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. Feroxz
    Sep 30, 2014
    5
    This game is not bad, it's just not as great as most people claim it to be. The story is generic and doesn't really fit into LotR universe; combat is taken from Arkham games; most of other mechanics (freerunning, stealth, detection system) is taken from AC series. And the only truly original feature, Nemesis system, is far too simple and repetitive to keep you playing this game longer thanThis game is not bad, it's just not as great as most people claim it to be. The story is generic and doesn't really fit into LotR universe; combat is taken from Arkham games; most of other mechanics (freerunning, stealth, detection system) is taken from AC series. And the only truly original feature, Nemesis system, is far too simple and repetitive to keep you playing this game longer than 10 hours. The longer you play this game the more flows you start to see: unpolished gaps in combat system, repetitiveness of missions, dumb (even for orcs) AI. I do not recommend buying this game at full price, wait for sale and only then consider a purchase.… Expand
  2. Sawt00th
    Oct 1, 2014
    5
    This game is like a water-slide. Fun, no choice of direction and you forget about it when you move onto the next one. Combat physics is hard to apply to games, as would planning for a myriad of styles, they forgo these issues by implementing an Arkham Batman style of combat, which is lovely in small doses and for 1080 vids to showcase the game, but after killing the zillionth Ork you beginThis game is like a water-slide. Fun, no choice of direction and you forget about it when you move onto the next one. Combat physics is hard to apply to games, as would planning for a myriad of styles, they forgo these issues by implementing an Arkham Batman style of combat, which is lovely in small doses and for 1080 vids to showcase the game, but after killing the zillionth Ork you begin to get bored. Free-running needs to die, it needs to leave games right now, Assassin's Creed has been a cancer of the video game market. The basic formulae has been set by Arkham and AC they just needed to re-skin it and force through a story. Not a game that will capture you for very long should you be an adult that has developed a brain capable of logical and free thought. I gave it a 5 purely for the fact that it's well optimised. But let's be really honest if you have that many people at the top of their game creating a product you'd bloody well hope it was optimised.… Expand
  3. ALB13
    Sep 30, 2014
    7
    Did you enjoy Assassin's Creed but wish there were more Orcs, Elves, and Rings involved? If so, this is your game. As someone who enjoys the mixture stealth/parkor/brawling the AC series brings to the table, I have been heartily enjoying Shadow of Mordor.

    Pro: Hundreds of orcs to slaughter in fun, careful, or frenetic ways. Game looks good. The Nemesis system creates numerous    Did you enjoy Assassin's Creed but wish there were more Orcs, Elves, and Rings involved? If so, this is your game. As someone who enjoys the mixture stealth/parkor/brawling the AC series brings to the table, I have been heartily enjoying Shadow of Mordor.

    Pro:
    Hundreds of orcs to slaughter in fun, careful, or frenetic ways.
    Game looks good.
    The Nemesis system creates numerous engaging enemies, some of whom show up at the absolute worst times (this remains a Pro since it keeps the game interesting).

    Con:
    If you don't like Assassin's Creed style game play, just avoid this one.
    Will probably drive Tolkien purists insane for some reason.
    Melee combat has a shallow learning curve, very few encounters require more thought than "bash bash bash counter bash bash bash counter bash bash KILL bash bash counter etc."

    Big Con:
    The Nemesis system isn't as deep as it could have been; preview materials would have had us believe that defeated foes could be turned to your cause and used to your advantage. This is not the case. There is a single orc that can be turned to your side, and his activities are pre-planned. Other enemies can be interrogated for useful information prior to execution, but any suggestion that you can use one defeated foe to sow chaos in the camp of another is, at least six hours into the game, untrue.    … Expand
  4. Xyzpl_29
    Sep 30, 2014
    5
    Very disappointing game. Nemesis is good. Unfortunately it is all what this game 's got to ofert. Other features are taken from other games [sorry for my poor English]
  5. Garfoodle
    Sep 30, 2014
    5
    WWhile it's not a bad game,per say,it is a dull one. It relies too much no the now overused Batman style combat,and too little on LoTR universe and story. The new "make your own army" thing is cool, but.much like the Ass Creed mission type of the same nature, it falls flat. And then there is the small map. And the lack of a real,loot system. And the mediocre graphics. Anyway, now I'm justWWhile it's not a bad game,per say,it is a dull one. It relies too much no the now overused Batman style combat,and too little on LoTR universe and story. The new "make your own army" thing is cool, but.much like the Ass Creed mission type of the same nature, it falls flat. And then there is the small map. And the lack of a real,loot system. And the mediocre graphics. Anyway, now I'm just rambling. The game is Ok. Not bad, not good,not worth $50. Stick to Skyrim with mods if you're looking for a solid LoTR experience… Expand
  6. Veber
    Oct 5, 2014
    5
    Shadow of Mordor's main problem is that it tries to copy other games (Assassin's Creed and Batman Arkham Asylum) without understanding what makes those games worth playing - it's not climbing. sticky running and fighting f*ckton of enemies at once that makes AC likable; and beat-up system of Batman doesn't really work as good with actual swords.

    Overall we have an openworld game with    Shadow of Mordor's main problem is that it tries to copy other games (Assassin's Creed and Batman Arkham Asylum) without understanding what makes those games worth playing - it's not climbing. sticky running and fighting f*ckton of enemies at once that makes AC likable; and beat-up system of Batman doesn't really work as good with actual swords.

    Overall we have an openworld game with tiny world, inane captain system, endless slashing through always respawning hordes, tacked-on stealth and no hubs, short campaign and annoying cutscenes    … Expand
  7. Cuchulane
    Dec 29, 2014
    5
    There is a lot of smoke and mirrors going on in this overrated game. This game embodies the very essence of "lather, rinse, repeat", and tries hard to hide that. It's a well made game, and the nemesis system was a novel idea, but even that starts to reveal it's repetitiveness and pointlessness over time. Here's how the game works. Steal three fight mechanics from Batman and make themThere is a lot of smoke and mirrors going on in this overrated game. This game embodies the very essence of "lather, rinse, repeat", and tries hard to hide that. It's a well made game, and the nemesis system was a novel idea, but even that starts to reveal it's repetitiveness and pointlessness over time. Here's how the game works. Steal three fight mechanics from Batman and make them sword, stealth, and bow. Create an orc generator with a fixed number of strengths and weaknesses (of which only about 4 really matter), randomly generate new orcs with random name, armor skins (cosmetic only which starts to repeat itself with frequency), and a few attack styles. Generate a mission map with a small amount of mission types repeating. Then add Assassin's Creed running, jumping, and climbing (which sometimes works and often leaves you rolling against a wall) mechanics and random stuff to collect. Repeat all of the above layered on a very thin storyline. I'm about 80% done with the story line and am really struggling to force myself to finish it.… Expand
  8. Cordova
    Mar 9, 2015
    7
    Shadow of Mordor is good, but simultaneously disappoints because of the potential you can see in it. It's perpetually on the cusp of greatness, but whether due to time, money, or design decisions (or some combination of the above) it feels like they made it decent enough and then said, "Yeah, pretty good, done." So it has a bittersweet aftertaste. Let's look at some of what makes it andShadow of Mordor is good, but simultaneously disappoints because of the potential you can see in it. It's perpetually on the cusp of greatness, but whether due to time, money, or design decisions (or some combination of the above) it feels like they made it decent enough and then said, "Yeah, pretty good, done." So it has a bittersweet aftertaste. Let's look at some of what makes it and where it falls a touch short:

    Characters - Talion (our main protagonist) is really cliche and unlikeable. A piece of cardboard from which we're supposed to experience the world around us. His ghostly sidekick (no spoilers) is much more interesting. I will say that the voice acting is actually quite superb.

    Atmosphere - The visuals and audio (soundtrack, ambient, and voice) are expertly crafted. And they make it easy to feel immersed in your surroundings.

    Combat/action - As you have likely seen in every review, SOM draws from Batman and Assassin's Creed, but honestly that doesn't matter, what does matter is how it's executed. The combat system is incredibly smooth and fluid and really let's you play with combinations between weapons. The downside is that you don't need to, you can just button mash 1-2 buttons and win in most cases. This brings me to the character progression system. Really really lack luster, they had a great foundation but the upgrades are more akin to God of War ability unlocks rather than creating a unique character. If they had put some more effort in this area, it could easily be a 9/10 game. So "action" the non-combat stuff like free running. It's shallow. It does everything for you, and I understand that makes it much much easier, but because it does it for you, it robs you of that feeling that you just pulled off a badass move or string of moves. This feeling is incredibly important in video games because they give the player a sense of ownership over the action. I feel more like a spectator than the Shadow of Mordor.

    Combat #2 More Kombat! Finish him! – Beyond the unexpected shallowness of the character development, the real pitfall is that combat is really inconsistent. Rather than create a cohesive system they slightly adjusted it for various enemies so that it doesn’t really work the same way throughout. For example, you have your standard parry warning which flashes a hotkey above an enemies head, you press it and you parry. Okay, makes sense! But then you have slightly tougher enemies captains/chiefs and beasts and sometimes they flash that hotkey or sometimes they flash a different hotkey, but if you press it when it shows up, it’s too late! It doesn’t function like the parry does. You need to know that they’re going to do that and be ready to press just before. Then there’s other creatures which don’t bring up the parry event and simply swarm you chipping away at your health. This is really bizarre as the entire combat system is built around you being able to handle all comers, so even if these enemies are 1-hit kills, you’ll find yourself low on HP just because that’s how it is.

    Combat #3 Wait it’s not over? – A deeper more interesting combat system would have solved this, but they opted for the “lots of enemies” approach. This is not as fun. There comes a point where you either just run away (because you’re bored of fighting), you just keep going despite being bored and slightly disliking the game because of it, or you eventually make a couple mistakes and find yourself dead because you’ve been fighting non-stop for an hour and you’re fingers are just done. I would have preferred fewer but smarter/better enemies that you interact with through a more robust combat system.

    Nemesis System – Ah the much vaunted nemesis system. To be honest it’s pretty cool, I’m really glad they made this and I hope to see it used to better effect in other games. It’s something that would make a great background system to a living dynamic world, but the way it’s implemented in SOM just leaves me wanting. The respawn mechanic is bad, again this is likely due to combat being shallow. A game in which death is more likely, like Dark Souls, a nemesis system would be amazing. But you really miss out on the bulk of the nemesis system if you’re “too good”. Part of the problem here is that the combat is too easy and their only solution was to throw dozens upon dozens upon dozens of mobs at you.

    Overall it’s a fun time despite its flaws, there’s lot to do in terms of side quests and collecting stuff, so if you’re a completionist you’ll have many many hours or orc slaying ahead of you. If you find it repetitive, then you’ll make your way through the game with relative ease but feeling a bit underwhelmed.    … Expand
  9. gannicus
    Oct 21, 2014
    6
    Game is ok... nothing special... graphics reqs are way to high... story is ok but seems to contradict Tolkiens writing.. Combat was very good.. only strength of the game... Nemesis system was fine i guess give them points for innovation but execution was bad eg any time you die other orcs get promoted and theres a never ending list of orcs who will become captains and warchiefs etc..Game is ok... nothing special... graphics reqs are way to high... story is ok but seems to contradict Tolkiens writing.. Combat was very good.. only strength of the game... Nemesis system was fine i guess give them points for innovation but execution was bad eg any time you die other orcs get promoted and theres a never ending list of orcs who will become captains and warchiefs etc.. finally somehow the game doesnt seem to come together at the end... However the game wasnt a total waste , worth a play if you have a lot of excess time....… Expand
  10. Mascalzone
    Jul 8, 2017
    6
    A very normal "free roaming" game with just a great background and a huge budget. It's 20 hours/10$ MAX buy, nothing more 'cause it's just a well made game mechanic ("fight Sauron army") made over and over nce you got enough. 6/10.
  11. Gormph
    Nov 12, 2015
    7
    This game was good but gets boring at the end and has a rough start, starting tutorials are not needed and normally get you killed by interrupting you while you’re trying to do the things they tell you to do, but on the flipside doesn’t tell you how things like last stand work very well at all which should be simple and easy to explain. The game starts off dramatic and gets you invested inThis game was good but gets boring at the end and has a rough start, starting tutorials are not needed and normally get you killed by interrupting you while you’re trying to do the things they tell you to do, but on the flipside doesn’t tell you how things like last stand work very well at all which should be simple and easy to explain. The game starts off dramatic and gets you invested in the main character then just drops you in an open world with no drive other then orcs bad kill orcs…… combat is hard to get away from like all games where the character has an auto engaged combat mode when you want to leave combat the game fights you trying to make you fight more, need dedicated runaway button that disables combat mode, the game is fun to play once you get some powers however you have to go halfway through the game before getting the power central to the games mechanic, which makes the first half of the game seem pointless filler and you pretty much do the same thing all game which caused my interest to wane quite a bit latter in the game over all the main game play focus was fun but could have used more like tricking enemies to get alone so you could deal with them one on one which you almost never do, almost every target is a group fight, and more story or some other focus to keep me interested in the game besides kill orc, orc bad.… Expand
  12. JJthis
    Sep 4, 2015
    5
    The game-play of Shadow of Mordor is incredible and great fun. The kill moves will keep you pushing for that next fight and that next battle. It looks sublime and feels (a bit) like you're really in Mordor.
    That said, it was too blatantly a re-skinned Batman. The movements of the protagonist, when put right next to a Batman game, is identical to it. The thugs/orcs are pretty much the same    The game-play of Shadow of Mordor is incredible and great fun. The kill moves will keep you pushing for that next fight and that next battle. It looks sublime and feels (a bit) like you're really in Mordor.
    That said, it was too blatantly a re-skinned Batman. The movements of the protagonist, when put right next to a Batman game, is identical to it. The thugs/orcs are pretty much the same thing, with different skins. Detective mode becomes Wraith mode. The marketing "large open world" is tiny.
    The worst of all is a QTE final battle.
    All in all it's a great game none the less, but it's not worth that "AAA" price.    … Expand
  13. waltari
    Dec 6, 2015
    5
    This game is basically the combination of all the clichés you can possibly imagine. Linear story, arcade style console-ish movement and combat system ala Batman / AC series. Lack of any challenge as its way too easy to kill basically everything that moves with 2 slashes of your sword. Crappy weapon selection, lame upgrade system. The abilities you gain while you progress you wont ever needThis game is basically the combination of all the clichés you can possibly imagine. Linear story, arcade style console-ish movement and combat system ala Batman / AC series. Lack of any challenge as its way too easy to kill basically everything that moves with 2 slashes of your sword. Crappy weapon selection, lame upgrade system. The abilities you gain while you progress you wont ever need anyway so there's actually no point to bother with it.
    TL;DR
    Nice shell with nothing worth inside. Another example of degradation of tripple A game titles.    … Expand
  14. GamesOverMind
    Oct 24, 2014
    5
    Definitely a decent gaming experience. Not all its cracked up to be though; honestly if i found as many problems within a Ubisoft game as I found in this, it would be unacceptable. With a big PR machine like WB you have to expect over compensation with just about everything but in this case they had to have rushed their testers on the release dates. Amazing story but lacking in all theDefinitely a decent gaming experience. Not all its cracked up to be though; honestly if i found as many problems within a Ubisoft game as I found in this, it would be unacceptable. With a big PR machine like WB you have to expect over compensation with just about everything but in this case they had to have rushed their testers on the release dates. Amazing story but lacking in all the areas that it counts. Personally I would never pay for this game. Bitter sweet disaster till the end.… Expand
  15. gostarkgo
    Dec 3, 2014
    7
    This game is a mixed bag for me. Most importantly the combat and gameplay are excellent. If I was rating this game strictly on gameplay it would get a 10. But I had a hard time sinking my teeth into the story line. As a result I find myself loving the combat for about 20 to 30 minutes and then being left with the sense that my time should be spent elsewhere. The story just doesn'tThis game is a mixed bag for me. Most importantly the combat and gameplay are excellent. If I was rating this game strictly on gameplay it would get a 10. But I had a hard time sinking my teeth into the story line. As a result I find myself loving the combat for about 20 to 30 minutes and then being left with the sense that my time should be spent elsewhere. The story just doesn't captivate me, which is a shame because the combat and the gameplay are incredible.

