Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Xbox 360

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is the LOTR game everyone has been waiting for. As you've probably heard by now, the gameplay is a wonderful blend of the Batman Arkham combat and Assassin's Creed parkour, all set in Middle Earth. If you like either one of those games, you should pick up a copy of Shadow of Mordor immediately. Combat: 10/10 If you've played any of the Batman Arkham games, imagine the combat being almost identical, except instead of using fists you have a sword and bow. For those of you who haven't played a game in that series, the combat is fast-paced and free-flowing. It is incredibly fun to jump right into a middle of a group of orcs and watch as Tailon hacks and slashes his way beautifully through the entire pack. You might struggle at first to avoid being hit while still dishing out damage to increase your hit counter (which allows for special finisher moves), but once you pick up on it you might give up on the stealth option all together to feel the accomplishment of single-handedly wiping out a couple dozen orcs with no problem. Movement: 9/10 Again, if you've played an Assassin's Creed game, imagine the movement being similar to that. If you haven't, imagine being able to sprint across an open field, dive over a rock and a fence, and then shimmy up a tower in a matter of seconds. The movement is more fluid than the AC series, in my opinion. Most objects are climbable so you don't have to run around for awhile trying to decide at what point you need to climb from. I took one star off of the movement score because there were a few times when Tailon would get a mind of his own when climbing. Overall though, it's quick, fluid, and generally glitch-free. Plot: 6.5/10 This one was the hardest for me to score. The plot isn't bad but it probably won't wow you either. I've seen better, I've seen worse. I won't share any plot points so as not to reveal any spoilers but the ending is "meh" and open to interpretation. They might lock this down with DLC but I can't verify that. I've read so many theories online that I'm not sure what I believe. Most importantly, you don't have to be a LOTR lore fanatic to follow along. I'm sure you might pick up a few extra plot points but it's not a game breaker. Boss Fights: 3/10 You're probably thinking, "How does boss fights count as a category by itself?" Well, personally I love and look forward to boss fights. I can't really categorize it with anything else because it's a mixture of the plot and combat. There are 3 main bosses in this game. Usually the closer you get to the end, the harder the bosses. ME:SoM went in a completely different direction on this one and I found it disappointing. The bosses get progressively easier. You only actually fight the first boss. I beat the second boss in about 2 minutes on my first try. You just sneak up behind his "doubles" and stealth kill 3 or 4 of them and it's over. The third and final boss, which you spend all game trying to locate, is just a QTE prompt. You press the button when it tells you to and that's it. Nemesis System: 8/10 I'm going to dedicate a little more writing to this because it's the new idea on the block. The Nemesis System is a new feature that debuted with ME:SoM. My overall opinion of it is that's it is an awesome idea and a fresh design. I do have one complaint but I'll outline that later. What the Nemesis System entails is that there are orc Captains and Warchiefs -- basically leaders of the pack. Each captain/warchief has special strengths and weaknesses that you can use to your advantage or ignore them to a fault. The orcs have a hierarchy of these captains and warchiefs. If you kill one captain, a captain of a lesser tier moves up to take his place. A big part of the game is using this to your advantage (which I will get to). The actual "nemesis" part of the Nemesis System is the way in which the orcs react to you. If a captain kills you, he will become your nemesis and he will remember you, which will shape the way he approaches you. For example: If a captain kills you and you go back to take care of him later, he will say something along the lines of "I killed you once! You should have stayed dead." It brings a fresh and reactive approach to the game. But that's not the only way to change the way the game reacts to you. It also takes into account the manner in which a deed is done. For example: If you burn a captain and he gets away, the next time you see him, he will make comments about being burned (or cut, or...). This might sound like "fluff" for the game but it really is a wonderful feature and makes the experience all the better without getting repetitive. I'm always interested in what new way they are going to threaten me. Side note: If this game has taught me anything, it's that orcs are a VERY confident species. Now, to how you can control the nemesis system to your advantage. In the second half of the game you will learn the "brand" ability, which allows you to mind-control orcs. You can brand your target outright OR you can brand the orc in the next line of succession, kill your target, and watch as your branded orc takes his position. It's very rewarding to take control of a low level captain and knock out his line of succession to watch him move up through the ranks. You can also use your branded orc captains to carry out assassinations of other captains, use them to gain intel (which gives you information on strengths and weaknesses of captains/warchiefs), or you can assign them to become a bodyguard of a warchief. Related note: *Warchiefs are at the top of the orc hierarchy. You have to do special missions to get them to show up and, when they do, they are accompanied by captain bodyguards.* When you brand a captain, you can tell him to fight to become a bodyguard of the warchief (which you will have to do a struggle mission to make happen). That'll allow you to take out warchiefs much easier because you can just turn their bodyguards against them to help fight the good fight. As for the part I alluded to earlier with the one problem I had with the system. To get an actual orc nemesis, they have to kill you (which will make them grow in power as well!). I'm not saying this to sound arrogant, but I only died a couple times throughout the entire game so I didn't have a nemesis for most of it. It's not a big deal but since they put so much effort into this system, it would have been nice to experience more regularly. Difficulty: ?/10 I can't score this one because it's mostly based on preference. The early game is tough, but not overly tough as you adapt to how the game works and Tailon's abilities. If you walk into an orc stronghold right from the start, you're going to have a bad time. You better have a damn good escape strategy. As you start to increase in power and gain new abilities, you become Tailon, Bringer of Destruction and Death to All Who Oppose. I didn't feel like the second half of the game was all that challenging, which I found disappointing but as I said, it's all a matter of preference. For me, I kind of abandoned all strategy and didn't plan my attacks. I just jumped right in the middle of the group and started hacking. Random thoughts: The greatest thing in this entire game and one of the coolest things of any game I've ever played, is the warchief entrance. You'll probably read what I write and think that it doesn't sound all that great but it's something you need to experience to see how great it is. When you beat the little mission to get to warchief to show up, the warchief will make a grand entrance where the orcs chant his name. Again, I know that doesn't sound all that cool but it's something you experience in-game. They put the warchief in slow-mo and he walks in like a bad ass while they are chanting his name. RUK-DUG! RUK-DUG! RUK-DUG! It reminds me of a show or movie where a gladiator enters the arena and the crowd is chanting his name, practically demoralizing and demeaning the opponent. Overall: 9/10 I alluded to the plot being average, the boss fights being unmemorable, and the late game difficulty being too easy, so how can I give it a 9/10? The gameplay is just that much fun. Never once did I say to myself throughout the entire game, "That is broken and needs to be fixed." It somehow manages to keep the action fresh without becoming repetitive. It's a bloody, fast-paced hack-n-slash masterpiece and this game alone will get me to commit to future games in the series.

