Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - PlayStation 3

I have to be honest about something. I wasn't exactly thrilled about Mordor, when it first came out. I tried so hard to get excited about it, but I just couldn't. Don't get me wrong, I planned on playing it, but not right away (hence the reason why I waited so late to play it). Now that I've played it, there's nothing quite like it. It was a very unpredictable experience because you'll never know what's going to happen next, and no two playthroughs are the same. Combat - I know I'm not going to surprise anyone by saying the combat is very similar to the Batman games — However, this next comment may surprise you. I think the combat is better than the Batman games — Much better, in my opinion. I hope I don't offend any Batman game enthusiasts, but the combat in that game can get a little stale, as time goes on. This is far from the case in Mordor! In fact, the combat becomes more fun, as you progress. For example; once you hit a 5 hit combo streak, you can take out your bow, and shoot someone with a flaming arrow! Flaming arrows not your thing? Not to worry, you can also do a finish move that'll chop their damn head off! There are other executions you can do, but those two happen to be my favorite. Weaponry - Some of you may get turned off when I tell you there's only three weapons in the game, but just hear me out, first. Listen, there's nothing wrong with a game that has an enormous variety of weapons (Lords of the Fallen), but I usually only end up using one or two of them anyway. If I had my wish, action games would only provide us with two or three weapons; something for melee combat, and something for ranged attacks. Mordor nailed this, in my opinion. You'll get a sword for melee attacks, a bow for attacking from a distance, and just to shake things up, you'll get a dagger for stealth attacks. If you plan on beating the game, you'll need to be proficient with all three. My favorite was probably the sword because there's nothing quite like slicing and dicing your way to victory! And don't worry, you'll get all three weapons very early in the game, unlike some dumb games that wait damn near to the end before giving you all of your weapons... Enemies - Now THIS is an interesting topic! I've read some reviews that claim all of the enemies are pretty much the same. Well, that's not true, and I would question the validity and integrity of anyone that's spewing such nonsense. Granted, they're all Orcs or Uruks, but they're definitely not the same. They look different, they have different weapons, they behave differently, and they all have their own name. I'm not going to get into the nemesis system because I know it's already been talked about a great deal, and I don't feel like it anyway, because my fingers are starting to get tired. Here's the driving force behind the title of my review. You might be partaking in a side-mission that has nothing to do with the main storyline. While you're focusing on trying to complete said side-mission, here comes an Orc Captain (again, he has nothing to do with what you're trying to accomplish). For all intents and purposes, these encounters with Orc Captains are mini boss battles, and they can happen at any time! I've never played a game where I was constantly on edge, because I didn't know when or where one of these guys were going to show up! I'm going to be transparent and tell you guys I was afraid of one Orc Captain in particular. He would constantly show up, and I ran like a little you know what (I don't recommend running, because if he sees you again, he'll let you know about it, and make you feel like a coward). For legal reasons, this particular Captain will remain unnamed. Suffice it to say, when I finally grew a pair, I got the last laugh, and I'll leave it at that... Even if I did tell you his name, don't expect to see him in your game, because the Orc Captain names and appearances are pretty random. You'll see names ranging from "Grublik the Flogger" to "Edected the Curio". Miscellaneous - Outside of the 20 main missions, there's a lot to do. You'll find tons and tons of side-missions to do, as well as several collectibles to track down. One of the more interesting side-missions was called the "Hunting Challenge", and you'll be tasked with hunting and killing different creatures. This was pretty neat, and reminded me a little of Red Dead Redemption. I probably spent more time doing the extra stuff, than I did playing the main missions (the main missions are pretty short). If you're a trophy hunter, you'll have a good shot at getting the Platinum, if you're willing to put up with a few annoyances... Shadow of Mordor is a great game, but it may not be for everyone. Here's the skinny; if you like games such as Batman, Tomb Raider, and Assassins Creed, I think you'll enjoy Mordor. However, if you you're not into those games, and prefer something like "The Last of Us" or "Heavy Rain", you might want to steer clear... I know I'm 'required' to point out at least one negative thing about Mordor, but I'm not sure I can do that. I'm not sure what you guys want me to say? There's nothing I dislike about the game. Ok, if someone told me I HAD to point out something negative, or I would be FORCED to play Evolve again, here's what I would come up with: There's a Wraith spirit that'll accompany you on your journey. This guy is a huge hater, and a massive TOOL, to the highest degree. See there, told you I didn't have anything. Rayman Legends; you're up next!