    Considering how bad the latest Assassins Creed is, this game was exactly what I needed. Perhaps the folly in this game lies not in the story but in my lukewarm interest toward the fantasy genre. Still though the game gets a solid 7/10, and I have no doubt that I will play the game out. Its just to much fun not to play, but not enough to get hooked on.    … Expand
  16. elevensword
    Apr 9, 2015
    7
    You cant play this game and look for true LOTR backstory since its mostly made up for this game and isn't faithful at all. This game is very fun though when you get down to it and worth a play. Took 3 days to beat. Score lowered based on shortness of game, disappointing end bosses and how easy it is.
  17. njja02
    May 15, 2018
    5
    Plenty of awesome moments, but pretty bland overall. The Nemesis system is great, making encounters with Orc generals more epic and personal. But, the game=play does get a bit repetitive from the way the missions are structured. Plus the open world feels empty and generic.
  18. Amsheagar
    Mar 27, 2017
    7
    This game is very simple. You need to slaughtering orcs. The combat system is very good and the executions are cool. The story is weak and forgetable. The graphics and the view is amazing. This is a good game, howewer i started to boring after i have played 15 hours. Fortunately this game is short, about 20hours with every collectives and side missions. i recommend one walkthrough, not more.
  19. GoodMorningAss
    Jan 12, 2020
    7
    Perfectly implemented product. Graphics, plot, music and other sounds convey the atmosphere very well. After completing the plot, he went through all the additions, was satisfied.
  20. nw2010
    May 23, 2020
    7
    I enjoyed this game. The story is very good and the nemesis system is interesting. The graphics hold up very well for the age of the game.

    I did have slight frustrations with: the mouse/keyboard controls until I managed to set the sensitivity high enough on my mouse (with software outside the game, unplayable slow without it), a bit too much grinding at times (although the 2nd part    I enjoyed this game. The story is very good and the nemesis system is interesting. The graphics hold up very well for the age of the game.

    I did have slight frustrations with: the mouse/keyboard controls until I managed to set the sensitivity high enough on my mouse (with software outside the game, unplayable slow without it), a bit too much grinding at times (although the 2nd part adds a new dynamic that keeps it interesting) and the interaction with the environment is not always up to what it should be (doesn't react to the buttons you're pressing in the right way for the moment).    … Expand
  21. Lordgrey
    Oct 2, 2014
    5
    Assassins Creed in Mordor. This all what you need to know about this game before you play it. Nothing novice. The same old song with cool final strikes but without interesting storyline, atmosphere and gameplay.
  22. Inq
    Oct 2, 2014
    6
    I see a lot of overwhelmingly negative reviews simply because this game doesn't reinvent the wheel - this is obviously **** behaviour. I also see lots of 10s because "OH MY GOD IT'S SO AWESOME" - grow up, your opinion is also crap.

    Please bear with me for a well-explained statement on why this game isn't terrible, but also not as good as most of you make it out to be. Firstly, the    I see a lot of overwhelmingly negative reviews simply because this game doesn't reinvent the wheel - this is obviously **** behaviour. I also see lots of 10s because "OH MY GOD IT'S SO AWESOME" - grow up, your opinion is also crap.

    Please bear with me for a well-explained statement on why this game isn't terrible, but also not as good as most of you make it out to be.

    Firstly, the core movement and combat mechanics are taken from the Assassin's Creed and the Arkham series. Games have been copying off other games for decades and if it works, who am I to judge, no real problem here. However, the Arkham combat is very simplistic. It looks guttural and feels satisfying to kill enemies - for about 10 minutes. Afterwards you will realize that you have very little impact on the combat and one press of a button will initiate finishing moves of several seconds. Combat is akin to a visual novel, not a video game.

    More ways to go about combat open up with rising level - some even change the way you go about combat slightly, but none of them truly stand out and in the end it's more of the "very low effort - high (visual) reward"-bullcrap that AC and Arkham have been pushing. This is a game for casual gamers. Whether you take that statement as an insult is up to you.

    What's more - the Story, apart from being ridiculously slow (you could easily finish the main campaign and most of the side quests in less than 15 hours) is bland, boring and forgettable. You don't care about any of the characters because they have onedimensional personalities at best. "I lust for revenge" "I am the comic relief" "I am a woman and in need of help" "I am evil" ... blergh.

    What's worse than the story? The way it is presented. Most Main Quests require of you to follow a friendly NPC around and GOD FORBID you move more than 5 meters away from him even though it's perfectly clear to you what to do next. No, no you filthy peasant, you better **** wait until the game allows you to pursue your next objective. Call of Duty-esque messages like "YOU ARE LEAVING THE MISSION AREA" will haunt you. Additionally,

    [VERY MILD SPOILER]
    the final boss fight is one of the most laughable encounters of the last decade, seriously. I have never felt so unsatisfied in my life. [/spoiler] Now, what does that leave us with? Weapon challenges, surely. The missions itself are very welldone and even mildly (really, MILDLY) challenging - after all this is a casual modern game for casual modern gamers. But what's the reward for doing all 10 missions for a weapon? Uh, 10 glowy bits on it. Really, that's it. No awesome additional elemental effects, no new moves, **** nothing. Great.

    There are several other types of side quests which are tolerable, I suppose. I couldn't really be arsed to do the slave-freeing missions myself after the first two, but that might just be my personal taste.

    Now, one feature I actually do like. The "Sauron's Army" system. You can identify captains, dominate them, pitch them against each other, protect your branded ones against ambushes and ensure they're victorious in challenges to help them advance and eventually become bodyguards and assassinate their warchiefs. Nice little system. Too bad you can't access the fun part of it (branding and dominating captains) until around 70% of the campaign have passed.

    Oh, fun fact: That team of war chiefs you've been training and improving? Yeah, they're gone after the final mission.

    Get this game when it's on a budget or if you know about ways to acquire it without paying. It is not worth the full price if you've got half a brain.

    If you, however, enjoy intense action that you have little to no impact on and are otherwise above actually contributing to a video gaming experience, get it. Also feel free to think about your life.    … Expand
  23. AngryRoach
    Oct 6, 2014
    6
    Overrated. Story was 7 hours long and it was far from amazing. Your typical cheesy love story based on the tolkien world. You can 100% the game in 20 hours. Combat is Left click, Right Click and F to win. The game looks good and the graphics are good thought, altough some ground textures look like trash.
  24. Lolbbqcabbage
    Oct 13, 2014
    7
    They had to pay off youtubers and various websites just to get good reviews and more sales and nothing was disclosed.

    Nemesis system was cool and unique but no way as indepth as it was made out to be, its quite shallow. All Urks share very similar traits + or - 1. All dialog is not that unique, after playing the game for several hours you here the same lines thrown out over and over.    They had to pay off youtubers and various websites just to get good reviews and more sales and nothing was disclosed.

    Nemesis system was cool and unique but no way as indepth as it was made out to be, its quite shallow. All Urks share very similar traits + or - 1. All dialog is not that unique, after playing the game for several hours you here the same lines thrown out over and over.

    Gameplay is okay, combat has problems when it comes to trying to focus and take down an Urk captain. You have to bounce around trial and error and hope that your character swings at the thing you want. It has a few control problems interms of the climbing mechanics, there are so many problems with it, like branding being the same bind as dropping down. Also there are so many restrictions on where and how you can climb or maneuver around objects.

    The ending of the game is a total **** fest, where the devs got lazy and needed something to fill and finish the game. Lack luster story near the end, lack luster boss fights that were rushed and unexciting, filled with QTEs. The boss fights are not boss fights, press a button at the right time, wait for cut scene, press another button. Game over. Why not have a proper fight like the first Black Captain? that was something that was more exciting and engaging. The game was rushed towards it's end and needed more thought.    … Expand
  25. Dethstar
    Oct 4, 2014
    5
    It has been a bad year for console ports. With games like DR3 & Dark Souls II suddenly reversing earlier builds and actually removing features on launch day deceiving PC gamers one could not blame us for being cynical. Against this backdrop one would have to try hard not to shine even with minimal effort.

    I have a love/hate relationship with this game. First I am a massive Tolkien    It has been a bad year for console ports. With games like DR3 & Dark Souls II suddenly reversing earlier builds and actually removing features on launch day deceiving PC gamers one could not blame us for being cynical. Against this backdrop one would have to try hard not to shine even with minimal effort.

    I have a love/hate relationship with this game. First I am a massive Tolkien fan. (thought I better disclose that as it colours my review of this game) I also like open world games.

    SOM is very open and free roaming. Not a huge environment but there is a lot you can do and the atmosphere does go a long way towards meeting expectations.

    The story is very good and the characters compelling with none of the odd choices of accent or corny lines which often ruin the atmosphere in console centric light weight RPGs. Great voice acting and dramatic music completes the package.

    The combat is not particularly immersive favouring a flashy looking cinematic style which is essentially a click fest which is equally usable by anyone from 5-50. Character development gives you flashy finishing moves and skills and this does exactly what it is mean to do, give the illusion of depth. It is fun, but don't expect any real immersive combat here in console land. Having said that, it is the most fun combat I have experienced from one of these console clones. Far better than similar styles of game such as the Arkham series etc.

    Graphics have been upgraded with some PC specific enhancements and these are welcome but not by any means state of the art. One feels like someone was ticking a box on an excel spread sheet.... AAAdded Tick. Ambient Occulssion Tick. Not how well it was done or to what depth.

    It is very poorly optimised with no SLI support. Owners of even relatively powerful GPU are likely to be left wondering at their 30 or less frame rate. The frame rate issues can make it seem as though the controls are glitching as the performance is highly irregular.

    I have played on 2 machines. One has 2 Superclocked Titans and the other 2 x Superclocked 980s. I bench these machines and often sit at the top of Benching tables for quite a while each time. It still runs poorly on either. Of course, SLI has to be disabled as it ultimately does nothing. ]

    The gameplay itself is absolutely excellent and while there are a few bugs, they are rare (such as getting stuck in some scenery) and not often.

    In fact, this could have been one of the best games this year for the PC in my opinion.

    So why isn't it? Well, setting aside the terrible optimisation for a moment as hopefully, NVidia and AMD will rectify this in driver released, like most console ports they missed the critical measure of why people often refer to something as a "terrible port".

    It has the awful console limited field of view. Something like 65 degrees and squashed so it is like watching the action in someones house, by peering through the mailbox. Compare this with games designed for the PC like Battlefield 4 and most others which available field of view up to 120 Degrees. These limitations are caused by limitations in the capability of console hardware and the fact that there is only much you can show on old TVs. So called "Next Gen" consoles were actually out of date the day they were released catering only to 720p and occasionally 1080. Simply offering a FOV slider means repackaging all the textures with the upgraded perspective and quality needed to support monitor resolutions.

    Personally, I game at between 2560x1440 and 4k resolutions so this just looks ridiculous. It also creates nausea and disorientation in a percentage of the population (between 10 -20% depending on who you believe) which is why we game on PCs (among just wanting the best experience possible).

    So the field of view made it much harder to enjoy the game. Much of the game is about stealth and awareness of your surroundings, pretty hard when you can only see as if you have blinkers on. Console folks probably don't mind this as they do not know any different but moving from more natural field of view ranges to this are crippling. No wonder so many people that purchased new consoles ended up using them as media centres etc and not gaming on them.