Shadow of Mordor is tough. It's part Assassin's Creed and... well, it's mostly Assassin's Creed in Mordor. Lots of parkour, building climbing, stealth kills (like an Assassin) but, while the mechanics are distinctly Ezio's, the game is much more than a reskinning. Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. The graphics are fantastic, stunning even. The ability trees and weapon enhancements (runes) feel, initially, to be superficial and tacked on, but come into their own just a few hours into the game when you realize you really need them and you don't know which will do you best. Sadly, you can't change weapons beyond the three you start with (Sword, Dagger and Bow). You can't go find Sting and put it in your inventory. In fact, there isn't an inventory. Health is replenished by finding plants and herbs on the ground and you have nothing to carry around. This is where choosing a rune that makes your sword replenish 24% health when doing a Flurry Kill is so important. But do you want that rune or 20% more damage when attacking from behind? The open world is quite large, and there's a ton of stuff to find in it that don't apply to the main story. Dagger, bow, sword, herblore, hunting and other challenges fill that world with even more artifacts, runes and memories to find out there for the completionist or to let you blow off some steam from the battles. The story is adequate for keeping the game moving forward, but it does feel a bit shallow. Nothing to complain about, it's the challenge that keeps me going. The challenge is the battles. This game is probably the first I've seen where the open world is also dynamic and shaped by the characters and bosses in it. I won't go as far as to say that each boss/Captain/Warchief is unique, but the system of Uruk tribal warfare is deep and very interactive. As you start finding these bosses and battling them, you can see the hierarchy change. Each Captain can be a bodyguard for a Warchief, so killing one will change the party of the Warchief when you go to kill him as a different Captain will taken the place of the slain one. Each boss has different strengths and weaknesses that change how you fight them. Stealth kills may be an option for one of the bodyguards, but not the Captains he has, so you might have to change your strategy. And you probably will, because these bosses are not easy kills. In fact, they're very very tough. Perhaps you have their weaknesses lined up and you're ready to go. As soon as you start the fight, he shouts for reinforcements and then one of those goes and lights a signal torch and suddenly there are 30 Orcs surrounding you, each you have to dodge, stun, kill, throw, interrogate, drain... whatever. It gets to be a very impressive fight. Orcs will shoot others if you line it up right, sometimes helping you. Other archers (Hunters) will shoot poison arrows so you don't get a visual indicator of when you might need to dodge or parry. Getting a hit streak offers you opportunities to use special moves and abilities. Knocking down one Orc doesn't mean you can quickly slice their head off, either, because the time to execute them leaves you open to attack and if you parry that attack, your execution is interrupted and the Orc survives. The bosses get weaker as you hit them in the right way, but then start to flee if you get them too weak without killing them. As their army surrounds you and you try to give chase you'll get bogged down in the horde and it'll be quite difficult to stop them. Grabbing them to kill them isn't easy either, as that takes a while and leaves you open, again, for attack. I have to interrupt that and mention the mechanics of fighting. It's frustrating. Not only is it quite difficult, but being unable to slice the head off (or otherwise stab) a downed enemy in one push of Square is enraging. It makes the fight more difficult, but it doesn't make sense. Likewise, so do some of the attack animations not make sense. Unfortunately, some animations and attacks take longer than others to finish. While this adds great variation to what could be a dull fight, you also don't really get to choose how most of your attacks will land. Some will be quick swipes and you can get back to another attacking enemy to counter, some attacks will be long blows and you'll be unable to counter the attacking enemy, which will then knock you backwards and another archer will get you while you're recovering and so on and so on until you are dead. Dying and respawning. It's fun and enraging (in a good way). It's explained away in the opening sequences as to why you are allowed to respawn in the game, which is quite nice and adds to the realism (as much as there can be) of the game. Dying by any hand (not beasts) can change the hierarchy of the bosses in the game. The Orc that kills you earns respect and power based on your death and can propel through the ranks riding your scabbard's tails. Likewise, you killing an Orc in that hierarchy will leave a void where new Orcs can rise or current ones be promoted even higher. Those Orcs will also take on roles as bodyguards for Warchiefs. Each one has different strengths, fears and weaknesses available to exploit, discovered through an Intel system. As battles between you and Orcs can change the hierarchy and the battlefield, so do battles between different Captains. It's incredible to see the battlefield changing constantly and it having a meaningful impact on how you plan your next encounter. Add to that, you can sometimes attend events, attacks, ambushes and executions between Uruk leaders that you can influence and change the battlefield as well. Simply put, it is brilliant. It's a truly unique game and it will have replayability for a long time. UPDATE: Well, just as I wrote this review, I thought I had neared the end of the game. It turns out that there was a second zone, a dwarf and some more story to go! I will have to go back on my previous statements about the story, it's actually quite interesting once it gets going. And it doesn't really get going until you get near the end of the game. Unfortunately I sort of blasted through the end of the story, and it was a lot easier than the battles before it. I can see now that if you don't get lost in the Orc games at the beginning of the game, you might be able to plow through the main story in 6 hours, putting it squarely in line with Advanced Warfare's duration. A bit disappointing, but I don't think most people are likely to want to play through it like that.

