Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is an action role-playing video game set within Tolkien's legendarium, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The story of the game takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in September 2014 and released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2014. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a third-person open world video game, where the player controls a Ranger by the name of Talion who seeks revenge on the forces of Sauron after his family, including his wife, are killed. Though Talion is mortally felled in the game's introduction, the wraith of the Elvin Lord Celebrimbor is able to use his power to keep Talion alive, along with gifting him wraith-like abilities to exact his revenge. Missions in the game feature main story missions that follow Talion's quest for revenge, side missions that involve following Gollum as to find artifacts that are tied to Celebrimbor's past, missions to free the human slaves that have been captured by the Uruk armies and forced to work for Sauron, and additional quests to help forge new abilities for Talion's sword, bow, and knife. The player also has the freedom to pursue side quests and roam around Mordor, with special activities to collect specific flora or to hunt certain creatures, or to find old artifacts or Elvish seals. Completing quests earns the player a number of rewards: experience points that are used to unlock new abilities for the player from both Talion's ranger and Celebrimbor's wraith skills, a Power value that allows the player to access more powerful abilities to unlock, and an in-game currency that the player can use to improve Talion's health, wraith skill capacity, or forge new slots on his weapons to add additional runes (as described in the Nemesis System below). In completing missions, the player can have Talion engage in melee, ranged combat, and stealth approaches, with some missions rewarding the player more for completing the mission in a specific manner. Talion's ranger abilities are enhanced through Celebrimbor, allowing the player to mix combat with special focus-based attacks; these latter attacks can be used to slow time down while aiming with the bow, drain focus out of an enemy foe, or, later in the game, brand the foe to become an ally of Talion. The combat system uses an attack-chain system that enables the player to perform special moves after building the chain to a large enough value, such as instantly draining a foe of focus or performing an area focus attack. Stealth is a critical element in some missions; several areas are considered Strongholds and should Talion's presence be discovered, an alarm will sound and more Uruks will arrive to try to kill him. A core feature of Shadows of Mordor is the Nemesis system. The game tracks a number of specially tagged Uruks as part of Sauron's armies, who will lead the other Uruks in battle. Defeating these leaders will help to weaken Sauron's army, and these leaders will drop a rune which the player can install on Talion's weapons to provide additional buffs in battle. Alternative, being killed by a leader will cause the current mission to be cancelled and the player returned to a safe point to continue exploring, and the leader will gain additional power, making him more difficult to defeat in the next encounter. Further, such deaths are tracked through online servers, and the player's friends on the various network services (such as via Steam friends for Windows players) will be notified of this death and be offered the chance to exact revenge on the Uruk, which if successful will give rewards to both the original player and the victorious friend. The leader Uruk will have a range of strengths and weaknesses, the latter that can be exploited in combat to quickly weaken and defeat the leader. The player can gain knowledge of these through finding intelligence, either by locating papers with the information, speaking to rescued slaves, or draining marked Uruks for this. Being able to exploit such weaknesses in defeating the leader will gain a better quality rune and more experience points in this manner. Once the player gains the ability to brand Uruks, they can brand these leaders and convert portions of Sauron's army to their side. At this point, the player can use the Nemesis system to trigger infighting within the Uruk forces which they can then directly participate in, helping to weaken the army further. Uruks that survive their encounter with Talion will remember this when Talion combats them again; for example, an Uruk who was thrown into a fire by Talion might want revenge on him for being disfigured. In February 2014, Monolith Productions announced that