    A (10) fantastic game killed off for lack of a proper port to allow for an appropriate field of view.    … Expand
  26. Nightrist
    Oct 2, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Middle-Earth is a good game. Not exactly an excellent game, let alone a masterpiece, but a good game. While it is good to see a decent book/film franchise game, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor stands to me as just a slightly above average game.

    Story: 7/10 The story take place before the original trilogy (LoTR) but after the Hobbit. You are Talion, a ranger of Gondor cursed with immortality seeking revenge. The story seems forced throughout the story, with a lot of seemingly random characters you find hard to care about (except MAYBE the dwarf, but even then his story was meh). The end seems really rushed, with 2 almost back to back bossfights with little buildup whatsoever. Even with a 7/10 I'm feeling a bit biased because I am a fan of Tolkien's universe.

    Graphics: In terms of a AAA game, the graphics are pretty average (which means pretty good looking relative to most games). All the scenery except maybe 1 or 2 places seem a bit bland. There's two main areas of the story: a slightly barren plain with scattered ruins with 1 or 2 fortresses, and a slightly more fertile 'hilly' area with scattered ruins and 1 or 2 memorable fortresses. Overall none of the areas are that memorable, the area seems pretty bland even (even if it is Mordor). As others have said, the PC version is a pretty good port, no lag with my 660 GTX, frame rate was consistent with a few stutters here and there (probably due to my tower overheating).

    Gameplay: 8/10 Here's where the game shines. Combat is fluid from gut wrenching executions to bone shattering take downs. Combat feels basically like the Batman Arkham games except with a lot more blood and gore (yay!). The game feels pretty hard at the beginning (I died a bunch) but as you become more experienced at dealing with mobs (damn beserkers!) and leveling up your weapon/skill tree, you become more confident in taking greater challenges. At some point I went from "O man 3 captains better run" to "A warchief and 3 captains? Come at me bro."

    Replayability: 6/10 And here's where the game gets stale. Basically SoM holds the same problem the AC games hold: other than the main storyline (which even then feels like glorified side quests) there arent a large variety of side quests to keep you interested. You got your free the prisoners quest, your combat (stealth, archery, sword play) quests, your tracking quests, and maybe 1 or 2 that I forgot to mention. "But wait! what about that neat rivalry system I keep hearing about?!" you might ask. Well while it was cool for the first few hours, once I found out that each Captain or warchief is essentially just a slightly more difficult mob character (with little truly unique game play attributes), it quickly got stale. Captains show up basically every other fight, sometimes 2 or 3 at a time, and soon you just categorize them as the 'slightly harder mob enemy' in a fight. Chieftains are the same basically they are just slightly harder captains you can fight once you do some prerequisite (like stealth kill 5 guys) side mission. Bottomline is that while the system may seem cool at the start, a few hours in it quickly becomes stale.

    Overall, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a good game to sink maybe a month or two while you wait for the next anticipated 'good' game (but by now, everything seems to be a letdown to me, maybe its cause I'm spoiled and hard to impress :P ) My suggestion is to buy it on a steam sale down the line (even if its only 25% off) full price at the moment, however, may not seem worth it.    … Expand
  27. Pengwin
    Oct 10, 2014
    5
    Opening a box of cereals is more challenging than this game. If you look for some dull entertainment and are confused with hitting more than one button, this is what you want to get.

    If you, on the other hand, enjoy a well-told story, deep characters, engaging atmosphere, challenging gameplay (like The Witcher 2, Portal 2 and other masterpieces), DON'T touch this game. I am a big    Opening a box of cereals is more challenging than this game. If you look for some dull entertainment and are confused with hitting more than one button, this is what you want to get.

    If you, on the other hand, enjoy a well-told story, deep characters, engaging atmosphere, challenging gameplay (like The Witcher 2, Portal 2 and other masterpieces), DON'T touch this game.

    I am a big LOTR fan and concerning the feeling of middle-earth this game does a good job. I desperately wanted to play this when I heard that the story was written by the same guy who wrote Red Dead Redemption, my all-time favorite game. But that was very misleading. The story is waaaay too short, super simple and unoriginal and the characters don't have ANY depth at all. Not even the 2 main characters get enough time to speak.

    The climbing is nothing special anymore, but still fun.

    The combat is incredibly boring, but the execution effects are nice.

    The orcs are plain awesome, but even five bosses at once are down in less than five minutes thanks to the easiest combat system since....i can't find any comparison. I don't know any game as simple as this.

    Pros:
    Massacring tons of well-looking Orcs

    Cons:
    Easist combat system ever
    Worst story I have ever played
    No character depth (except for the randomly generated Orc Captains)
    The land of Mordor got no atmosphere at all, everything looks the same.
    Even riding Caragors is boring.

    Good ideas, worst execution possible, unfortunately.

    Cheers from Austria.    … Expand
  28. Ceridwen8
    Oct 5, 2014
    6
    If this is the 'game of the year,' it must have been a really weak year. I know this has received great reviews, is supposedly 'authentic to Tolkien,' and reputes to be challenging & involving. I haven't found it worthy of those high reviews.

    In theory, if there are no major bugs or technical problems, a game deserves, say, a 7 of 10. And if it were titled 'Medieval-ish guy in Bad Guy    If this is the 'game of the year,' it must have been a really weak year. I know this has received great reviews, is supposedly 'authentic to Tolkien,' and reputes to be challenging & involving. I haven't found it worthy of those high reviews.

    In theory, if there are no major bugs or technical problems, a game deserves, say, a 7 of 10. And if it were titled 'Medieval-ish guy in Bad Guy Land,' I'd probably go with 7. But this sells itself on Tolkien, so the best I can do is 6.

    If you're not a Tolkien purist, some of my complaints won't matter. So I'll start with game play. I found it difficult at first, until I realized I was substantially over-thinking it. Once I accepted that this is left button, right button, pick a finish, then it dwindled into the 'painfully easy' game play that I should like, being casual, but don't, because it's boring. There was NO fight I couldn't escape if necessary. (Apparently, orcs have very short attention spans.) It's a style I don't care for, but maybe it works, as it seems to be a copy of Arkham Asylum, with something like AC movement. Personally, I don't like the movement at all. I don't feel connected to it - you climb sheer walls easily, but can't climb a simple rock pile. There's no balancing involved - your guy just stays automatically in place. Holding down the shift key to stealth, constantly, got painful after awhile. Targeting was strange - I very often kill the wrong person. But it rarely matters. Climb up, wait, then hop down again. Orcs don't remember well, either. Oh, & don't fight near a wall, or you'll lose sight of your attackers. (more annoying than dangerous)

    In any game, LOTR related or not, I expect some story. This has to be the most generic, tedious, 'I don't care what happens' story I've come across in a long time. It feels completely unrelated to Tolkien's world, except for tossing in 'facts & figures,' and some Tolkien words/names. I cannot imagine calling this game 'innovative,' as I've seen in other reviews. It just screams cut & paste to me, with nothing new. Maybe the orcs vying for power? But I found that completely uninteresting. Worse, your elf-ghost Celebrimbor (I'd call this a spoiler, except it was in the trailers) seems set on you using the weapons of the enemy against him. When I got to that part, I'd essentially lost interest entirely, especiaily when I MCed orcs, & gave them blue eyes. The dwarf was generic-annoying, too. The women, cliched. The comic relief orc wasn't funny.

    There is no exploration, no world to investigate. No loot, no chests, no surprises. No choices at all, no character development. The fan-fic named Talion is stunningly dull and screams, again, "Generic Video Game Hero,' to the point that he's essentially on a revenge quest. I would have preferred to play as the elf, though he came closer to a Warcraft elf than anything Tolkien.

    In other LOTR-related games, there's some story, some exploration. (that's the best part of LOTRO, at least - you feel like you're in a scaled-down Middle Earth - aka, it takes a few minutes to ride from Bree to Weathertop, as opposed to weeks.) But in this - nothing. Warcraft is closer in spirit, & this one lacks Warcraft's whimsy. If you're not going to be remotely true to Tolkien, then make up your own game! Elder Scrolls has their own world, as do Warcraft, Guild Wars, Dragon Age... Granted, they take a lot from Tolkien, but that's true of all fantasy, including Star Wars. But this is based on Middle Earth, & other than tossing in Tolkien words, I'm not feeling it. Yet I've read tons of reviews insisting that it's 'so accurate!' This takes place just after Gollum is leaving Mordor, I guess, yet a lot of Mordor is green & growing (with Lorien flowers...) and for some reason, Gollum recognizes Celebrimbor as a ring maker... No clue why that relates to the One Ring, but apparently to Warner Bros Gollum, it does. I don't remember him coveting Gandalf's ring, after all.

    Anyway - I deeply dislike this game. Not like ESO, which was an utter failure in pretty much every way, but in its laziness, & in its ability to rack up great reviews for nothing. Either there are a lot of 'interested parties' posting, or the gaming world really needs to get higher standards.    … Expand
  29. Ahzeem
    Oct 3, 2014
    6
    This game is an average hack n' slash set in Mordor. If you're actually using the 10-point rating system correctly, this game does nothing to earn a score above 6. It's not terrible. In fact, it's rather fun. But aside from the mindless and boring combat and almost unbelievably small map, this game is a gigantic "meh". It's certainly a must try on consoles, but PC users should take noteThis game is an average hack n' slash set in Mordor. If you're actually using the 10-point rating system correctly, this game does nothing to earn a score above 6. It's not terrible. In fact, it's rather fun. But aside from the mindless and boring combat and almost unbelievably small map, this game is a gigantic "meh". It's certainly a must try on consoles, but PC users should take note that this game is almost assuredly not worth full price. Seriously, the game offers a maximum 12 hours of main story line, and the filler material is hardly worth mention. Over-hyped. Overrated. Same old crap you've seen a million times before. If you've run out of games to play, this is a solid next pick. But if you have a backlog like most people do, just wait for this game to go on sale and play something else while you wait. It's seriously not worth full price if you have literally any other decent game you've been meaning to play.… Expand
  30. Sedgie121
    Oct 1, 2014
    5
    For me the PC version is practically broken, I literally just downloaded it, the game feels horrible with a 360 controller, there are random frame drops, bear in mind I had my settings on medium/low with a fairly good graphics card and i7 processor, also scenes weren't showing, I was really looking forward to playing this game being as it came out on PC first, I then noticed it was £30 onFor me the PC version is practically broken, I literally just downloaded it, the game feels horrible with a 360 controller, there are random frame drops, bear in mind I had my settings on medium/low with a fairly good graphics card and i7 processor, also scenes weren't showing, I was really looking forward to playing this game being as it came out on PC first, I then noticed it was £30 on steam...now I know why, I like a lot of features of the game like the nemesis system and the combat is nice fairly satisfying, but the PC version? na, I'm going to get the PS4 version as I know I'm going to enjoy it a lot more, £30 might seem like a bargain, but not for the PC version, but being as I'm giving this game a chance on PS4 with all the promising features, I'm gonna give it a 5… Expand
  31. Beanbag
    Oct 7, 2014
    7
    Shadow of Mordor is a mildly disappointing game, very happy I did not preorder. For the most part, it is a "good" game, being functional and pretty. The story is old hat, with our Hero seeking revenge for the murder of his family. It of course is set against the backdrop of Middle Earth from LOTR/The Hobbit, and features some appearances from major characters. It also features a "Nemesis"Shadow of Mordor is a mildly disappointing game, very happy I did not preorder. For the most part, it is a "good" game, being functional and pretty. The story is old hat, with our Hero seeking revenge for the murder of his family. It of course is set against the backdrop of Middle Earth from LOTR/The Hobbit, and features some appearances from major characters. It also features a "Nemesis" system, which is where the disappointment comes in. The system is not bad, it simply does not live up to the hype or perhaps to the expectations laid upon it. The Nemesis enemies are rarely much of a challenge and make little difference or impact on the game world. Defeating them is typically simple, only very rarely are they difficult and often that is only because they summon hordes of enemies to overwhelm you. Some iffy camera angles and half-baked "parkour" detract from the game, sometimes heavily.

    Much to the developers credit, I have not yet encountered a single major bug 20 hours into the game. All in all, Shadow of Mordor is worth playing, but not deserving of the hefty price tag of the collectors edition, nor is the season pass worth your money. Get it after the holidays when the prices go down.    … Expand
  32. Marshy
    Oct 2, 2014
    7
    After playing this game on pc, I can easily say it is a great game but there is alot of bugs and stupid systems Like the controls it is just horrible, I find my self smashing the space bar to sprint but half of the time it dose not work,

    The story is just above par, It didn't really make me feel any connection to the Tolkien at all and i didn't want to know what was going to happen    After playing this game on pc, I can easily say it is a great game but there is alot of bugs and stupid systems Like the controls it is just horrible, I find my self smashing the space bar to sprint but half of the time it dose not work,

    The story is just above par, It didn't really make me feel any connection to the Tolkien at all and i didn't want to know what was going to happen next, I just kept at it cause it is part of the lord of the rings universe.

    The game-play is great. Combat is smooth and fluid the whole open world is stunning and run great on my system for a PC port the game runs perfect could not ask for a better job, Now and then the textures get messed up but still nothing too bad to complain and make a big fuss about.

    If your looking for a open world game with great combat and not too arsed about story middle-earth is the game for you, You will have hours of fun taking Orcs body parts off    … Expand
  33. Muuvinki
    Oct 9, 2014
    6
    Is this game worth 50$ price tag, you might ask? No not quite.
    While the game's combat system is good and rewards you for gaining experience and doing missions around the world killing the enemy is almost every time way too easy. There seems also to be little variety in missions and after you have killed war-chiefs around 4 - 6 times this killing starts to feel very repetitive and boring.    Is this game worth 50$ price tag, you might ask? No not quite.
    While the game's combat system is good and rewards you for gaining experience and doing missions around the world killing the enemy is almost every time way too easy. There seems also to be little variety in missions and after you have killed war-chiefs around 4 - 6 times this killing starts to feel very repetitive and boring. It's an average open world action game but you might want to wait out the sales before you buy this one.    … Expand
  34. TimTeamTebow
    Oct 5, 2014
    5
    It was a decent port, so I guess it has that going for it.

