Overall, I really enjoyed Shadow of Mordor. The combat and the lore was definitely the best parts for me. The Nemesis system was unique and innovative, but not really sure what the end result accomplished. Even though I controlled all the warchiefs before I engaged in the last couple of story missions, I didn't feel like it really helped me all that much. I still felt like completing those missions was ultimately dependent on my own character skills, not the fact that I controlled a legion of orcs. So the end result of controlling the army left me somewhat flat, and wondering whether it was really worth it or not. Would be interesting to see if the game can be completed without controlling "all" the warchiefs. Not sure as I didn't try that approach.
Likes:
- Really fun combat and take-down cinematics. Loved shadow strike!
- Story and lore was well done and true to the LOR universe. Interesting characters and enjoyable missions. Overall main story seemed a little short though.
Dislikes:
- Camera seemed a little too close to the character for me. Would have liked just a tad bit pulled back so I could see the environment a little more. Dragon Age: Inquisition camera placement seems about perfect for 3rd person perspective to me. Wish these 3rd person games had at least a button to enter First Person, at least once in a while so you could take in the scenery and enjoy the artwork a little more.
- Environment. Nothing that spectacular about the two locales you get to visit. Nice at first, but becomes pretty generic after awhile, again unlike DAI, which has totally amazing environment.
- Somewhat repetitive. Even with the Nemesis System and the randomly generated enemy orcs, things did start feeling a little wash and repeat after awhile (about 10 hours into the game). Took me about 15 hours to complete (that includes the full story, plus about 85% of all the side missions).
Overall, I really liked the game. The character you play (Talion), is interesting as well. I definitely would recommend to anyone who likes action/adventure games. Just not sure I will play the game a second time through. For me, 9 and 10 rated games I want to play again and again. 8 rated games are really fun to play once. 7 are typically a grind to get through, and anything less than a 7 is not worth my time.