The same thing can be said for the movement throughout the game world. At certain points you gain access to additional moves and special executions that make it worthwhile to pick the legions apart with precision. The goal is ultimately to keep your string of consecutive attacks going as you earn bonuses for different benchmarks (just like Arkham). The timing of the button presses are a lot more forgiving here though as you can quickly switch things up at the last second and not interrupt your combination.
This doesn’t require frequent button mashing but rather calculated / timed button presses a la Arkham. There is a free-flowing aspect to it that allows you to dance around from enemy to enemy with ease, transitioning between strikes, throws, and executions without any sort of hiccup or hesitation.
The combat feels very Batman-like but is a lot more forgiving.
#Middle earth shadow of mordor review series#
It’s reminiscent of a mix of the Batman Arkham series and Assassin’s Creed, albeit simplified in a sense. The gameplay on the other hand is completely worth discussing with people, because it is fantastic. It plays well within the shadows of the original lore (get it?) and it serves its purpose and keeps you tied to the action, but this won’t be one that you will be retelling to your friends and discussing in depth. The ties between Talion and the rangers in particular could have been explored much more. There is little done to really connect with any characters outside of the Talion and the Wraith, even though it would have been beneficial to know a little more about their relationships in and around Mordor. However, the tale told here isn’t anywhere near as deep and memorable as Tolkien’s original tales. Gollum, in particular, is prevalent throughout your adventure and true to the form we have become familiar with throughout the film series (and books). While it is an original story, the game takes you across a variety of familiar territory and brings in a couple of familiar faces. Talion is now an immortal being sharing his body with a wraith determined to avenge his own death, and the two seek out both the truth behind their demises and to take down the evil that brought them together. However, things don’t go exactly as the Black Hand plans and the Elf Lord returns within Talion’s dying body, hell bent on revenge. The sacrifice is an attempt to resurrect the Elf Lord Celebrimbor. Set between the Hobbit and the first installment of the Lord of the Rings, the game introduces you to Talion, a ranger who is sacrificed, along with his family, by the Black Hand of Sauron. This gives them a bit of freedom and also relieves some of the pressure of meeting specific expectations of fans. One of the smartest decisions that Monolith made in developing Shadow of Mordor was to construct a side story in Tolkien’s universe rather than tackling the main tale. What I found however was an incredibly pleasant surprise and one of the most memorable games of 2014. Walking into Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, I was admittedly hesitant because of my past experiences. You don’t have to worry about laying this groundwork, just focusing on the gameplay experience itself. They already have an established brand name and the public is already familiar with the characters and worlds ahead of time. It’s really sad that this happens because titles like this have all of the opportunity in the world set in place for their success with most of the legwork done ahead of time. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason a lot of these titles usually fall flat on their face. It is usually a scary thing when a developer brings out a licensed video game.
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