    The combat was essentially from Batman arkam but worse. It added a ranged attack that can instantly kill people, more slowmo so countering was extremely easy, and just less satisfying hits.

    The nemesis system was barely noticeable.
  35. TitaniumDragon
    Oct 21, 2014
    5
    Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game with a great idea and very little else to it. A combination of watered-down Assassin’s Creed style stealth combined with watered-down Batman: Arkham Asylum style combat, the gameplay itself is very mediocre, with a large sandbox to play in but very few toys, with less than a dozen types of enemies despite a fantasy setting, poor, uninteresting bossMiddle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game with a great idea and very little else to it. A combination of watered-down Assassin’s Creed style stealth combined with watered-down Batman: Arkham Asylum style combat, the gameplay itself is very mediocre, with a large sandbox to play in but very few toys, with less than a dozen types of enemies despite a fantasy setting, poor, uninteresting boss fights, and highly repetitive gameplay. The highlight of the game is the nemesis system, a system by which randomly generated orcs gain names, attributes, and try and fight back against you, but it is crippled by the fact that by halfway through the game you will be cutting through them as so much wheat and all opposition effectively falls by the wayside.

    On the whole, the game is very mediocre. The levels are uninspired, the boss fights are more of the same or outright anticlimactic, the combat rapidly becomes rote, and all the side missions are extremely repetitive – even while the main missions present little variety. The game’s plot is lackluster, lacking interesting, engaging characters, and is very likely to be confusing to anyone who is not familiar with The Lord of the Rings. Even the nemesis system, the game’s great selling point, quickly becomes pointless as you gain the ability to rapidly kill enemies the first time you face them, completely removing any possibility of generating a nemesis.

    Some other game might be able to make great use of the nemesis system – or a nemesis-like system – in the future, but it did not work here.    … Expand
  36. steddye
    Oct 22, 2014
    5
    The game became boring very soon, no sense of adventure at all, the system to start a quest by clicking a button when you a reach a specific location goes against the spirit of RPG's. Please developers make a step forward ,less cutscene ,less graphic and less hand holding but a game that is not petitive and adventurous.

    to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new    The game became boring very soon, no sense of adventure at all, the system to start a quest by clicking a button when you a reach a specific location goes against the spirit of RPG's. Please developers make a step forward ,less cutscene ,less graphic and less hand holding but a game that is not petitive and adventurous.

    to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

    Thats the spirit    … Expand
  37. whereupon
    Sep 30, 2014
    5
    Visually beautiful, interesting story, but the breaker for me is that the PC version is clearly a port from console based on the interface...W to go forward, while pushing SPACE to sprint, while also pushing L-CTRL to do something, something. The look and initial feel were akin to Skyrim, which had a very PC interface. I wish I'd know how it was designed prior to pre-order.
  38. ShadowofZexa
    Oct 9, 2014
    7
    if you take game of assassins creed and mix it with the combat system of arkham you will have shadow of mordor its a really fun game its just really really linear its not like a open world game like it claims its a repetitious mess however its still a fun game the stealth mechanics are done very well however i feel this game is overpriced it should of been a arcade title for $19.99
  39. subdued_genius
    Oct 2, 2014
    7
    At its current price its not worth the money and the hype. The reason why I bought this game was because of the Nemesis System and the game did not fully deliver in that regard.

    Pros: The game was fun. The combat was well polished. The voice acting was superb. The Orcs are funny/interesting. The cape looked very good (Dark Ranger skin). Meh: The Nemesis system wasn't impressive. I    At its current price its not worth the money and the hype. The reason why I bought this game was because of the Nemesis System and the game did not fully deliver in that regard.

    Pros:
    The game was fun. The combat was well polished. The voice acting was superb. The Orcs are funny/interesting. The cape looked very good (Dark Ranger skin).

    Meh:
    The Nemesis system wasn't impressive. I rarely saw it in play or making a factor in my playthrough.
    The graphics for the PC isn't impressive and is pretty standard for HD 1080p games with a high-end PC rig.

    The bad:
    The game is too easy and rewards you over-abundantly. You can literally kill any NPC you desire if you have some skill or familiarity with the combat mechanics. You can save up for the most powerful powerups without a skill-tree requirement or prerequisite. The result is you just need to save up for the unlimited executions skills (The sword first) and the game become mindnumbingly easy.
    The music was also bland and forgettable. Some of the best music in my opinion are from Skyrim and Mass Effect. The music in this game is neither ambient/environmentally supportive nor is it mood-inducing/pace-setting. It was boring and forgettable and you never really felt any real EPIC moments.
    The storyline and story-telling/writing was poor and very forgettable. I honestly played through the game not caring, which says a lot about the writing, pacing, and overall direction of the story. Furthermore, a lot of the storyline quests are basically gigantic tutorials...How to brand an orc, how to dominate an orc, how to stealth kill, how to do this or that. I feel that's probably why the game's story was so boring.

    The biggest fundamental flaw of this game is the lack of difficulty settings. Basically the lack of customizability for the game's difficulty level means that the game was far too easy and rewarding in my playthrough. The game ranks probably a solid 3 out of 10 for difficulty in playthrough. The result is because it is so easy, I never/rarely die. Because I rarely ever die or fail to kill an orc I want to kill. I never really get to see the full effects of the Nemesis System. So what was the PRIMARY SALES POINT of this game became at most a secondary characteristic.

    TL;DR version
    These are the questions I asked when I bought this game (If these apply to you then you and I probably will come to the same conclusions).
    1) Why is this game attractive or interesting? The Nemesis System seems innovative and interactive.
    2) Is the game fun? Yes.
    3) Should I play this game? Probably.
    4) Is it worth the hype and money (currently $50 dollars/$75 dollars for premium)? No.
    5) Is the Nemesis System great or impressive? I don't honestly know. The game's difficulty level (or lack thereof) made it pretty much a non-existent factor in my playthrough.

    Statistics:
    100% Progression completion.
    44 hours in game (I left the game on a lot of the time, I think I spent at most about 20-30 hours playing though).
    69% of the steam achievements unlocked.

    My personal rating probably a 70% or a 3.5 out of 5.    … Expand
  40. mithren
    Oct 10, 2014
    7
    So over all a good game. That said it does have some issues I can't overlook.

    Pros: Awesome graphics Fun new bad guy leveling system where if they kill you they'll be promoted and gain followers Combat can be varied (to an extent) and is heaps of fun at first. Cons: As mentioned above combat can get a little repetitive and is with a Batman Arkam Asylum. Though you can choose to    So over all a good game. That said it does have some issues I can't overlook.

    Pros:
    Awesome graphics
    Fun new bad guy leveling system where if they kill you they'll be promoted and gain followers
    Combat can be varied (to an extent) and is heaps of fun at first.

    Cons:
    As mentioned above combat can get a little repetitive and is with a Batman Arkam Asylum. Though you can choose to go all sneaky but this rarely works on bosses so you end up spending some time just charging in. Also you can kill an orc captain with a great looking finishing move only to discover him ALIVE again in another area of the map (I distinctly remember beheading him!)
    The story line was a bit cliche and not very gripping.

    Overall it was nice to see a game pushing the graphics, the game had an innovative bad guy system but lacked a solid story line which really was a shame which only left a lot of combat which started to get repetitive after only 1 day of playing.    … Expand
  41. ClamTime
    Nov 6, 2014
    7
    I naver rally licked Lard of Rangs but Maddle Earth: Shadoow of Moldor is just sooooooo fan I can;t stoops playing the gramme I mean oamg I luv this gam I play it lik al tim al daye I havn't plaeid oather laord of oinian range I can't waite for anothe r lard og ranks soooooooon (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻
  42. kache
    Oct 2, 2014
    7
    Good game, some very good ideas that I hope will be taken by other games in the future. DLC politic is ridiculous. Not worth buying now, wait for GOTY.
  43. Skulb
    Mar 6, 2015
    7
    Certainly the best Middle Earth video game to date, although this sadly isn`t saying a whole lot. And it is very impressive in many ways, particularly visually. The combat is fun too, if FP swashbuckling/stealth is your thing. And even if it isn`t there are plenty of side quests, an engaging combat system, lots of lore, some nice characters and above all an interactive Mordor for you toCertainly the best Middle Earth video game to date, although this sadly isn`t saying a whole lot. And it is very impressive in many ways, particularly visually. The combat is fun too, if FP swashbuckling/stealth is your thing. And even if it isn`t there are plenty of side quests, an engaging combat system, lots of lore, some nice characters and above all an interactive Mordor for you to run around in which should give many hours of good entertainment.
    The most interesting bit is how the Uruk enemies have been done. Each one can grow in power if they defeat you, survive a fight with you, win a duel against a rival, go on a hunt and many other things. A repeat offender who has killed you over and over again can become quite formidable. Best of all the Uruk hierarchy fills up again, usually with random orcs and occasionally by regular grunts who luck out and get a killing blow on you. It`ll repeat itself at some point I guess, but the variation produced by this system is pretty impressive. And so is watching an archer scout who blew your head off five minutes into the game grow in stature and power until you kill him off late. The game is an orc generator at its core, which I honestly never thought I`d see.
    My only problems with the game come almost exclusively from the genre it represents, which is one I honestly detest energetically. There are constant respawns of basically everything, which makes the otherwise interesting fights feel a bit pointless at times. Unless I had a quest objective somewhere I tried my best to stay out of the way of enemies altogether because of this. But because of all the respawn it is rarely possible to go where you need to be without at least some tedium in the form of fights you`d rather skip, forcing you into the drudgery of wading through exactly the same orcs you`ve already killed about 15 times. It gets unbelievably repetitive. Playing the game with a keyboard is also a real wear on one`s fingers because you`re constantly using the LCTRL and LShift buttons to toggle running, sneaking and interactions of all kinds. Pressing these buttons I can not help doing with my pinky, which was totally worn out after a few hours of play. Best get a controller I suppose.
    Finally the story, while well told and with a lot of lore and details underpinning it, feels a bit simplistic. Brave ranger loses family and gets killed, then comes back as a wratih. Wants revenge. The only real twist is that he also has an elvish ghost living inside him, which I guess is sort of interesting. Other than that it`s straightforward: Kill lots of orcs. The end. If you want more than this you must dig up artifacts, do side quests, fill out the lore tab etc which is scattered all over the place in copious amounts. And all of those mean more fights with still more, slightly samey, basic orcs. So it comes down to how much time you want to blow just on getting one piece of Elvish writing on an inexplicable wall you have in your menus or just one more sword ability you may or may not need. I could feel my stamina with the game running lower and lower for each one of these Easter egg detours.

    If this is your kind of game then you`ll probably love Shadow of Mordor. Me I wish it had been almost any other sort of game, perhaps except a sports simulator or an anime dating game, rather than an FP-hack n`slash. They exhaust me and I hate playing them even when they are good. And Shadow of Mordor certainly is good. I`ll give it that. It`s just that it`s a FP action game. I wish it would stop being a FP action game and become an RPG, tactical turn based or even RTS game. I would even settle for a tower defense game. Just anything but FP action. Oh well, just thirty more years until the next good Middle Earth video game, if the past is anything to go by. Maybe I`ll have more luck with that one.    … Expand
  44. garlor
    Oct 3, 2014
    7
    asassins creed got lost into mordor and decided to take a stroll, direct sword combat is dull and boring,

    attacking the warchiefs is more interesting, you move around recover hit points and spirit arrows by draining orcs, kill the body guards and run away before the mass of orcs gets to you, it took me around 30 minutes to kill one of the warchiefs, wandering around camp then killing    asassins creed got lost into mordor and decided to take a stroll, direct sword combat is dull and boring,

    attacking the warchiefs is more interesting, you move around recover hit points and spirit arrows by draining orcs, kill the body guards and run away before the mass of orcs gets to you, it took me around 30 minutes to kill one of the warchiefs, wandering around camp then killing one bodyguard at a time, then recovering, releasing animals etc

    it's a decent game, world map is a little small, control is weak, it is hard to choose which of the 50 orcs around you to attack and do a finisher    … Expand
  45. Celtish
    Oct 18, 2014
    7
    I've only played for a few hours and I can already tell this game could be slightly repetitive.
    Having said that, the combat is fun, and gets better as you progress (By this I mean you gain more abilities, making combat more interesting), and the way the storyline is integrated with the questing is great.
    Graphically, this game is quite demanding, and I had to turn down a few settings    I've only played for a few hours and I can already tell this game could be slightly repetitive.
    Having said that, the combat is fun, and gets better as you progress (By this I mean you gain more abilities, making combat more interesting), and the way the storyline is integrated with the questing is great.
    Graphically, this game is quite demanding, and I had to turn down a few settings for my rig to cope but it's still quite good looking.
    A few other reviewers have mentioned that the combat is incredibly similar to Assassin's creed and Batman: Arkham asylum, and they are correct. However in this case, I feel it works because how else would you tear through hundreds of orcs?
    It's incredibly difficult to make combat feel fresh all the time when the entire game is based on cleaving through hordes of enemies.    … Expand
  46. The_Magnificent
    Oct 9, 2014
    5
    -Combat is fun | Abilities too powerful later
    He is god like from the start killing mass orcs as a "Ranger" and later on it is ridiculous since the enemies stay the same weak orcs. Where is the challenge?
    -The story is average at best | Side characters appear out of nowhere for a few missions You would think that the side characters have some sort of background. Every time one was    -Combat is fun | Abilities too powerful later
    He is god like from the start killing mass orcs as a "Ranger" and later on it is ridiculous since the enemies stay the same weak orcs. Where is the challenge?

