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. 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.
  2. 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
  3. pazmacats
    Oct 5, 2014
    2
    Why make an open world game if the world is deleted every 5 minutes and starting a mission resets the entire world? It doesn't matter if you killed 0, 100, or 1 million orcs. When you start a mission the "start mission situation" is loaded. As soon as the mission ends, the "standard world" is loaded.
    So, the "open world" serves no purpose, it's a glorified tutorial/XP grind stage.
    What    Why make an open world game if the world is deleted every 5 minutes and starting a mission resets the entire world? It doesn't matter if you killed 0, 100, or 1 million orcs. When you start a mission the "start mission situation" is loaded. As soon as the mission ends, the "standard world" is loaded.
    So, the "open world" serves no purpose, it's a glorified tutorial/XP grind stage.

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

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

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

    ---

    Oh, and WHO thought it would be fun to play as a UNDEAD NOBODY slaughtering 1000s of orc clones again and again and again?    … Expand
  4. 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
  5. Tosecitas
    Oct 5, 2014
    9
    A fantastic sandbox. I love It so much, Its replayable, exciting, beautiful, addictive all I could expext for a new IP. Just give It a try and watch the videos in youtube, tough you have to be there to feel the anger when a orc leader kills you and goes up in the ranks, even regular orc footmen can kill you and pave their way up its just so compelling. About the gameplay you have AC-likeA fantastic sandbox. I love It so much, Its replayable, exciting, beautiful, addictive all I could expext for a new IP. Just give It a try and watch the videos in youtube, tough you have to be there to feel the anger when a orc leader kills you and goes up in the ranks, even regular orc footmen can kill you and pave their way up its just so compelling. About the gameplay you have AC-like parkour and stealth mechanics, excellent batman arkham combatstyle. The collectibles are great, having to look into fantastic modeled objects to unravel their tales. The only bad thing is that some side quests are a little repetitive but in any case, Its a lot of fun.… Expand
  6. Soujirop
    Oct 5, 2014
    9
    First, I was very eager to play a game of LOTR after the last movie of the Hobbit. And I was very hyped to put my hands in Shadow of Mordor since I saw the first trailers almost a year ago. It met my expectations, and I literaly had to force myself to stop playing through the day, since the fun made too often me lose time perception. The game also had it's flaws: no epic LOTR hugeFirst, I was very eager to play a game of LOTR after the last movie of the Hobbit. And I was very hyped to put my hands in Shadow of Mordor since I saw the first trailers almost a year ago. It met my expectations, and I literaly had to force myself to stop playing through the day, since the fun made too often me lose time perception. The game also had it's flaws: no epic LOTR huge war-battles, little character customization, little diversity of environments, and orcs, uruks and more orcs to battle (I wanted to slash some humans too!). But now to more serious issues:

    The graphics of the game are absolutely amazing, in every single sense. High quality shaders, textures, perfect movement animations that make your combats worthy of an action movie, and great facial expressions that increases the immersion and the feeling that the characters are alive. Because, honestly, these orcs are VERY alive. Be sure to download the 10Gb Ultra Graphics free patch and equip yourself with a good graphic card to experience the whole thing.

    The music is overall good and LOTR style. A few themes are particularly pleasant to listen to, while others go unnoticed, but all do just fine accompanying their respective scenes. The voice acting is just perfect.