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a game I had little faith in. When I first saw it I thought it was a cash grab using the Lord of Rings name to get as much sales as possible. When I played the game I couldn’t anymore wrong. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor was not only an excellent game that fully lives of to its licensed material, it was one of the best games of 2014. Shadow of Mordor masterfully manages to take elements from games like God of War, Batman Arkham Series, and Assassin Creed in its game with a Middle Earth spin. The game also comes up with its own unique ideas. The Nemesis System is a new original idea, it allows the enemies of the game to evolve and grow just like the player. Random grunts can become the powerful war chiefs, rivalries can spawn between you and other enemies of the game. When you die you actually die, the game explains this in the story on why you’re character can’t die. When you get “killed” the enemy who killed you whether a grunt or a high level lieutenant grows in power and in rank. The story is pretty good you play as a Ranger of Gondor Talion a man banished from death who is trying to avenge the murders of himself and his family. It takes place between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It has one familiar face appear in the game from the movies. For the most part all of the characters in the game are new never before seen in the movies or books. While a huge character in the lore is here it is mostly new characters and one movie character. The biggest disappointment was the ending for two reasons. One the final boss fight was just a Quick Time Event and two this games ending, which I will not spoil pretty much sets it up for a sequel. If you’re a Tolkien purest then the game’s story is not for you, if you didn’t like movies then the game is not for you. The gameplay is fantastic, if you ever played the Arkham games it pretty plays exactly like that with more decapitations and blood. The enemy Uruks will pretty much always swarm you, at first you will get annihilate by all the Uruks but like all games with a leveling up system near the end of the game you are pretty much in God Mode and are unstoppable. The game has a stealth system where you can sneak up and stab you enemies instantly killing them. You start to see the AI’s downfall as the Uruks fail to notice you even if you’re in their face. As a range weapon you get a bow in arrow that as soon as it gets the right runes pretty much becomes overpowered and awesome. The games graphics are good to look at especially on next gen consoles and PC. The graphics give justice to the depiction of Mordor. Lighting is great and the cut scenes are excellently choreography. The game is an open world not the biggest but one of the most detailed, the game is packed with side missions, artifacts, and weapon upgrade missions. There is two parts of Mordor you get to explore, Nurn and the Sea of Nurnen. There are the same size and have virtually no loading in the area. You can fast travel to a specific area using synchronized towers in the game just like in Assassin’s Creed. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a delight to play the game is about twenty hours, thirty if you complete all the side quests and collect all the artifacts. It was one of the best games of 2014 and hands down the best Lord of the Rings game ever. Warner Bros did it again, first they made a good Batman game and now they made a good Lord of the Rings game an action that I thought was impossible. Since most Lord of the Rings games are cash grabs and are average at best. If you haven’t already buy this game it is worth the price. Monolith and Warner Bros made the one game to rule them all.

