G'day there guys and gals!(WARNING: There are some spoilers in this review! Major areas will have a skip marked with (!) to avoid them. Tread carefully!)
15 years ago my uncle passed me a book with a name on it that I could not pronounce at the time, and with character's names I struggled with, especially the elves. A few years later I watched as the words jumped into film as my friends and I bundled around a small box TV to watch the VCR (Yes I'm that old) of The Lord Of The Rings. I have been a fan of the series in a whole for the longest time, on par with many other series of my generation. With Shadow Of Mordor release, the game has already seen a lot of blow-back but despite its faults, it is still definitely one of the best games from the genre in recent memory.
Let's start with the story; You play as Talion, a Ranger Captain guarding the Black Gate in the heart of the lands of Mordor. The game starts with the unfortunate capture of your wife and son who are ritually sacrificed right before your eyes, quickly followed by your own death. The ritual works, but not for the enemy, as Talion is suddenly fused with an Elf Wraith (Later named Celebrimbor), who was also unjustly killed alongside his family. The task is simple; revenge on the beasts that have destroyed everyone you love and so the curse can free him from life so that he may finally join his family in death.
The gameplay itself is exquisite. While most compare it to the battle system of the Batman games, I shall not, as frankly that system has been alive for far longer. Combat breaks down to five ways; stealth, swordplay, using the beasts of the Mordor, branding and of course, bow and arrow. Using stealth, players can stab or brand their enemies (Brand is a Wraith ability to turn Uruks on your side), while this can also be done during swordplay just more obviously. Using Brand, players can also control the wildlife, turning ferocious beasts against your enemies or even your enemies themselves. Using Celebrimbor, players can also slow time and use a quick fire of charged arrows to take down enemies or shadow strike to zip across to your enemies and let them taste a Wraith's blade instead. Uruks aren't that easy to take down however, with both strengths and weaknesses that need to be avoided and exploited. Some with attack outright, others will charge and some will think you're too weak and not worth finishing off. Poison, gathering allies, using caragors, the list goes on. Esentially the gameplay boils down to X to attack, Y and A to dodge and counter and RT to fire arrows, all of which and more as you play though you'll be definitely using. Customisation is wide and extensive, every weapon can be upgraded to how you play and items you pick up off fallen enemies, while Talion and Celebrimbor can both be upgraded the more EXP you collect. While customisation in the character itself is limited to DLC (Some of which is free), at least it's there.
Graphic wise, the game looks utterly beautiful. From the red sands of Mordor to the lush green grass of Nurn, the game is definitely pleasing to the eye, weather graphics and details on characters extremely impressive. What makes this more so is that how every Orc in game is custom to the gameplay and development over time as the player progresses. While you can probably agree that in time there will be similarities in some games (You can't randomise voice acting names forever), I have only seen one name repeated twice during my gameplay. Even then each character has unique aspects to them such as their weapons, how they dress according to their titles and so on.
Sound effects and musical score are breathtaking, the score even more so. It's quite easy to get lost while listening to the wind blow through the trees of Nurn, seeing villagers run in fear as I destroy the guards keeping them prisoner at a moment's notice. The deep booming musical score is quite traditional to the series, the chanting and soft strings bring light and dark to the game easily. The voice cast is loaded with many old school actors from video games to anime. Everyone from Troy Baker, Nolan North, John DiMaggio to Jennifer Hale, Laura Bailey and Claudia Black, with so many more greats of their area. Each character feels diverse, different and adds great depth to the game, arguably more than the lore section of the menu!
However this brings me to the weakest parts of the game: first off the storyline. While the story itself is interesting and brilliantly laid out, it is quite generic and in that the gameplay can be too at times. "'I want revenge!' search out one guy, stab stab stab, mission over!". Throughout the game this does change up a bit but that is halfway through the game as we travel to Nurn and even then it's limited down to less than 8 missions at the least, some can be completely avoided as well. The introduction of new characters (Especially Ratbag and Lithariel) really changes the pace and setting, even more so as Talion at times loses sight of his goal. But what annoys me the greatest is the last hour of gameplay.
To put it simply, it's Mass Effect 3 all over again.
As you amass your strengths, Talion finally takes the fight to the monsters that killed his family. The first fight? (!) Past a small confrontation, the game turns into a sneak and stab which is ended by a cutscene death. Of course this is forgiveable as the game reveals its biggest plot-twist. However as you reach the end, you battle the Talos of the Hand, the five biggest honchos of the Uruks...and they die within five minutes. (Spoiler End) This is a huge dissapointment as many of the enemies I left alive back at Nurn or in Mordor were and are harder than the final creatures! But then comes the Right Hand, the guy solely responsible for your and your family death and how does it end?
Quick Time Event and a cutaway ending that has the sole purpose of baiting for a sequel.
Don't get me wrong, a sequel to this would be terrific but the ending was so lackluster that its a slap in the face that after 15 hours of nothing but the storyline my reward is a cheap ending to a game mechanic I've used the entire way through the game and for a unsatisfying ending that goes against Talion's purpose! There is plenty to be done with a ton of activities that can definitely equal to 25+ hours of gameplay, not to mention the endless onslaught through the Uruk ranks but for a singular ending for no reward and a bait and switch ending is just cheap.
Shadow of Mordor delivers greatly in many areas and lacks in some. The camera controls can be extra sticky and at times constantly circle as you're surrounded by enemies, not to mention the difficulty in parkour and climbing as holding B will frustrate you when tapping doesn't do the job (Even with the remarkable resemblance to Assassin's Creed style parkour) and don't get me started on how Captains and enemies will flood to you during boss fights turning a 1 on 1 into 1 against 8 or more (This can be avoided by branding them individually or exploiting their weaknesses but that requires a lot of backtracking for intel and sometimes their weaknesses aren't in the area they're in), making an easy kill into a bloodbath with a Level 4 skyrocking up the chain of command.
I better stop ranting here. Overall the game is fun and purely addictive, being the first game in a while I've lost track of time just losing myself in the world and lush amounts of lore, but that ending has definitely marked down my rating and made the faults in the game a little more visible. The faults can be forgivable, but not forgettable.
I give Shadow of Mordor an 8/10
It escapes worse for its simply intoxicating gameplay and lore. Definitely worth your time.
Shadow of Mordor is out now for the standard price of $100
