11th February 2017, 9:37 PM
bump
I'm playing Shadow of Mordor at the time. I'm actually reading through Lord of the Rings right now (never did so before, but I figured it was a cultural touchstone I had to hit). I've had it for two years, actually, but didn't dust it off until recently. The first time I popped it in, it seemed like the combat system was shallow, more focused on showing slick animations of lobbing off orc heads than actual gameplay.
Having given it an actual chance, I have to walk back on that. Once you get further in, the game adds more elements to keep it interesting. You learn more moves that you need as the game gets more difficult. The ground-pound comes to mind, where your character slams his fist against the ground to knock back swarms of surrounding enemies. You can grab orcs and interrogate them to learn the strengths/weaknesses of warlords you need to take on. As the game progresses, you can also overpower enemies and make them come to your side, helping you fight off the rest of the hordes. You can do so to the big wig warchiefs as well, then pit them against each other.
The game also incorporates stealth and platformer elements. The latter is simplified compared to games like Metal Gear Solid 5 (the 5 in that game represents the 5 hours I played before putting it away forever). Orcs are practically blind. You can run like 50 feet in front of them and they won't bat an eye. A big part of the game is hiding and luring them over with sounds, then grabbing and slaughtering them.
The platforming elements are quite good, almost as good as Uncharted, which is saying a lot. Actually, this game has more platforming elements, I would say. Your character's practically a monkey, jumping up and climbing cracks on fort walls or the sides of mountains, walking across tightropes, standing on a high wall and dropping down to a beast to ride him. All the tower climbing becomes important for running away from a mob of orcs that are wrecking your shit.
This game used to be easy, but now it's getting to be a pain in the ass. The missions are putting crowds of orcs to corner you and hack away. Many have shields to block you from swinging at them head-on. You have to flip over their heads and slash them from behind, but the moment you do that, you get stabbed with another guy with a pair of axes. This one doesn't have a shield, but he parries your attack and counters easily. In the midst of all this, there are scores of archers and spear chuckers hitting you from a distance, slowly draining your energy while you're focused on what's in front of you. It's getting very frustrating! But I'm engrossed all the same.
To the character itself, you play a ranger with a cliched story of a wife and son who are slaughtered by orcs. You're killed as well, but then this wraith guy with a similar background bonds to you or something and brings you back to life, then becomes your guide on your quest. Then you meet a new warrior woman who's going to be a new love interest and *replace the rest of this sentence with the Charlie Brown trumpet noise*
The game's graphics are dated in some parts (it is, after all, a port of the last gen consoles), but the orcs are rendered beautifully. They managed to pull in Gollem for the game -- his model's incredible. All the enemies are rendered better than the protagonists, to be honest. I'm okay with that. Orcs are more interesting to look at anyway.
I'm playing Shadow of Mordor at the time. I'm actually reading through Lord of the Rings right now (never did so before, but I figured it was a cultural touchstone I had to hit). I've had it for two years, actually, but didn't dust it off until recently. The first time I popped it in, it seemed like the combat system was shallow, more focused on showing slick animations of lobbing off orc heads than actual gameplay.
Having given it an actual chance, I have to walk back on that. Once you get further in, the game adds more elements to keep it interesting. You learn more moves that you need as the game gets more difficult. The ground-pound comes to mind, where your character slams his fist against the ground to knock back swarms of surrounding enemies. You can grab orcs and interrogate them to learn the strengths/weaknesses of warlords you need to take on. As the game progresses, you can also overpower enemies and make them come to your side, helping you fight off the rest of the hordes. You can do so to the big wig warchiefs as well, then pit them against each other.
The game also incorporates stealth and platformer elements. The latter is simplified compared to games like Metal Gear Solid 5 (the 5 in that game represents the 5 hours I played before putting it away forever). Orcs are practically blind. You can run like 50 feet in front of them and they won't bat an eye. A big part of the game is hiding and luring them over with sounds, then grabbing and slaughtering them.
The platforming elements are quite good, almost as good as Uncharted, which is saying a lot. Actually, this game has more platforming elements, I would say. Your character's practically a monkey, jumping up and climbing cracks on fort walls or the sides of mountains, walking across tightropes, standing on a high wall and dropping down to a beast to ride him. All the tower climbing becomes important for running away from a mob of orcs that are wrecking your shit.
This game used to be easy, but now it's getting to be a pain in the ass. The missions are putting crowds of orcs to corner you and hack away. Many have shields to block you from swinging at them head-on. You have to flip over their heads and slash them from behind, but the moment you do that, you get stabbed with another guy with a pair of axes. This one doesn't have a shield, but he parries your attack and counters easily. In the midst of all this, there are scores of archers and spear chuckers hitting you from a distance, slowly draining your energy while you're focused on what's in front of you. It's getting very frustrating! But I'm engrossed all the same.
To the character itself, you play a ranger with a cliched story of a wife and son who are slaughtered by orcs. You're killed as well, but then this wraith guy with a similar background bonds to you or something and brings you back to life, then becomes your guide on your quest. Then you meet a new warrior woman who's going to be a new love interest and *replace the rest of this sentence with the Charlie Brown trumpet noise*
The game's graphics are dated in some parts (it is, after all, a port of the last gen consoles), but the orcs are rendered beautifully. They managed to pull in Gollem for the game -- his model's incredible. All the enemies are rendered better than the protagonists, to be honest. I'm okay with that. Orcs are more interesting to look at anyway.