A sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, was released in October 2017. The game was supported by downloadable content upon release. Shadow of Mordor marked the biggest launch for a game based upon Tolkien's universe, and would go on to win several awards from video gaming publications, including Game of the Year. Some criticism was aimed at the game's story and boss battles. Most praise was directed at its combat, open-world design, and the Nemesis System. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received generally favorable reviews upon release. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in September 2014 and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2014.
Monolith focused on the development of the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions, while the development of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions was outsourced to Behaviour Interactive. Christian Cantamessa served as the game's lead writer, while Dan Abnett was recruited to write dialogues for the orcs featured in the game. They also received assistance from Weta Workshop, who advised on the special effects. In order to create an accurate environment and be consistent with Tolkien's books, the developers consulted many people from Warner Brothers, as well as Peter Jackson, director of the film trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The game introduces the Nemesis System, which allows the artificial intelligence of non-playable characters to remember their prior actions against the game's protagonist and react accordingly. Players can engage in melee combat, and use wraith abilities to fight and manipulate enemies. The player controls Talion, a Gondorian Ranger who bonds with the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor, as the two set out to avenge the deaths of their loved ones. Tolkien, the game takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings film trilogies. An original story based on the legendarium created by J. There's so much potential for a mind-blowing sequel, but Shadow of Mordor is ultimately a great system surrounded by mediocre content.Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a 2014 action-adventure video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Characters disappear from the plot without a trace, none of the pieces really tie together correctly, and the final boss battle is a damn quick-time event. By the time I'd finished eight hours of the mediocre story I was ready to quit, and the actual seventeen hours I put into the game felt really long. It's clearly the centerpiece here-everything else, from the story to the combat to the occasionally buggy free-running is given short shrift. The Nemesis system is a fantastic piece of tech, and I can't wait to see both what Monolith does with it next and what other open-world games accomplish with the inevitable rip-offs of this system.īut at the end of the day, it feels less like the Nemesis system was built into Shadow of Mordor and more like Shadow of Mordor was built as an outlet for the Nemesis system.
While the final fights against the Blackhand and the Tower are less memorable due in part to their overreliance on quick-time events, the whole package more than makes up for the late-game shortcomings. There are few fights more memorable in games than your battle with the Great White Graug or The Hammer. Everything about it is a loving homage to Tolkien and Assassin’s Creed, and I can’t wait to see where they take Talion and Celebrimbor next.
The camera oftentimes gets lost in the terrain, and sometimes Talion’s free running gets stuck on random objects, but minor quibbles aside… Shadow of Mordor is one polished experience. It’s violent, it’s addictive, and it controls like a dream. This is how you make a non-canon story in Middle-earth feel like it belongs, like it could be its own book or film in the world Tolkien created. Shadow of Mordor is a visually stunning, narratively compelling action RPG that had me enthralled from start to finish.