Hey everyone.

Since Middle-Earth: SOM came out, I've only heard good things about the game. Hell, it's Giant Bomb's 2014 Game of the Year! Yet, I was never really interested in the game, since I'm not a LOTR at all. I've never read a single book, seen a single movie, or played any of the past games (somehow, the saga has never gotten my attention). But now, I'm growing more and more curious, since there's so many people saying I should play Shadow of Mordor.

So my question is: If I'm not a LOTR fan, and if I don't know anything about the universe, will I still enjoy the game? Will my ignorance make me feel lost with SOM's story? If so, should I pick up The Hobbit or something like that to get up to speed? Any comments or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Cheers!

It's barely even a Middle Earth game, and the story is completely secondary. I don't even like Lord of the Rings but this is a great game, just get it.

Your enjoyment of the game will depend more on whether you enjoy the combat and the nemesis system. Both of these were why the GB staff rated this game so highly, in particular Dan who sounds like he has never been a LOTR fan.

About halfway through the game myself and really enjoying it. The story is definitely not the reason I will continue playing however. Hope this helps :)

Look man, Dan Ryckert literally hates the series and it was still good enough to be his game of the year. It sounds more like you don't dislike the series but are more just totally Indifferent towards it so assuming you are still in for some really good Arkham series style combat with a really unique new gameplay system in the Nemesis thing. Then I think you could really enjoy it regardless. Also at the very least you should check out the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They're pretty good movies.

I got bored after about 2-3 hours but it's not because I wasn't a LOTR fan. Just thought it was kind of bland and repetitive. I did see some of the abilities you get later on the game and it kinda makes me want to give it a second chance if I could snag a copy for cheap enough.

But no, I don't believe you need to be LOTR fan to like the game. I think there's a few callbacks and stuff you might not get but it's not really a big deal. The orc dudes are bastards so shove your sword in their heads and kill them in other violent ways is really all you need to know... I think.

@neocalypso: Dan Ryckert also hates anime but his favourite gaming series is the most anime of them all.

The story puts WAY too much stock into its ties to LotR, certainly to its own detriment, but the story isn't really that important. If you don't mind ignoring all the cutscenes for a pretty okay game, it's worth playing through it. Just be prepared for an awful story with one of the worst endings you've ever seen.

The parts that blatantly reference LOTR are the weakest parts of the game. If you stripped all of that out the game would change very little.

If anything I feel like people looking for a great LOTR experience are more likely to be disappointed. This is really just a game about killing orcs.

Here is a quick buyers guide:

If you are a LOTR fan: the game is too easy, shallow and repetitive.

If you aren't a LOTR fan: the game is too easy, shallow and repetitive.

I hope this helps.

Ok, I gotta say I'm kind of relieved now that I know that the story won't be much of a problem. But now that I think about it, I don't know much about the gameplay, so reading some of the comments has me doubting again.

@jrodrz: The combat takes a LOT of cues from the Rocksteady Batman games, but at the same time offers enough expansion and difference so that you don't end up feeling like they just re-skinned one of those.

Edit: Most enemies can eventually be dispatched using only combinations of attack, parry, and (sometimes) vault, so if you never go further than that, it can get kind of stale. BUT, there are plenty of two button moves that you pick up latter in the game, so if you start mixing those in, it helps keep things interesting.

@jrodrz: If you want to play a game where you kill a bunch of stuff and feel like a cool action guy, then the gameplay is fine. If you want to feel the rush that comes from overcoming enemies and situations that grow more and more challenging, this probably isn't the game for you.

@jrodrz: Have you watched any gameplay of this game or the recent Batman games? Definitely watch. That's the game! I had a lot of fun for ~30 hours and in my mind that's a good amount of content. It's an action game. Just think about it that way. It's not about moving from one crazy scene to another (Uncharted/Call of Duty) and it's not about fancy environments, it's really just arcade action wrapped in a modern open world game exterior. What you do in this game is CUT UP ORCS. Lots of them. ALL THE TIME. Never mind all the LOTR stuff just consider that and I think you can figure out if this game is for you or not.

The Nemesis System (TM) which you've probably heard about is cool, but your mileage will vary based on how easy/hard you find the game. If you've never played this type of game before, I'd assume you'd find it challenging in a fun way.

I don't feel nearly as intensely as @Levius but generally agree that if you've played a lot of Batman this game is unfortunately on the side of too easy, not counting some random, extreme spikes based on the mobs. With 100+ hours poured into Batman games I'm effectively untouchable in those games and that does carry over here. It's got me very anxious about the new Batman game for the same reason.

I HATE LotR, and Mordor was my favorite game of last year. No need for LotR love to enjoy.

Even if you aren't a fan, you will enjoy the game if you like the combat style. I'm not sure I would agree with those that say it is repetitive as when you are leveling up your character you are unlocking new abilities which affected how I approached combat. Towards the end of the game combat was very different from when I had begun.

Let's just say it was on a lot of people's game of the year list for a reason.

If you are not a LOTR fan you will like it more.

Being a LOTR fan turns me off this game in so many ways. Its the antithesis of anything Tolkien has ever written.

Honestly, I'd argue that liking Lord of the Rings is more damaging to one's enjoyment of Shadow of Mordor than not liking it. Any time they try to tie it in with Tokien's novels it comes off as bad fan-fiction.

@jrodrz: If I'm not mistaken, the Nemesis system - the thing that sets this game apart and made people praise it so much - isn't in the last gen versions of the game. Keep that in mind if you're going to play this on the PS3 or 360.

Not really. There are some links to the movies and specially the books, but it is not necessary to get them to enjoy the game. In fact, as others have said, it might be better if you are not a fan, because some of the links are not competently made, and the whole arc of the character is anathema to anything Tolkien wrote.

I would say if you like Assassins Creed style of open world-ness (complete with eagle vision, and climbing towers to reveal parts of the map), and Arkham style of combat, you are likely going to enjoy this game. Also, advancing the story reveals a lot of new and different abilities, which helps it from getting stale for too long.

@Levius: My God, I thought I was the only person on this planet who thought this. Well, no, of course I didn't, but this is the first time I've actually seen other people criticize it. Cool.

If Dan can like this game, then literally anyone is in the running. It is a great proof of concept for a mechanic that I really hope is borrowed and adapted for many other games and universes. Just know that once you get the ability to stun a guy (even captains!) by jumping over them, you will have ascended to Godhood. No one will be able to touch you after that.

You don't really need to be I'm sure, that said, I didn't love the game either way. I kind of like some of Lord of the Rings, though I guess I wouldn't call myself a fan of it. I felt the game was pretty dull in general; the best parts being the least unique aspects of the game (stealth and combat). The soundtrack was pretty good too. If the game had a more interesting story, better characters, and a way better atmosphere, it could have probably been one of my favorite games of last year too, but as it was, it just ended up being a game I played through, did a bunch of side missions, and then put it away and didn't look back, and wasn't impressed with any of the integral parts of the game. The nemesis system was new-ish, but I certainly wasn't impressed by that; it just felt like another game mechanic to me honestly, one that recycles enemies, which doesn't sound like a good time to me. I enjoyed some of it, and am not disappointed I bought it, but I don't consider it a great game overall. You might love it.