    -The story is average at best | Side characters appear out of nowhere for a few missions
    You would think that the side characters have some sort of background. Every time one was introduced I was like... the hell are you and how did you come here through all the orcs.
    You can get some information about the dwarf and Hirgon/his wife by collecting artifacts but really. Their only purpose is it to unlock abilities and then they are gone. I thought I can recruit them or summon them for hard fights, the last mission at least but nothing.

    -The Boss fights are quicktime events, short and lazy-

    -Generic and repetitive missions-

    The mission design is always kill, kill, kill follow or collect some herbs/artifacts from the past.
    Almost forgot the boring slave missions which are always the same in its core.

    -Nemesis System nothing happens if you are good | The game is too easy-

    I never used the option advance time, my goal as a fighter of the evil is to destroy them and not sitting on a tower waiting for them to respawn. I expected a real time system to some degree or between missions at least in their greatly announced Nemesis System.

    There is nothing decent to do in the open world, everything is a setup for grinding power / Mirian by solving the same generic missions expect for the Gollum quests.

    There are no different difficulties, the replayability due to that is zero.

    Overrated average game. Stole everything from other games and still **** up. People praising it with 10/10 best game they played…. come on people have some dignity.    … Expand
  47. gloriouspotato
    Jan 23, 2016
    7
    Take the combat from the Batman Arkham games, and a lot of the gameplay and world building elements of Assassin's Creed, and you've pretty much got Shadow of Mordor. In the same realm of Batman, the combat is fluid and offers some flashy animations. Just like Assassin's Creed, all the side missions are more or less the same thing, with only slight variations in their objective. TheseTake the combat from the Batman Arkham games, and a lot of the gameplay and world building elements of Assassin's Creed, and you've pretty much got Shadow of Mordor. In the same realm of Batman, the combat is fluid and offers some flashy animations. Just like Assassin's Creed, all the side missions are more or less the same thing, with only slight variations in their objective. These missions offer useful incentives in the form of in-game currency, XP or power, but provides little in the way of character depth or storytelling. There comes a point where the only reason to do anything besides the main quest is if you have a compulsive urge to achieve 100% completion.

    In addition, the overarching narrative wasn't particularly impressive and the characters lacked complexity and were largely unremarkable. At least the graphics look quite decent, and I must appraise how well the game runs on PC. Although there are a few more tweaks Monolith could've done to expand upon the graphics options, they did a pretty good job with optimisation overall.

    Overall rating - 6.8/10    … Expand
  48. dermaniac
    Jan 7, 2015
    7
    Nice game, but could use some more meat on its bones. I really enjoyed what is here, but unfortunately it suffers from the "open-world-game-disease", where only about 7 hours worth of content (20 missions) are part of the main storyline, while the rest is padded out with side missions, challenges and.. well, the whole ork power struggle thing. If you enjoy hunting down every little POI andNice game, but could use some more meat on its bones. I really enjoyed what is here, but unfortunately it suffers from the "open-world-game-disease", where only about 7 hours worth of content (20 missions) are part of the main storyline, while the rest is padded out with side missions, challenges and.. well, the whole ork power struggle thing. If you enjoy hunting down every little POI and finish all the (mostly pointless) sideactivities, then this is for you. If you are more like me, and would rather prefer more well crafted missions, then the game will feel a little short.

    The whole ork hunting and managing thing was very fun, although I do think it was a little underutilized. Having an (let alone all) warchiefs under your control should come with some mighty perks, but unfortunately it didn't matter to the gameplay at all. So in the end, it didn't feel very rewarding. But I guess in here the journey is its own reward. Overall I loved it very much and it didn't overstay its welcome either.

    I would have appreciated a difficulty switch. There is no difficulty setting, and while the game felt challenging enough at first, once you get the hang of it (after 2-3 hours) it gets very easy and you feel very overpowered. I died about 10 times in the first 3 hours of playing and about 3 times in the last 10 hours.

    Another minor gripe: The sound track is often a little mismatched. I had to enable subtitles because very often the music was so loud I couldn't make out what they said in a cutscene. And sometimes action music from the gameplay got stuck and played over the cutscene music, which made it even worse.

    Oh, and the ending is a little anticlimactic. There are 3 main bosses in the game. The first boss is an awesome epic battle that I really enjoyed. The second boss is a game of whack-a-mole (go to 3 or 4 locations and press a button), and the last boss fight is a very short Quick-Time-Event. That made me a little sad.

    Still, the gameplay was enough fun to make me look past most of these flaws and I do recommend the game. I enjoyed it very much.    … Expand
  49. Chomag
    Sep 30, 2014
    7
    The game looks very good and there is quite some fluff content but it becomes pretty dull and repetitive rather fast.
    The control is annoying with kb and mouse as the game suffers from retardum consolitis and this is very clear.

    There is really not a lot to do in the game.
  50. FogCityRoller
    Mar 14, 2015
    6
    Is the game fun? Initially yes. A lot of games can be fun without making any effort to embark on the revolutionary. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of those games. The control scheme is derivative, the story is uninspired, but the graphics and sound are immersive. It aimed to profit off the large fanbase of Lord of the Rings and it excelled by a large margin. It's certainly not doingIs the game fun? Initially yes. A lot of games can be fun without making any effort to embark on the revolutionary. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of those games. The control scheme is derivative, the story is uninspired, but the graphics and sound are immersive. It aimed to profit off the large fanbase of Lord of the Rings and it excelled by a large margin. It's certainly not doing much to separate itself from the ever-growing pile of "meh LOTR games," though admittedly if the games were stacked top to bottom in quality this would be at the top.… Expand
  51. WestLil0
    Apr 22, 2015
    7
    I was bored and didn't know what else to play when I saw this game listed. Even though it wasn't yet on sale, I gave it a try. At first I thought, oh boy, what did I do. The story line is weak, very weak. But slowly, I began to enjoy it more and now I keep going back to the completed game just to kill a few more ugly orcs (Uruks). There's a certain attraction to the game, even though it'sI was bored and didn't know what else to play when I saw this game listed. Even though it wasn't yet on sale, I gave it a try. At first I thought, oh boy, what did I do. The story line is weak, very weak. But slowly, I began to enjoy it more and now I keep going back to the completed game just to kill a few more ugly orcs (Uruks). There's a certain attraction to the game, even though it's repetitive, it does have its charm and eventually as soon as you get the hang of it, I think most players end up enjoying it. I agree with many of the reviewers regarding the combat style - yes, similar to Batman (but IMO not Assassin's Creed). And yes, the fighting does get stale. But whenever this game goes on sale, it would be a worthwhile purchase for those who enjoy semi-challenging battles with seemingly no end. I often laughed when I thought I had beat a captain and suddenly three more show up and each with their unique comment - "Ah you ran away last time wait until you see what I am going to do to you"...the game does have its moments.… Expand
  52. RingK
    Oct 28, 2014
    6
    I can't understand all the hype around this title... Is a button mashing combat system game, one of the best of course, but still feels... not really solid.
  53. defive
    Oct 7, 2014
    7
    A good game but not perfect with all the usual good and bad points of open world games. On the upside the graphics and overall immersion is great, however the controls in particular are quite poor - accurate melee targeting is a crapshoot at best as are the 'double button' attacks which can make combat quite frustrating, and the story is not exactly engaging. Having said that the NemesisA good game but not perfect with all the usual good and bad points of open world games. On the upside the graphics and overall immersion is great, however the controls in particular are quite poor - accurate melee targeting is a crapshoot at best as are the 'double button' attacks which can make combat quite frustrating, and the story is not exactly engaging. Having said that the Nemesis system is interesting and it's probably overall worth the money.… Expand
  54. DonMega
    Feb 27, 2015
    5
    When you start playing this game in the beginning you feel amazed with how good the graphics are, the gameplay is definitely batman arkham mixed with assassins creed so you know its a good mixture. The problem once you have played it for a while. Eventually you will realize how boring and repetitive the game is. The enemies constantly respawn in the nemesis system and its created this wayWhen you start playing this game in the beginning you feel amazed with how good the graphics are, the gameplay is definitely batman arkham mixed with assassins creed so you know its a good mixture. The problem once you have played it for a while. Eventually you will realize how boring and repetitive the game is. The enemies constantly respawn in the nemesis system and its created this way to extend the gameplay. Nemesis is great but feels broken after a while. There is useless quests around the map that hardly give you any incentive to do, the missions are pretty repetitive also. I find this game is a good rental, definitely not worth a buy as it very quickly feels like a grind and is boring.… Expand
  55. Amazing
    Jan 22, 2015
    6
    The combat is really repetitive and unintuitive. You don't even have to time your key prompts or attacks, just mash the buttons over and over. Eventually you'll come across enemies that have shields and who parry frontal attacks, but you can just activate or execute or wraith powers and instantly take them out then go back to spamming. I know you can time attacks for a bonus but its soThe combat is really repetitive and unintuitive. You don't even have to time your key prompts or attacks, just mash the buttons over and over. Eventually you'll come across enemies that have shields and who parry frontal attacks, but you can just activate or execute or wraith powers and instantly take them out then go back to spamming. I know you can time attacks for a bonus but its so unnecessary and just plain overkill.… Expand
  56. luksonije
    Nov 29, 2014
    7
    Well, I just finished Middle earth shadow of Mordor, and I suppose you want to see how good or bad is it.
    It is good game, solid game, with good mechanics. Is it for 10? No, I will personally give it 7.
    I finished it and I do not have the feeling that I wanted more.
  57. dimitrii_ss2
    Oct 27, 2014
    7
    meh , it's all i have to say i'm 80% in to the game : it's a good game but not great, somewhere in the middle , i wasn't hyped about it but i'm really disappointed that i gets dull after some time. I was expecting more from a AAA game , at least from my past experiences with Metro last light, Tomb Raider, Devil my cry, Far cry 3 etc...
  58. brugy
    Feb 5, 2017
    5
    - Ugly graphics
    - Boring story
    - Combat is not bad but is often iterrupted with cutscenes
    - Movement is sometimes glitchy
    - Map is overcrowded
    + riding on animals
  59. Molec_man
    Nov 2, 2014
    6
    Best Lotro video game story. Great ideas for gameplay scenarios. Terrible controls of character. It goes left when you want to go right (because of camera craziness after attacks), it drops to kill/brand when you want to drop to hang. Basically too many button assignments to enable flawless control of the character when fighting for your life in strongholds and an absolutely terribleBest Lotro video game story. Great ideas for gameplay scenarios. Terrible controls of character. It goes left when you want to go right (because of camera craziness after attacks), it drops to kill/brand when you want to drop to hang. Basically too many button assignments to enable flawless control of the character when fighting for your life in strongholds and an absolutely terrible camera. The camera nearly ruins the entire game for me. A three quarter over the shoulder always following camera would have been 100x better. Overall, the story, graphics and gameplay scenarios save the game. Controls and camera are a huge negative imho.… Expand
  60. Doc_Hopwood
    Nov 27, 2014
    6
    Can't really say I'm super happy with this title.
    I bought it on sale so that bumped it to a 6 instead of a 5 but otherwise it's a dead average game. No offense intended to the people that likely worked their hearts out to make it.
    If you took Desmond from Assassins creed, stuck him in the grey boringness of Mordor instead of the beautiful cities, then made him fight like Batman from    Can't really say I'm super happy with this title.
    I bought it on sale so that bumped it to a 6 instead of a 5 but otherwise it's a dead average game. No offense intended to the people that likely worked their hearts out to make it.

    If you took Desmond from Assassins creed, stuck him in the grey boringness of Mordor instead of the beautiful cities, then made him fight like Batman from the Arkham series... you'd have ME:SOM.

    It's a 'good' game in that it's technically sound, graphics/effects are fine for the current gen (though again... boring environments), and the first playthrough is kinda neat watching orc hierarchy shift around. I think whoever did the artwork on the character models was really into it and enjoyed themselves, the voice acting is good to go... all the parts were good on their own.

    With that said I was led to believe by the trailers and marketing that this would be a game where the hierarchy shifts would make the game feel different somehow and I'd have more of an open world type of feel. That's not the case. The hierarchy is pretty much numbers with skins. Gorgol the Basher, Mulduk the Flayer, Doink the Clown... doesn't matter they're all the same guy they just look different. Just mash the attack buttons and match the prompts on the screen.

    For $30 on Steam, alright. If this is your genre of game then you might even go as high as a 7 if you've played Arkham and AC to death or just go nuts for anything Tolkein-ish. $60? No. Just no.    … Expand
  61. crimsondoor
    Jul 14, 2016
    5
    Since I heard a lot of good things about this game, which was compared to the AC and Batman Arkham series I was surprised that I couldn't like it. Uninstalled after a day. To be honest the only good thing is the graphics. This game steals a lot of ideas from other games, tried to be everything but it ends up being nothing. Combat, map, story, characters, upgrade system - everything - isSince I heard a lot of good things about this game, which was compared to the AC and Batman Arkham series I was surprised that I couldn't like it. Uninstalled after a day. To be honest the only good thing is the graphics. This game steals a lot of ideas from other games, tried to be everything but it ends up being nothing. Combat, map, story, characters, upgrade system - everything - is generic as hell. This game proves that mixing all the good things up doesn't make the result better. I especially can't stand looking at the same landscape throughout the 10 hours of play time. The whole time I was thinking, can't you make the colour palette more pleasant to the eye, or at least make the view less boring? I don't want to see some random castles or towers on my screen all the time! The only original element is probably the nemesis system which sounds awesome on paper but doesn't contribute to the fun element of the game. It doesn't even have much to do with LOTR, so why set this in Tolkien's universe?… Expand
  62. Bulten
    Oct 24, 2014
    7
    I know other reviews have said the same thing, but i'll say it again. I't reminds you a lot of assassins creed, (i can't say if it resembles Arkham city cause i haven't played it). Not the story, but the combat system. The story itself is outstanding. I loved every minute of this game. And by every minute, i'm talking about 3 hours. Cause that's how long it took me to finish the story.I know other reviews have said the same thing, but i'll say it again. I't reminds you a lot of assassins creed, (i can't say if it resembles Arkham city cause i haven't played it). Not the story, but the combat system. The story itself is outstanding. I loved every minute of this game. And by every minute, i'm talking about 3 hours. Cause that's how long it took me to finish the story. (I've got 25 hours game time expect that, so i've played it a bit). It feels like you just are getting starting to get a connection to your character and then, ops, it's over. And it ends.. awful. It ends as an opening for an sequel. Which makes me feel like. "Oh, that some worth spend money.." (Notice the irony)
    The game finishes half finished, and just offers you a bunch of side missions, and no real side stories. And all the missions are the same. Stab and slash. New mission, kill some uruks! New mission, Kill a Warchief.
    It gets boring after a while. And because that the story is so short, you don't really get bored with it before it's finished.