    The gameplay is a 10/10. Never felt so good fighting on a PC videogame. The keyboard+mouse is extremely easy to use and ultra responsive. Talion does exactly what you want in the very moment you press the key, without delays. He can jump and climb through almost everything, and the two big countries you visit, while not as big as other open-world games like Skyrim, do fine in giving you this sense of a huge world that will be difficult to fully explore. Moreover, there's tons of things going on in the world: uruks hunting in the forest, orcs drinking and partying on their inmense fortresses, slaves revolting on a campament, and a large list of etc. The best of the gameplay is the nemesis system, this is, to summarize, a system that gives the characters the best artificial intelligence you have ever experienced in a videogame. The uruks have an impressive sense of awareness, they know exactly where they are, what's around them, who's around them, and they will often point all this through their dialogue. They also have very good memory, speaking about things that happened in their past encounters with Talion, or simply things another Uruk did to them in the past and how they want revenge. But it is not only about dialogue, they will act in consequence: how good I felt when I saw an uruk running away from me in the distance while saying "I'm out of here! I don't want him to throw me into the fire as he did with the captain!!", yea, that random captain I burned alive just yesterday... Another one, that was pretty tough, was apparently tired of me escaping from him many times, and the first thing he said when we met again was: cut his legs! He will never run from me again", after that, he pointed out that he would throw me off the bridge in top of we were fighting. It really impressed me how perfectly they recognice even little details on their environment. There's honestly no way to express how good this nemesis thing is, but you will notice early in the game, period.

    The story is pretty cool and in my opinion the developers where quite careful not to break with the official lore, while at the same time create an original story. I agree with some reviews that say it has not a huge amount of drama, but LOTR was never very dramatic imho. At least the game tells a chapter of the story that you have not seen in the movies, and it was interesting enough to keep me exploring the world seeking the bonus artifacts and memories that completed the lore. Unfortunately, the ending was a bit rushed, but at least it gave room for a sequel.

    In summary, the game is not perfect, but probably one of the best games of 2014.    … Expand
  7. eelegendo
    Oct 5, 2014
    1
    Constant crashes. It freezes every 10 minutes, if during a bossfight (my character gets hung in the air) I lose that one, so the boss gets promoted... BTW: if I get killed by a caragor, why an Uruk gets promoted? It happened.

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

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

    The main story is really short and the bloatware (bloatgame?), the timed and collect missions are for kids, who have lot of time for doing nothing. Sorry. I've been playing a few ten minutes when I suddenly realized that I'm into the 5th mission of the 20 possible! That is 1/4th of the whole main storyline. Otherwise it is pick this up, collect that, killed 10 in 3 mins... Ridiculous.    … Expand
  8. Llaerrick
    Oct 4, 2014
    8
    As it stands, Shadow of Mordor is a very polished and well put together game. The graphics and artwork is good even on mid-settings. Unfortunately, due to an aging rig, I was not able to play on high/ultra, but despite the age of my rig (which might have been top of the line about 5 years ago), I did not encounter any real performance problems yet. Also only had the one crash/hang so farAs it stands, Shadow of Mordor is a very polished and well put together game. The graphics and artwork is good even on mid-settings. Unfortunately, due to an aging rig, I was not able to play on high/ultra, but despite the age of my rig (which might have been top of the line about 5 years ago), I did not encounter any real performance problems yet. Also only had the one crash/hang so far in game which I suspect was likely more due to windows update than anything else.

    Game-play wise, the combat (of which there is a lot of) plays a lot like Assassin's Creed. Combat is fast and furious and can be pretty fun. The overwhelming number of enemies sometimes make it feel a little like Dynasty Warrior. There is a decent blend of close-combat, stealth and bow/range, although generally, the combat will always be more close-up. The attribute system is really basic and more about supplementing play-styles rather than a build (i.e. more health, more 'arrows', more rune slots). There is no 'loot' in this game. Instead of loot, high level enemies drop 'runes' of degrees and powers which you use to supplement your weapons (sword/bow/dagger). Considering it is a ported game as well, the control scheme is actually pretty decent and intuitive (you can rebind your keys if you want but I didn't really have to). While some have expressed a strong preference for using a controller (which I also have), I didn't really find the need for it and am satisfied with keyboard/mouse.

    The Nemesis system is intriguing and nicely implemented. It gives a certain amount of novelty in game play beyond what is normally scripted. I am hoping there will be improvements and tweaks to this concept which definitely adds to the enjoyment and play time. There is nothing more 'fun' than taking on a mission to take out a Warchief in a warcamp surronded by his bodyguards when two of your 'nemesis' turn up un-invited with their own entourage.