Un gran juego donde matas orcos al por mayor. Las mecánicas son como los primeros Assassins Creed. Matar desde cornisa, muerte aérea, sigilo y su vista especial para detectar enemigos. En vez de montar caballos montas caragogs (bestias que atacan a enemigos). Tienes arco, espada y daga. La historia también está muy interesante. No se necesita ser super fan del Señor de los anillos para disfrutar el juego (o entenderlo). (Yo sólo he visto la tercera película y no la recuerdo). Aunque los compré de importación, vino con doblaje latino.

Great game,says my boyfriend :-) and I'm happy it arrived earlier than expected. Thank you

アサシンクリードが好きで、ファンタジーが好きなら買って損はないです。 操作も簡単。ホビットと指輪物語の間の話？らしいですが。なかなか楽しめます。日本版には修正は入らないらしいので、あえてこれを買う方は私みたいに洋ゲー好きな方だと思います。日本版でも海外版でも買って損はないかと思います。

Es un juego muy completo y entretenido, lo único malo es que no me llegó en su estuche original y sin manuales, no podría decir que es un producto completamente nuevo pero por lo menos los discos no vienen rayados fuera de eso es un excelente título.

Bel gioco divertente, si discosta molto dalla serie del signore degli anelli , è con mappe aperte e non percorsi obbligati e si trovano molte somiglianze con assasin Creed, buona crescita del personaggio e tiene impegnati abbastanza a lungo, nella confezione sono anche presenti contenuti scaricabili per ottenere più mappe, non do 5 stelle perché è abbastanza pesante e lento nei caricamenti