Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

JRR Tolkien's creative exploits are again found to be fertile ground for creating an exciting action adventure video game in Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. The story is set between the events that take place in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books. Players explore the digital environment as a character named Talion, who was a ranger stationed at the Black Gate of Mordor. After he and his family are sacrificed by the Black Hand of pre-eminent baddie Sauron, the spirit of Talion merges with the Elf Lord Celebrimbor and they embark on a search for the Black Hand in revenge. Did that sound like a lot? Don't worry, it's told well in the game itself, and who doesn't like a good old-fashioned revenge quest? Developed by Monolith Productions, the game was originally released in September 2014 and is available to play on a variety of platforms:

• PS3
• PS4
• Xbox One
• Xbox 360
• Desktop PCs

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor: Tasty Revenge

Happily, the game is played from a third-person perspective in an open world environment, similar to so many games in this decade, from GTA5 to Batman: Arkham Knight. This means that players can explore the beautifully rendered map and travel to a variety of locations around Middle Earth. To progress through the story, players must complete story missions and there is also the option to complete various side missions along the way. Missions involve a variety of activities, such as freeing prisoners, finding objects and battling enemies. When each mission is completed, the player is rewarded with experience points, new abilities and skills to forge new slots on their weapons, which increases their overall effectiveness as a player.

Gleefully Fun Combat

The game’s combat system involves a complex chain of moves, such as stealth, counter, dodge and area of effect attacks. In addition to basic combat, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor also features a Nemesis system, in which players must defeat Uruk leaders to be rewarded with powerful runes. This complex system was designed to give the orcs behavioral patterns, so that non-playable characters respond to the actions of players.

Reception

Upon its release, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor received critical acclaim for its open world environment, combat system, and innovative Nemesis system. The game was praised for creating memorable characters, particularly in relation to the orcs, as well as for its consistent use of Tolkien lore and impressive soundtrack.

Overall, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor will provide hours of amusement for players, particularly enthusiasts of Tolkien’s world, as it delivers a delicate mix of fantasy action adventure and engrossing storytelling that remains accurate to the Lord of the Rings universe. As it has been out for quite a while the price point for the game is encouragingly competitive, so if you compare online across sellers you can buy it quite cheap.