the Nemesis System, being a large system, will be reduced in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases, also stating that they were "focusing on the next-gen platforms," meaning the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One systems. Furthermore, they stated that they are "going to do whatever we can to get as much as possible on current-gen." Monolith Productions also stated that "some of the stuff," meaning the "core mechanics," which are combat, stealth, ranger abilities and movements, the basic control and gameplay, will be the same on both generations of gaming consoles. The game takes place between the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. The family of Talion (voiced and motion captured by Troy Baker), a ranger of Gondor responsible for guarding the Black Gate of Mordor, is killed by the armies of Sauron (Steven Blum), but Talion is revived with "wraith-like abilities" and heads into Mordor to exact his revenge. Mordor is not yet a barren wasteland in this story. The player will encounter Gollum (voiced by Liam O'Brien). Talion discovers that the wraith who revived him is Celebrimbor (voiced by Alastair Duncan), the greatest Elven smith master of the Second Age, who also seeks revenge against Sauron. Talion, a ranger captain, serves within a Gondorian garrison stationed at the Black Gate of Mordor. The garrison is attacked by Sauron's Orc forces led by three Black Númenórean captains; the Hammer of Sauron (John DiMaggio), the Tower of Sauron (J. B. Blanc), and their leader, the Black Hand of Sauron (Nolan North). Talion, his wife Ioreth (Laura Bailey), and his son, Dirhael, are captured and ritually sacrificed by the Black Hand in an attempt to summon the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor. However, Celebrimbor (who suffers from amnesia due to his status as a wraith) instead merges with Talion, preventing him from dying alongside his family. Talion and Celebrimbor then depart to uncover Celebrimbor's identity and avenge the death of Talion's family. Over the course of their travels, Talion and Celebrimbor encounter Gollum multiple times. Gollum possesses the ability to see and speak with Celebrimbor due to his prior contact with the One Ring. Hoping that Celebrimbor might lead him to the One Ring, Gollum leads Celebrimbor to relics of his past, each of which restore parts of his lost memories. Celebrimbor gradually recalls how Sauron, disguised as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, deceived him into forging the Rings of Power. Celebrimbor ultimately assisted Sauron in forging the One Ring, but was able to steal it from him. Celebrimbor proclaimed himself the Bright Lord of Mordor and raised an army of Orcs against Sauron. However, the Ring ultimately betrayed Celebrimbor and returned to Sauron. Sauron then punished Celebrimbor by executing his wife and daughter and, finally, by killing him with his own smithing hammer. In his search for the Black Hand, Talion allies himself with Hirgon, a ranger deserter who leads a community of Gondorian outcasts choosing to settle in Mordor, and Ratbag the Coward, an Orc who offers to bring Talion closer to the Black Hand in exchange for his assistance in military hierarchy. Talion helps Ratbag ascend the ranks to the level of warchief by killing each of his immediate superiors, finally becoming Warchief himself. Talion then goes after the other Warchiefs in Udun, weakening Sauron's forces in that area. Soon enough, Hirgon has a plan to draw out the black captains. Using acquired grog and blasting powder, Talion helps the Outcasts destroy a statue dedicated to Sauron. Instead of the Black Hand answering the "message", the Hammer of Sauron is sent, promptly executing Ratbag for not answering his duties to kill the ranger. Talion and The Hammer then face off, with a pack of Uruk joining the fight, but The Hammer is ultimately defeated. Talion is then sought out by the warrior Lithariel, the daughter of Queen Marwen, who claims to be able to assist Celebrimbor with his mission. Marwen is the ruler of Núrn, a kingdom of sea raiders located in the south of Mordor. She uses prophetic powers to guide Talion and Celebrimbor to another of Celebrimbor's relics. Talion also gets help from a Dwarf hunter named Torvin, teaching Talion the ways of the hunt to dominate Caragors and Graugs (beasts native to Mordor), eventually fighting a massive Graug from Torvin's past who killed Torvin's hunting partner, later revealed to be his brother. Later, Marwen advises them to use Celebrimbor's powers to take control of an army of orcs and other beasts, using them to lead an assault against Sauron. Talion eventually realizes that the wizard Saruman is possessing Marwen, and