![]() Monolith’s world is mostly comprised of ruins, camps, and orc-made strongholds & structures that give way to small battle scenes - some of which expand to one another if the conflict escalates. Shadow of Mordor seems conservative in its presentation of Middle Earth. On a broader level, being able to observe and participate in the orc lifestyle fleshes out the meatbag persona presented in the films. The voice-acting on these characters reaches a new level for enemy appearances, so the player feels the hate in each Captain and Warchief he faces. Each Uruk has its unique look, scars, weapons, gear, and voice. Monolith has infused more personality to the bastard-elf opposition than what even Jackson’s films featured. Shadow of Mordor offers its other perspective to its lore with the Uruk hierarchy. The blend of new characters and art styles - both in-engine and cinematic - resembles Dragon Age almost as much as the Tolkien arcs. ![]() It’s a formula that, although not the most exciting to follow, moves the story along well. He awakens from death into an Alice in Wonderland world with characters like Celebrimbor, Queen Marwen, and Gollum chiming in with their sides of the story. Talion, a Gondorian Ranger, is out to avenge his family and countrymen and, despite being more reserved than Aragorn, makes for a somewhat compelling protagonist. Story and PresentationĬreating a story from two iconic arcs is a huge undertaking, but Monolith has bridged The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings together with some new faces, albeit dozens of ugly Uruk ones. I’ve gone over more of the game’s core mechanics and objectives in our hands-on preview. Shadow of Mordor is developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. They can kill off every Captain and Warchief manually - the tried-and-true way - or players can turn the Uruks on each other through betrayals. Players hack and slash their way through Mordor to control the Uruk hierarchies. Talion, an undead Gondorian Ranger, teams up with a wraith elf, Celebrimbor, to weaken and control the dark lord Sauron’s forces. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is an open-world third-person action game set between the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings story arcs. If you have any questions, please post a comment below or tweet your question to About Shadow of Mordor Shadow of Mordor has deep gameplay architecture, so there’s only so much I can cover in this review. That said, Shadow of Mordor forges its own identity that’s separate from LotR and The Hobbit, making for an authentic, rewarding experience. The visual presentation is not as inspirational as the Peter Jackson films and there are a few shortcomings in the gameplay & mechanics. Where it pushes the genre and adds depth, creativity, and satisfaction is in its dynamic “Nemesis AI” ranking system. While Shadow of Mordor sticks to the core mechanics of action combat, it presents enough open-world variety to keep action as fresh as any other game in its genre. This is a clear advancement in the handful of Tolkien-inspired action games. The hierarchy is ever-changing and offers the player opportunities to influence it, and so the player’s perception of the battlefield is never the same. Shadow of Mordor creates a new world of personality and dynamic interactions among its hierarchy of Uruks (or orcs), ranging from the footsoldiers carrying intel to the higher-ranking Captains and Warchiefs. That’s because it offers two perspectives to the story instead of just focusing on the human-elf alliance.
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