I have played a lot of games on the PS4, both from big name developers and smaller studios through the PlayStation Store. I've played action RPGS, platformers, sidescrollers, sports games, fighting games, shooters, RPGs, and story-based games. For me, the choice of the best game I've played on the PS4 so far is a toss up between Shadow of Mordor and The Last of Us Remastered. Gameplay: Fighting is a pure joy. The variety of ways to eviscerate a servant of Sauron is absolutely delightful. Your character feels powerful enough to face the forces arrayed against him, yet at the same time is not too powerful that the game becomes easy. You will die. A lot. But you will have a wicked fun time doing it, no matter how much you want to rage at the named Uruk-hai that killed you. Immersion: Oh, wow! That's all I can think to say about the developer's choice to NAME their monsters. I mean, who would have thought that fighting enemies with names (and their own skills, relationships, and look) would make the game so completely immersive. The bosses in this game, of which there are hundreds, have names and personalities, and will trash-talk you relentlessly. You will feel personally affronted when you confront them (especially if you lose to one) and you will feel personally vindicated when you take one out. I have never felt drawn into a main character's shoes in over 18 years of gaming as much as I have here. Moreover, the game does an excellent job of convincing you that you are in a "living" world. Things happen in the background. Sauron's servants fight each other. They kill each other. They get promoted. New boss-characters rise and fall. Unbelievable. Most of the time, I found myself ditching the story line and hunting down named enemies just for the fun (and challenge of it). More than once I had to back out of a fight, or skip it all together. More than once I made a poor choice to engage and got the soul kicked out of my poor hero. But I never stopped coming back for more. Storyline: Fantastically written. Voice acting was also superb. You will learn a lot about the forces and backstory of Mordor (and other areas). I was already a fan of the Lord of the Rings, but you'll enjoy this regardless. And while not really about the storyline, the graphics are great as well. Game Add-ons / In-game purchasing: This section will pretty much always result in me taking away stars from a game. I absolutely hate the concept on a full-priced premium game, and strongly believe that if a developer is going to go the way of in-game purchases and nickel-and-diming their players, they should not charge anything up front (or at the least something very little and very far from the typical "full-price"). Lucky for you, and me, and pretty much every gamer in existence and in the future, the developer did not waste our time with stuff like that here. You can play, beat, and ENJOY the entire game without being annoyed by the need for add-ons. They are there if you want to purchase them, and some you might even find appealing. But you will never feel like you had to get it, or that you were punished by the developer (in terms of the gameplay or your enjoyment of the game) by not getting it. I wish other developers would take a cue from the decisions made here. Summary: Ultimately, I parted with this game not because I got bored of it, but because it was so addictive that I knew I would play it for years just to hunt down named boss after named boss. The feeling of satisfaction when you succeed is awesome. Of course I beat the storyline, and that in itself was great. But when you have realized your full potential as a warrior, you feel like you never want to stop roaming the region to remind vicious orcs who the true master of Mordor is. If you have not played this game yet, get it now!

Shadow of Mordor (SOM) may combine elements of Assassin's Creed and Batman Arkham series, but it doesn't matter in the end, because what you have is a game that is a blast to play. I was in the middle of a 90-hour Dragon Age Inquisition playthrough when I saw this on sale for essentially half off, and I went ahead and grabbed it. I've read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but I don't know the Middle Earth Universe well enough to comment on how well SOM ties in, specifically what it gets right or wrong. The story is decent enough, but nothing overly special. I enjoyed Talion's and Celebrimbor's tale overall, and the dialog writing voice acting was great, reminiscent of the LotR movie trilogy, and Gollum was especially well done. I didn't play a lot of Batman outside of Arkham Asylum, and I experienced a bit of a learning curve coming to grips with the fighting style, but it finally clicked. My best so far is an 88-hit run before that doggone spear guy finally hit home and broke up my flow. Although, when you find yourself in the midst of 20+ (yes, 20+) Uruks, it's not a bad idea to run. Better to be taunted on running away that killed. The climbing and parkour-style maneuvering up and across the buildings is super smooth (more so than Assassin's Creed), and playing stealth is a blast. Finding a captain that is vulnerable to stealth finishers and manipulating the nemesis system to move him to the top, then taking him out with a single drop kill in the middle of a stronghold, now that is good fun. However, it gets more challenging when a warchief's strengths defense your favorite finishers, and you have to get a bit more creative. The nemesis system is indeed fun to play with. You would think that the randomly named Uruks would all blend in together, but once you are killed by one, and then run into them again (and are killed again...and again), be prepared for the hate. Let me tell you, when that one Uruk who had killed me repeatedly (Folgrum the Assassin was a particular thorn in my side) advanced to a top tier captain, and then I finally and brutally took him down, it is a thing of beauty, and a level of satisfaction I haven't experienced since defeating Ornstein and Smough on a soul level one playthrough of the original Dark Souls game. The introductions to the Uruk captains are fun and the Uruk voice acting is similarly fantastic, but can get a bit annoying (and here is my one gripe), when four captains happen to join the current fight, and each are introduced individually. I'm soooo glad I grabbed this on sale after Christmas, have been thoroughly enjoying the game since. I highly recommend it for the setting, smoothness of controls, and the fun of the combat and nemesis systems. One recommendation however: when the controls for a combo state "O + triangle", it means press both O and triangle buttons simultaneously. It took me a good 3 hours before I figured out the "execution" combo.

