"Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor" has been a hotly anticipated title from Monolith Productions and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for some time now. The game itself tells the tale of Talion, a ranger of Gondor, who is slain (along with his wife and son) by the Black Hand of Sauron. But Talion does not die...he is trapped between the worlds of light and dark as a wraith, and bound with the wraith of an important elf lord lifted from the pages of Tolkien's "Silmarillion" for use here in "Shadow of Mordor's" narrative. Of course, being "stuck" in this fashion provides him with an opportunity for vengeance against the Black Hand and his orc/uruk minions.
The game was released earlier this week, and I've had the opportunity to play it for a few hours. It is a well-crafted experience with superb graphics, and it truly captures the essence of the world that both Tolkien and director Peter Jackson have painstakingly established, both on the page and on film. In terms of gameplay, it is a mishmash of Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed" and WB Interactive's own "Batman: Arkham City" with a dash of Square Enix's "Hitman" games thrown in for good measure as you can target specific orc/uruk captains to slay. In addition, there a good many upgrades to collect...as well as a good many evil beasties to kill in fun and inventive ways.
It's easy to say that I am certainly enjoying "Shadow of Mordor" so far. But, by way of comparison, let's go around the game journalism horn to see what others had to say about this experience.
Dan Stapleton at IGN said the game "stands out from other open-world action games by putting a great new layer on top of the trail that Batman blazed." But he was "surprised at how well it integrates its excellent combat with rewarding feedback and progression not just for me, but also for my enemies."
While Peter Bathge of PC Gamer in Germany thought, "'Shadow of Mordor' can't quite compete with other big open-world action games. Light on innovation, the story and mission design could have used more work, especially as players are bound to perform the same tasks over and over again in a world that isn't as lively or as interesting as Los Santos or Arkham City."
Brad Shoemaker of Giant Bomb heaped praise on the game, giving it a perfect "10" and calling it, "the most fun I've had with an open-world game in a very long time...Whatever your feelings on J. R. R. Tolkien and the Middle-Earth milieu, it's hard to imagine any fan of open-world action having anything less than a great time with this game."
But Chris Carter of Destructiod titled his review "One Does Not Simply Walk into Bore-Dor" so you can probably guess what path his review is taking. He feels that while the lore and combat are robust, the title is over-ambitious and "it doesn't really add anything that's worth seeing outside of some solid open world gameplay. It isn't a bad game, it just feels far too repetitive for its own good."
Overall, "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's" Metacritic score stands at 85 (8.7 user score) on the PlayStation 4, and 87 (8.4 user score) on the PC.
