Shadow of Mordor. I've heard about it. I've liked different Lord of the Rings games. It looks like this is going for that Assassin's Creed vibe. I know the GB guys haven't done anything official yet, but the Gamespot guys did a pretty good look at what it's going to be.

http://www.gamespot.com/videos/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor-now-playing/2300-6421195/

Oh man, I totally forgot they were doing a Now Playing of this. Thanks!

It looked a but boring to be honest, but maybe they were just showing a small part if the game.

It looked pretty cool when they were showing it off during the GameSpot E3 stream.The relationships thing is interesting at least. I recall one email in the Bombcast mentioning that there were rumors of it being an Arkham game before WB told them to switch to Lord of the Rings, anyone else remember that? Or was I dreaming it?

@thunderslash: I think it was planned to be a Batman game based on the Nolan series, or something as silly. Unless I was dreaming as well.

Geez, you really haul ass in this game. Dude can fuckin jump too. I was worried about how long the whole "nemesis system" could keep me interested, but the fact that passing time changes it all up (including when you die) is kinda awesome. There's probably enough random elements to it all to keep things feeling fresh, not to mention all the runes to loot.

Combat looks a bit easy, but it's a demo so who knows. Could always just play it on hard anyways. It's got that sweet Prince of Persia flip, so that's great. Would've been nice to see more stealth stuff, but it looks like that'll be a viable way to go about things.

I still think it woulda been nicer if it was an original fantasy world they could go crazy with instead of trying to fit into Middle-earth, but whatever, the premise is intriguing and I really like Lord of the Rings stuff.

Still, I'm kinda apprehensive about it. Mostly I can't shake the feeling that the nemesis system is gonna feel real shallow real fast. I'll wait to see some reviews before picking it up. Coming out pretty soon! New video games again!

Haven't enjoyed an Assassin's Creed game since 2 (the only one I have really liked) but there is something about the French setting that I am a sucker for, if only it had some Les Mis songs in it! The only thing that is stopping me being certain about either of these games at the moment are their proximity to Alien and Far Cry 4, which I think may win me over more.

Of the two, I think Middle-earth looks more interesting. The Assassin's Creed games have a lot of baggage involved after building it up over the years, and the Ubisoft "design by book" approach really doesn't help it to change and grow up. Middle-earth seem to be picking parts of the Assassins setup and fleshing it out in their own way. Just so long as they pick the good parts and ditch the stuff that bogs down Assassin's Creed.

well as much as i love the AC games and have played all of them,i wont be buying another one until its set in japan.thats the only setting im really interested in at this point.shadow of mordor has alot of the things i like about AC games,but it also has alot of new things and ideas that make it something new.so i dont know if its better than AC,but im actually interested in this game unlike AC.that has to count for something.

This looks really good, personally im hoping to pick it up for the pc. The only thing that is turning me off is the LoTR setting, mostly because magic in that universe is usually not throwing fireballs, and such. Its a lot more mystical. But I keep thinking to myself; if they named if anything else, if they named it "Jungle Hunter", I would probably still have reservations, but I would still buy it.

So Im probably going to get it. Just because its a licensed product doesn't mean it is bad.

Maybe they showed something more in that stream later on that I didn't catch. I was somewhat interested in this game and then I tuned in to the show and was somewhat disappointed with what they showed. For the better part of an hour it seemed they went around, grabbing orcs by the face and converting them to their side. All of this took place in a fairly generic looking forest type setting and the missions themselves didn't feel organic in the slightest. Convert an orc and then find the mission marker where you help him take out some wild boars to boost his standing. I mean if that is the bulk of the game then it is incredibly disappointing. They also mentioned that there is no armor and your ranger will look the way he looks for the game. While I'm as tired of the AC formula as anyone else, I still find Unity more interesting that this Middle Earth political struggle simulator. Possibly the main storyline missions are a lot more fun but so far, I was not drawn in at all.

Unity looks better to me, in both gameplay and graphics. I have no interest in LOTR though (Forgotten Realms 4 Lyfe) so that is definitely a reason.

I'm actually interested as to how the Nemesis system that they have in this game would work and whether or not its as good as it actually sounds.

Considering AC doesn't have competitive multiplayer I'm a lot more interested in Shadows of Mordor. It will probably have a lot of issues but at least it's starting with a cool idea. Black Flag was probably like a top 5 game last generation but I don't think a non pirate/privateer scenario is going to have the same pull; even if the french revolution is a really interesting period in history (and was immediately followed by the most interesting period in European history).