I was a little hesitant about purchasing this game only because of the mixed reviews but I thought for $25.99, what the heck. The first thing I have to say is I'm glad I took the chance. This game has been more than what I expected. The storyline is pretty decent, and if your a LOTR fan, you'll love it. The gameplay is pretty smooth, other than a couple things (see Cons below), but what I like the most are the upgrades and abilities you unlock. Some of them are really bad*ass! Another thing I like about this game is how you're a Ranger and Wreath. You simply tap a button to jump back and forth to each one. The Ranger is, I guess you can say, possessed by the Wreath. But not really. They work together. By going into Wreath mode you can see things the Ranger can't and do other things like read the minds of enemies and stuff. This feature plays a pretty big roll in the game so it's pretty awesome. Another cool thing about this is uncovering why the Ranger and Wreath are linked - that's part of the storyline. PROS: - Gamplay is pretty smooth - it's somewhat similar to Assassin's Creed - Excellent graphics - the cinematics are legit as well as the gameplay - BIG open world - If wandering around discovering new things, doing side missions, etc is your thing, this game will keep you busy - Awesome weapon upgrades and abilities - I can't begin to fathom how many more weapon upgrades and power ups are still left for me to unlock. The abilities are awesome. It's fun building the right combination of both to take into every battle. - Cool finishing moves - This might be one of my favorite things about the game. You can execute finishing moves on enemies and some of them get you pumped! - Special button combinations for special moves don't require you to be spot-on with timing. This proves helpful when you're in the heat of battle. They're pretty easy to execute which allows you to string together a long streak of powerful moves/combos. - Hit streaks - I love building up hit streaks because it allows you to do crazy moves, gain life, etc. - Music - LEGIT - TONS of missions CONS: - Sometimes the player view gets really messed up. At times the camera will swing behind a building or any other structure that will prevent you from seeing anything. This becomes a little annoying when a huge packs of Uruks are coming after you because when you're trying to land specific button combinations to deliver a killer blow, the last thing you want to do is tap the R stick get back into sight. - Jumping/climbing walls/buildings gets annoying at times. This is kind of related to my first complaint. At times you have to adjust your player view with R stick for no reason to get around. - Game can get dull and repetitive if you just continue to do side missions. Try to stick to the storyline by following the Yellow icons on the map and do a couple side missions in between each one. The reason is because most side missions just require you to do the same thing over and over, which is kill endless number of Uruks. But side missions do unlock special upgrades and abilities so you kinda have to do your fair share. I'm hooked on the gameplay and storyline, and I highly recommend this game if you enjoyed Assassin's creed. At $25.99 (Amazon deal) this game has already proven to me that it's worth way more than what I paid for.

While Lord of the Rings games have had unsettled past with the brilliant Battle for Middle-Earth, the "OK" Third Age, and the downright painful Lord of the Rings: Conquest, this game is, without a doubt, the greatest and best of them all. The combat is very much based on the Arkham series but it flows better, hitting the counter button is vastly more responsive, and the animation is almost without peer (save for maybe The Last of Us). The story is excellent, but to counter most people who say it's lack luster, i would argue that it just SEEMS that way in comparison to the awesome Nemesis System. The Nemesis system is probably the biggest surprise I've had in years, so many games say "we're going to do this and it'll push gaming forward in this way" but i have never seen anyone fully realize that, but the Nemesis System does. I have been tracking Duzag the Elf-Killer for several days now, why? Because the game told me to? Nope, because i actually want him dead, he has killed me 3 times and now i have an actual need to hunt him down, it imparts connections to your enemies that only you have rather than ones that are story driven for everyone to "feel" in the same way. The only "downside" i really have for this game is that the Nemesis system is sometimes a bit overboard on the enemies strengths and weaknesses. It's only happened once but it still happened, i had an enemy Captain who was Invulnerable to Ranged attacks, invulnerable to Stealth attacks, Invulnerable to Combat Finishers, Regenerated Health and Summoned other enemies, it was aggravating trying to kill him, that being said it actually taught me one of the games finest points in that you do actually have to find out and examine your enemies. when i finally took him down it was by lighting him on fire and chasing him down Overall the best game i have played this year and possibly the best I've played in years, refreshing and fun with some of the best combat in any game released so far and an enemy generating system that almost makes you forget the game even has a story. (P.S. Props to Troy Baker, Talion is officially my favourite "Not in the books" character of all time)

