Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Catch-All

I think the game overall does a good job of leading you through the different advancements and play styles as you go. Only two bits of advice I'd really add to what's above is that 1) it's always okay to run away (although occasional dying is important too) and 2) if you're looking for some orcs to just kill for experience and runes, avoid archers and spearchuckers. They're nasty.

Hyetal wrote:

Decapitation is no guarantee, either, despite best efforts. I've had beheaded Uruk come back with a bag over their... heads. I do believe it makes it much more unlikely, though.

I had wondered about this. I'm unsure if I may have brought it up during my orc slaying campaign. I was somewhat certain I had beheaded a certain captain only to see what looked to be a stitched and plated neck holding that head back in place. I think. I was always terrible with their names.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Localgod54 wrote:

I think the basic problem with the nemesis system was that it was easy to miss out on it entirely.

It's very dependent on player skill in order to be interesting. If you're good at the game, you can slaughter all the orc captains, never fast travel, and in doing so neuter many of the mechanisms for evolving your opponents in a meaningful way. You'll probably kill your nemesis and probably not notice.

On the other hand, if you're not as good as at the game, you can very quickly end up with a host of leveled up orc captains who you're going to have a hard time beating, who get more powerful each time you try to fight them.

Also, while it makes sense that characters would defend themselves against the attack that defeated them, granting enemies broad immunity to "stealth attacks" or "combat finishers" risks pushing players out of what they like about the game and into what they don't. I'm sure the goal was to force players to explore their full range of options, but if a player loves stealth and hates riding caragors, giving them a nemesis that's immune to everything but caragors makes the game actively less fun for that player.

The feedback loops in the Nemesis system all go in the wrong directions. You really need a player who is skilled enough to survive but not skilled enough to completely avoid death, who prefers to not travel by foot, and who enjoys all of the game's modes of play.

Which, amusingly, is where the game lost me.

The broad immunities did exactly what you mentioned. I got a captain/leader/whatever who was immune to everything except stealth, right in the middle of a fortress that was crawling with dozens of patrols. I got to him still in stealth one, attacked... and did 1/4 of his health in damage, then promptly turned off the game and never went back. The system felt unfair to the point of ridiculousness. I never got him below half health because nothing else did much damage and the moment I attacked him, the entire fortress of orcs collapsed in on me.

Lots of great advice here.

Clearly, I need to be prepared to use a variety of different tools and techniques to navigate this game successfully. I can live with that... I hope.

As I said, I'm no more than 40 minutes in, so I've still got a lot to learn. But I'm reassured, Dryden, by your assertion that the game will lead me through the new options when as introduced.

When roaming from story mission to story mission, is it possible to clear out the game world? Or do enemies mobs simply respawn a la Far Cry 2?

I probably shouldn't ask any more for fear of spoiling my own voyage of discovery...

RnRClown wrote:
Hyetal wrote:

Decapitation is no guarantee, either, despite best efforts. I've had beheaded Uruk come back with a bag over their... heads. I do believe it makes it much more unlikely, though.

I had wondered about this. I'm unsure if I may have brought it up during my orc slaying campaign. I was somewhat certain I had beheaded a certain captain only to see what looked to be a stitched and plated neck holding that head back in place. I think. I was always terrible with their names.

You know, I wonder what a Highlander videogame would be like with the Nemesis system.

detroit20 wrote:

When roaming from story mission to story mission, is it possible to clear out the game world? Or do enemies mobs simply respawn a la Far Cry 2?

I probably shouldn't ask any more for fear of spoiling my own voyage of discovery...

They respawn. Endlessly tangling with Uruks, seeing their power structure change is more or less the entire game, and it necessitates that the enemies respawn. Though if you kill Captains and don't advance time (or die), you can eventually clear the board of named NPCs.

Most of these are questions you would answer with another hour of playing, so I'd say you're probably right.

Grenn wrote:
RnRClown wrote:
Hyetal wrote:

Decapitation is no guarantee, either, despite best efforts. I've had beheaded Uruk come back with a bag over their... heads. I do believe it makes it much more unlikely, though.