assists Lithariel in freeing her from his control. Talion, however, still carries out Saruman's plan, leading an army of mind-controlled orcs in an assault against the Black Hand's stronghold at Ered Glamhoth. However, rather than the Black Hand, Talion finds the Tower of Sauron waiting for him. The two battle and Talion emerges victorious after viciously stabbing the Tower to death with his son's sword. Talion now travels to the Black Gate for a final confrontation with the Black Hand. The Black Hand quickly incapacitates him with a spell that also restores the last of Celebrimbor's memories. He then kills himself as part of a ritual that forces Celebrimbor to depart from Talion and merge with himself. This allows Sauron to possess the Black Hand's body and incarnate in physical form. However, Celebrimbor is able to briefly paralyze Sauron from within, allowing Talion to destroy Sauron's physical form. With the Black Hand dead, Celebrimbor wishes to depart for Valinor. Talion instead convinces him to stay and attempt to overthrow Sauron. Gazing at Mount Doom, Talion declares his intention to forge a new Ring of Power. In August 2013, an artist leaked that Monolith Productions was working on a new AAA title, separate from Guardians of Middle-earth. On November 12, 2013, it was announced that the game was titled Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The game was written by Christian Cantamessa, who was also a lead-writer and lead-designer on Rockstar San Diego's Red Dead Redemption. On December 16, 2014, the downloadable content Lord of the Hunt was released. It follows an additional storyline revolving around Torvin, and includes new runes, skins, and bosses. Lord of the Hunt received mixed reviews from critics upon launch. The final DLC of Shadow of Mordor, The Bright Lord was set several thousand years before the main campaign, allowing players to take control of Talion's companion Celebrimbor. The DLC adds a new chapter to Shadow of Mordor, in which players can complete ten more missions and finally fight the enemy leader, Sauron. The expansion was released on February 24, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The music in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was composed by Garry Schyman and Nathan Grigg. A soundtrack album was released digitally by WaterTower Music on September 30, 2014. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Official Video Game Score No. Title Music Length 1. "The Gravewalker" Nathan Grigg 2:22 2. "He Has Returned to Mordor" Nathan Grigg 0:48 3. "Talion Awakens" Garry Schyman 0:50 4. "A Perfect Swing for Killing Chickens" Garry Schyman 1:01 5. "Attack on the Gate" Garry Schyman 1:32 6. "Ioreth" Nathan Grigg 1:34 7. "Stealth Is My Only Advantage" Garry Schyman 1:39 8. "The Black Hand Wants Him Alive" Garry Schyman 0:37 9. "Family Killings / Banished From Death" Nathan Grigg 3:02 10. "An Easy Mistake to Fix" Garry Schyman 1:42 11. "Ratbag" Nathan Grigg 1:06 12. "Military Genius" Garry Schyman 1:42 13. "The Ruins" Garry Schyman 1:28 14. "Warchief I" Nathan Grigg 1:37 15. "Gollum" Garry Schyman 1:29 16. "The Caragors" Nathan Grigg 1:03 17. "Celebrimbor" Nathan Grigg 1:31 18. "The Ghuls / Bright Master / Hirgon" Garry Schyman 3:12 19. "Internment Camp" Garry Schyman 1:28 20. "Finding Eryn" Garry Schyman 1:03 21. "The Gorthaur" Nathan Grigg 1:32 22. "You Have Sealed Their Doom" Garry Schyman 1:15 23. "Sacrilege" Garry Schyman 1:15 24. "The Hammer" Garry Schyman 1:33 25. "The Hammer Falls / Lithariel" Nathan Grigg 2:03 26. "Queen of the Shore" Garry Schyman 1:17 27. "Fort Morn" Nathan Grigg 1:31 28. "Warchief II" Garry Schyman 1:30 29. "The Beast Hunter" Garry Schyman 1:13 30. "Caragor Riding" Nathan Grigg 1:20 31. "Riding the Graug" Nathan Grigg 1:03 32. "Saruman Revealed" Garry Schyman 2:42 33. "Warchief III" Nathan Grigg, Garry Schyman 1:25 34. "Torvin and the Mighty Graug" Garry Schyman 2:23 35. "Núrnen Fishery" Garry Schyman 1:36 36. "The Rescue" Nathan Grigg 1:08 37. "I Don't Belong Here" Nathan Grigg 1:14 38. "Barad Núrn" Nathan Grigg 1:29 39. "The Nemesis" Garry Schyman 1:35 40. "The Curse" Garry Schyman 2:37 41. "The Tower" Garry Schyman 1:36 42. "This Was Your Doing" Nathan Grigg 0:51 43. "Ashes / The Bright Lord / The Precious is Ours" Garry Schyman, Nathan Grigg 2:52 44. "The Black Hand's Gift" Nathan Grigg 2:07 45. "Sealed Together in Death" Nathan Grigg 0:52 46. "Could You Really Rest?" Nathan Grigg 1:20 47. "The Gravewalker (closing credits re-mix)" Nathan Grigg 1:23 Total length: 1:13:54 Reception Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 86.67% based on 9 reviews and 84/100 based on 17 reviews, the PlayStation 4 version 86.49% based on 56 reviews and 84/100 based on 84 reviews and the