14 DAY TRIAL // If you like watching orcs going around their usual orcish everyday business and then being mercilessly slain in high-production value films, then Corridor Digital's latest creation will be right up your alley.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor looks like the best video game set in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world, with serious potential for serialization if everything turns out right.
Developer Monolith borrowed heavily from the general gameplay flow of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series, while at the same time introducing enough new things to make the game truly exciting, such as the Nemesis System and Wraith Powers, drawing heavily on Tolkien's lore.
A great live-action trailer
Now, the team behind such masterpieces as Dubstep Guns, Minecraft: Diamonds are Forever, and Superman with a GoPro presents a live-action adaptation of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, complete with bloody battles and mind-control powers.
The promotional video is pretty cool, with a lot of quality effects and good makeup, and the execution of the concept is also on par with the crew's technical skill, aside from Talion's wig. Even better than Destiny's live action trailer, which was a bit dudebroish in nature, as opposed to the gruesome mood of this one.
This one follows a pack of orcs murdering defenseless humans until they meet their match when they face a pissed-off dead Ranger on a mission of vengeance revived by a Wraith with a grudge, which is a pretty insane cocktail if you think about it.
It captures the savage and feeble-minded essence of the orcs perfectly, and in spite of having substandard swordplay, it's pretty engaging overall, not to mention that the Wraith scene is superb.
A game with a lot of potential
The upcoming action adventure video game is not just about slaying countless orcs. It tells a story and it follows the chain of command through the orc army, with Talion patiently crafting his revenge scenario and even having the option to dominate the minds of the weak in order to raise an army of his own.
The innovative Nemesis System remembers the player's interactions with various unique characters they stumble upon in the game and modifies the way the story goes on the fly, based on the way things turn out.
The two skill trees that players will be able to improve enable gamers to play the game as a traditional stealth and assassination title, as well as to explore the powers of the Wraith and delve into an entirely new experience.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is coming out on September 30 on Windows PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, and on November 21 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 home consoles.
