Current Events > Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a terrible game

(+) Yeah! (+)

It is barely even a game. It's a barren, ugly map scattered with collectibles, towers, and "challenges". It is a "level-up" simulator which throws three types of experience/currency at you in hopes that its multiple upgrade systems will distract you from the soullessness of the gameplay. It is a Batman combat clone that is so easy and brainless you forget why you are playing it instead of playing absolutely anything else. It is the Platonic ideal of generic videogame writing, in which you watch cutscene after cutscene of overly-serious heroes babble in emotionless voices about events that you do not care about.

I hate this game.

wrong

tbh that's how I feel about 99.9% of sandbox games

i hate clearing icons on maps and getting arbitrary rat-and-lever rewards for games padded to hundreds of hours

The only thing I remember about that game was having to play against forts that clearly wanted me to buy levels for my captains but being able to abuse the weaknesses of the opposing captains to grind out a win nonetheless.

Oh yeah.... and a rune (whatever the power up for the sword was called) dropping a glitched power that basically guaranteed a fire attack. Beat the game with it, it got patched, I put the game down the next day lol

Remember when AC1 had you find 300 flags or something? That's the type of collectible hunting I hate. I don't mind something as simple as climbing towers, killing the boss of some fort, etc. I generally liked SoM, but without the Nemesis system's awesomeness holding it together, I'd have a dimmer view, I'm sure.

Yeah, its terrible.

Terribly awesome!

I remember when the Nemesis system was supposed to be the hottest thing in games. They tried to trademark it.

By the time the sequel came out, it was dead in the water...because the creators tried to make a minor mechanic the hottest thing.

I really wanted to like it because its full of cool features and source material but the progression feels utterly pointless.

Like you can spend infinite time trying to take over the battlefield, it won't make any difference at all. There's always more commanders infinitely respawning the second you kill one. And it never affects the world.

Like if you want to make a game that is based around map clearing, at least make it feel like you are clearing the map.

CommunismFTW posted...

tbh that's how I feel about 99.9% of sandbox games

i hate clearing icons on maps and getting arbitrary rat-and-lever rewards for games padded to hundreds of hours

Yeah, it's the trend now for sure. I used to love open-world games but the vast majority of them have succumbed to the same formula.

Shadow of War is so much worse.

pinky0926 posted...

Like if you want to make a game that is based around map clearing, at least make it feel like you are clearing the map.

But completely clearing the map isnt the point of the game. Plus, its been a few years, but I do remember that you can pretty much clear out every Captain.

Besides, fighting captains is fun as hell. Especially after youve been fully upgraded and are super OP.

Man, I need to play this game again.

One of the only games I actually hate

I cannot get into either game.

I had fun with both games but theyre admittedly pretty shallow. I wish the Nemesis system had more to it. Most of the time I spent with the games was more about cultivating uruks rather than fighting them, and that part was fun. Id clear out the captains I didnt like to bring in new ones, and when I found a dude who had a cool name/look Id level him up and try to remove his weaknesses. The second game offered a lot more in that regard. Sucks that they removed the Nemesis Forge because that at least gave me a reason to play the first game and pick two uruks to bring over to the second. Traveling around with your uruk ally and watching him wreck everyone was great in the second game.

Theres no defending the stories, though. Im not big into LotR lore but even I know that the second game in particular is egregious.

Unknown5uspect posted...

Shadow of War is so much worse.

So much better you mean.

I beat both games and enjoyed them a lot but I have a pretty high tolerance for that ubisoft'ish formula.

sutree posted...

Yeah, it's the trend now for sure. I used to love open-world games but the vast majority of them have succumbed to the same formula.

I wonder how much we can blame Ubisoft for this.

Both games are the kind that would have been so much better if they were just allowed to be a tight, narrative action game with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Their weird insistence on trying to be this game that you play for a thousand hours, combined with the sequel's terrible monetization, completely destroyed what could have been an Arkham-tier series.

It's got a very cool combo system, plus the Nemesis system is really cool. The formula ran out of steam before I finished the second game, but I kind of loved the series until I burned myself out on it.

TC is right, it baffles me how people play that garbage

brotrrwinner posted...

TC is right, it baffles me how people play that garbage

Better than playing Dark Souls, at least.

s0nicfan posted...

Both games are the kind that would have been so much better if they were just allowed to be a tight, narrative action game with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Their weird insistence on trying to be this game that you play for a thousand hours, combined with the sequel's terrible monetization, completely destroyed what could have been an Arkham-tier series.

This sounds like the post of someone who has never actually played the game.

There is a story. And you can do side quests as well.

Where on earth did you get the idea that you need to play (or that they want you to play) for thousands of hours?

I like it. The sequel is better, though, IMO

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Better than playing Dark Souls, at least.