Xbox One version 85.82% based on 11 reviews and 87/100 based on 12 reviews. Lucas Sullivan from GamesRadar described the game as "the greatest Lord of the Rings game to date" and "one of the most entertaining open-world adventures around." Alexander Sliwinski from Joystiq gave the game a perfect score, praising the solid combat, story, voice acting, and overall execution. He also stated that the game stood out from other similar action-adventure titles because of its revolutionary new game mechanic, the Nemesis System. However, he was disappointed by the boss battles. Joystiq awarded the game their Game of the Year on January 4, 2015. Giant Bomb also gave the game a perfect score. The author compared the climbing and exploration aspects of the game to Assassin's Creed and compared the large-scale, counter-based melee combat to Batman: Arkham. He also praised the Nemesis System as it can provide a nearly endless cycle of side content, and he added that it would be difficult to come away unsatisfied at the end of the game with the amount of gameplay featured. Later, Giant Bomb awarded the game Game of the Year. Matt Miller from Game Informer gave the game an 8.25/10, praising the progression and upgrade mechanics, which can offer players meaningful and game-changing abilities that are unlocked gradually throughout the campaign. He also stated that with the revolutionary approach to mission design, the game successfully offers players a challenging and complex experience. Chris Carter from Destructoid gave the game a 6/10. He stated that the game doesn't deliver on everything it sets out to do. He criticized the story as he described it "generic" and he summarized it as "go here, kill this, draw out this big bad, then kill him for your family." He praised the well-designed open world and the side-quests, saying that they are more fun than the main story. He also stated that the Nemesis System was at first promising, but soon became gimmicky because the orcs in the game do not have unique personalities; all the named enemies in the game feel exactly the same. He also criticized the ending for being unfulfilling. GameSpot gave the game an 8 out of 10, praising its combat, explorations, sound design, and Nemesis System, but criticized the "erratic" story and the final battle as anti-climactic. The reviewer felt that the game's most interesting mechanics are not available until halfway through the game. Later, GameSpot awarded it as their Game of the Year. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw was very favorable of the game in his Zero Punctuation review, praising the game's combination of Batman: Arkham 's fast-paced combat and Assassin's Creed 's slow, methodical gameplay, expressing that it "manages to out-Assassin's Creed Assassin's Creed". He praised the addition of the Nemesis system for adding "organic storytelling" in the game by giving players a personal story of revenge and assassination of the unique, generated Orcs, though he wasn't too fond of Talion, viewing him as a "generic and gritty protagonist". He later declared Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor as his best game of 2014. In October 2014, whereas traditional video game review outlets were unable to obtain early access to the video game, John "TotalBiscuit" Bain revealed that YouTube personalities had been offered early access to the game in exchange for agreeing to a restrictive contract which required them to be positive about it; Jim Sterling, then still at The Escapist, obtained a copy of one of the contracts and analysed it in detail. United States Federal Trade Commission rules require paid promotional deals on YouTube to be disclosed. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor official website Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor official wiki
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Out Now! Watch the Latest Trailers from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. In Stores From September 30, 2014. MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR © 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Developed by Monolith. © 2013 New Line Productions, Inc. © The Saul Zaentz Company. MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF MORDOR, THE HOBBIT, and the names of the characters, items...
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Sep 25, 2014.. September 25, 2014 The best thing about playing Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is that it makes me feel over-the-top powerful without ..
Jun 5, 2014.. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Gets E3 Cinematic Trailer. 173. Along with a couple of new Runes. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - E3 2014 ..
