Video Game Review: The Shadow of Mordor

My brother Gabriel bought me this video game, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, several Christmases ago. It was however in the midst of my Assassin's Creed phase and simply got set surpassed by many other games of interest. I of course always intended to play it, having heard good things about it but especially being a huge fan of Lord of the Rings. Well after a good hiatus from video games, the time to play it had finally come. What especially motivated me to take on this game, is the new TV series on Amazon, The Rings of Power. So thus with this game and the new TV show I have entered yet another Lord of the Rings phase.

The game was released in 2014 and critically acclaimed as one of the best games yet in the JR Tolkein franchise. It pertains to a Gondor ranger named Talion who must hunt and liberate the dark land of Mordor. The setting takes place between the 60 year gap of The Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Rings. At this point Sauron's power is on the rise and the land of Mordor has become overrun by orcs and uruk-hai. Talion is a captain of Gondor's Black Gate and is attacked and killed by a squad of Uruks. Talion's wife and son are killed by the Uruk's leader, the Black Hand of Sauron. Talion is also killed however he does not passover to death, yet rather becomes a spirit, also known as wraith. He is recruited by the elven spirit, Celebrimbor to seeks revenge on Sauron's forces. 

The game story is rather simple, an undead spirit who is out for vengeance. Talion's physical body is merged with the spirit of Celebrimbor which grants him inhuman powers and immortality. He comes across Gollum at one point, who guides him to relics of the past. Here we discover that Celebrimbor was the great elven blacksmith who helped create the rings of power. He was however later deceived by Sauron and killed along with his family. Upon discovering this Celebrimbor hopes to further eliminate Sauron's power and shares a common goal of vengeance with Talion. Throughout the story Talion targets various war-chiefs that finally lead him to their commander the Black Hand of Sauron. After defeating the Black Hand both Talion/Celebrimbor agree to continue fighting against Sauron's forces.

What makes this game so unique and enjoyable is the game structure. I enjoyed that it was an open-world map of Mordor, but I especially liked it's original gameplay. It had a vast database of enemies each with their own unique profiles. Every orc and uruk in the game had it's own name with various weaknesses and strengths. Each of these enemies could also get stronger depending if they killed you or you killed one of their rivals. This system of an everchanging enemy hierarchy was the driving force of this game. The main story was quickly replaced by this desire to target and eliminate the captains and chiefs that got in your way. 

For me the game was very reminiscent of Assassin's Creed with the option to use stealth or force. Talion had many skills he could improve with experience which included weapon upgrades yet also combat abilities. He could perform stealth kills from behind, from the ledges, or from the sky. He could also acquire intel from orcs and even manipulate them to fight for him. Yet still it was very easy to become overwhelmed by enemies in this game and other tactics were often needed. Such as exploding fire barrels, releasing caragor monsters, or shooting down fly nests. With carefully planned attacks it was much easier to take on swarms at a time to achieve your goal. 

Many of the goals in the game required freeing somebody or killing or dominating an enemy. The game was heavy on combat, which I enjoyed, but it also could be quite challenging. There was one task I remember took me several hours, which was to kill 20 orcs in 5 minutes in order to lure the war chief. I also later discovered in the game that war chiefs were much easier to fight if you hunted and killed their captains first. It was probably one of the most combat friendly games I have ever played. I enjoyed it's game structure and the Lord of the Rings content, but still would say it's story was rather weak. All-in-all I'd probably give it a 6 out of 10. I intend to next play it's sequel the
Shadow of War.