Game Review: Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor

When I first heard that Shadow of Mordor would be an open-world game, I was interested to see how it would be. I expected a fairly small world, and indeed the game world is fairly small compared to some other games. But when it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter that much, the world is still decently large. This game is the first step into the brave new next gen world (current gen now), and it is not just a good first step, it is a golden line that has just been set. Any RPG coming out is going to have to battle to compete against this unique masterpiece.

What makes this game so special? Well besides the fact that the story is one of the most moving, extensive, intense and engaging narratives in a video game that has been scarcely seen in the gaming industry for a long time. The game's combat system is one of the most fluid, similar to Batman Arkham City. Each battle is intense and timing oriented; combat is fast and executing enemies is extremely enjoyable, there is nothing like seeing fear in your enemy's eyes when he knows he is about to die, which gives you a sense of enormous satisfaction.

 Combat animations are lifelike and smooth, they are probably some of the best I have seen so far, besides games not yet released such as The Witcher 3. The game also features a unique system of enemy progression, other wise called "Sauron's Army". How it works is you can gain Intel on captains and warchiefs, you gain this Intel by infiltrating camps and forts and stealing info or just before killing a captain or warcheif you can use your wraith powers to force knowledge and or info from them before killing them. When you gain the info, it reveals the warchief and you can mark that specific leader to kill. If you kill any chief, they will show up as dead, if a enemy orc kills you they can be promoted to take the spots of past chiefs you have killed. Warlords/Warchiefs can also fight with each other to gain power and rise in rank. This makes for a constantly changing world for you to play in and is an impressive mechanic to the game.

The game is also a visual splendor to behold! The clothing and armor textures are detailed in the most intricate fashion. Cloth is the game's most realistic texture and is the most appealing to the eye, it stands out enough that I just had to mention it. I did find that some ground textures were boring and repetitive without the slightest hint of effort to make rock and dirt variants. Its just the same texture repeated over large areas, making some of the landscapes dull, now I understand that the atmosphere of the game and the land/area is a darker pallet. That does not give the developers an excuse to repeat a texture so blatantly obvious. I also noticed that human faces were odd and a bit lame, especially the protagonist "Talion's" was a bit weak. It seems like they tried to hard to make his face unique, that it ended up looking odd.  Now these are just a small issues and don't really take away that the story and gameplay are truly something special and when it comes down to it, those are the two
things that matter most.