Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

[Vince]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/11/12/december-2013-shadow-of-mordor-67498.aspx


While many previous games set in Middle-earth have revolved around the major events or characters depicted in Tolkien's books, Shadow of Mordor offers a new chapter that fits comfortably between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Players control a lone ranger by the name of Talion as he journeys deep into the heart of Mordor in the days before it transforms into a blasted hellscape. Along the way, developer Monolith is exploring a fascinating next-gen approach to enemies, encounters, and storytelling, one in which every player shapes their own story through the choices they make. The Nemesis System assures that every enemy you fight is a named foe, and if they survive their battle with you, they continue to grow, improve, and act in the world, even as you attempt to do the same with Talion.

Every game based on LOTR/The Hobbit/The Silmarilion has sucked, with one major exception: Guardians of Middle Earth. Call me worried, but hopeful, like we are about the new Star Wars films coming out.

[Crusader]

You obviously haven't played the return of the king and the war in the north in coop.

[Vince]

I haven't played Return of the King, but I have played War in the North, and I wasn't impressed. I'll admit it didn't suck and revise my previous position, though.

[Crusader]

I think some people here will argue that LEGO LOTR is a blast as well.

I really enjoyed LOTR Online as well. LOTRO and War in the North were both good games and they paid a lot of respect to both the Tolkien and Peter Jackson lore. Especially War in the North did a lot fan service to both the movie and book fans. It was certainly no Arkham Asylum when it came to gameplay and some animations looked bad but the overall delivery was good enough for me to finish it in single player and coop.

[Ben Merasska]

LOTRO's design got on my nerves, and actually somewhat reminded me of the old seventies Hobbit cartoon movie. It's gameplay was all right (though the next most brilliant idea will be how to break out of the online mold of 'gather all quests in settlement and grind'), but it seemed a bit hokey to me while I was playing it. The Lego games were fun, but in my opinion they're more Lego games and less LOTR/Hobbit/Silmarillion/Star Wars/Indiana Jones games.