    On the bad side, the whole thing can become a little dreary after a while. The combat is fun but fighting can fall into a basic pattern after a while. While the map is quite large, after a while Mordor looks the same. Content-wise, I was hoping for a little more.

    All-in-all, a good solid game that should keep most happy for quite few hours. Hopefully more content will be forthcoming. A very promising start and one that may hopefully spawn perhaps a new franchise/concept with the Nemesis system/concept.    … Expand
  9. toddone
    Oct 4, 2014
    10
    Superb PC port. Great game design, graphics and audio. I recommend using a controller. The NEMESIS system is very innovative. I can see future games copying this design.

    Monolith start writing the acceptance speech for "GAME OF THE YEAR"!!!
  10. Vornim
    Oct 4, 2014
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So overall, I'll give this game a 9.9/10. One of the best games I've EVER played!

    I'll start with what made this game not a full 10/10 for me. First, disappointments:

    - I was very frustrated with the fact that every time I died, I had to wait about 5-6 minutes waiting and watching all of my enemies become promoted and get even stronger. I kept thinking to myself "Well if I died to this guy before because he was too hard, now it will be impossible to kill him! He got an upgrade!" It was amazing and something I've never seen in any other video game. Very dynamic and calls for some high tactical decisions, which is cool and fun! Although highly frustrating at the same time.

    - It took a while to get used to the controls, and set up controls/settings in the beginning. I have an above average gaming computer, and I hated the look of Medium graphics and High was too much. Had to toy with it myself for a good hour before playing, and disabling VSync improved my performance (with the downside of having some screen tearing). Also spent another half an hour figuring out how to set the key bindings, because I do like to play with controls that I'm used to and familiar to.

    - The final boss fight was meh. I was expecting something bigger! Some incredibly dificult fight that I would die hundreds of times before finally killing him and screaming "YES!!!", making the neighbors think that I have tourettes. It was some disappointing "Press this button. Okay now press this button. Finally press this button. Congrats, you've won!" I mean, really? Come on, at least give me a challenge! I've fought Captains more difficult than the Black Hand of Sauron! Heck, a regular Uruk is more difficult!

    Even though these things made my game experience a little lacking to it's full potential, there are many many things that I really enjoyed about this game!

    + This game is a mix between LOTR/Hobbit story universe, Assassin's Creed roaming and adventure style, and any recent Batman game's combat.

    + There are abilities which change how the game is played completely! The "shadow strike to mount a Caragor/Graug" ability is badass. Super quick too.

    + I love how the Uruks ranks work, and I loved seeing and helping Ratbag (who was completely unworthy to ever be an Uruk to begin with) become Warchief. Branding all of the Captains and Warchiefs is something I haven't done yet, but I think I can do it now.

    + The story itself. I loved how even though I am not Talion, the game sucks me into the story and really feel the hurt that Talion feels when anyone mentions his emotions putting weight into his step, and making his combat sloppy, or when any Black Captain mentions his wife and son. The feels are real.

    + I've been waiting for this game for about a month now, freaking out over any new content made. Usually when I do this to a game, it gets disappointing to play because I know it all. Not this game, it really pulled it together and made me love the game even more!    … Expand
  11. Vixen
    Oct 4, 2014
    10
    15hours, still enjoying it. Great nemesis system, never seen before. Added to the great Arkham combat system it makes a sweet mix that any fan of batman series and lotr could possibly like.
  12. DwarfChieftain
    Oct 4, 2014
    8
    A captivating and dynamic game with nearly-unlimited strategies and ways to complete your missions. The graphics are one of the best I've seen in PC gaming after Crysis 3/2. Although it is a fun experience, hunting warchiefs and captains can get either boring out of repetitiveness or impossible out of failed fights.

