Who thought the game was average? The gameplay got boring quite quick, the world was quite small and empty, and didn't have amazing looking areas like LOTR movies & the story was average and it didn't look incredible either. I didn't hate it and had some fun but that's my opinion... It was like AC & batman games but more boring..
shareIt was far better than average. The Escapist's Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw (who heaps nothing but scorn upon most games) as well as many others named it game of the year. Most of them also did say it wasn't a particularly good year... but even best of a bad year is better than average.
Was it too short... yes. It needed at least 2 more maps, it really felt like half a game. But you can't fault the "landscape" for not being like the LOTR movies. It was set ENTIRELY in Mordor. Frankly, everything should have looked like the first map just with different rocks.
Back to the combat. If the game was a decent length... it may have become a little boring. However there were so many ways to approach fights that if I was a little bored with one, I could use another. But it didn't contain SO MANY upgrades and abilities that you just stick to a few and let the rest sit when you weren't forced to use it. And since running is always an option... if the fights are getting to be boring, you can always just run to the next one you NEED to do and skip getting into any of the "along the way" stuff.
The story wasn't average... it was below average. It wasn't interesting, wasn't well told, didn't have any really interesting characters, and nothing of any consequence happened. But it's a franchise TIE-IN game. Nothing of consequence IS ALLOWED TO happen in a tie-in game.
Now I'm a guy who LOVES games with great stories. My 2014 game of the year would have been Telltale's The Walking Dead season 2 if A: anyone cared and B: if the whole thing counted as 2014 I didn't buy it until it finished all 5 episodes . However, I really see the potential in Shadow of Mordor. Forget the story. It was just a kind of tutorial for the real meat of the game... the Nemesis system. It is a step in the direction of a game that creates a story around a player rather than leading a player along a story. And I'm interested in that. In some of my favorite games... "My canon" is far more interesting than what's happening in the "official canon." In game series like Fallout and Elder Scrolls I'm just using the game as a framework for creating my OWN story out of a game. And the Nemesis system could make a GREAT game for doing that.
But Monolith needed it to do well to see how people reacted to it. So they went through WB and the LotR license to get the built in audience. I can hardly blame them. And I hope that it's success makes them take a chance on creating a new IP with Nemesis.
So, it had it's flaws. And I don't think it's the best, even of the year. But I DO think it's an IMPORTANT game, and far better than average
"Who built this f#(%!^g police station." -- Leon Kennedy
Gameplay was great, but that story? I've never been so dissapointed in a game in years. It was obvious sequel-bait that made the entire game feel pointless. Why did I throw in 30+ hours to go and complete the extra quests, upgrade my abilities and weapons for a quick time fight? The Black Hand was supposed to be this big powerful enemy but you don't even get to fight him?
Now it seems that Monolith is just going to throw Talion into sequels and make him this real important character in the LOTR universe.
I will not fear, fear is the mind killer
Yeah the story could have been better.
Lose the Game!!!!!!!
I thought the combat system was wonderful. Having come off of Batman: Arkham Asylum, it was very similar to that one. I spent a lot of time fighting the Uruks (wandering around, earning XP, completing the side missions, hunting, doing all the collectibles, disrupting the feasts, etc.) so that once I finally got to the story missions, they were easier. the move combinations that you could do were amazing - the shadow strike and shadow of Acharn were my faves to use. That wasn't nearly enough, though. The story was definitely lacking.
I would have liked some more beasts (for sport and for riding). The caragors were really cool to interact with and I wanted more graugs. The ghuls were fun to fight in the dark. But I really wanted trolls, wargs, and spiders (maybe even a journey into Shelob's lair). Finding a Rohirrim outpost where I could trade for a horse to ride would have been nice too!
The missions with Torvin were fun. I could have used more Dwarf things. Also, were there no other Gondorions or Elves in Mordor? I didn't imagine we'd see any Hobbits, which was OK. There could have been more Gollum and a deeper understanding of Sauron through the vignettes.
The need is there for a sequel. It was a game I really liked that ended feeling a little incomplete. Like someone said above, it felt like half of a game. I agree. When there is a teaser trailer for "Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor II," I will be very excited!
--
"I have no memory of this place..." Gandalf about Moria
He shouldn't have become a Nazgul. That made everything pointless.
[deleted]