    But, is it worth buying? Yes. If it's on sale.    … Expand
  63. psylife
    Apr 10, 2016
    7
    The combat system is robust and is backed by a plethora of moves and special abilities that manages to keep things fairly fresh throughout the experience. There are environmental contraptions that can be exploited to your advantage. Intel pertaining to the targets you need to eliminate can be gathered in order to reveal each enemy's weaknesses; Planning and acting around each enemy'sThe combat system is robust and is backed by a plethora of moves and special abilities that manages to keep things fairly fresh throughout the experience. There are environmental contraptions that can be exploited to your advantage. Intel pertaining to the targets you need to eliminate can be gathered in order to reveal each enemy's weaknesses; Planning and acting around each enemy's weakness and environmental exploits is where lies the core dynamic of the game. Additionally, there is a "nemesis" system that has the player consider the friendship and/or animosities pre-existing between each war-chiefs; Such clan rivalries and animosities can be exploited by strategically eliminating targets or taking control of the minds of key warlords so as to have them eliminate each other. The audio-visual realization is quite weak, with environments looking quite hideous; Animations are the true saving grace. The story is forgettable and the game does get slightly repetitive after a while. Overall, it is an enjoyable experience that is surprising and commendable in many respects. This is a pretty good game.… Expand
  64. sisho
    Oct 21, 2014
    7
    Shadow of Mordor is a good game. An example of a truly well made port.
    While the game does not deliver the sense of epicness the Lord of The rings has to offer, the Nemesis system allied to a fast paced gameplay makes playing it a very enjoyable experience.
  65. PrincessRose
    Nov 30, 2015
    5
    Don't like the combat, it's tiresome and very repetitive, thought it was kind of fun at first, now I just feel bored playing it.

    The camera is too close to the character, often making it hard to see everything attacking you. Which at times makes it hard to dodge attacks. Another over hyped, over rated game, sort of ok but gets boring fast, all it mostly is, is repetitive combat    Don't like the combat, it's tiresome and very repetitive, thought it was kind of fun at first, now I just feel bored playing it.

    The camera is too close to the character, often making it hard to see everything attacking you.
    Which at times makes it hard to dodge attacks.

    Another over hyped, over rated game, sort of ok but gets boring fast, all it mostly is, is repetitive combat fighting massive groups of orcs. Not a game I recommend.

    I'd rate it as an average rather boring game.    … Expand
  66. MartinAtome
    Oct 14, 2014
    7
    Good graphic, nice voice acting, solid story.
    It's obvious how the developers used Arkham as model for the fighting system and assassin's creed for the move and stealth part, which are both excellent systems.
    Open world of fair dimensions, not the biggest nor the most entertaining but good enough. The Nemesis system is awesome and will set a new standard for AI management. Despite all    Good graphic, nice voice acting, solid story.
    It's obvious how the developers used Arkham as model for the fighting system and assassin's creed for the move and stealth part, which are both excellent systems.
    Open world of fair dimensions, not the biggest nor the most entertaining but good enough. The Nemesis system is awesome and will set a new standard for AI management.
    Despite all these good features the games lacks longevity, mostly because there isn't much outside the main story, the "side quests" (small fight challenges or collection of items all similar to each other) are boring and the Nemesis is useless when the player becomes so powerful that even the highest level orc capitans are totally not a threat, even when faced without explointing their weak sposts.
    This, combined with the intention from the developers to release a ton of DLCs in the future holds the title from the great game it could have been.

    expect to play around 20 hrs (the main story takes less than 10) and then leave the game.

    I wouldn't reccomend the purchase in this moment, wait few months and pay the same price for the game+the first DLCs and you'll get a much better and long lasting experience.    … Expand
  67. Xillia
    Oct 15, 2014
    7
    The game is good overall but gets repetitive after hack/slashing through waves of uruks and the stealth is basically Assasins Creed but the skills and ability are fun and interesting and the nemesis system is pretty fun and intresting but some time the enemies and cheating douches with like 10 range uruks sniping you with a giant horde slashing at u makes it near impossible to dodge and IThe game is good overall but gets repetitive after hack/slashing through waves of uruks and the stealth is basically Assasins Creed but the skills and ability are fun and interesting and the nemesis system is pretty fun and intresting but some time the enemies and cheating douches with like 10 range uruks sniping you with a giant horde slashing at u makes it near impossible to dodge and I have encountered some graphical issues like when I do a flurry attack and than the head explodes the textures seem to glitch out and flail everywhere and get stretched and makes it impossible to see anything and when during a captain/warcheif better nearby objects sometimes suffer the same glitch and makes me impossible to fight because I cant see anything. The graphics are ok I guess not really astounding though seems to not look great compared to other next gen or pc titles and considering ultra settings is near impossible to use due to its huge system requirements the lower textures seems disappointing than what I expected. The story I am not sure how to judge but all it is but I think only half to 60% percent of the story fits in to the LOTR lore.… Expand
  68. csdigitaldesign
    Nov 29, 2014
    6
    There is absolutely nothing original in this game aside from the Nemesis system. I found myself bored within 15 minutes of first starting playing and I tried for a good hour of playing it but it was just far far too simplistic with it's mechanics and offered little to no challenge whatsoever. The combat is similar to Assassin's Creed games, however it's not anywhere near as strict. You canThere is absolutely nothing original in this game aside from the Nemesis system. I found myself bored within 15 minutes of first starting playing and I tried for a good hour of playing it but it was just far far too simplistic with it's mechanics and offered little to no challenge whatsoever. The combat is similar to Assassin's Creed games, however it's not anywhere near as strict. You can be very sloppy with timing and still block etc. You don't ever need to run usually from enemies unless they seriously (like more then 10 to 1) outnumber you... and even then is incredibly easy to ditch them. It's simply a button masher with some different skills thrown in to make you feel even more like a badass.... except I don't feel like a badass when I play it... as there is nothing to OVERCOME to make you feel like a badass. From everything that I've read, it only gets EASIER as you get more skills even!

    Orc mashing simulator 2014. Yup that sums up this game. Pass on it... I got it on sale for $25 and STILL feel like I've wasted my money. It's simply a non-stop spamming button mashing fest. There is nothing interesting about the combat at all. Graphics are decent... only good thing I can say about it.    … Expand
  69. Baremolop
    Dec 21, 2014
    7
    First things first this game deleted itself for no reason but still im giving my opinion on the actual game and I hope none of you have to put up with this. I was a huge LOTR fan but this games story doesn't fit in very well in my opinion I haven't finished the game yet because of this bug. The characters are soooooo boring the most interesting character seemed to be Gollum and the DwarfFirst things first this game deleted itself for no reason but still im giving my opinion on the actual game and I hope none of you have to put up with this. I was a huge LOTR fan but this games story doesn't fit in very well in my opinion I haven't finished the game yet because of this bug. The characters are soooooo boring the most interesting character seemed to be Gollum and the Dwarf hunter was alright but Talion, Hirgon and Celebrimbor ETC have such boring generic deep british accents. The enemy system is pretty cool like I came to fight one warchief and I had to fight about 5 orc captains at the same time pretty crazy but I died, and then the warchief became so powerful he had one minor weakness, and a million strengths. The climbing is similar to assassins creed but far more fast and unrealistic and not as fun. The combat is so Arkham which is good. In general this game could only be described as Batmans creed it copies so many elements of these games but never quite leads up to the expectations of the rest but its still a pretty fun game with some new elements which are good ones… Expand
  70. goodterling
    Nov 8, 2014
    5
    I was super enthusiastic about having the Arkham fighting system in the LOTR setting. Unfortunately, that's about all the game has going for it. It's an Orc Murdering Simulator and little else.

    There is a massive map that begs to be explored...until you realize it's all the same. You can't even tell the map regions apart by stylistic cues or difficulty. The hunting "system" is a    I was super enthusiastic about having the Arkham fighting system in the LOTR setting. Unfortunately, that's about all the game has going for it. It's an Orc Murdering Simulator and little else.

    There is a massive map that begs to be explored...until you realize it's all the same. You can't even tell the map regions apart by stylistic cues or difficulty. The hunting "system" is a joke: just kill those critters you've already been killing in droves, but, sorry you haven't done it in THE RIGHT ORDER, so kill it all again, and this time we'll pay attention.

    It's a shame because, though the story is forgettable, the acting is FANTASTIC. Both the voice and motion capture performances are the best I've seen in a game. The main character is subtle, understated, and full of deadly menace. There's the bold decision to keep him absolutely still in some conversations with orcs he's trying to intimidate. It's the kind of thing a good actor will do, but you don't see it in games. So major props to the devs for hiring good actors and trusting them to that extent. Someone was on the ball there. I kept wanting to see this character in something that made better use of him than slaughtering a million dumb orcs.    … Expand
  71. BoTheMastaOfAll
    Oct 16, 2015
    6
    The nemesis system is awesome in its own right, but there's way too much 'meh' in this game to give it a 10.

    While the style of combat is super fun fluid and perfect, the difficulty of the game is way too low. Combat is fun in the beginning when masses of orcs are actually likely to kill you, but you become completely overpowered and don't even need think twice about jumping into a    The nemesis system is awesome in its own right, but there's way too much 'meh' in this game to give it a 10.

    While the style of combat is super fun fluid and perfect, the difficulty of the game is way too low. Combat is fun in the beginning when masses of orcs are actually likely to kill you, but you become completely overpowered and don't even need think twice about jumping into a massive brawl with > 50 orcs.
    Combat works via hit streaks. Get a high enough hit streak (8) and you get a free execution. Talion gains abilities to nerf the required hit streak to 5, and gives him a 2 for one execution.
    The game also ends up giving you more max arrows, higher slomo meter, gaining slomo back on bow headshot kills, gaining arrows back on combat executions, teleportation kill moves, health back on executions. I became more powerful than Sauron himself, and I didn't even take advantage of the game; I just leveled up. Meanwhile the orcs never receive any significant buffs; combat only gets a tad more difficult with the introduction of new units.

    The story mode is 'meh' too. Missions are boring and oddly structured. For example, fairly early on you should figure out how to ride a caragor (Giant hairless tiger. They're awesome). There's even a few side missions that require a caragor, so the game expects you to ride them early on. Yet approximately 75% of the way done with the game, there's this super long and scripted tutorial mission all about caragor usage, even though I'd ridden 50 of the damn things at this point.
    They also have a mission where you learn how to mind control orcs. This is fairly late in the game, which would be fine if I had to find some sort of item to let me do it, but Talion just sort of figures it's what he should do now. Seriously! We're walking up to the orcs, and Talion says "I could mind control them" and boom! 90% of the way in and you have a power I guess you had all along. No narrative reason exists why you weren't doing this earlier.

    The bosses are boring too. The first is ok; it's like an orc with extra abilities. This makes sense, he's the first boss, plus actually fighting him in open combat was a good sign. Fine, the other 2 will be more epic.
    The 2nd boss makes copies of himself, and then teleports all the copies away from your location, and you have to stealth kill the copies. I guess he just lost track of you, even though you haven't moved. Each copy is just as dumb as an orc btw. It's super easy, and the game gives you like 10 minutes to stealth kill 3 copies. I did it in 90 seconds on my first try. It's not hard.
    And the 3rd boss is just 3 quick time events. Seriously.

    Nemesis is great, the style of combat is fun even if there's absolutely zero difficulty, but the main missions are awkward and the bosses all suck.    … Expand
  72. GolovA
    Jun 19, 2018
    5
    In essence, this is Assassin’s Creed.
    And I don’t like Assassins’ Creed.
    But if you’re a fan of Assassin’s Creed – give yourself (and this game) a Thumbs Up! Is Shadow of Mordor an RPG? Definitely No. There are no dialogue trees, no character selection, and all side “quests” or more properly – missions, degrade into assassinating an urk, or whatever. Is it Open World? Not    In essence, this is Assassin’s Creed.
    And I don’t like Assassins’ Creed.
    But if you’re a fan of Assassin’s Creed – give yourself (and this game) a Thumbs Up!

    Is Shadow of Mordor an RPG?
    Definitely No.
    There are no dialogue trees, no character selection, and all side “quests” or more properly – missions, degrade into assassinating an urk, or whatever.

    Is it Open World?
    Not really. While the scale of the map is extensive, there is no element of exploring (think Fallout 3 / New Vegas), and all the locations you discover are by no means locales (like villages with interesting NPC’s) but rather places where the aforementioned target for your assassination is awaiting his doom by your hand.

    Is there Character Development? (Potential spoilers)
    Eh . . . There are skill points you spend to “develop” your character, but all the progress concentrates on combat skills and weapons (obviously, since we already established that this is not an RPG, and skill point cannot be sunk into trade skill, or speech, ect). I see this more in the same venue as weapon upgrading, not character “development.”