    The Nemesis system is unique and realistic.
  13. SoupDragon63
    Oct 4, 2014
    10
    A great game and my favourite on the xbox one! True, there are some similarities with Assassins Creed, but SoM offers far more in the way of depth and variety. Still working my way through the story, but brilliant so far.
  14. CartoonHead
    Oct 4, 2014
    9
    This wins my illustrious action title of the year. Just remember it is an action game and not some deep life changing experience . It does what it does well and better than anything else this year.
  15. Ireland914
    Oct 4, 2014
    9
    Outstanding game. Borrows heavily from games like Assassin's Creed and The Arkham series but that is not a bad thing. Fighting is very fluid and dynamic, enemy captains are unique and become quite challenging. The story and voice acting are phenomenal. There is also a lot of content and exploring to do. This is easily a contender for game of the year.

    The only negatives I can think    Outstanding game. Borrows heavily from games like Assassin's Creed and The Arkham series but that is not a bad thing. Fighting is very fluid and dynamic, enemy captains are unique and become quite challenging. The story and voice acting are phenomenal. There is also a lot of content and exploring to do. This is easily a contender for game of the year.

    The only negatives I can think of are some very minor issues with camera angles and a slight lack of variety in some of the map areas.    … Expand
  16. SenshudoTV
    Oct 4, 2014
    8
    To summarize, I would describe Shadow of Mordor as a flawed gem. There are some questionable design choices, such as the decision not to include a compass for navigation in a game entirely about getting from place to place, or the heavy reliance on quick time events. But this type of thing hasn’t been done before and in any experiment there is bound to be a few failures. Shadow of MordorTo summarize, I would describe Shadow of Mordor as a flawed gem. There are some questionable design choices, such as the decision not to include a compass for navigation in a game entirely about getting from place to place, or the heavy reliance on quick time events. But this type of thing hasn’t been done before and in any experiment there is bound to be a few failures. Shadow of Mordor is a genuinely original, thoroughly enjoyable action-adventure game and I would highly recommend you give it a try.… Expand
  17. 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
  18. NightAssassin89
    Oct 4, 2014
    10
    Truly an awesome masterpiece, that delves enough into middle earth. The gameplay is addicting, the nemesis system should be incorporated into more games. I can't get enough of it. Anybody who doesn't like it must have some issues.
  19. Orhunkk
    Oct 4, 2014
    9
    At the first look,this game seems like Batman's combat system meets Assassin's Creed.But it's much more than that.Uruk captain-warchief system is interesting and well produced.Graphics are amazing.Animations are very smooth.The story starts a little ordinary but it will get more interesting while going to end.Verdict: 8.5/10
  20. DonJuan
    Oct 4, 2014
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a great game. Simple as that. Yes, some of the fighting is somewhat repetetive, just as AC and Batman games. But, in this game - its partly your own fault if you let it happen. Start using your bow in battles, start using ALL your skills in battle and it will be alot more challenging.

    Story is good, not great. Also like that some of the story is told at certain points in the game (after ress) where it isnt disturbing gameplay.

    Enemy system is great, even though I might get fed up with it in the future if more games start picking this up...    … Expand
  21. masterx1234
    Oct 3, 2014
    9
    OK so before we begin i am in no way a hardcore LOTRO fan at all, im just a casual player, and this is coming from someone who only watched 3 of the LOTRO movies, so lets get on with my review, OK so i decided to get this game on the notion that maybe my 7870 would run the game, and to my surprise i was able t run it on all high settings and maintain a steady 50-60 fps, So this game is inOK so before we begin i am in no way a hardcore LOTRO fan at all, im just a casual player, and this is coming from someone who only watched 3 of the LOTRO movies, so lets get on with my review, OK so i decided to get this game on the notion that maybe my 7870 would run the game, and to my surprise i was able t run it on all high settings and maintain a steady 50-60 fps, So this game is in no way a bad port, in fact it runs fare better than moth other games i try. The game is absolutely stunning on every bit of its amazing looking graphics, OK so aside from its amazing graphics how does the actual gameplay hold out? Well the game starts off showing you how to battle and use the controls and this games combat system is nearly 100% identical to assassin creeds, so if your familiar with that game then you will have no problem picking this game up and playing. The voice acting is top notch and all the characters sound exactly like they should from the films, However with all that said some missions can get extremely difficult, all i can say is be prepared to die....a lot. I find that many of the enemies over power you and you must be sure you gain the proper intel on each enemy before attacking them or else you will just keep getting slaughtered over and over. I found my self playing this game for hours on end not even paying attention to the clock, this game actually made me late for work, that just goes t show you how amazingly immersive the story and gameplay is, This is quite the treat for us PC gamers as most of the games this year have failed to impress me. Is this game worth a buy? Most definitely, you will not regret your purchase! I give this game a 9/10… Expand
  22. BOBdotEXE
    Oct 3, 2014
    8
    BatSassin's cryeed: MordoHood

