete invert of super white and grey whenever you go into your Wraith form. By no means does it look bad, but I wouldn't stop to look at it.

    So what makes Tolkienists angry about this? First and foremost, it is because Monolith came out and said that this game is *canon*. Yes, they said it. They said that what they have created is as valid as anything written by Tolkien himself. I'll go over some of the bullsh*t here (this is what I remember from playing).
    1) Talion's resurrection. When Men die, they die: they can't come back. There is only ONE exception to this and that was Beren, who was brought back because Lúthien, an Elf, chose to share his fate (i.e. she traded her immortality and bond to Arda for the One God, Eru, to give her a brief lifetime with her husband). This was the only time it happened, and it required the creator divinity to intercede.
    2) The Wraith of Celebrimbor. Wraiths, by definition, are spectral, malevolent beings that are transformed into this by a great, evil power (Morgoth, the Nine Rings) or by invoking a curse (say, breaking an oath to a certain deity): the spirit of Celebrimbor, being an Elf, would not have become this. Not even Fëanor, arguably one of the most horrible Elves to have lived, was turned into this and he died at the doorstep of the First Dark Lord. Celebrimbor would have gone to the Uttermost West, there awaiting reincarnation. So Talion being resurrected by a wraith of an Elven smith makes no sense.
    3) The wraith powers. Needless to say, but I will anyway, is that those are pure gameplay additions. While it may be hard to convey in a game, the true power of being in both realms of the Seen and Unseen (like High Elves did) is that the darkness of the Unseen (Ringwraiths) have no power over you. If Monolith truly wished to make Talion akin to the High Elves, then simply resisting the Ringwraiths and Sauron would be more than enough.
    4) Minor details like dates (the abandonment of the Watch), Elvish (naming incorrect herbs) and not knowing the difference between "uruk" and "snaga".
    5) Celebrimbor's back story. Yeah... so apparently, in this game, Celebrimbor stole the One Ring from Sauron (never happened) and proclaimed himself Lord of Mordor (never happened), raised an army of Orcs (ahahaha, who wrote this?) and then fell to Sauron because the Ring betrayed him (not true either). Sauron then killed Celebrimbor's family (which is quite the deed, seeing as he never married because he loved Galadriel). What actually happened was that Celebrimbor held Sauron off at Eregion, where the other Rings were forged, until he was killed and what few Rings were left were taken by Sauron.
    6) Talion raises another Orc army. Because that makes sense for a Ranger to do?
    7) The chicks from Nûrn use Elvish names, which makes no sense either.
    8) Talion defeats Sauron in one on one battle. Guess we didn't need to destroy the One Ring, afterall! Thanks, Monolith.
    9) Sauron, through some weird sh*t with the Black hand and Celebrimbor's spirit, regains his physical form until Talion destroys it. Talion then convinces Celebrimbor to help him forge a NEW Ring of Power. I don't even know what to say at this point: it's the darkest pits out of fanficton.net at work here, not anything Tolkien wrote.

    Apparently, Monolith worked with Tolkien Enterprises (who, we know, are halfwits and moneygrubbers) and Peter Jackson (because he's so good with lore?) to make sure the canon fit. I don't know how they define "fit", but it is not this abomination of a story that takes the world you love and shoves it into a meat grinder.

    Is there anything to like about it? Why, yes, there is. It's fast-paced, gory, and rewards quick fingers. Strange... AC is exactly the same    … Expand
  25. pazmacats
    Oct 5, 2014
    2
    Why make an open world game if the world is deleted every 5 minutes and starting a mission resets the entire world? It doesn't matter if you killed 0, 100, or 1 million orcs. When you start a mission the "start mission situation" is loaded. As soon as the mission ends, the "standard world" is loaded.
    So, the "open world" serves no purpose, it's a glorified tutorial/XP grind stage.
    What    Why make an open world game if the world is deleted every 5 minutes and starting a mission resets the entire world? It doesn't matter if you killed 0, 100, or 1 million orcs. When you start a mission the "start mission situation" is loaded. As soon as the mission ends, the "standard world" is loaded.
    So, the "open world" serves no purpose, it's a glorified tutorial/XP grind stage.