    Having said all of this, here’s where I see Computer Gaming.
    When I want a story – I read a book. When I seek atmosphere – I listen to music. When I require a mental challenge – I play board games with friends. A Computer Game is unique in that it is able to unite all of those things together. A good computer game can, at least.
    Middle Earth – Shadow of Mordor is not that game.
    While having decent mechanics and a good story it simply does not have a good gameplay. You get the gist of what the entire playthrough will be like in the first 15 minutes or so – run, kill, run, kill, upgrade, run, kill more of the same – no rest for you, because you’re dead or something. Ahm, ok. I don’t find such a gameplay fun, which unfortunately I have to bear through to uncover the story.

    Speaking of which.
    The Story is not only the plot but also the telling. Shadow of Mordor’s pace is sheer madness – there is no pause, no place to take a break, the urks are constantly spawning, the bosses continually appearing if you’re killed, and so on. So, of course it is different for everybody, but I want my Tolkien story told by a gray-bearded Socrates looking grandpa, who is peacefully puffing on his cavendish cherry-wood pipe, while turning the burning coals in the fire and sipping his chamomile tea, NOT by a speed-junky, who yells out an extremely abridged “Hobbit” in 3 seconds while flying past me on a motorcycle. That’s Shadow of Mordor’s story-telling.

    So in short, i feel like the game is punishing me for wanting to uncover the plot of the story. I simply can't move through the main plot at my own speed - i need to do that by grinding through irrelevant, monotonous, repeatative assassination missions. And that is just not my idea of fun. Sounds more like work and a waste of time - unfortunately, to get through the story i am forced to those tedious things.

    To Devs / Publishers:
    When porting, please, start implementing FOV sliders for PC Gamers. Yes, we PC Gamers get it – Consoles are the future, and console owners are your target group. But here’s the thing – we, PC Gamers, still pay you money. Why not make us happy, and throw in a freebie in the form of the NORMAL, expanded FOV.

    Instead of this Game, try these for an RPG experience:
    Fallout 3 (+ New Vegas)
    Dragon Age Origins

    Games Similar to Shadow of Mordor, but which i think are better:
    Saints Row the Third
    Darksiders
    Red Faction: Guerrilla
    Red Faction: Armageddon
    Just Cause 2

    And of course i highly recommend reading Tolkien - BOOKS RULE!

    P.S.
    Finally finished it. Really had to force myself to play at times - ok story, but the grindy gameplay just ruins the joy.    … Expand
  73. Verdan
    Feb 13, 2015
    6
    Overhyped game. Batman with different story. I loved the story and it granted this game some points. While the graphics were good i owned Batman games all ready and game engine was pretty familiar.

    The negative: - Repeats itself until you finish it - Only several "missions". Kill 10, kill 15, sneak on someone. Nothing else. - Collectives added to extend length. Most annoying thing    Overhyped game. Batman with different story. I loved the story and it granted this game some points. While the graphics were good i owned Batman games all ready and game engine was pretty familiar.

    The negative:

    - Repeats itself until you finish it
    - Only several "missions". Kill 10, kill 15, sneak on someone. Nothing else.
    - Collectives added to extend length. Most annoying thing was to collect pieces to an massive nice looking board only to find out it gives you nothing. Not even juicy cinematic with some nice story in it.

    Game with a lot of potential fell flat.    … Expand
  74. SylarHRG
    Jan 20, 2015
    7
    Graphics are good. Gameplay and controls are fairly fluidic. Some very frustrating moments, but I can see why people really enjoy this game. I'm not a fan of how the world was designed, but it is a nice open area to play in. Great finishing moves and the story has been really decent so far.. Got it on a steam sale, very happy I didn't pay full price.
  75. Matuka
    Dec 11, 2020
    7
    It's a solid game, it really is a good game. Good graphics and gameplay. No major shortcomings. Nemesis system is cool. The problem is, there are no difficulty settings (difficulties to choose from) and this game is surprisingly hard. Or even more accurately, frustrating. If you die the enemies get stronger as well, it's kind of souls-like (Soulsborne) in that aspect. It feels like yourIt's a solid game, it really is a good game. Good graphics and gameplay. No major shortcomings. Nemesis system is cool. The problem is, there are no difficulty settings (difficulties to choose from) and this game is surprisingly hard. Or even more accurately, frustrating. If you die the enemies get stronger as well, it's kind of souls-like (Soulsborne) in that aspect. It feels like your sword barely does damage, you have to slice and dice (hit) the enemies so many times before they die. When you're surrounded by 40-50~ Uruks it feels impossible to kill them all, or at least it takes skill and most importantly A LOT of time. It's tedious. The most frustrating thing is when you knock an enemy on the ground and you go for the execute on em, WELL the other enemies can INTERRUPT that execute completely!!! And of course they can damage you as well, when they interrupt the execute! Super frustrating when you've earned an execute kill and they don't even let you do that in peace! No invulnerability/invincibility frames when executing.

    It's just pretty frustrating and tedious at times. The story is generic. Overall it just ain't no masterpiece. BUT! It's most certainly not a bad game. It's in that 6-7/10 range for me. (Very) Good, but not great. If it had adjustable difficulty and/or changes to executions etc. to make it less frustrating, it'd be 7-8(+). It's more like a 6.5 now, leaning towards a seven. Worth buying and playing but it ain't no super impressive heavy hitter.    … Expand
  76. Caligamy
    Nov 22, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I didn't expect this game to entertain me as much as it did, but I was pleasantly surprised.

    The combat system takes a little while to get accustomed to but once you figure it out you can fly through this game with ease. The AI can be a little bit dumb however, most of the time you can evade pursuit by just climbing onto some small building or wall for a minute. The Nemesis system I was very fond of once I realized what was going on in it, and the variety of orc characteristics, faces, armor, etc was very impressive as I saw very few repeats after dozens and dozens of defeated captains (and I was actively looking for them.)

    You finally get a break from the cramped muddy confines of Mordor a little over halfway into the game when you get to the second area which is more lush, and the story although not an exact copy of LoTR it offers an interesting spin on the tale once you figure out exactly who your wraith counterpart is.

    Once you get up to the point in the story where you can brand enemies and control them to build an army you don't feel the constant need to have to fight through every inch of the map, as by this point it becomes pretty easy to fight large crowds of enemies and easily kill them or capture them under your control.

    Pros
    Very diverse enemy features, and characteristics unique to each one that develop further as they level.
    Enemy ranking system of Captains and Warchiefs offers something new/unique to action games
    Runes (which you equip to your weapons) lighten the strain in combat a lot once you learn how to get them
    Combat becomes increasingly fast paced as you unlock the higher tier skills and learn how to chain them all together
    Multiple methods (poisoning, luring cragars, blowing up fires or grog, etc) to kill enemies breaks up the constant hack and slash feeling usually associated with action games

    Cons
    Story has a lot of gaps where your just left kind of wondering what happened there
    The maps you roam around in feels small and cramped a lot of the time
    They have mounts in game that are more of a nuisance to be around than a bonus (mainly because you eventually will travel faster and easier than any ridden mount after developing your character a bit)
    Lack of loot or equipment in game is a little dull and the rune system doesn't really expand it by much, reforged weapons do exist in game by completing the quests associated with each weapon but does not really do anything for them except change their looks slightly.

    *Spoiler* You have the impression that this game is going to be longer than it actually is with the amount of remaining bosses left in Saurons army but nope.. It just kind of ends suddenly and abruptly leaving you feeling like you just watched a LoTR movie with an open ending that's meant to setup the sequel. Some of the big bosses in game practically feel like they kill themselves and aren't challenging at all leaving the ending feeling very rushed.    … Expand
  77. Ne42
    Jan 5, 2015
    5
    Very overrated game IMO. The game actually could be fun, but, unfortunatelly, was ruined by some strange design decisions. The main being is constant regeneration of orc forces, even in same session, even in same fortress. You can't possibly clean up area in the game which is ridiculous! But even this could be OK, but even Captains and Warchefs are regenerating constantly, which makes youVery overrated game IMO. The game actually could be fun, but, unfortunatelly, was ruined by some strange design decisions. The main being is constant regeneration of orc forces, even in same session, even in same fortress. You can't possibly clean up area in the game which is ridiculous! But even this could be OK, but even Captains and Warchefs are regenerating constantly, which makes you feel that your efforts are useless. There is no need to lears any weknesses and earn bonuses, since it's a cheap thing, just do it one more time.. Basically after some 8 hours of play (which feels fun) world apparently becomes artifical and not fun. Combine this with subpar story, and I stopped playing the game then I moved to the second area. Couldn't bare more of the same.. potentially fun game, ruined by it's own creators.… Expand
  78. Escafoides
    Feb 15, 2015
    6
    So, we received a new, refreshing sandbox game, Monolith promised us that it wont be "The Same as the others" and in some point they are right.

    They managed to create a story that is immersive, original and that isn't damaging the Middle Earth of Tolkien. The game has a battle dynamic that is really incredible, you can feel the brutality of killing and slaughter orcs, but there is a    So, we received a new, refreshing sandbox game, Monolith promised us that it wont be "The Same as the others" and in some point they are right.

    They managed to create a story that is immersive, original and that isn't damaging the Middle Earth of Tolkien.

    The game has a battle dynamic that is really incredible, you can feel the brutality of killing and slaughter orcs, but there is a bad thing in that, the game is really easy to complete, even at 100% with all the collectibles, but that's because the game itself is short.

    In the other hand the gameplay is really repetitive, and despite of being original and new it becomes monotonous and boring.

    The Nemesis mechanic also is affected in that, In the first hours of game-play its really a thing to point out but while the hours are running, the boredom kills all that innovative experience, making the gameplay a suffering.    … Expand
  79. AndreRLZ
    Sep 17, 2015
    5
    Ci saranno spoiler. Questo gioco non ha soddisfatto le mie aspettative, che erano abbastanza alte visti i voti delle varie testate videoludiche.. Partiamo dal suo più grande pregio: il Nemesis System. Questo sistema casuale fa si che tu debba farti strada tra la "gerarchia" di guerrieri orchi per poter, prima uccidere dei comandanti e poi anche reclutarne altri. Funziona davvero bene e laCi saranno spoiler. Questo gioco non ha soddisfatto le mie aspettative, che erano abbastanza alte visti i voti delle varie testate videoludiche.. Partiamo dal suo più grande pregio: il Nemesis System. Questo sistema casuale fa si che tu debba farti strada tra la "gerarchia" di guerrieri orchi per poter, prima uccidere dei comandanti e poi anche reclutarne altri. Funziona davvero bene e la gente fa bene ad acclamare questa novità, è veramente ben fatta e l'idea è ottima. L'aspetto tecnico è veramente eccezionale, notevolissimo, sia in termini di video che di audio. Doppiaggio italiano non male, anche se inferiore a quello inglese secondo me. Questi erano i pregi. I difetti sono tanti, troppi per farmi apprezzare veramente questo gioco.. Innanzitutto la storia principale è composta da sole 20 missioni, di cui almeno 5 sono praticamente introduttive. Questa cosa rende il gioco estremamente breve da un punto di vista narrativo: tutto viene spiegato e buttato al giocatore come se non ci fosse tempo! Veramente, la trama da una sensazione di "fatto in fretta" allucinante! Questo è un gioco che, vista l'enormità dell'universo di Tolkien, avrebbe meritato il doppio delle cutscene e della profondità narrativa. Inoltre il gameplay è, onestamente, piuttosto ripetitivo. Anche se i combattimenti sono fluidi e ben fatti, e le abilità siano abbastanza carine, il modo in cui il giocatore deve procedere nel gioco è ripetitivo: uccidi le guardie, uccidi i servi del comandante, uccidi il comandante. Questo dall'inizio alla fine del gioco. Le abilità dei comandanti sono poche, sempre quelle: è vero che puoi informarti sulle abilità di ognuno, ma personalmente l'ho trovato inutile (superfluo) o comunque noioso.. Altro grande, enorme difetto è il level design: la mappa di gioco è piatta. E' un mondo desolato proprio come nel film, al quale tiene abbastanza fede. Peccato che per un videogioco ciò sia di una noia mortale, non c'è nulla da vedere, nessun paesino da visitare, nessun villain da intervistare o mini-gioco da fare.. non c'è niente se non orchi su orchi e qualche graug o altre bestie varie ogni tanto sparse a caso. Viaggiare è noioso, lo si fa praticamente sempre col viaggio rapido. Uccidere certi comandanti è tedioso, alcuni sono decisamente più forti di altri, indipendentemente dal livello. L'intelligenza artificiale ha qualche lacuna, almeno da quel che ho visto io: il mio orco livello 19, potentissimo, ha deciso a un certo punto di andare da solo contro 1 comandante e 2 guardie: è morto, chi l'avrebbe mai detto! Si è praticamente suicidato senza il mio consenso, dopo che avevo fatto molta fatica a reclutarlo. La qualità stessa della trama, oltre che essere brevissima, è scarsa: banale fino alla fine, a parte un singolo cliff-hanger che comunque non ha nessun risvolto poi.. Un gioco dal quale mi aspettavo tanto tanto di più, buono solo per la grafica e il Nemesis System, per il resto decisamente mediocre.… Expand
  80. AliasAndrew
    Dec 7, 2020
    5
    Generic in almost every aspect except for the nemesis system, which gets boring after a while. It heavily borrows elements from other, much better games and never does them as well as they do. I found surprising how (again) generic and boring the story was, considering it is a game set inside Tolkien's world. A soulless experience
  81. Amiga1200
    Nov 7, 2014
    7
    This is generally a solid game. It a bit lacks in depth in a sense that only combat matters. However, the combat system is very good because of its versatility. There are many ways to fight your enemies and finish them off. So even though a player is closed in this combat box it is still entertaining. The character progression system is quite interesting as higher tier abilities unlock notThis is generally a solid game. It a bit lacks in depth in a sense that only combat matters. However, the combat system is very good because of its versatility. There are many ways to fight your enemies and finish them off. So even though a player is closed in this combat box it is still entertaining. The character progression system is quite interesting as higher tier abilities unlock not only more powerfull blows or combination but let you combat orcs in a different and more sophisticated way. Thus the game as it progress is not boring because you discover something new with each new tier and region.

