This game looks really promising> Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I had never heard about this game until now and I must say it looks magnificientely promising.

Most LOTR games were really disappointing, but this one could be the exception.



Let's hope it lives up to the hype.

StOrD

reply to post by St0rD


Reminds me of Assassin's Creed.

reply to post by St0rD


Alright... this game just sold me a PS4.

reply to post by St0rD


Looks great, doesn't it?
I've been watching it for a while. The Nemesis system looks really promising in terms of not just providing the game with intelligent AI (yes, I realise I used the word "intelligent" twice there, but I've seen some pretty unintelligent AI lately), but also significant variance in terms of gameplay and in-game outcomes.

I think the potential is there for this to be a real game-changer in that respect. Games are always going to be built on rails - the question is just how well you hide them. Nemesis looks like it might offer the opportunity to do what others have tried to do, and failed.

reply to post by Awen24


The nemesis system got me really pumped for this game. You're right, many attempted to perfect this kind of system, just like the Mass Effect trilogy, and failed miserably.

Now I'm eager to see just how much of this idea they can peel.

reply to post by St0rD


Assassin's Creed meets Lord of the Rings... One word, epic!

-SAP-

I have to say....

I am 44 years old. I played the living CRAP out of Doom when it came out. And Hexen. And Duke Nukem.


I know. Old School.

But WHAT is this fascination with staring at your own a$$ in video games?

Third person perspective is HORRIBLE.

At least with first person perspective, you are truly feeling as though you are looking through your own eyes...and you are THERE in the experience.



This game looks great....but...it's always the damned 3rd person these days.....GAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.........

reply to post by zeroBelief


With a game like this you need 3rd person... 1st person would be difficult with the speed aspect of the game. Just my opinion though.

-SAP-

If anyone's interested, some of the bigger name review sites were allowed to post their reviews of this game starting about 30 minutes ago.

I've been really excited for this game for a long time, and.....it looks like this game hit the ball out of the park. Extremely good reviews.

IGN - 9.3/10

www.ign.com...

Gamespot - 8/10

www.gamespot.com...

Polygon - 9.5/10

www.polygon.com...

Escapist Magazine - 4.5/5

www.escapistmagazine.com... e-.2

Joystiq - 5/5

www.joystiq.com...

LotR with a hint of AC, Force Unleashed, God of War (that death was brutal), maybe even some LA Noire if there's a deduction aspect. Will definitely be interesting to see. Can probably get this one for free through my points program.

I am so loving the visuals on this game right now, I need a ps4 since yesterday.

a reply to: St0rD

I was never really interested in this game when I heard about it a few years ago, though it looks like it progressed along nicely. Graphics and technology wise its not next generation. But what it does have is interesting sort of gameplay and gameplay elements. And I think the story is supposed to take place sometime before the whole lord of the rings story, I even heard golum is supposed to be in the videogame and a lot of things or people mentioned or alluded to in the lord of the rings mythos.

Personally I think there are some better games coming out, but those are still months away, with the best of them into next year, and this game really shows promise and looks like its going to be fun, and its coming out in a few days. So ya I am thinking of buying it.

a reply to: ExNihiloRed

I am also excited for this title! The Nemesis system seems awesome. I can't wait for this or the game Lords of the Fallen.

My preorder from Amazon is in. Looking forward to this after work today.

Will update with first impressions.

EDIT: Looks like Amazon is having troubles with code redemption affecting US players. Hoping this isn't going to be a persistent issue.

I just picked my copy up for the PS4 a few minutes ago. (Finally a 2nd game for the ps4, BF4 was getting lonely).

After a bit of playing, ill share my impressions.

Im almost 4 hours in the game, and it's pretty sweet.

A quick run down on what I've experienced so far....

- quite a good amount of leveling/finding runes. It doesnt take too long to find/level up, but it doesnt take too long either.

- the map (1st map, havent gotten to map 2 yet) is somewhat big, but there's tons of stuff to do as the game progresses.

- combat is very fun, but seems a bit too easy at the moment. Im not sure what difficulty the game starts at, because I just immediately pressed start when I put the game in. I've also killed 7 captains so far, and killed 3 within a span of 10 minutes.

- I still havent died yet. There were about 3 close calls, but got out of there pretty easy.

- As for the main quest, I started and played it for about 2 hours, and then got sidetracked doing random stuff/side quests/ brawl missions, etc.. for another 2 hours. I'll be running along to the next spot for the main quest, and I'll see something to the side, and bam! Im doing something else and starting more missions.