    What the player is left with is the combat and the missions.

    The game might be nice if you never played a button masher action game. But after playing for 1 hour I realized that I've already played this game 10 years ago. It was called The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and it had better mission, better combat, nice characters, humor, style, story and it was immersive, varied, and straight to the point.

    In comparison, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor feels bloated, generic, poorly thought out, unimaginative, repetitive, monotonous and needlessly long-winded/pointless.

    ---

    Oh, and WHO thought it would be fun to play as a UNDEAD NOBODY slaughtering 1000s of orc clones again and again and again?    … Expand
  26. TomasLacerda
    Nov 7, 2014
    3
    I can really respect whoever likes this game, but for me aint it. The combat is too basic, and utterly boring, seriously. The history is quite interesting, but the roaming, the combat, the clunky combat and animations really turned me off. I felt that this game was rushed, not polished at all.
  27. Horrux
    Jul 30, 2015
    3
    The graphis are good, but the game itself is a pure grind. You do the same thing over and over and over again, you don't acquire new skills or abilities, the game doesn't change. You kill Uruks. That's it.

    I don't know why people are rating this game so high, it is a pure borefest after the first hour or two. 3/10 for the good graphics and smooth gameplay. 0/10 for creativity,    The graphis are good, but the game itself is a pure grind. You do the same thing over and over and over again, you don't acquire new skills or abilities, the game doesn't change. You kill Uruks. That's it.

    I don't know why people are rating this game so high, it is a pure borefest after the first hour or two.