Every AC since Brotherhood has had competitive multiplayer.

@corruptedevil: Yeah, the new ones don't. Figure that one out. It was the best multiplayer last generation at least for 2 of the games and pretty damn good otherwise.

@fredchuckdave: What? Bleh.

I think it looks great. Really looking forward to playing it.

This is the game that stole code from ACII right?

That was the accusation yes.

Wait, what? When was this brought up?

When the first gameplay video was released a former Ubisoft dev who worked on AC1 and 2 accused the game of stealing code on Twitter.

Ah, so nothing actually substantial, then.

I dunno, I wasn't really all that hyped for it, but that now playing actually made it look pretty neat. I like the freedom of movement and the look of the combat flow a lot, and the whole nemesis thing looks like it'd be good for at least a BIT of fun. I'll still wait for reviews, and I'm still not particularly interested in their hollywoody interpretation of LOTR lore (it's not that I'm offended or anything, it just isn't the flavor of LOTR that I'm particularly into), but it looked like it could be good for some nice, light fun, which I could be into down the road at least, if not at launch.

I'm probably still more intested in AC: Unity though. I'm at least intrigued by the notion that they may actually have taken fans' opinions into account this time around and tightened up some of the issues that have been present for basically the entire series. I want to see if that's actually the case, or if they were just paying that stuff lip service in hopes of fooling people who've grown a bit weary of the series.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this game, it sounds really good but everything I see makes it look like it could get old fast.

I have always seen this game as much more of an Arkham clone than an AC clone. I am looking forward to Unity much more though, it is looking to me to be what AC2 was to AC1.

Something about the way Talion moves seems a bit off to me. His animations seem super jerky, especially compared to Assassin's Creed. That's probably just a function of it aping the Arkham combat system, but I don't remember Batman's movement in that game being so rigidly stitched together, at least not out of combat. It might not be an issue when you're actually playing it, but it definitely stood out watching the video.

Styx the Potential Sleeper Hit...

@cirdain: I can't thank you enough for reminding me about this game! I completely forgot about it and stealth anything is my favorite anything!!! I am pumped for Styx!

I had no idea this existed. That looks great also. Looks like a more fun Thief.

I like Lord of the Rings, I liked Assassin's Creed 2 and 4, and I liked Batman Arkham Asylum. Hopefully this game will be the right mashup of those.

Not that interested the French Revolution or co-op assassins. More interested in that other Assassin's Game really.

something about the fact that brad is playing more destiny than shadow of mordor is worrying me about the quality of the game,

but then again the embargo is up on the 26th. so WB has to have some confidence on the game.

all i ever wanted was an AC set in a fantasy setting. This game looks like an off-brand less polished AC where it takes that influence, but the premise is sorta interesting. Maybe Ubi will learn from this and do something of their own

My prediction is that this game will run a bit short of depth to really stand out as amazing, but will still be solid and fun. Hopefully to pave the way for an amazing sequel.

I've already pre-bought this on steam just for the reason of getting it for 50 dollars before the sudden "australia tax" jump to 70 that it did. Here's hoping its not a mess.

I think it's just an easy way to show off the game, they did mention there was the full main story that they weren't showing off so i guess a lot is hinging on how awesome that is. It does seem like it could be somewhat repetitive but I don't know it kind of looks like the sort of repetitive I could get into, it definitely seems cool the way the orcs have randomised fears and abilities to shake it up. I think the one thing that doesn't feel present in this game that is worrying is challenge, every time they have showed this game it hasn't looked remotely challenging so I'm hoping thats just for the sake of demo purposes.

This has to be one of the safest concepts ever. If my grandson will ask me what gaming was like when grandpa was still young, I'll probably show him Shadow of Mordor. It is all the standard stuff of todays games combined in one!

• based on populair franchise (LOTR)
• Assassin's Creed's climbing / parcour gameplay
• Batman Arkham Asylum's combat
• Upgrade-able character
• Main character is voiced by Troy Baker
• You can see enemies through walls - button
• lots of icons and user interface (since when has this become cool again?)

It probably has a lot of collectible items and fast travel as well, plus an ingame achievement system next to the console/steam trophies. I really hope this is a good game though, because I hear a lot of people looking forward to this one.