    The downside of the game is the enemy AI which makes sneaking ridiculously easy. The enemies are almost blind and you have a plenty of time to take cover and dissapear. The orcs will only see you if you want them to or when you are engulfed in a fight against hordes of orcs.

    Good optimization makes it run on middle rigs so system requirements are exagerrated. The graphics are beatiful and run well on weaker rigs. Core I 3, GTX 750 TI, 8 giga runs on high setting at 1200x1024. Controls are very good and allow you to direct your character smoothly. No choppy experience like in Dark Souls II **** PC port.    … Expand
  82. Seraphmk
    Dec 14, 2014
    6
    The good:

    Impressive graphics, visually fluid combat and runs perfectly on my pc with no frame drops lags or anything like that. Overall an eye candy that makes you feel more awesome a player than you really are. The bad: The combat: once you realize how the game fighting mechanics work you see that you are in fact invincible right from the beginning. It is way too easy to abuse    The good:

    Impressive graphics, visually fluid combat and runs perfectly on my pc with no frame drops lags or anything like that. Overall an eye candy that makes you feel more awesome a player than you really are.

    The bad:

    The combat: once you realize how the game fighting mechanics work you see that you are in fact invincible right from the beginning. It is way too easy to abuse the parry and stealth mechanics and make the game difficulty totally trivial.

    The story: overall mediocre, nicely presented but nothing really stayed with me after finishing it. No memorable characters and no real development in the interesting aspects of their situation. No food for thought at all.

    Endgame: the nemesis system seems more like a gimmick. I like it, I am glad that it is there but its impact is like meh. I would rather have prescripted story driven bosses that make me wanna fight them for some reason other than just being some bad orcs in some base that happened to level up to warchiefs and remember how our last fight together was like. It is good that they do but overall you cannot beat the emotional investment of a story behind a fight and here there is none. I m the good guy, you re the bad guys, I kill you or possess you, simple as that.

    Overall. I m glad I played the game, I finished it pretty fast (couple of days). I enjoyed the visuals and the fluidity of the combat but I was disappointed by the story, the difficulty and an open world endgame that leaves me there with nothing meaningful to do.    … Expand
  83. Dabandaid
    Jun 8, 2015
    6
    Game has been out for almost a year now and I am still getting the same bugs that happened when the game first released. Sure WB released a lot of DLC, but what good is that DLC when your game losses its saves? Would be a 8 game if they ever fixed their bugs, but dont hold your breath on that.
  84. I3ordo
    Jul 27, 2015
    7
    TIPS for the DEVS for the sequel:

    Very good start for a new IP, unless they want to stall like batman series, i am expecting them to add: Better animation technology like "endorphin engine" for throwing orcs, off the cliff. Could be shorter and more effective at what it is, it did spare some missions as "optional". Dwarf missions for example, could be optional, post game. More    TIPS for the DEVS for the sequel:

    Very good start for a new IP, unless they want to stall like batman series, i am expecting them to add:

    Better animation technology like "endorphin engine" for throwing orcs, off the cliff.

    Could be shorter and more effective at what it is, it did spare some missions as "optional". Dwarf missions for example, could be optional, post game.

    More animation variations so the "skating" effect be less apparent.

    Less "speed up" and "slow motion" moves to help appreciate the move set.

    Less OverPowered protagonist for the "Brand" system to actually beneficial.

    Less snappy animation system for natural motion.    … Expand
  85. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    5
    More meaningless repetitive content in an open world, it's fun until it gets boring.
  86. muzmuz
    May 3, 2018
    5
    Shadow of Mordor has that entertaining cinematic combat gameplay that will leave you satisfied in every swing of the blade. But in all honesty, the eye-candy fighting, slashing and execution animations is the only thing this game can boast. It implemented a very repetitive formula in an empty, desolate open-world setting that most likely would shove you away from ever seeing the credits roll.
  87. xRabia
    Dec 3, 2017
    7
    Podríamos definirlo como "Un juego entretenido", gran temática un sistema de juego que bien entretiene un poco pero tampoco es nada del otro mundo. Nada rejugable pero para disfrutar con la temática y disfrutar unas horitas.
  88. KittyWhisky
    Aug 19, 2017
    6
    This game is just about killing orcs. In Shadow of Mordor has good graphics, nice combat system, but the dull open world does not encourage the passing game. Heath is very sad, besides annoying endless respawns of orcs. The game has a nice feature - system Nemesis. It is working out great. The plot of the game completely dull. Please only nice video (especially Gollum). The orcs are veryThis game is just about killing orcs. In Shadow of Mordor has good graphics, nice combat system, but the dull open world does not encourage the passing game. Heath is very sad, besides annoying endless respawns of orcs. The game has a nice feature - system Nemesis. It is working out great. The plot of the game completely dull. Please only nice video (especially Gollum). The orcs are very cool looking and well voiced. They are nice to destroy. But in addition to Stripping the card and the endless destruction of the orcs in the game do nothing.
    This game is bare mechanics. Waiting for the second part and good gameplay, advanced system Nemesis and PLOT.    … Expand
  89. Nihron
    Jun 28, 2020
    7
    Совершенно не понял сюжета, эти финальные ролики вконец запутали. Минус один балл за это. Жирный такой минус.
  90. RagingPoet
    Aug 6, 2018
    7
    Shadow of Mordor got fluid combat animations, killing orcs never felt more satisfying (even though player only asked to press 2 buttons and the execution is done automatically). Enemy captains commenting on your playstyle and previous combat encounters is a very nice touch too.

    On the other side, main missions are extremely dull, most of them are just tutorials for different game    Shadow of Mordor got fluid combat animations, killing orcs never felt more satisfying (even though player only asked to press 2 buttons and the execution is done automatically). Enemy captains commenting on your playstyle and previous combat encounters is a very nice touch too.

    On the other side, main missions are extremely dull, most of them are just tutorials for different game mechanics. And missions overall are boring, it's more fun to just roam the land, pick an enemy officer and kill it the way you want it without any mission limitations.    … Expand
  91. steelcl
    Nov 22, 2017
    6
    I think the greatest quality of this game is that it doesn't try to be grand. It's quite a simple game in which you can mess around, kill some orcs, complete some events and progress with the main story. The story is short and tolerable.

    Combat isn't complex, but it isn't complicated to learn. The orc army hierarchy system is original and fun. The strenghts and weaknesses of the    I think the greatest quality of this game is that it doesn't try to be grand. It's quite a simple game in which you can mess around, kill some orcs, complete some events and progress with the main story. The story is short and tolerable.

    Combat isn't complex, but it isn't complicated to learn.

    The orc army hierarchy system is original and fun. The strenghts and weaknesses of the captains gives it an interesting flavor and that combined to those orc leader events, can lead to some random and funny moments, for example: my nemesis was fleeing from battle, then he walks into fire, gets killed by some monster in the way, and suddenly appears back later to haunt me while I was at other event.

    Although it can be a fun experience, I can't imagine this game remaining interesting after much more than 1 play through.    … Expand
  92. pawq
    Jun 13, 2023
    7
    A good game, but also a story of what could've been, AKA a disappointment.

    Shadow of Mordor is focused predominantly on hack-and-slash combat, which is implemented very well indeed, so that makes it fun. World and character design are decent, but the world is rather small. The music is alright. The story? Well, there are some interesting bits from key moments in the Middle-earth    A good game, but also a story of what could've been, AKA a disappointment.

    Shadow of Mordor is focused predominantly on hack-and-slash combat, which is implemented very well indeed, so that makes it fun. World and character design are decent, but the world is rather small. The music is alright. The story? Well, there are some interesting bits from key moments in the Middle-earth history, but the way these tie in with the personal story driving the main character is a little questionable, and definitely not emotionally engaging. Even as someone who is moderately into Tolkien stuff (i.e. read & watched LOTR more than once, but not more), I was unsure of what's going on at times. This is partly due to a poor intro - the game throws the entire backstory and half of the mechanics onto the player in the first 3 minutes, instead of gradually laying it out and making it more immersive. The way a lot of the stealth and exploration mechanics are copied from Assassin's Creed is also a disappointment.

    The Middle-earth universe is just begging for so much more, both in terms of the expansiveness and richness of the world, and the fascinating stories set in it. Shadow of Mordor is solid in most ways, and would do just fine as one of a myriad games set in the universe. But as the main one released in the last decade, it's just underwhelming.    … Expand
  93. Kotofon
    Jun 6, 2020
    6
    Главный герой - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — будет сражаться с Сауроном и мстить за семью. Однажды Саурон похитил Талиона, чтобы принести его в жертву и призвать Келебримбора — духа главного эльфа в мире Властелина Колец. Однако этот дух помогает Талиону воскреснуть, наделяет его новыми способностями и отправляет в бой. Враги протагониста — это Саурон и его темные лорды: Молот, ЧернаяГлавный герой - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — будет сражаться с Сауроном и мстить за семью. Однажды Саурон похитил Талиона, чтобы принести его в жертву и призвать Келебримбора — духа главного эльфа в мире Властелина Колец. Однако этот дух помогает Талиону воскреснуть, наделяет его новыми способностями и отправляет в бой. Враги протагониста — это Саурон и его темные лорды: Молот, Черная рука и Башня. В полностью открытом мире слешера от третьего лица, герой будет выполнять не только сюжетные миссии, но и побочные квесты внутри игровой вселенной.… Expand
  94. DJKrimson
    Sep 15, 2021
    7
    I enjoyed it but I wouldn't say it's one of the better games I've played. It's like a better assassins creed. Pretty good story. Good graphics.
  95. Tilt1k
    Jul 26, 2019
    6
    Great graphics and world design from Lotr, also expanding the lore and giving new looak at the orcs which is funny in the beginning. Nemesis system is great idea, although after few hours it has nothing new to offer. It is just a simple, fun action game for a few hours. Nothing extra nor bad. Bought for 5 Euro on sales.
  96. Elkay_Gaming
    Mar 19, 2019
    7
    This game is great.

    Not the deepest, not the hardest and not the longest. But still enjoyable.

    You can get this for under $10 in a sale and it will sate your hunger for Orc blood.
  97. JaydenPickens
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    This game is an ambivalent experience. On one hand you're getting a cool gameplay and nemesis system which is actually underused. You have two locations in the game. You'll learn dominating orcs in the second one (after spending around 10-15 hours in the first one). That means the first half of the game is going to be annoying eliminating of orcs (sure, at first it's fun, but the gameplayThis game is an ambivalent experience. On one hand you're getting a cool gameplay and nemesis system which is actually underused. You have two locations in the game. You'll learn dominating orcs in the second one (after spending around 10-15 hours in the first one). That means the first half of the game is going to be annoying eliminating of orcs (sure, at first it's fun, but the gameplay never changes, so after 10 hours you're gonna get annoyed), instead of bulding your own cool orc squad. The story is great, but sadly it cannot be tied with Tolkien vision. The game cannot be considered canon (Shadow of War even more). The graphics and audio are fine. I didn't encounter any bugs while playing. All in all, Shadow of Mordor is a good start for the Middle-earth series, but it's not something special. It's just a good game. Nothing more nothing less. But it could have been something so much more. Pickens approves.… Expand
  98. rezo_21
    Sep 18, 2021
    7
    ====================IIIIIIIIII GAME SCORE : 72 IIIIIIIIII====================
  99. CortoPunzante
    Jan 1, 2022
    6
    The game shines for its gameplay and mechanics. It is interesting and motivates to choose tactics when it comes to fighting or following objectives, because if we go crazy and face everything that comes our way, we will most likely end up dead. The enemies are varied, present clear challenges and in combination create scenarios in which the player must be able to discern when to attack,The game shines for its gameplay and mechanics. It is interesting and motivates to choose tactics when it comes to fighting or following objectives, because if we go crazy and face everything that comes our way, we will most likely end up dead. The enemies are varied, present clear challenges and in combination create scenarios in which the player must be able to discern when to attack, when to sneak or when to choose a retreat.

    So much for the game's brilliance. Unfortunately the script is rather bland, the character has no charisma and connects poorly with the source material. This failure of the story permeates the gameplay, with its excessive side missions, end up tiring or crumbling a bit the concept that gives us the gameplay. I only recommend playing it if you catch it on sale or someone lends it to you.

    Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)    … Expand
  100. GabriMH19
    May 9, 2021
    7
    - MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR -

    Ambientación --> 8 Escenarios --> 7 Narrativa --> 6 Personajes --> 6 Dificultad --> 7 Jugabilidad --> 7 Mecánicas --> 7 Gráficos --> 7 Innovación --> 6 Contenido --> 7 Errores o bugs --> 7 Plano artístico --> 6 - TIPS -    - MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR -

    Ambientación --> 8 Escenarios --> 7
    Narrativa --> 6 Personajes --> 6
    Dificultad --> 7 Jugabilidad --> 7
    Mecánicas --> 7 Gráficos --> 7
    Innovación --> 6 Contenido --> 7
    Errores o bugs --> 7 Plano artístico --> 6

    - TIPS -
    El líneas generales es un buen juego aunque lo peor sin duda es el final que básicamente se resume en que la lucha final con el villano del juego es un único Quick time event que deja bastante que desear debido a la poca imaginación.    … Expand
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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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