    3/10 for the good graphics and smooth gameplay. 0/10 for creativity, gameplay, progression, story, etc.    … Expand
  28. Not_Casual
    Dec 28, 2014
    4
    This game blends the playstyles of Assassin's Creed and the Batman games. And the core combat is harder, more fun than either of these games. However, the bland environment and lackluster storytelling make it a grind fest that quickly becomes boring. This game did not even need to have The Lord of the Rings in the title. They could've called it 'Orc Ganker' and the game would still haveThis game blends the playstyles of Assassin's Creed and the Batman games. And the core combat is harder, more fun than either of these games. However, the bland environment and lackluster storytelling make it a grind fest that quickly becomes boring. This game did not even need to have The Lord of the Rings in the title. They could've called it 'Orc Ganker' and the game would still have the same feel. Aside from orcs, you don't very often encounter creatures from the LOTR Universe outside the story mode. The combat is excellent at first, but rapidly degrades as enemies cannot compete with your powers later in the game. If this game had even half the story the batman games had, the improvement would be extreme, however the current story mode and environment is abysmal.… Expand
  29. sweet
    Oct 22, 2018
    0
    To call this game mediocre would be giving it too much credit. It had some nice combat animations, and that's all. The story is forgettable. The combat is unchallenging and as much fun as cow clicker. The graphics are average. The world is small, uninteresting and full of all that boring junk marketing teams demand be in modern games, like climbable towers and endless worthlessTo call this game mediocre would be giving it too much credit. It had some nice combat animations, and that's all. The story is forgettable. The combat is unchallenging and as much fun as cow clicker. The graphics are average. The world is small, uninteresting and full of all that boring junk marketing teams demand be in modern games, like climbable towers and endless worthless collectables. Nearly all the "missions" are the same thing over and over. The nemesis system talked about so much quickly becomes an annoyance.… Expand
  30. PessimisticMan
    Mar 20, 2015
    3
    For an incredibly hyped game that I had heard nothing but positive things about, I am unfortunately having to say that this game is not good (in my opinion). I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and the gameplay looked cool; but than I got the game and was welcomed with an incredibly frustrating experience.
    PROS:
    + The game looks gorgeous, very good graphics. + The combat actually flows    For an incredibly hyped game that I had heard nothing but positive things about, I am unfortunately having to say that this game is not good (in my opinion). I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and the gameplay looked cool; but than I got the game and was welcomed with an incredibly frustrating experience.
    PROS:
    + The game looks gorgeous, very good graphics.
    + The combat actually flows very nice! It's basically a direct copy of Batman, but that isn't a bad thing; games should learn from each other.
    + The Nemesis System is very unique and cool.
    CONS:
    - The story is boring - not interesting in the slightest. Missions are tedious and irritating.
    - While I did appreciate the Nemesis System, it functions in one of the stupidest most irritating ways ever: I do like the fact that when a captain kills you he gains power, that's cool - what isn't cool is that even if no one kills (for example, a caragor kills you) every fricken person gets a power-up even though they had nothing to do with your death - and yes, sometimes it is literally EVERYBODY!
    - The game is littered with poopy-designed enemies: caragors, shield-soldiers, hunters, etc.), and when you first encounter these enemies, from that point on they will pop-up EVERYWHERE, and trust me, that is NOT a hyperbole.
    - This game is not a fan of fair fights. This sucks because the Nemesis System had so much potential, but a lot of the time it is impossible to get a 1-on-1 fight with these captains (especially the warchiefs). You're usually confronted with not only the captain (or multiple captains), you get the bonus of fighting a dozen spear-throwing hunters, a half-dozen shield-soldiers, about 20 normal enemies, and sometimes, if you're really lucky, a caragor (literally out of nowhere) comes - ignores all the other enemies - tackles and instakills you! Brilliant game design, whatever type of monkey made this needs a raise.
    If you think I "don't like a challenge," you're wrong: Dark Souls is my favorite game, I love Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Shadow of the Colossus, and Hotline Miami are some of my other favorites. But this game has extreme artificial difficulty, and other mechanics designed to be unfair (like captain's regenerating health) and this frustrating pile of dung has amassed millions of dollars and critical acclaim, great. Don't buy it if you like being a calm person.    … Expand
  31. jamiemgr
    Jun 23, 2017
    4
    This game is ruined by it's terrible combat system. I got so bored with it that I lasted half an hour before uninstalling it. I hope the combat system has been changed for shadow of war or I will not be playing it. Shame because the story in Shadow of mordor looks good but I can't bring myself to play it with this atrocious combat system.
  32. Fuini
    Nov 11, 2015
    2
    Batman gameplay but with all the cons and none of the pros : too much slow motions, too much pauses in fights.
    Smash buttons, a new enemy appears, wait 30s , smash, eat some flower to recover HP, repeat.

    The story made no sense in Tolkien universe.... What do I have still to add ? Buy another game or the books, your money will be far better invested
  33. SpiRo
    Oct 3, 2014
    2
    Story is bad and boring, basic revenge plot that actually contradicts book facts. Gameplay is also boring and repetitive, you are doing same thing over and over. Nemesis system is interesting at first but after few times you realize it is pointless and brings nothing. Overall i would not recommend it to anyone, specially not for the money they are asking. If you really want to play thisStory is bad and boring, basic revenge plot that actually contradicts book facts. Gameplay is also boring and repetitive, you are doing same thing over and over. Nemesis system is interesting at first but after few times you realize it is pointless and brings nothing. Overall i would not recommend it to anyone, specially not for the money they are asking. If you really want to play this game wait for big sale discount.… Expand
  34. eelegendo
    Oct 5, 2014
    1
    Constant crashes. It freezes every 10 minutes, if during a bossfight (my character gets hung in the air) I lose that one, so the boss gets promoted... BTW: if I get killed by a caragor, why an Uruk gets promoted? It happened.

    Needs 6 gb of vram? For what? Is this a NASA project? If I turn everything to ultra, my character's face is still bland and lifeless. So again, why is the 6 gb?    Constant crashes. It freezes every 10 minutes, if during a bossfight (my character gets hung in the air) I lose that one, so the boss gets promoted... BTW: if I get killed by a caragor, why an Uruk gets promoted? It happened.

    Needs 6 gb of vram? For what? Is this a NASA project? If I turn everything to ultra, my character's face is still bland and lifeless. So again, why is the 6 gb? ACIV looks the same and runs better on my machine.