- I still havent gotten to the point where I can dominate orcs (I think that's somewhere in the main story). I learned the dominate caragor ability, but I still have yet to use it. Setting caragors loose to kill a bunch of orcs on their own is super fun, along with blowing up stuff, setting stinging flies loose, etc.....

Been playing for an hour or so. I'm not really sure how to feel about the game. I was under the impression this was going to be similar to a Skyrimesque open world game where you could go wherever you wanted. Apparently there are in fact only certain (albeit large) areas you can go to at a time. Talion and his wraith 'companion' have apparently been bonded together in a strange blood pact which ironically allows for a pretty solid team. Celebrimbor (wraith dude) didn't choose to be bonded with Talion, and Talion didn't know he was gonna have a wraith buddy, but they're both pretty hardcore, so it works. Celebrimbor is actually a welcome relief, as he brings in a whole other side to making decisions.

The game throws a whole lot of information at you at once in the beginning and I'm finding myself wondering whether I can remember it all. There's not really a set path you need to take immediately other than your first assassination mission, which is both a good and bad thing at the same time. I'm already finding myself wandering off and getting into all sorts of trouble; had a group of about 15 uruks and two bosses trying to go ape on me after dropping down a cliff for what I thought was going to be a stealth kill. Apparently that's an ability you have to learn first

Other than that, I'm finding it quite enjoyable to roam about and slay random uruks. The fighting and killing animations are actually quite fluid; instead of Talion running into enemies in a clunky fashion, he'll actually roll over them in a parkour like fashion. It's actually quite interesting to watch and had me asking 'did I just see him do that?' Speaking of second looks, I thought I was hallucinating when I heard sound coming from my controller. Apparently they've incorporated this feature when you're using wraith powers, so it adds to the creepiness when your wraith 'guide' talks in his whispery demonic wraith tongue.

One thing I do like is that you don't have to worry about finding hidden stuff (unless it's just so well hidden I haven't found it yet) like relics which are conveniently marked on the minimap. The minimap itself is actually quite detailed, and reveals pretty much everything you will ever need to know about around you. It's also a lifesaver when you need to go to a specific place and you want to have it marked for reference. The nemesis system is actually QUITE cool. The enemies actually remember you if you attempt to kill them and come back again later. Each enemy actually seems to have it's own personality as well; had an archer let me go when he downed me cuz he wanted to shoot me again. Another one asked me how many more times would I try after attacking him unsuccessfully three times.

The game is quite dark, far darker than any other LOTR title I've played. In the first five minutes, you see several people getting their throats cut...in HD. So if you plan on getting this title for a kid, should consider the content first (if the uruk beheadings and impaling in the teasers didn't do it for you).

a reply to: Septimus

I thought I was hallucinating when I heard sound coming from my controller.

The sound caught me off guard and at first thought my game was messing up or something. Took me awhile to actually figure out what it was.

I probably shouldnt have watched a bunch of people play this before I started playing, because I originally thought most of the skills, such as stealth kills or the dominate skill, were given to you at the beginning. I still have yet to get the dominate skill from the main story, since I've just been running around doing duels, ambushes, feasts, etc...

a reply to: buni11687

I'm really digging it so far. I spent several hours last night trying to get vengeance on a group of uruks who kept mocking me and killed me a couple times due to mistakes on my part. First one killed me because I didn't realize I had to press a button once I had the last chance thing in the circle. Second time I died because this one uruk had the speed of Forrest Gump and lunged at me while I was sprinting away.

It's really cool to see the variety they've thrown in the game, some can run fast, some hate flies, some you can kill with a headshot from your bow.... I spent at least one of those hours trying to slay this one particularly difficult uruk who kept summoning about 20 other uruks into the region and regained most of his health after getting too low. After realizing I could study his weaknesses (which reallllly should have been emphasized more), I found out he would die to a simple headshot from the bow. Was frustrating to know I wasted all that time, but satisfying that I finally silenced him. It's also neat how they trash talk when you're not around. I heard one of his minions asking Mr. headshot about the time he fought me. This makes for quite an immersive experience.

One complaint I do have is that you pretty much have to graduate from assassin school the second you're dropped into the world. There's no difficulty adjustment from what I can tell, so the game doesn't seem very forgiving for newcomers to this genre. I've played hitman in the past, so I'm not entirely confused on what to do, but still. Speaking of hitman, you can't drag bodies off either I don't think, which serves to alert nearby uruks when they spot one. Also, when you first get in the world, it's kinda like dark souls where you die rather quickly after a few short hits.... arrows are devastating. Looks like they got the realism right too. Quite happy with my preorder purchase so far.

I can't wait to play this game! Thanks for the input guys. Keep it coming if you are so inclined!