Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

While all the attention may now be on Shadow of War, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is where it all started. This is a truly epic action game and one that really does bring the world of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to life in a game like many had dreamed about since The Fellowship of the Ring was first released at theatres.

Two Souls As One

The story of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is epic! It is set between the Hobbit and Rings franchise. You play as Talion who is a Ranger. He watches the Black Gate in Mordor when one night, Sauron sends three of his generals to attack and all of the Rangers along with Talion and his family are brutally killed.

Death is not the end though as he finds himself bonded with a Wraith and their two souls become interwind and this basically stops him from dying and makes him immortal. Now he is super mad and out for revenge. At its heart, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game of revenge and a damn good one at that.

Be Like Batman

That may sound like a strange comparison, but in terms of the gameplay, I feel that the best comparison for this game is the Arkham Batman games. You will be doing a lot of exploration, fighting, leveling up, learning new abilities and of course seeking revenge for the death of your family. I will not say that the game does anything radically new in the action game genre. However, I will say that Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor does what it does very, very well. Every aspect of the game feels great. No matter if you are trying to sneak around and take down bad guys in a stealthy manner. Or if you like to go in with your weapons blazing you can fight that way. The enemy AI is very interesting and you never know what you are going to get. One time you could be fighting these goblin-like things and then they run away, scared of your might. On the flip side of this, sometimes you can be fighting and the enemy will feel that you are there for the taking and call in more enemies!

Tolkien Brought To Life

The presentation of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is truly amazing stuff. No matter what system you play this on (well apart from the PS3) it looks amazing. The people behind the game worked very closely with the people who made the movies to make the game look as authentic as possible. From more vibrant and lush areas to dark and gloomy horrific locations. You get to travel to some very interesting and memorable locations.

The story is great and it is brought to life via some wonderful voice acting. I found that this along with the movie like score did wonders to get me even more invested in the game. From a presentational point of view, I really cannot fault this game.

Even if you have no interest in the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, I cannot recommend Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor highly enough. As an action game, it is actually one of the very best of this console generation. It feels fantastic to play and the story is well written, excellently voice acted and well-paced. Also, the game has a nice sense of progression so you always feel like you are striving forward to do or earn something.

9.5/10

Pros:

• One of the best action games ever made
• The story is epic in every way
• Lots of cool moves and weapons to use
• Plenty of cool locations to visit
• You do not have to be a fan of the series to love this

Cons:

• Make sure you get the game of the year version
• I really cannot think of another negative thing to say!