This means you can forge the properties of your weapons based on how you prefer to play through different combinations of runes, and they only get stronger as you progress through the game.īut so too, does the enemy. Depending on the Captain, you will unlock specific runes to specific weapons, regardless though, how you apply runes to your weapons is entirely your decision, and each run has a specific stat and buff. Runes are then rewarded for the deaths of Captains - the first tier of Uruk military hierarchy.
You purchase new rune spots on your weapons through the accrual of the game’s currency for general completion of missions, though it’s not hard and fast, making earning it pretty challenging. Rather than building new weapons though, crafting comes in the form of runes and rune spots on all three of your weapons - the aforementioned bow, your sword and a dagger. Outside of the enemy AI factor, which I’ll get to shortly, Shadow of Mordor also carries with it a unique weapon and weapon crafting component. You’re able to see towers of the past (and unlock them, in maintaining that familiarity theme), see through walls to tag enemies, but most importantly, to draw your Elvish bow - a weapon and ability that has a strong place in how you play the game. That’s a fancy way of saying you have an ability not too dissimilar to Eagle Vision in Assassin’s Creed, however, here it actually makes more sense. Both characters suffered impactful fates, a common bond that ties their desire for revenge together, thus allowing them to continue to walk in the world of men, and in and out of the Wraith realm. While it all happens in the first 10-minutes, I won’t spoil it for you save to say the torturous event binds Talion with the Wraith spirit of Celebrimbor - an Elvish smith who forged the ring of power. Still, it’s up-close-and-personal nature makes for a solid call-to-action moment when all’s said and done, and your ties to Talion, the game’s hero, are immediately strong as a result. There are interactive elements here that work as something of a combat tutorial, but movement, by and large, is very different to how it will be when you’re out in the game-world proper. You’re presented with a pseudo cinematic narrative setup of the main character’s responsibility as both a ranger and a family man. Starting at the beginning, Shadow of Mordor’s intro is a powerful one indeed.
The truth is, Shadow of Mordor is the sort of forward-thinking design push this space needs, and even though it does borrow heavily from games like Batman and Assassin’s Creed, it does so with a sense of belonging and cohesion, while leaving its own stamp. It’s not perfect, and could have done with a bit more polish, but the surface and depth value is far more rewarding than worrying about (some) animations, visual pop-ups and a touchy combat system.
I’ve thrown around words like “ambitious” and “lofty” in discussion of the game since seeing it first-hand at E3, and I stand by these buzz bites because after a huge amount of review time with the game, Shadow of Mordor presents one of the most compelling enemy AI experiences ever developed in this scale. “ Assassin’s Creed in the Lord of the Rings universe” might be the simplest way to regale the Shadow of Mordor experience, but that would seriously undermine the unique nature of the game’s more important component - its enemies.
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