    The main story is really short and the bloatware (bloatgame?), the timed and collect missions are for kids, who have lot of time for doing nothing. Sorry. I've been playing a few ten minutes when I suddenly realized that I'm into the 5th mission of the 20 possible! That is 1/4th of the whole main storyline. Otherwise it is pick this up, collect that, killed 10 in 3 mins... Ridiculous.    … Expand
  35. Dcruize
    Dec 23, 2014
    2
    i was so disappointed with this game, it's yet another boring casual-friendly console action game with a combat system involving left/right mouse button spamming. You grind through uruk after uruk without much in the way of variation. Occasionally you die and respawn AC-style to go through the whole process again. Nemesis system is completely over-rated and quite pointless and the map isi was so disappointed with this game, it's yet another boring casual-friendly console action game with a combat system involving left/right mouse button spamming. You grind through uruk after uruk without much in the way of variation. Occasionally you die and respawn AC-style to go through the whole process again. Nemesis system is completely over-rated and quite pointless and the map is tediously small. So glad I didn't purchase it....… Expand
  36. noirfx
    Oct 15, 2017
    0
    The game is ok, just remove microtransaction and everybody will be happy. Gamers are not stupid, you can't put loot crates into 60$ single player game.
  37. Ted_Tris
    Oct 12, 2018
    0
    Unplayable, button mash gameplay, boring garbage.
    Game pad control is bad, keyboard-mouse control is too complicated.
    The fighting system is terrible.
    The number of enemies is infinite.
    Ugly
    V-sync not working on win 10.
    The sounds is weak
  38. Samvvel
    Mar 17, 2022
    1
    Why did they even bother releasing it on PC anyway? It is basically unplayable with a keyboard and a mouse. The keyboard layout is just all over the place, totally unfit for quick responses the entire combat system of this game is built on. Also plot-wise it does the most terrible and lazy thing of throwing everything at you within first 10 minutes. I'm not a big fan of Witcher 3, but atWhy did they even bother releasing it on PC anyway? It is basically unplayable with a keyboard and a mouse. The keyboard layout is just all over the place, totally unfit for quick responses the entire combat system of this game is built on. Also plot-wise it does the most terrible and lazy thing of throwing everything at you within first 10 minutes. I'm not a big fan of Witcher 3, but at least there you were given time to sink in, get a grasp of what's going on and proceed at your own pace.
    Basically the worst case of an Assassin's Creed clone.    … Expand
  39. JJRambo
    Oct 18, 2017
    4
    the game looks fun, but it's a repetitive bottom smashing fest. Climbing walls it's so frustrating. The fighting is just smash one button with the occasional use of other buttons, you can fell satisfied for what you see on screen but the game tricks you while you smash that one button till your hands get numb.
    And then there's the micro transaction that don't even lets you play the game    the game looks fun, but it's a repetitive bottom smashing fest. Climbing walls it's so frustrating. The fighting is just smash one button with the occasional use of other buttons, you can fell satisfied for what you see on screen but the game tricks you while you smash that one button till your hands get numb.
    And then there's the micro transaction that don't even lets you play the game as it's intended, and day one DLC. So this game just sucks.    … Expand
  40. musicmaniac
    Jan 29, 2020
    2
    Very lackluster. The first game was a solid 7 but this didn't change too much from the original except throwing more enemies at you which just makes for an unfun experience.
    The game feels utterly redundant as well, felt like I was doing the same thing just in different areas. Couldn't even make it 5 hours in... just was do this over and over and over...
  41. ApexPhilosopher
    Oct 23, 2019
    3
    Boring, repetitive gameplay with no plot. It takes mechanics from Assassin's Creed and waters them down. Total cash-grab.
  42. kevinbrown
    Jul 15, 2018
    4
    The entire game is disappointing. Basically it's a melt of every game out there but badly done. Nothing makes sense, whether it is the gameplay, game mechanics, level design, overall progression, story...

