G2A Game of the Week: Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor

Every week, Team Liquid will supply you with their pick for the G2A Game of the Week, which you can buy at an extremely discounted rate thanks to the G2A Weekly Sale.

This week, we’ve chosen 2014 Game of the year nominee Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor. You can get the game right now at www.g2a.com/weeklysale for $12.39, a whopping 75% off its current price.



Shadows of Mordor takes players to the wonderful (?) world of Middle Earth. Magic, swordsman, and the many different inhabitants of the realm are brought to life in the form of a video game. While Shadows of Mordor isn’t quite the one game to rule them all—the game rehashes mechanics you’ll find in others (one being Assassin’s Creed)—you’ll enjoy your stay because the story is deep and the gameplay is satisfying. Unless of course, you love Orcs, then stay away.

Alright so if you were wondering, yes, Shadows of Mordor is the greatest Lord of the Rings game to date. It’s good enough to contend for Game of the Year, even with competition like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Bayonetta 2. Sure, the game is similar to many others in its class; the combat is on the same level as Batman: Arkham City and the exploration is more robust than an Assassin’s Creed title if it were set in Middle Earth. Now that I look back, those aren’t bad things.



In Shadows, you play as Talion, a guy who dies at the very beginning of the game. Yes, you’re already dead. And so is your wife and son. You watch them die. (Don’t worry, no spoilers, this is the basic premise).

But see here, a wraith gives you a second chance at revenge and anchors your soul to your body essentially giving you immortality at the cost of having to die over and over again. You the player now goes on a quest to thin Sauron’s army of Uruks, a savage race of fugly orcs, 'til your heart’s content. The definition of thinning being smashing them by the hundreds every chance you get. This seems bad at first and then you remember all these guys want to do is ruthlessly kill the innocent. It becomes much easier to punch holes in their faces afterwards.

But see, even with the epic exploration and the combat that satisfies your thirst for gory supremacy, what makes Shadows unique is the Nemesis system, a system that allows your adversaries to level-up and grow stronger, or more annoying, every time they kill you.

Yes, every time a lowly Uruk lands the killing blow on you, the unkillable demon, they are rewarded through increase in military ranks, perhaps some Uruk soldiers to lead, and some new abilities. Every time you cross paths with someone labeled as your nemesis, they will remind you of how they killed you the first time—they’ll even go as far as to talk about how you ran away like a coward if the situation warranted it.

This system creates unique experiences. Every Uruk in the game is randomly generated with its own unique butt-ugly face and features. These varying Uruks will react different to how they kill you and eventually, how they remember you. Your battles trying to slay your nemesis will give you a dynamic experience like no other and your gameplay experience will most certainly be different from your friends.

This review was meant to whet the appetite. There are many things about Shadows of Mordor I can ramble on about but when it comes down to it: is it worth your money? If you buy it at G2A, you’ll get it for $13 and honestly, the game is worth launch price. I say, if you like RPGs with good combat and a good fictional world brought to life with mechanics that create experiences that depend on how you play the game, then this one is for you.