I had wondered about this. I'm unsure if I may have brought it up during my orc slaying campaign. I was somewhat certain I had beheaded a certain captain only to see what looked to be a stitched and plated neck holding that head back in place. I think. I was always terrible with their names.

You know, I wonder what a Highlander videogame would be like with the Nemesis system.

Make it so!

Shadow of War is a terrible name but at least brings the game out of the Mordor setting.

Shadow of Wardor

If it's to be war, I hope it's one of the wars in the Silmarillion, maybe even the biggie: the War of Wrath, in which elves and men fought the forces of Morgoth. The powers unleashed destroyed Beleriand in the west of Middle Earth and ended the First Age.

The tale of Beren and Luthien recovering the Silmaril from Morgoth would make a cool game, too, but it's not really a war.

Certis wrote:

Shadow of Wardor

Shadow of Wario.

Garth wrote:
Certis wrote:

Shadow of Wardor

Shadow of Wario.

Shadow of MoarWar

Hobear wrote:
Garth wrote:
Certis wrote:

Shadow of Wardor

Shadow of Wario.

Shadow of MoarWar

Hodor MoarWarring his Shadow: In the Shadow of Mordor.....
.....HODOR?!!? (<---- actually, this line would be the DLC)

edit: Also, whoohoo! I hope they find a way to do more with or enhance the nemesis system as opposed to some new gimmick; it just needs some tweaks, still the primary mechanic that I want to see front and center in the game.

I am really confused where this story fits in with The Lord of the Rings.

I can't wait for this game but how awesome would the Nemesis system be in a Daredevil game? Fight your way through Kingpins thugs and then eventually to Kingpin himself. Marvel needs to steal this!

Why has the nemesis stem not been ripped off in another game yet! It's soooo gooooood.

Sorry everyone. The best sequel name joke was already taken on Twitter.

Why isn't the new Lord of the Rings game called "Second Degree Mordor"? - @richardcobbett

Can we retroactively rename the first game Mordor in the First?

We could just start always calling it that whether anyone wants us to or not.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

:lol: I am really confused where this story fits in with The Lord of the Rings.

Under the "Lord of the Rings" category on fan-fiction.net.

Huge @ "Second Degree Mordor"

As to the general 'thought': Pfffbbt, whatevs. Tolkien was all about the combo-kill multipliers. The let's-make-Quenya-from-scratch stuff was just when he was bored.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

:lol: I am really confused where this story fits in with The Lord of the Rings.

I believe it's BEFORE Anakin becomes Vader but AFTER the whole "The Boy Who Lived" fiasco.

Thin_J wrote:

We could just start always calling it that whether anyone wants us to or not.

A catch-all thread is yet to be created (I assume).

ClockworkHouse wrote:

:lol: I am really confused where this story fits in with The Lord of the Rings.

IMAGE(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/27/ed/eb/27edeb5fff379a6dee27bef760f17a62.jpg)

Seems like canon to me.

Midlife-Mordor-Crisis on Infinite Middle Earth?

Mordor was the game case that they gave me.

So... they have a Balrog. I certainly hope there is only one. The Balrogs are Maiar, beings of great power on the order of Gandalf or Sauron himself. In Tolkien's later writings, only seven ever existed. All others were destroyed in the Great War that ended the first age.

There was a LOTR RTS once that had Balrogs as a unit that could be recruited; you could have an army with multiple Balrogs. I expect Monolith won't butcher the lore that badly, but creatures with that kind of power can be seductive for game designers.

ccesarano wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

:lol: I am really confused where this story fits in with The Lord of the Rings.

Under the "Lord of the Rings" category on fan-fiction.net.

I had similar thoughts. Also "Hey guys! The Rings of Power are a huge problem, what should we do about that?"

*Forges a new ring of power.*

BadKen wrote:

There was a LOTR RTS once that had Balrogs as a unit that could be recruited; you could have an army with multiple Balrogs. I expect Monolith won't butcher the lore that badly, but creatures with that kind of power can be seductive for game designers.

Did you play the first game? It's not like Shadow of Mordor was a great story.