http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/241930/header.jpg?t=1447180561
http://store.steampowered.com/app/241930/?snr=1_7_15__13

I picked it up since it's on sale for $17 for the GotY edition and it's been one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. I played 4 hours last night and I'm so eager to play more tonight.

Pick it up if you don't have it!

It's similar to assassin's creed or batman where you can sneak and stealth around and the combat is really interactive, so that's fun. But to me so far, what's really cool are the enemy captains you come across. The orcs have all their normal grunts, but then they have a pile of captains, veteran captains, elite captains out there. Each with their own personality and traits.

I came across this guy that was a veteran captain, and I was a little new to be facing him, so I ran and hid. I'm hiding and hiding, but unlike in other games where you are generally safe after hiding for a while, not so here. This captain was a tracker! He and his posse followed me around this cliff, through some other areas, up a ladder, down a ledge.... I mean, I didn't know where to go lol. I used all my bow power shots on him but he was still only half dead (and he was supposed to be weak to bow shots).

I eventually lead them to a big rock wall and and they went around to the left and I circled behind them and picked off some of the guys at the end with a bow. Then was able to finish the captain with 4 more powered up shots. (I only get 4 at a time, then have to recharge them elsewhere). He died and was crossed off the captains list.

I thought sweet. I picked up a power-up from him and went on my day.

Well, I came across him again, except he was wearing like a bandage on his head. He said, you thought you killed me?! And we fought again. This time, I ran away and he lead the chase. I turned and attacked him while his posse was a little lagged behind. I dropped him to half health pretty quick, and he said he was retreating and tried running. He ran behind his orcs and dropped off a ledge. Well, I sprinted past his group, dove off the ledge and clipped him with my sword, then turned and did a wicked finishing move on him!

This game is uber fun. Grunts get promoted to captain when there's room and enough time passes (or you die). There's tons of side missions and power struggles between the captains... I haven't been so excited for a game in ages!



PS: Jon, I couldn't find this game on the game list to talk about.

jdodson   Admin wrote on 11/30/2015 at 06:00pm

I added it so you can now add it to your list: http://cheerfulghost.com/game/28042/middle-earth-shadow-of-mordor

jdodson   Admin wrote on 11/30/2015 at 09:39pm

The game sounds great and it's FAR up my list of games to play. What with Fallout 4 and Legacy of the Void I have quite a bit of game for the time being. That said the Steam Holiday sale is coming too and I might pick this up then(if it's on sale).

This game keeps getting recommended to me by friends, I will pick this up it's just a matter of when I can play it smile

JaBo   Post Author wrote on 11/30/2015 at 11:42pm

Hopefully it is, it's 66% off right now for the full package. maybe it'll be same or cheaper for Christmas. It is worth every penny. I'm just dying to get off work and go play!

And I hear ya, far too often I pick up a game because it's on sale, but then never make time to play it. Or I buy it full price and never play it lol. I'm pretty bad about it, honestly. I was nervous I'd do the same here, but watching the 8.5 minute video on steam sold me so hard. (Watch that if you haven't, it talks about some of the aspects of gameplay and you'll be drooling after).

It's definitely an action game, not an RPG game, but that's totally fine by me, I don't have much time for RPGs anymore... I can't dedicate enough time to them.

JaBo   Post Author wrote on 12/01/2015 at 05:28pm

I played another 5 hours last night..... I'm starting to get into the power struggles of the orcs with each other. I had a quest which basically is a lead in to me flexing my influence. The quest involved a scrawny whiny orc working with me. I basically killed a captain and this little guy cut his ear off and took credit for the kill so he'd be captain. Then I killed an elite captain for him and finally a Warchief. I had not previously faced a warchief. I had to infiltrate his fortress first (not interior) and kill a bunch of guys to get his attention. So now, this scrawny orc is the new warchief, but he supposedly will follow my commands... I know at some point (probably now that I did this little intro into it) I can mindmeld with orcs to dominate their mind and make them my puppet. Then I think I can manipulate the power struggles to get them to rise to higher ranks as my puppet. We'll see!

My combat skills are definitely on the rise, I can face down a hundred melee grunts. I still die to javelin throwers (pesky bastards) and captains are still hard, especially with a swarm of enemies or other captains. This one captain was particularly hard to kill, he had loaded armor on, huge shield and unblockable spear attacks. He slashed me and threw me around for half my health... lot of dodging. But he was also a learner. The same tactic didn't work more than once on him. He was immune to ranged attacks. I couldn't jump/dodge over the top of him to get him from behind easier.. He called reinforcements often. The only way I finally won after running away ragged was to keep sprinting away, climbing this platform and then sneak kill his allies to get him alone before more showed up. Even 1v1 he was super hard to fight since he blocked any head on attack.

(cutting post due to 3000 characters)

JaBo   Post Author wrote on 12/01/2015 at 05:28pm

I finally killed this other bastard that rose all way up the ranks and kept surviving encounters with me which earned him promotions. He killed me as a grunt a long time ago which promoted him to captain. Then every time I faced him he was with 3 other captains and I couldn't win. He finally got to a high power that he was strong 1v1, he had this bloody wicked long knife that dug into me. But I got him last night! He was doing a recruitment mission to get orcs to join him. I snuck in to disrupt him. Well, I shot down a nest of angry hornet things and he happened to be afraid of them, so he ran for it and the recruits were like, I'm not going to follow that guy! So success there, plus I left the outpost he was in and chased him as he fled. I caught up to him and since he was in a fleeing state, I was able to land a 1 hit KO on him.

The little personality quirks are really cool. Some guys are scared of beasts, some get enraged by you hurting their guards, each captain has different strengths and weaknesses. Also, the dialogue is fun. One captain I kept facing was a cannibal and he kept making eating jokes. I'm excited to start getting more into the power struggles and trying to get a foothold against these warchiefs.

Game is so fun! A solid 9+ hours played now and I'm still so ready to play more!

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