Let's Talk... Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Comparisons to the various systems of Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and the Batman: Arkham games are extremely apt when describing Shadow of Mordor's core mechanics. The movement and parkour-like traversal are essentially identical to that of Assassin's Creed, only tighter and more responsive. Elements of exploration and a number of stealth systems feel very reminiscent of the Far Cry games. The combat is quite literally taken from an Arkham game. And yet, even though so many of SoM's core systems are so blatantly cut from major franchises, Shadow of Mordor still manages to feel wholly unique in its execution, due mostly to its truly remarkable "Nemesis system". A system that feels so concisely designed and so smartly implemented, the nemesis system adds so much to every moment of the game.

The narrative arc follows protagonist Talion on his journey to avenge his family, who were slain by the Black Hand of Sauron, and discover the past of Celebrimbor, the spirit of an elf living inside him. Talion seeks to simultaneously cure himself of the curse of immortality, which afflicted him after he was killed alongside his family. The story in Shadow of Mordor is well-written and well-acted, and the character of Talion is concisely and effectively humanized thanks in large part to Troy Baker's excellent voice-work and emotive mo-cap
performance. However, parts of the narrative feel a little tonally confused, whilst others just feel disjointed and unnecessary. 

Troy Baker's motion-capture performance really helps to bring Talion to life, concisely and emotively

The story attempts to blend appeal to the wider Lord of the Rings audience (i.e. people who watched the films) with deep lore callbacks that only Lords of the Rings fans who read beyond the books would appreciate. For example, one of the main characters in the story is the aforementioned Celebrimbor, a key figure in the LotR lore, but not a character that appears in any of the movies. The deep fiction cuts are well-executed and handled rather gracefully. The parts that are trying to appeal to the wider audience, however, are clumsy and feel very fan-servicey in a way that's very much at odds with the rest of the game's tone. Things like Gollum appearing for a couple of missions for no real reason, for example, feel poorly executed and wholly unnecessary. The story is well-done but perhaps a little thin, the real draw should be the game's variety robust and extremely effective systems.

The game's combat, for example, will feel immediately familiar to anyone that's played any of the Batman: Arkham games. You can dodge, you can counter, you can vault over enemies. Racking up and maintaining chains of uninterrupted hits allows you to pull off numerous special moves. It's impossible to deny that the combat in Shadow of Mordor is that of the Arkham games, but that's certainly not a bad thing. The Arkham combat is some of the best melee combat done in a long time, and to see another game replicate it so effectively and maintain the impressive fluidity and satisfying responsiveness is most certainly not a problem. Of course, there are elements of SoM's combat that are unique and novel. Enemies can be grabbed, interrogated for information on other Orc captains, or even be converted to fight on your side. Although the basic feel of the combat is in no way unique, these various elements add a lot to the combat, especially later on when converting multiple Orcs into allies is extremely necessary, and taking advantage of a captain's weaknesses is crucial. 

An example of a captain's combination of strengths and weaknesses, along with noticeable scars caused by previous encounters with the player

Early on, the game is rather forgiving with the combat, offering generous timing on counters and allowing you to cancel an attack to counter another enemy. However, it's extremely easy to get overwhelmed by the huge number of enemies that can appear, and higher rankings captains and warchiefs (the highest rank) can be extremely tough to take down. Especially once their various strengths and resistances (invulnerability to ranged attacks, for example) begin to stack up. A major part of dealing with captains and warchiefs is adequate preparation, which mainly takes the form of intel you can gather from various sources. This information informs you of a captain's numerous strengths and weakness, fears and loathings, as well as their location, power level, rank etc. 

Preparation for such fights is when the nemesis system really shows its fantastic design and impressive variation. Every encounter with a captain or warchief is different from the last. One captain might have a fear of betrayal, and so converting one of his minions might cause him to flee. Another might hate Caragors (large, warg-like beasts) and the very sight of one will send him into a frenzy, making him even harder to kill. In some instances, a captain or warchief might flee and get demoted, or they may actually kill you and grow stronger and get promoted as a consequence. It's the unique combination of strengths and weaknesses that every captain seems to have, and the impressive volume of factors that can affect a captain's behaviour that make the nemesis system work so well. The elegant and dynamic design and its volatile and completely unscripted results are what give it such a profound impact on every aspect of the game. Every side mission you take, every encounter you have with a captain, every victory and every defeat. It all feeds into the ongoing, and potentially endless, meta-game that the nemesis system sets up. A meta-game that is, in many ways, far more interesting than some of the game's somewhat stale and repetitive story missions.

A visual representation of the game's nemesis system

Alongside the fluid combat, the game also features a robust and fairly forgiving stealth system. It's nothing revolutionary, and may even feel a little too basic for those expecting more intelligent AI or more complex systems, but it works pretty well and the variety of visceral stealth takedowns are endlessly satisfying. Enemies will follow the fairly typical phases of alertness: unaware, searching, and fully alert. Furthermore, the game features the Splinter Cell "last-known position" mechanic, which gives a visual display of where the enemy thinks you are. The game also does a great job of giving you incredible mobility for getting around the reasonably-sized map, between the huge burst of speed you get after vaulting over an object and the ability to teleport straight to a target, alongside fast travel options available after activating various watchtowers. The incredible mobility perfectly compliments the fast and fluid feel of the combat, and really adds to the constantly reinforced idea that you're just a total badass.

Ultimately, Shadow of Mordor relies on admittedly well-established systems and mechanics to deliver on an excellently designed and extremely unique idea. An idea that improves on every aspect of the game, good or bad, with its sheer prevalence and the constant, on-going meta-game that it establishes. The nemesis system easily elevates Shadow of Mordor from a solid-but-unoriginal open world game into a unique, well-executed and extremely dynamic adventure that is one of this year's strongest titles.