melmer

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Recommended Posts

Anyone on the fence, GMG's October code is out and covers Shadows of Mordor as well. OCTOBE-R25OFF-GMGXXX

Quoting for anyone who would like to pick up the game on the PC for less than $40. The code will also work for ALIEN: Isolation. If I hear that's good as well, I might be pre-ordering it before the week is through.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ah, the magic of the future. Bought this on GMG, logged in on the copy of Steam on my crappy tablet to redeem the code, used the website to start the download on my home machine, and it was ready by the time I got off work

I played two hours. I really like it. I've died about 5 times, 3 times to those damn caragores, once to a named orc, and once to an unnamed orc that then got a name when he took me out. Right at this moment, I'm killing guys too fast for the intel to mean much, but I suspect when the game gets harder that stuff will be more valuable. One thing that ended up being really nice is that dropped runes stay on the map and can be picked up later. I ambushed a captain in the middle of a stronghold, took him out, but an alarm got raised in the process. I ended up getting killed in a sea of 30 or so orcs just trying to get to the rune to pick it up, when I could have just taken off and come back to get it later.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The system is also simplified at the beginning of the game. Story progress actually increases the complexity of the background systems, and the game even surfaces this to the player.

 

I usually min-max open world games like this by taking care of a substantial amount of side quests before proceeding onto the main storyline. And in the case of Mordor, I'm having so much fun with the basic gameplay loop that I have only completed two or three main quests in the six-plus hours I've sunk into the game thus far. After one story mission involving a rather rodent-like Uruk, a few additional layers of the nemesis system came into focus. I can't even fathom how crazy it gets once the whole branding/submission stuff comes into play.

 

This is on track to be my favorite game of the year so far. It looks fantastic, plays well, has unique systems, pretty great writing overall and some top-level voice acting and music. In fact, it's so overwhelmingly enjoyable that it more than compensates for that fact that I'm not much of a high fantasy guy in the first place.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, it's pretty intense on the video card. I have an ATI 7000 series with 2gb of video memory and I auto-detected down to mostly medium and low settings.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's really unfortunate that they decided to do a bunch of Ubisoft-style crap like extremely restrictive "leaving mission area" failures and insta-fail stealth missions. The former just happened to me while I was standing right next to the guy I was supposed to kill, somehow we both ended up outside the zone.

 

Agreed on the system requirements, my brand new GTX 970 can barely deliver 60 fps on max settings. It's not even a particularly good looking game, just seems poorly optimized.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Agreed on the system requirements, my brand new GTX 970 can barely deliver 60 fps on max settings. It's not even a particularly good looking game, just seems poorly optimized.

I'm gonna have to disagree with this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've debated if I should stop playing until I get a new video card. The game looks fine, but I really want it to look amazing when its on high. At first glance, I'd probably agree the game seems not terribly well optimized, but if I take into consideration the amount of characters, what ever AI, and the variety of those character models, its probably enough to justify it running a bit slowly with its fidelity.

 

I really don't want to stop playing, but by the time I get a new card, I'll probably be bored of the game.

 

The question is where do they go from here? I mean constraining such a neat game with a property and timeline like Lord of the Rings, not to mention how interested people are in the IP (The hobbit movies aren't doing great) seems a little weird. I wonder if they will transfer the idea of a sequel to something new or keep the LOTR train going, it's so far my least favorite part of the game. With that said, if I could be a Orc running around killing other captains and trying to manipulate events so I could become a warchief and build a gang of drunken cockney mutants, I'd call that a sequel well done.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm gonna have to disagree with this.

 

That it's not very good looking? Things look impressive at a distance, but once you get up close you'll notice the inconsistent texture quality. Try finding a bush next to a building, the leaves look much nicer than the wall. Or any orc, their faces look great while clothing/armor is all blurry.

 

Not to sound too negative, it's still one of the most fun and interesting games I've played this year.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah I wouldn't agree that it's poorly optimised at all. I had most settings on high (including texture quality, despite the VRAM warnings) with a few on medium and it ran at 60 for the whole game on my GTX 670. That's way better performance than I've had out of any recent Ubisoft game, for example. Also better than Thief and Hitman Absolution, and maybe equivalent to Tomb Raider because for some reason Square Enix managed to get that one going ok.
 
There are a few settings in this game that are meant for future proofing rather than actual current use (such as supersampling and 6GB VRAM ultra textures), but I haven't heard from anyone that hasn't been able to get decent performance with reasonable tweaks for their hardware.

 

The question is where do they go from here? I mean constraining such a neat game with a property and timeline like Lord of the Rings, not to mention how interested people are in the IP (The hobbit movies aren't doing great) seems a little weird. I wonder if they will transfer the idea of a sequel to something new or keep the LOTR train going, it's so far my least favorite part of the game. With that said, if I could be a Orc running around killing other captains and trying to manipulate events so I could become a warchief and build a gang of drunken cockney mutants, I'd call that a sequel well done.

 

This isn't really a spoiler because if you've played a game or watched a film in the last ten years you're sort of expecting it, but the end of the game does leave open the possibility of a sequel. Honestly, that disappointed me a little. As you said, I would prefer something that has similar systems and concepts without it needing to be a direct sequel. That said, who knows what will actually happen down the line?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That it's not very good looking?

I disagree on both counts, honestly. There are certainly some textures which are muddier than others, but the overall visiual fidelity is quite impressive, especially the tesselation and lighting. The animation is also just jaw-dropping, such as orcs tripping and falling as they run away from you in fear, or the way their faces emote horror as you interrogate them.

