Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

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Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Original title Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Studio United StatesUnited States Monolith Productions Behavior Interactive (Xbox 360, PS3) Feral Interactive (Mac OS X, Linux)
CanadaCanada
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
Publisher United StatesUnited States Warner Bros. Interactive
Senior Developer Michael De Plater, Bob Roberts (Designer)
Garry Schyman , Nathan Grigg (Composer)
Christian Cantamessa (Author)
Erstveröffent-
lichung
Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One: September 30, 2014 October 2, 2014 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: November 18, 2014 November 21, 2014 Mac OS X, Linux July 30, 2015
North AmericaNorth America
EuropeEurope

North AmericaNorth America
EuropeEurope

platform Windows , Xbox One , PlayStation 4 , Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , Mac OS X , Linux
Game engine LithTech
genre Action adventure
Subject Fantasy ( Tolkien's World )
Game mode Single player
control Mouse , keyboard , gamepad
system advantages
preconditions
  • Windows Vista or newer
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-750 with 2.67 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 965 with 3.4 GHz
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 or AMD Radeon HD 6950
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Broadband internet connection
  • Hard disk: 25 GB of free space
medium Blu-ray Disc , DVD-ROM , download
language German
copy protection Steamworks
Age rating
USK approved from 16
PEGI from 18

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a computer game of the developer Monolith Productions from the year 2014. This is an action-adventure , based on the content of The-Lord of the Rings - license.

action

The game is timed between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings . The main storyline revolves around Talion, a ranger from Gondor , who, when the dark ruler Sauron and his army usurps control over Mordor , loses his life while defending the black gate of Mordor and first has to watch his family as enemies kill in front of his eyes. However, Talion is revived by a mysterious spirit of vengeance, who gives him life in return for helping him to take revenge on the common enemy. Later in the game it becomes clear that this ghost is Celebrimbor , an old elven lord who once forged the rings of power, but was betrayed, captured, tortured and killed by Sauron. During the course of the game, Talion travels to two areas of Mordor, the plain of Udûn adjacent to the black gate and the coast of the Núrnen Sea in the hinterland.

At this point in history, the land of Mordor is not yet completely in darkness. Well-known characters such as Gollum appear. Although the Monolith team worked in collaboration with Middle-earth Enterprises , Peter Jackson and the Weta Workshop , there are some details in the plot that do not completely match the canon of Tolkien 's previous narrative .

Gameplay

In Mordor's shadow , the player plays as Talion, a ranger with supernatural abilities bestowed by his spirit of revenge. The game is open-world-based and, in addition to the main story, there are also various side quests, as well as the opportunity to explore the world freely.

A central part of the game is the so-called nemesis system , which enables the player to create new NPCs and influence their careers. Here the actions of the player towards his opponents and other characters are taken into account and these influence the appearance, skills and reactions of the characters to the following encounters with the player. As an example, an orc who was thrown into the fire by Talion and survived will have burn scars the next time they meet and demand vengeance for this action. The player can level up Talion in his abilities, each in a research tree for ranger and vengeance skills. The former allow Talion to sneak quietly through the environment without attracting attention, while the latter extends the power to impose his will on his enemies and induce them to gather information, spread fear, or even murder their leaders.

Due to its sheer size, the Nemesis system was reduced in the releases for PS3 and XBox 360, with the developer focus expressly on the next-generation consoles.

Extensions

Monolith released several download extensions for the game.

  • The bright ruler
  • Test of Power
  • Blood Hunters Warband
  • The Dark Ranger Character Skin
  • Captain of the Watch Character Skin
  • Orc Slayer rune
  • Lord of the Hunt
  • Flame of Anor rune
  • Flesh Burners Warband
  • Berserk's Warband
  • Deadly Archer rune
  • Skull Crushers Warband
  • Hidden Blade Rune
  • Rising Storm rune
  • Endless challenge
  • Test of Wisdom
  • Power of Shadow
  • Test of Speed
  • HD content

reception

reviews
publication Rating
PS3 PS4 Windows Xbox 360 Xbox One
4players k. A. 81% 81% k. A. 81%
GameStar k. A. k. A. 82% k. A. k. A.
PC Games k. A. k. A. 75% k. A. k. A.
Meta-ratings
Metacritic k. A. 84% 84% k. A. 87%

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received positive ratings on average.

Game designer Ken Levine praised Mordor's shadow for its nemesis system because it is a positive example for him of how games can adapt to the player's approach and thus give them more freedom of action than the choices usually made by game designers. Based on the term open world , he described Mordor's shadow as the first "open narrative game" (meaning: game with an open narrative).

Awards

successor

In late February 2017, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced Middle-earth: Shadow of War, a sequel based on the story of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor . The title should be available in stores on October 10, 2017 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One . Optimized versions for PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X are also planned.

The successor appears in four different editions. In addition to the Standard Edition, there will be a Silver, Gold and Mithril Edition, which in addition to a copy of Middle-earth: Shadow of War will contain many other content such as access to upcoming expansions.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's Uneasy Relationship with JRR Tolkien's Mythology
  2. a b c http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/Allgemein/Test/35261/80628/0/Mittelerde_Mordors_Schatten.html
  3. http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/mittelerde-mordors-schatten/test/mittelerde_mordors_schatten,50303,3078799.html
  4. http://www.pcgames.de/Mittelerde-Mordors-Schatten-PC-258069/Tests/Test-Schnetzelvergnuegen-mit-vielen-Wiederholungen-1136285/
  5. Metacritic.com for the PC version
  6. Metacritic.com for the XOne version
  7. Metacritic.com for the PS4 version
  8. https://medium.com/matter/the-road-goes-ever-on-105f33453e55
  9. The Game Awards 2014 - Dragon Age Game of the Year, Sierra Industry Icon
  10. Dragon Age: Inquisition, Shadow of Mordor win big at 2015 DICE Awards
  11. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor takes Game of the Year at GDC Awards 2015
  12. ^ Destiny surprises at the Bafta video game awards
  13. Dragon Age Inquisition Wins Another Game of the Year Award
  14. Middle-earth: Shadow of War - Officially announced. Retrieved February 27, 2017 .
  15. Middle-earth: Shadow of War - The individual editions at a glance. Retrieved February 27, 2017 .