    batman(combat) +assassin's creed(layout+navigation) +farcry (interaction with environment) +Lotr setting the story's a bit generic, bit it's actied and voiced VERY well. combats quite fun, but a bit limited (batman with less gadgets, and less awesome crazy jumps) the combat feels great, and it may be the best intimation of the free-flow system    BatSassin's cryeed: MordoHood

    batman(combat)
    +assassin's creed(layout+navigation)
    +farcry (interaction with environment)
    +Lotr setting

    the story's a bit generic, bit it's actied and voiced VERY well.
    combats quite fun, but a bit limited
    (batman with less gadgets, and less awesome crazy jumps)

    the combat feels great, and it may be the best intimation of the free-flow system yet!
    but the transitions are not as smooth as the ones in the batman game

    while the story is self is not super interesting, things that happen, and the people that you meet are!

    nemesis system =cool!
    but I bought it for the combat, and exploration (open world roaming)    … Expand
  23. ANTI-
    Oct 3, 2014
    8
    Pros:
    -Combat approaching Perfection
    -Visually Outstanding -Enjoyable Sound -Great Skill Unlocks, the deepest unlocks can make you feel godly in combat -Some excellent character models and armor on the enemies -Decent Story Cons: -Resource whore if you want to turn up graphics settings -a small amount of minor bugs -controls and movement not always as fluid as I'd hope -the    Pros:
    -Combat approaching Perfection
    -Visually Outstanding
    -Enjoyable Sound
    -Great Skill Unlocks, the deepest unlocks can make you feel godly in combat
    -Some excellent character models and armor on the enemies
    -Decent Story

    Cons:
    -Resource whore if you want to turn up graphics settings -a small amount of minor bugs
    -controls and movement not always as fluid as I'd hope
    -the meet and great cinematic when encountering a captain becomes seriously annoying when fighting multiple captains at once
    -lackluster ending
    -the day 1 season pass locking currently available content behind another paywall    … Expand
  24. CriticonRisueno
    Oct 3, 2014
    9
    After 20 hours I can say this game is a solid 8/9

    There are so many ways to kill orcs, so many cool skills, so many things to do, so many random events, so much blood, so many reasons to stop reading right now and go play this excellent game.
  25. SpiRo
    Oct 3, 2014
    2
    Story is bad and boring, basic revenge plot that actually contradicts book facts. Gameplay is also boring and repetitive, you are doing same thing over and over. Nemesis system is interesting at first but after few times you realize it is pointless and brings nothing. Overall i would not recommend it to anyone, specially not for the money they are asking. If you really want to play thisStory is bad and boring, basic revenge plot that actually contradicts book facts. Gameplay is also boring and repetitive, you are doing same thing over and over. Nemesis system is interesting at first but after few times you realize it is pointless and brings nothing. Overall i would not recommend it to anyone, specially not for the money they are asking. If you really want to play this game wait for big sale discount.… Expand
  26. The_U
    Oct 3, 2014
    8
    Arkham style combat, AC style parkour, somewhat Skyrim style mission structure and excellent nemesis system make this game a real joy to play. Sadly the game just doesn't hold up though, I managed to complete the game 100% in 24 hours of in-game time and only about 55-60% of that was truly enjoyable. The game at the beginning is INCREDIBLE, if the game didn't get so repetitive and theArkham style combat, AC style parkour, somewhat Skyrim style mission structure and excellent nemesis system make this game a real joy to play. Sadly the game just doesn't hold up though, I managed to complete the game 100% in 24 hours of in-game time and only about 55-60% of that was truly enjoyable. The game at the beginning is INCREDIBLE, if the game didn't get so repetitive and the story was actually decent I'd say this would have been a game of the year type game, but I got the feeling they just said "Screw the ending we'll just release DLC" because the final 25% of the story missions were just so bad and the last two bosses were extremely underwhelming.