 

And as Gwardinen said, this game performs much better than Ubisoft's recent output.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The question is where do they go from here? I mean constraining such a neat game with a property and timeline like Lord of the Rings, not to mention how interested people are in the IP (The hobbit movies aren't doing great) seems a little weird. I wonder if they will transfer the idea of a sequel to something new or keep the LOTR train going, it's so far my least favorite part of the game. With that said, if I could be a Orc running around killing other captains and trying to manipulate events so I could become a warchief and build a gang of drunken cockney mutants, I'd call that a sequel well done.

I have to wonder if the next game of this type is that they make the Batman game that this was obviously spun off from. So much of the battle system is just from the Arkham games, and there's been some discussion that the LOTR license was bolted on after development had started.

Imagine that the lowest 2 tiers on the Nemesis system were basically just goons, who then evolve into villains when they reach just under the Warchief level, with the Warchiefs being the "Top 5 Most Wanted" villains or some sort of "Council of Crime".

It would also help explain how guys seem to keep coming back, if you take them down, then they get sent to Arkham, only to inevitably re-emerge.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

After getting over being overwhelmed at the start, this game is kind of like a dream come true: the best parts of Assassins Creed combined with the combat from Batman and to top it off the nemesis system is approaching* what I've often dreamed games should move towards where you have fewer but tougher enemies that you keep fighting throughout the game. Of course this one has the additional filler as well., and it doesn't hurt I guess.

The graphics are indeed blurry in some places - I have a 570 GTX and left the settings to defaults, but I wouldn't expect more with an old card like that. I guess you would have to SLI to get the maximum prettytude.

* (or maybe will be surpassing since I think I'm still rather near the beginning)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I disagree on both counts, honestly. There are certainly some textures which are muddier than others, but the overall visiual fidelity is quite impressive, especially the tesselation and lighting. The animation is also just jaw-dropping, such as orcs tripping and falling as they run away from you in fear, or the way their faces emote horror as you interrogate them.

 

And as Gwardinen said, this game performs much better than Ubisoft's recent output.

 

 

I use a 2560x1440 monitor, this tends to make low-res textures stand out. Agreed on the animations, realistic and fluid, especially combat.

 

This is the only new game that I've played since I upgraded to the GTX 970 last week, maybe I just had unreasonably high expectations given that it's not the top of the line card.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I kind of want to keep a captain alive for as long as possible, just to see how far they let you take it. I imagine a furious dismembered orc showing up in some kind of primitive wheelchair using his teeth as his only remaining weapon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And as Gwardinen said, this game performs much better than Ubisoft's recent output.

 

When people refer to Ubisoft, are you just talking about the style of game they've pigeonholed themselves into making? I've seen this more than a couple places. I know it pulls heavily on some of those game mechanics, but Monolith made this and Time Warner produced.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I use a 2560x1440 monitor, this tends to make low-res textures stand out. Agreed on the animations, realistic and fluid, especially combat.

 

This is the only new game that I've played since I upgraded to the GTX 970 last week, maybe I just had unreasonably high expectations given that it's not the top of the line card.

I would say pushing past 1080p is a big part of it. We're talking about a difference of nearly 97 million pixels every second.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm comparing Ubisoft's PC optimization to WB's in this instance.

 

Right. I wasn't trying to single you out, I have just seen "Ubi" in reference to this game an awful lot and I think it's doing Monolith a disservice to not give them a fucking whale of credit for a rad game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Right. I wasn't trying to single you out, I have just seen "Ubi" in reference to this game an awful lot and I think it's doing Monolith a disservice to not give them a fucking whale of credit for a rad game.

I'm a huge proponent of both FEAR and Condemned: Criminal Origins. In fact, Condemned was the first time I recall seeing depth of field applied to actual gameplay and being totally blown away at the time (It must've been early 2006?).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmm, I put a bunch of time into this (8 hours) and it's starting to feel a bit samey. I've pretty much emptied out my entire Nemesis display now that I finally managed to get Orkinson the Whiney to stay dead. I'm not saying I don't die, but I'm certainly killing 3-4 Uruks per life, meaning that it's just not keeping up with me. I get the feeling I'm about to hit a story hump, so hopefully it gets more challenging after that.

 

Edit: I should mention that "The Whiney" was his real title even if I can't remember what his first name was.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I started playing this last night and I immediately fell right back into the groove I had with Arkham City.  I replayed that game a few weeks ago so picking up another with an almost identical combat system was a near seamless transition for me.  Within a few hours of playing, I had identified all the captains I'm currently capable of (I've done very little of the story so the warchiefs are still unknown to me) including the intel on each.  When I finished for the night, more than half of them were dead.  I died maybe twice the entire time and very quickly got revenge so my killer wasn't able to climb the ranks.  In one fight inside a stronghold, I had 3 new potential captains introduce themselves one after the other as I fought a group of about 10+.  I then proceeded to kill the lot of them.  I had to run away and wait for the crowd to disperse before I could pick up the runes.  Then I slaughtered another large group just for kicks.  It was stupidly fun.  Right now my biggest problem I keep having is mixing up which button to push for a ground finisher.  I instinctively try to use the one from Arkham.

 

In the graphics department, my card only has 1.5GB of memory so some of the settings defaulted to low.  It certainly doesn't look as sharp as it could but graphics are so low on the list of things I care about in a game that I'm not bothered in the least.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I avenged one of your deaths, SecretAsianMan! A red blip showed up on my map and informed me that you'd been murdered by some Uruk. Well, I just wasn't going to let that shit stand, so I hunted down the captain and put my dagger through his jugular.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now