- Joined
- Dec 29, 2000
- Posts
- 13,156
Holy shit is this game made of awesome. It vaulted past Alien: Isolation for my best game of the year. In fairness, I haven't played Dragon Age: Inquisition yet.
So this game basically gives the Batman: Arkham treatment to Middle Earth, setting the game in a period right before Fellowship of the Ring and with clear visual ties to the film series' interpretation of LOTR. Gollum, looking like he does in the movies, makes appearances, and even though it's not Serkis voicing the role the guy doing it is a dead ringer. I can't even tell the difference.
The gameplay is very similar to Batman: Arkham. You run around what I believe is the Gondor side of the Black Gate climb, stealth, explore, do side missions and a variety of other activities to level up your character and his weapons. The combat engine is extremely similar to Batman with a few interesting variations and some other types of special moves that mix it up a little bit. The archery mechanic, where time slows down so you can get head shots easily, and the instant kill moves are always eminently satisfying. I never get tired of them.
The Nemesis System is, hands down, one of the most ingenious elements of this game. Basically, you have to systematically kill the war chiefs of the orc clan in the area, and you can kill their sub captains to make them easier to defeat when you finally face them. If you die at an orc's hand, that orc gets promoted to a sub captain status and grows a little stronger. When you respawn, you can choose to go and get revenge against the orc that killed you. It's a really compelling game system that makes you keep coming back. And the orc dialogue is both clever and infuriating: if a particular orc killed you before, when he sees you again he'll trash talk you. It really makes you want to get your revenge and it works very well.
The area navigation is very easy and fast, and you never have to waste too much time climbing. When you climb, it's quick and there are few surfaces that can't be scaled. When you see large buildings or cliff faces in your path, it's not really a source of frustration because they make the movement very fast and not at all combersome. In fact, I'd say that when you're climbing, stealthing or assassinating orcs, it does these things better than Assassin's Creed (what's up with that, Ubisoft?)
The storyline also has a really clever mechanic for respawning. You play as Talien, a ranger on the Black Gate who is murdered by an agent of Sauron and his orcs. You are reborn when a wraith latches on to your body and decides to not only help you on your quest but also seek out his own answers about his identity, of which he remembers nothing. The storyline is one of revenge, which by itself is a tired subplot. But the narrative for the side quests, the characters you meet, the lore you encounter regarding Middle Earth and the politics of the orc factions all help to enliven what would otherwise be a very tired narrative. And to top it off, the voice acting is top notch and the characters are engaging and likeable.
If you haven't played this game yet and like good action adventure games with RPG elements, you need to try this. If you are a fan of Middle Earth, then a good game using Tolkein's world has finally come out. Highly recommended.
So this game basically gives the Batman: Arkham treatment to Middle Earth, setting the game in a period right before Fellowship of the Ring and with clear visual ties to the film series' interpretation of LOTR. Gollum, looking like he does in the movies, makes appearances, and even though it's not Serkis voicing the role the guy doing it is a dead ringer. I can't even tell the difference.
The gameplay is very similar to Batman: Arkham. You run around what I believe is the Gondor side of the Black Gate climb, stealth, explore, do side missions and a variety of other activities to level up your character and his weapons. The combat engine is extremely similar to Batman with a few interesting variations and some other types of special moves that mix it up a little bit. The archery mechanic, where time slows down so you can get head shots easily, and the instant kill moves are always eminently satisfying. I never get tired of them.
The Nemesis System is, hands down, one of the most ingenious elements of this game. Basically, you have to systematically kill the war chiefs of the orc clan in the area, and you can kill their sub captains to make them easier to defeat when you finally face them. If you die at an orc's hand, that orc gets promoted to a sub captain status and grows a little stronger. When you respawn, you can choose to go and get revenge against the orc that killed you. It's a really compelling game system that makes you keep coming back. And the orc dialogue is both clever and infuriating: if a particular orc killed you before, when he sees you again he'll trash talk you. It really makes you want to get your revenge and it works very well.
The area navigation is very easy and fast, and you never have to waste too much time climbing. When you climb, it's quick and there are few surfaces that can't be scaled. When you see large buildings or cliff faces in your path, it's not really a source of frustration because they make the movement very fast and not at all combersome. In fact, I'd say that when you're climbing, stealthing or assassinating orcs, it does these things better than Assassin's Creed (what's up with that, Ubisoft?)
The storyline also has a really clever mechanic for respawning. You play as Talien, a ranger on the Black Gate who is murdered by an agent of Sauron and his orcs. You are reborn when a wraith latches on to your body and decides to not only help you on your quest but also seek out his own answers about his identity, of which he remembers nothing. The storyline is one of revenge, which by itself is a tired subplot. But the narrative for the side quests, the characters you meet, the lore you encounter regarding Middle Earth and the politics of the orc factions all help to enliven what would otherwise be a very tired narrative. And to top it off, the voice acting is top notch and the characters are engaging and likeable.
If you haven't played this game yet and like good action adventure games with RPG elements, you need to try this. If you are a fan of Middle Earth, then a good game using Tolkein's world has finally come out. Highly recommended.
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