    Hopefully the DLC will bring some epic boss fights to this game and some post-game content because it desperately needs it. I feel like it was worth the $60 even with the poor decisions in regards to the story.    … Expand
  27. 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
  28. xTobyMc
    Oct 3, 2014
    8
    This is definitely one of the best games of 2014, and I can safely say the entire experience was enjoyable. As a big Lord of the Rings fan, Shadow of Mordor really hit the nail on the head in terms of storyline, atmosphere and combat.

    Combat was extremely satisfying in this game, and the consistent executions of enemies alongside their death animations really made me want to just keep    This is definitely one of the best games of 2014, and I can safely say the entire experience was enjoyable. As a big Lord of the Rings fan, Shadow of Mordor really hit the nail on the head in terms of storyline, atmosphere and combat.

    Combat was extremely satisfying in this game, and the consistent executions of enemies alongside their death animations really made me want to just keep killing everything, it never got old. The nemesis system also works great, with enemies feeling like they have greater personality as they attempt to move up through their rankings, as well as their own unique (and sometimes funny) personalities. My one gripe with combat and gameplay in general would be the controls on PC. As an example, using the button LCtrl was a major part of the game, and it did take a while to get fully accustomed to its awkwardness. The combat also seemed a bit too easy at times, especially near the end of the game.

    The story was very well adapted to suit the 'Lord of the Rings' type feel. Admittedly when watching trailers for this game I felt it looked nothing like Lord of the Rings, but after completing the game I can definitely assure you it links very well. The in-game music also sounds like the same composer from the films, you won't be disappointed.

    PC performance is top notch too. Using a single GTX 780 I was getting 70-80fps in 1440p, using high settings. I did also try out the optional texture pack with the recommendation of 6GB of VRAM, and despite having a 3GB GPU, I still got 60fps, although with a few frame spikes. My last annoyance with the game on PC would also be the field of view. There is no option to change it, and at the time of writing this review there is no manual way of changing it. The default FoV is horrible, but I managed to get somewhat used to it after a few hours.    … Expand
  29. VittorVinicius
    Oct 3, 2014
    9
    This is a pretty good game. It's a very refreshing game, different from all the other open worlds out there. The stealth aspect could use some refinement, but the nemesis system is impressive and sophisticated!
  30. Theguyoo
    Oct 3, 2014
    10
    So much right here. Decent visuals, an excellent PC port and voice acting's superb. The story isn't bad either, more to the credit of the IP than anything else but I think that's perfectly fine. Combat is smooth and varied, but not too easy until the late game... Assassin's Creed take note!

    The greatest feature by far however has got to be the Nemesis system, or whatever it's called.    So much right here. Decent visuals, an excellent PC port and voice acting's superb. The story isn't bad either, more to the credit of the IP than anything else but I think that's perfectly fine. Combat is smooth and varied, but not too easy until the late game... Assassin's Creed take note!

    The greatest feature by far however has got to be the Nemesis system, or whatever it's called. The randomly generated Orcs are so much more interesting than I had hoped, and possessing one and leading it up the ranks behind the scenes is sooo much fun.

    For such a polished and innovative title to come out of what is basically a movie tie in is inspirational.    … 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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