    So Mordor really is 'that' big? Actually it is one of the smallest open world maps ever and I haven't mentioned the cheap level design; repetitive and empty, but first and foremost it    The entire game is disappointing. Basically it's a melt of every game out there but badly done. Nothing makes sense, whether it is the gameplay, game mechanics, level design, overall progression, story...

    So Mordor really is 'that' big? Actually it is one of the smallest open world maps ever and I haven't mentioned the cheap level design; repetitive and empty, but first and foremost it is pointless again.

    The gameplay itself look like it was rushed by developpers. Every mechanic introduced lacks a missing part. The system behind the gameplay is useless (eg: Sauron's army). You can just kill everyone on your path the same way and repeat it until the end of times. The powers, upgrades or anything else are useless.

    Don't waste your time, this is not the ultimate Lord of the Rings video game that you have been dreaming of for the past 15 years. Someday perhaps.    … Expand
  43. AlirezASlayeR
    Feb 10, 2019
    3
    Mindless and boring copy of Assassins' Creed and Arkham City.
    The game was just too uninteresting to finish! And the EXTREMELY familiar controls to Arkham City made me feel like Rocksteady could actually SUE them!
  44. zNeverSleeping
    Jul 13, 2019
    4
    Definição: Extremamente repetitivo.

    Após 3 horas de gameplay, comecei a perceber qual repetitivo e enchedor de linguiça o jogo é. A historia mal progride, mais está lá para servir de plano como um fundo para a gameplay, que se baseia em botão diteiro e esquedo do mouse; devo assefgurar que a mesma ainda é mal feita e trata os jogadores como deficientes (com todo respeito a eles). Tudo    Definição: Extremamente repetitivo.

    Após 3 horas de gameplay, comecei a perceber qual repetitivo e enchedor de linguiça o jogo é. A historia mal progride, mais está lá para servir de plano como um fundo para a gameplay, que se baseia em botão diteiro e esquedo do mouse; devo assefgurar que a mesma ainda é mal feita e trata os jogadores como deficientes (com todo respeito a eles). Tudo funciona de forma automatica, voce nem precisa se direcionar ao inimigo para bloqueá-lo, muito menos para atacá-lo (isso acaba te atrapalhando muito as vezes).

    E quando digo que o jogo enche linguica, quero dizer que ele te enche de pre-requisitos (mate x chefes para prosseguir) apenas para o jogo durar mais. Os combates são injustos e chatos, claramente feitos para fazer com que voce fique empacado as vezes. O mundo aberto - se é que posso chamar assim, é morto e vazio - figurativamente. A trilha sonora é boa e só.    … Expand
  45. TomOG22
    Jun 19, 2020
    3
    As a game the mechanics are pretty good. As a game set in Middle Earth, this game sucks. Little to no regard for the work of Tolkien. They could have set this anywhere and it would have been fine, but instead they wanted to tag along and ride the coat tails of a successful franchise without having to to adhere to the canon
  46. vova22379
    Feb 17, 2023
    3
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  47. Ratingss
    Mar 10, 2023
    4
    A really repetitive game with casual gameplay lifted from other games, the only difficulty comes from enemies becoming immortal if their level is high enough, otherwise you can mindlessly kill hundreds of enemies until they give up which might be cool if you are in the mood but gets old fast
  48. ErdemMT5
    Feb 14, 2022
    3
    Shadow of Mordor, is an ''open world'' action adventure game.
    This game could be a great game if they continued to develop this game. This is to obvious that, this game didn't finished and they steal some game aspects from other games like AC seires and Batman series.Basicily, they stole all the main character's animations from Assassin creed seires, and all the fundemenetal combat    Shadow of Mordor, is an ''open world'' action adventure game.
    This game could be a great game if they continued to develop this game. This is to obvious that, this game didn't finished and they steal some game aspects from other games like AC seires and Batman series.Basicily, they stole all the main character's animations from Assassin creed seires, and all the fundemenetal combat mechanics from Batman series.
    And the ''open world'' is actually not an open world. The map feels like a souls-like games map. There is not a living society except for randomly distributed uruk-hai's. And there is no wild life either. Game only got three different creaturs. And two of three creaturs even not seeing oftnen. Open world events are too few either. Players can only do mainly three different events. And they are discovering some open world lores, opening fast travel points and weapon challenges.
    Main and side quest are all based on ''stealth'' and combat mechanics. And this mechanics are not too bad. Because all of fundamental combat mechanics are stolen from Batman series. Even the control scheme.
    Game's story is not worth to mention. It is a safe story of a husband's revenge. There is some popular character and events to make the story more attractive. But the story is not unique at all.
    Of course, as with all games, there are some special innovations. Game's top point is nemesis system. And it looks like they created this game for trying nemesis system. This system provides all the casual mordor soldiers to became an special captain or higher commenders. If a common soldier kill the main character, mordor's hierarchy changes a bit and this common soldier becames captain. This captains of mordor could fight with each other or they can hunt and recruit soldier. And if they succeed their power rates increase and they could be reach a higher position. And all the ork captain and warlords have some unique aspects like immune stealth attack, fear of ghuls. And the best points is all the captain and warlords have their different personalities.
    In my opinion, this game is created for testing new nemesis system. And therefore they are did not focus on game's content so much. In overall, this game is lack of content too much. But still worth to try nemesis system. I wish they were'nt theift.    … Expand
  49. KinimodYunmi
    Dec 1, 2022
    4
    Ich habe gehört, dass dieses Spiel recht gut gehyped wurde, das kann ich aber überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen!