This game is awesome. I loved Batman: Arkham City (so much that I played it through twice). The combat system was like nothing I'd ever played before: essentially basic controls (attack and counter) create awesome-looking moves and fight sequences. The game then slowly introduces various gadgets and other tools that can be used during combat for a rich experience and huge combos. Add to that the open-world nature of the game, allowing you to move through the story at your own pace, exploring the world and taking on side missions. But this is not a review for Batman: Arkham City. That being said, everything above applies to Shadow of Mordor as well. It uses essentially the same combat system, almost down to the button, except that instead of punches and kicks, batarangs and other gadgets, you're using sword and dagger, throwing knives and mind-control. And instead of knocking thugs unconscious (Batman is very anti-killing), you're decapitating orcs, slitting their throats, cutting them in half, and stabbing them in the skull. That is awesome. So yeah, if you like Arkham City and were sad when you beat that game, then beat it on Hard Mode, then finished all of the side missions and got 3 medals on all the challenges and were still hungry for more, this game will be extremely satisfying. It incorporates basically the exact same combat system, stealth gameplay and exploration, but then adds an awesome ranged attack system, wild beasts that you can tame and ride, and an added strategic element in mind-controlling orcs to fight alongside you. The RPG-style character building aspects are a little more pronounced in this game, as well, as killing certain baddies will provide you with runes that you can equip to augment your weapon stats, as well as skill trees to unlock. The story here is just as good as Arkham City, if not better, depending on whether you prefer Batman or Lord of the Rings. Another really cool addition is the system of enemies, called Sauron's Army, where captain-level baddies compete with eachother to become Warchiefs, each with their own specific strengths and weaknesses, who grow in power as they interact with you or with eachother. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys open-world games in general, or Batmam: Arkham City, specifically.

I can't speak for those who've written earlier reviews and complained about the graphics or bugs. I got this for Christmas and I'm loving it. The graphics certainly seem fine to me. Is it PS4 quality? No (Seriously, is it reasonable to expect PS4 quality on a PS3?). But I can easily distinguish different types of Orcs, especially the 'Captains' and Chiefs and such. Terrain looks convincingly like Mordor to me. Gameplay. The different Orc Captains and Chiefs all definitely have different personalities and different fighting styles. As Chiefs and Captains increase in level they seem to also increase in the number of followers. You don't have to know their weaknesses to defeat them - but it certainly helps. The open world is really fantastic and the options for improving weapons & skills are quite varied. Its a fairly challenging game, to be sure, but there is enough to see and do to keep it interesting. And the missions/quests are quite varied. I love the "Nemesis" system - perhaps it is dumbed down compared to next-gen consoles but its hard to tell and still provides a really interesting dynamic. The "Artifacts" and the "Ithildin" took a little time to figure out (hint - you have to be in "Wraith" mode). The Caragors were a real pain in the behind initially but once I learned to ride them, things got better (two hints here - initially you cannot ride them so you're better running away; riding is a skill you must acquire). At least with the current patch, I'm not seeing much in the way of bugs. Only one slightly silly one - in a mission I killed a particular Captain. Only to see him not only back but promoted 10 minutes later! But in searching on Google, it seems that's a problem across all the consoles. Yes, there are some long load times - you almost dread going to the map or any menus because you'll spend 20 seconds or so waiting to go back to the game when you exit the map. But I can live with that (and I'm learning to get by without the map).

Un gran juego donde matas orcos al por mayor. Las mecánicas son como los primeros Assassins Creed. Matar desde cornisa, muerte aérea, sigilo y su vista especial para detectar enemigos. En vez de montar caballos montas caragogs (bestias que atacan a enemigos). Tienes arco, espada y daga. La historia también está muy interesante. No se necesita ser super fan del Señor de los anillos para disfrutar el juego (o entenderlo). (Yo sólo he visto la tercera película y no la recuerdo). Aunque los compré de importación, vino con doblaje latino.

......... Schöner Spiele ....... . . . . nur in Englisch Sprache 😇 weil sie ist US import..... . . . .

Great game,says my boyfriend :-) and I'm happy it arrived earlier than expected. Thank you

لعبه اسطوريه وتعيشك في العوالم الوسطى

Bel gioco divertente, si discosta molto dalla serie del signore degli anelli , è con mappe aperte e non percorsi obbligati e si trovano molte somiglianze con assasin Creed, buona crescita del personaggio e tiene impegnati abbastanza a lungo, nella confezione sono anche presenti contenuti scaricabili per ottenere più mappe, non do 5 stelle perché è abbastanza pesante e lento nei caricamenti