Shadow of Mordor Could Be This Year’s Sleeper Hit

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is only about 20 days away now, and yet strangely there is very little hype in the gaming community. Usually there would be a lot more discussion around it this close to release, especially since this is clearly a major project for both Warner Bros and Monolith Productions, which has been working on this game for quite some time now; the only ones really making some noise about the game are those who have been lucky enough to try it, and I can now add myself to that list with this article.

Perhaps it’s because gamers have developed a thick mistrust of licensed games based on big movie/book IPs, although the Batman Arkham series should have made it clear that it’s just a matter of doing things in the right way. Still, this could eventually work in favor of Shadow of Mordor, as I have a feeling that this game could become 2014′s sleeper hit.

 

My hands-on was preceded by a detailed presentation of the game and specifically of its main distinguishing feature, the Nemesis System. Monolith’s goal has been to create meaningful and dynamic relationships with the NPCs in the world of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, by allowing them to remember every interaction with Talion, the main character. This means that if you manage to leave a scar on a certain enemy who’s then able to escape, the next time he’ll not only wear that scar but also be angry with you for it, promising vengeance (in a quite foul language, being orcs and all - after watching a few of these scenes, I commented that they must have had a lot of fun writing them, to which the developer replied with a nod followed by a mighty chuckle); moreover, the game will exploit the narrative component of Talion’s undeath (he cannot die presently due to his connection to the wraith, who is none other than Celebrimbor) to create interesting situations.

 

For example, whenever you are killed, the game won’t ask you to load a previous state as it’s often the case. Instead, (in-game) time will pass during which Talion will regenerate and eventually come back to life; when facing his killer next, the NPC will freak out and say things like “I’ve already killed you!”. That’s just the tip of the iceberg though, as killing Talion is one of the ways for an orc to rise in power. According to the lore, orcs have always fought among themselves to climb the ranks and this plays out in Shadow of Mordor as well, with the simulation running even if you don’t interfere; Talion is also able to use the wraith’s power to dominate an orc and make him a puppet that can then be ordered to attack his own brethren.

This is especially useful when dealing with the top rank Orcs, as they are quite hard to kill and have bodyguards/lieutenants of their own. You could decide to dominate the orc next in line for lieutenant rank (there’s a complex hierarchy, displayed in a nice way with all the links between orcs clearly visible) and then kill the current lieutenant, so that your puppet takes his place, or you could try to dominate the lieutenant directly. Once you have a lieutenant or two on your side, an attack on their orc warchief (and his army of minions) should be much easier in theory; that’s not everything though, as you can choose to dominate instead of killing a certain orc warchief. This will allow you to start a “riot” against another warchief.

 

Overall, the system looked very interesting, but truthfully it is impossible to gauge its real potential in a short gameplay session such as the ones we get at a show like Gamescom. What impressed me more was the basic gameplay mechanics which, although derivative, seemed extremely well done, from traversal (with nods to Assassin’s Creed, from climbing walls to walking on ropes) to combat, which has been inspired by the Batman Arkham series. The animations are very fluid, which makes each one of Talion’s moves (and there are a lot of them) just pleasant to both watch and execute.

 

Not only is Talion a swift and powerful human ranger, but his connection to Celebrimbor also gives him access to the wraith’s fearsome powers - the most dramatic may well be the shadow strike, which teleports Talion to the enemy’s location and lands a quick killing blow. Being an elf while alive, Celebrimbor is also very proficient with a bow, which comes very handy from a distance.

There also other elements from the open world that can be used against orcs. For example, during my hands-on a developer nudged me into dominating a huge beast called Graug, which then allowed me to ride it into the fray; I could command it to grab&eat orcs, to charge and a few other things, but I was also able to rain down arrows from the back of the beast.

There a few aspects of RPG progression as well in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Killing enemies provides experience points, and weapons can be upgraded by adding runes to them, which are dropped by orc captains; these runes will grant different kinds of boons, such as health regeneration. There are also skill trees for both Ranger and Wraith abilities.

Graphically, the game looked very good, though not quite mindblowing. The engine used is Monolith’s very own LithTech and it doesn’t disappoint, although in the demo (running on PlayStation 4) there was quite a bit more aliasing than I would have liked; it could have been due to the TV setup, though I suppose if you want maximum graphics quality you’ll be better off with the PC version.

 

There are still a few things that we’ll have to discover in the final release about Shadow of Mordor, such as the game’s length (especially since there are no coop or multiplayer modes of any kind) or the plot’s depth and lore adherence, which will be a particularly sensitive topic being a game set in The Lord of the Rings universe (chronologically it’s between The Hobbit and LOTR); still, there’s reason to be hopeful on the story, with Christian Cantamessa being the Lead Writer (the same role he had in Rockstar‘s Red Dead Redemption) and Troy Baker/Nolan North both playing key characters.

 

Overall though, if you like the genre and/or setting you should definitely set your eyes on this game(after all, we’ve chosen the game for our Best Action Gamescom 2014 Award, and it was also runner-up for Best in Show), which will release on 30th September on PC, PlayStation 4 & Xbox One, while the Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3 versions have been delayed to November 18.