    Dieses Nemesis System ist absolut schrecklich, solch ein System ins Spiel zu nehmen ist eh nicht sonderlich innovativ, aber hier hat man es sogar noch schlechter hinbekommen, wenn du stirbst, hast du einfach wieder ~5 mehr zu erledigen, super! Wie lange soll das Spiel dauern?    Ich habe gehört, dass dieses Spiel recht gut gehyped wurde, das kann ich aber überhaupt nicht nachvollziehen!

    Dieses Nemesis System ist absolut schrecklich, solch ein System ins Spiel zu nehmen ist eh nicht sonderlich innovativ, aber hier hat man es sogar noch schlechter hinbekommen, wenn du stirbst, hast du einfach wieder ~5 mehr zu erledigen, super! Wie lange soll das Spiel dauern? JA!

    Generell ist das Spiel schon keine Performancebombe, aber wenn du schon 5 Orks beherrschst und sie rufst, dann laggt das Game aber mal so richtig vor sich hin, please - hat das mal jemand getestet?

    Und sonst gibt´s nicht viel zu sagen, da man immer wieder dasselbe macht. Es gibt 2-3 Mainquesttypen und 1-2 weitere Nebenquesttypen, die sich ständig wiederholen...
    Die Cutscenes sind auch für damalige Verhältnisse zu Release nicht annähernd Zeitgemäß.
    Die Welt ist trist und öde, gut passt zum Titel und das ist auch schon das einzige, was man dem Spiel positiv anrechnen kann.

    Großzügige 4/10    … Expand
  50. pashockys
    Nov 12, 2022
    4
    stupid and boring as hell, repetitive and not fun at all, i don't know why this game have a good rate

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best PC Game of 2014
11
#11 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
10
#10 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. PC PowerPlay
    Nov 1, 2014
    90
    Solid action wrapped in a fascinating simulated Orc society. [Nov 2014, p.52]
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Oct 25, 2014
    72
    After you get used to the world of Shadow of Mordor understanding comes: there is nothing to do in it. Chieftains – pretty serious opponents at first – in the end due to the lame balance become the whipping boys. Storyline is buried under muddy reasoning about rings, elves and dark lord. As a result you like the Shadow of Mordor gameplay but you do not want to go to the finish. [Nov 2014, p.64]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Oct 19, 2014
    70
    Only thanks to the Nemesis system stinky orcs from Peter Jackson’s movies rise above being cannon fodder and turn into actual characters. If this cool system weren’t here, no one would have looked twice at this hybrid clone of Batman: Arkham City and Assassin’s Creed.
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