Back when Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor first came out in 2014, people pretty much immediately started asking, “When will other games get Nemesis Systems?” Flash forward three years, and the most prominent game to do it is… Shadow of War, the sequel to Shadow of Mordor. But soon you’ll be able to add XCOM 2 to that…
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor was a game about attachment in the face of decapitation. You came to love certain orcs, even as you warred against them. It was a game about relationships, more romantic in some ways than games that are explicitly about romance. So I had to know: in Shadow of War, is there orc romance?
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor was a game about guerrilla warfare... and also falling in love with orcs. By contrast, this summer’s sequel, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is a game about full-scale warfare... and also falling in love with orcs.
Random thug number 127 managed to defeat the goddamn Batman. I’m pretty sure that qualifies him for super villain status.
A $50 “Game Of The Year” edition of Shadow of Mordor is coming out May 5th—as in, next week—for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. No word on last-gen versions. If you haven’t played Mordor yet, this is a good chance to get all its post-release goodies without having to pay extra for the crappy parts of its DLC.
The Bright Lord, Shadow of Mordor's new DLC campaign, promises an epic showdown with Lord of the Rings head honcho Sauron. It was designed in part to address a common fan complaint about the original game's anticlimactic ending. But while it does give players a chance to fight Sauron, I'd hardly call it an epic battle.
Shadow of Mordor surprised everyone with its unique features like the oft-praised "nemesis system." The game's novelty and ambition meant that it couldn't accomplish everything it set out to, though. Developer Monolith opened up this week about some things that were left on the cutting room floor.
The first major DLC expansion for Shadow of Mordor comes out today, Warner Bros. just announced. It's called Lord of the Hunt, and brings some gnarly new monsters into the mix. The DLC costs $9.99, and comes free with the $24.99 season pass. Watch the new trailer above; I'll have more detailed impressions by tomorrow.
When Shadow of Mordor first arrived in September, it was met with heaps of well-deserved praise. The last-gen versions of the game arrived today to considerably more muted fanfare. After playing a few hours on my PlayStation 3, I can see why. This is not the Mordor I remember falling in love with.
When it comes to open world games, I'm not the kind of player who tries to reach one hundred percent completion. But I recently booted up Shadow of Mordor again and discovered something shameful. I'd played 38 hours and hadn't even cracked 40 percent. That was simply unacceptable. So it was back to Mordor for me.
Even since the game got its snazzy new photo editor, Shadow of Mordor fans have been doing their best to capture the game's ultraviolence in all its gruesome glory. But what about all those quiet, sentimental moments that unfold in the midst of all the orc-killing? Sauron's forces have feelings too, you know.
Shadow of Mordor is adding some new epic runes and an alternate skin that lets you dress up as Sauron's Black Hand, publisher Warner Bros. announced today. Keep in mind you only look like the villain—you're not actually gaining evil powers. The free update is out now for the Xbox One, with PS4 and PC versions to come.
Shadow of Mordor gave its players some nifty new ways to capture and edit screenshots yesterday. Judging by the wealth of snazzy images that have popped up online since then, gamers seem to be having a lot of fun with it so far. Here are some of the best I've come across. Enjoy.
Last week, I wrote about a strange issue Shadow of Mordor players have been reporting since the game came out: Orcs they insisted they'd killed kept coming back from the dead. Developer Monolith has now told me that while they're aware of people's confusion, they're also having a hard time testing for a solution.
What's better than ogling buckets and buckets of orc gore in Shadow of Mordor? Spiffing up those same heaping piles of gratuity with Instagram-esque filters, you say? Well, if you actually did say that, then boy do I have the thing for you.
Originality in video games is overrated. I see no better proof of that today than Shadow of Mordor. The game shamelessly borrows its combat from the Batman: Arkham series, to give one example. But it also introduced the "nemesis system," which is one of the most provocative and original ideas I've seen in a long time.
Ever since Shadow of Mordor came out, many gamers have taken to its unique brand of orc-killing with a gusto. There's just one problem: some of these orcs keep coming back from the dead. And while developer Monolith says this is partly an intentional feature, they haven't given me a straight answer for how it works.
Once upon a time licensed video games—ones based on movies, TV shows, or other popular series—were the domain of festering bargain bins and well-meaning grandparents who didn't know any better. Now Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Alien: Isolation are two of the year's most interesting games. This is a good thing.
Before Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor's release, a curious thing happened: critics on YouTube (and some in the traditional press) tried to obtain early PC copies for review, but couldn't. And yet, YouTube entertainers were able to—if they agreed to terms like, "videos will promote positive sentiment about the game."
A whir, a pop, and then the head explodes. Ceases to exist, really. Ropy tendrils of gray-black goop spiral outwards from the point where the head used to be, and then the body falls heavily to the ground. There's precious little time to think about what I just saw, because another enemy is headed my way.
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