So I started with
Shadow of Mordor, and have played several hours so far.
I have a bit of mixed feelings at the moment. Let me explain.
The graphics are decent, like the way it looks, although the regions look quite similar, and on top of that, the open world here, is very small compared to other games, which makes you travel to the same spots over and over again, which is not always a bad thing, as you'll know the locations by heart soon, but like I mentioned, there's not a lot of variety.
Orcs are everywhere, always, respawning all the time, when traveling from A to B, it can be tedious, as you have to cross their paths all the time, fast travel is possible, doesn't make a lot of sense though in this small world. So you're gonna find yourself in battles more often than you would like to.
The game is also quite hard, for me, as fighting the captains is sometimes messy, as there's all the time a huge amount of orcs around them, so delivering a finishing move becomes a real big task, and if you don't behead them in a special move, they'll come back at a certain point in the game, you'll cross their paths, they have become stronger, have a grudge against you, and might even got promoted.
Talking about promotions, when you die, several of the orcs in the nemesis system get promoted, which makes them even stronger and more difficult to defeat. The system is great, the idea is great, but it makes ME suffer the consequences of dying, which is natural in a video game.
Strongholds are also very strong, I mean, I try to sneak, btw stealth is quite well done here, but once you're discovered, which at some point WILL happen, some orc is running straight away for the alarm. He is well marked with an icon, but getting him can be challenging, as you're currently fighting 12 other orcs. Plus if you get to him, straight away another one goes for the alarm. And I can tell you, once the alarm is sounded, there's 20-30 more orcs coming in, and I'm not exaggerating here, it are that many.
And healing is a bit of a problem too, as you don't carry healing potions or herbs or whatever to regain health, instead you have to run away and find some herbs on the ground, cut them, eat them and return into the fray. Anyway, I find myself running away from hordes of orcs all the time, as at some point, they're overwhelming you, that you don't have any other option than running away.
There's also not a big variety of enemies, it's orcs all over. At least there's some funny ways of killing them, dropping bee nests on them, set them on fire near a campfire, poisoning their grog, exploding them or exposing them to Caragors, some flesh eating beasts. Brutalizing them is also funny, when you see everybody around fleeing the scene.
The camera is not always helpful, fights can get out of control with so many enemies, and having a bad camera positioning doesn't help it either.
Missions are also quite repetitive, which is a bit normal in an open world, but in a small one like this, they should have added diversity. There's also not a lot of happening around, a bit like in my little hometown, I mean, this is Mordor, is there not supposed to be something else happening than orcs having grog parties or slashing humans on every corner.
I also wished there was some loot, different weapons, but there's absolutely none, only upgrades for your abilities, and unlocking more slots for runes in your weapons, which are a sword, a dagger and a bow.
Other than that, the game is good
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, I would rate it a 6/10, which is still quite enjoyable, and I will continue playing it, but I think they missed the opportunity of making this an 8 or a 9, so hopefully the sequel (or prequel) will learn from these missteps, but what I have seen so far, it looks promising.
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