That isn't saying much

I enjoyed what I played of the first Middle Earth and as someone who loves the LotR movies, I didn't mind the story. The actual tale that's spun doesn't really matter to me in a game though, only the narrative and how it's presented (namely how compelling the characters are) and the wraith (or whatever they're called) guy that you share a body with is cool af with how domineering and...idk what the word is, aloof? He is. I liked him

Combat's pretty fun for a while but it got repetitive like halfway through, probably less so than the Batman games just because you can cut a mofo's head off which always helps with that

I enjoyed Shadow of Mordor a lot when I first played it, although it was surprisingly short and seemed like they expected you to get most of the gameplay time by entertaining yourself with the Nemesis system, which I didn't care to do. Tried to replay it a year or two ago and just couldn't get back in to it.

Shadow of War I dropped after the prologue. Gigantic map full of (repetitive) stuff that I actively didn't want to bother with.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Better than playing Dark Souls, at least.

Shit, that's a tough one. I'd say it's tied. Both are games for the lowest of IQs individuals

i just wish a full tilt of the stick made your character run instead of having to hold down a button. so annoying. we've had analog for decades and they decided to go with that

rexcrk posted...

This sounds like the post of someone who has never actually played the game.

There is a story. And you can do side quests as well.

Where on earth did you get the idea that you need to play (or that they want you to play) for thousands of hours?

In Shadow of war there's that entire conquest mode that only unlocks after you beat the game. Plus the weird multiplayer it had combined with loot boxes they put in place to try and incentivize you to build your perfect defensive team.

I love your trolling topic creator but your fooling no one with this bullshit.

Hot takes: the topic

WTF I did NOT make this topic for the name of Dark Souls to be sullied!

Apologize!

sutree posted...

WTF I did NOT make this topic for the name of Dark Souls to be sullied!

Apologize!

No

Hayame Zero posted...

I remember when the Nemesis system was supposed to be the hottest thing in games. They tried to trademark it.

By the time the sequel came out, it was dead in the water...because the creators tried to make a minor mechanic the hottest thing.

The fucked up thing is that it would be a really welcome mechanic in a lot of these unnecessary open world games, but nope, now for some reason it will never be seen again.

sutree posted...

WTF I did NOT make this topic for the name of Dark Souls to be sullied!

Apologize!

I'll apologize by saying Dark Souls had cool boss designs, at least.

KnightofShikari posted...

i just wish a full tilt of the stick made your character run instead of having to hold down a button. so annoying. we've had analog for decades and they decided to go with that

It'd be nice if games would do the opposite and have holding A be the walk button but idk if strictly using analog to determine move speed would work well for most people. Analog sticks just aren't precise instruments, it's very fiddly trying to tilt it only a certain amount. It's why no one actually does this in console shooters and why analog is so bad for those. Everyone just slams it as far as it goes because that's what's easiest and most natural/consistent

I remember playing Shadow of Mordor, but I remember basically none of it besides the QTE ending.
I also remember never interacting with the Nemesis system outside the story making me do it. I guess I expected it to be relevant by itself. Instead basically nothing happens unless somebody kills you (lmao) or whatever the f*** else there was that I didn't see.

Lame.

Dark Souls is a shit game indeed, cant argue that.

No lie, I had so much fun creating fueds and arch nemesis' with that game. Damn near had a whole rogues gallery at one point. The somewhat random encounters. I loved the game so much lol

It's one of the blandest game I have played. Lasted like 2 hours and got really bored.

I thought it was hilarious that you could brutally kill a guy with absolutely no question that he was dead as fuck, but later on he'd still come running out to challenge you because he was your nemesis lol

eston posted...

I thought it was hilarious that you could brutally kill a guy with absolutely no question that he was dead as fuck, but later on he'd still come running out to challenge you because he was your nemesis lol

They would put him back together with Metal plates lol I loved that shit.
I miss Assassins Creed multi-player. The before it got out of control version

KrayzieBonezz posted...

They would put him back together with Metal plates lol I loved that shit.
I miss Assassins Creed multi-player. The before it got out of control version

The PVP or the Co-op?

xXfireglzXx posted...

The fucked up thing is that it would be a really welcome mechanic in a lot of these unnecessary open world games, but nope, now for some reason it will never be seen again.

I thought it would be a really cool feature for an open world crime game, maybe one where you have to take down a crime family or something

Pvp I believe. The deathmaches from Brotherhood were intense as fuck. I wish Hitmans current multi-player would take this approach.

KrayzieBonezz posted...

Pvp I believe. The deathmaches from Brotherhood were intense as fuck. I wish Hitmans current multi-player would take this approach.

Yes, the PVP was great. It's a shame nobody gave a fuck about it.

Agreed games are garbage with some of the worst controls in modern aaa

Jabodie posted...

Yes, the PVP was great. It's a shame nobody gave a fuck about it.

It's insane. Is there anything else like it? Cuz I wish I could find something to match. I can't believe they dropped it altogether and no other developer is trying to take it and add their own stank to it