To be fair the whole nemesis system is basically unprecedented, I mean watching it now it all looks safe and well developed but pitching the idea of it to begin with for a 3rd person action game is definitely a little out there.

@rowr: Yea that's the only part of the game I still don't fully understand. I've watched about 3 video's about it (the nemesis system that is), but all I get is that it randomly generates Orcs and you can decide what Orc will be tougher than the others in the end.
So how does this influence your playthrough in a big way? It's still about killing the Orcs, right?

Yeh while it looks neat on it's own it's hard to know where it's heading or fits into in the grand scheme of things. I'm kind of assuming it will weave into the story in some capacity as far as making story bosses easier or something? I thought i read or watched that you are basically gathering an army, so perhaps when you get all 5 chiefs dominated etc that completes that army and that section is "done". I feel a lot hinges on the quality of the story and it's missions and how it all ties together, it's a little worrying how little of that has been shown off but let's hope it's good.

Gather your army and wage war Brutal Legend style? Eh? Eh? Anyone? Yes? It would be better than Civilization style... :P

The very fact Shadows of Mordor seems to be story heavy, even if the story is corny, is at least progress. Now, if it is better than AC, that is a whole other question. Also, when we say better what do we means and better than which game? Better than Assassin's Creed 4? Better than Assassin's Creed Unity? Or, better than Assassin's Creed Rogue?

I think AC4 worked because the game play despite being somewhat retread was at least a bit more tolerable with pirate ship fights and less AC trappings. I think that's what Rogue will actually be far more popular with players than Unity will be; JMO but I think Shadows of Mordor and Rogue will prove far more enjoyable.

@monkeyking1969: I really like stabbing dudes in the face and neck. The ship combat in 4 became a chore halfway through in a way that the combat and assassinations haven't.

I wish I was able to pick this up right now. :( It looks interesting.

Looking forward to a quick-look. I'm hoping that the reason most/all of the game they've shown is the nemesis system is because they're very proud of it. If most of the game is hunting down increasingly powerful/smart orcs, I'm not sure how long that would be fun for.

I haven't gotten the slightest LOTR vibe from anything I've seen of this game. It looks like a bunch of fantasy tropes given a Peter Jackson coat of paint.

I would actually be one of probably five people who would love that actually.

Let's be honest would you really be happy with anything they do? Obviously they can't go retreading the same stuff with the same characters and they can't do anything to crazy with it either. I honestly don't know what people actually expect. They have barely showed off any story stuff to date anyway.

Also, suprise! LOTR IS FANTASY TROPES, it's the definition of fantasy tropes, it INVENTED fantasy tropes. TROPES.

To answer the thread title, I will wait until I play both to make that judgement.

However, I think both look interesting.

I just dont see this game doing anything great. It all seems very middling at best. I cant get past the boxy environments. So many things are overly boxy/flat edged though-out in a VERY dated, and non organic way. It looks so weird to me. The graphics look REALLY washed out in a PS2 era fashion. The transition combat animations are pretty jarring. The British Orc VO comes off as amazingly bad! I havent seen a Orc that wasnt painful to listen to. I just dont see anything interesting in this game.

Well, the short answer is yes. Games have gone off script before while still seeming to be Tolkienish... the best one was LoTRO. I'm not demanding that they retell the story of Frodo/Gandalf et cetera. And yes, there are fantasy tropes in Lord of the Rings, which is why this game can even exist and not be totally absurd. However, what it's missing is all the things that separate Lord of the Rings from RA Salvatore. It's full of things like agrarian sensibilities and a sense of nostalgia for a bygone age between the battle scenes that are possible to replicate, you'd just have to give the player the opportunity to stop stabbing things for a bit and interact with other characters and the environment. Anything pure action is bound to fail to capture the spirit of the thing.

I think that there's room for original tales in Tolkien's lore, but it needs to be respectful of that lore while also being a good narrative in its own right. I brought up this game in another thread, but The Third Age was an example of neither, as it played out like a comically poor fanfiction. You're a fellowship of characters that follows the actual Fellowship, getting mixed up in their adventures and shattering any sense of canon while fitting in footage from the films as cutscenes. And the story goes from silly rubbish to completely outlandish as the game progresses. When your party is literally fighting the Eye of Sauron at the end of the game, it's evident that something has gone off the rails.

@hailinel: Yeah, that was my reaction to that game also.

well early reviews have started to hit, and it seems like its one of the highest reviewed games of the year.