I am very excited to try it later.... if i have time. I will have time on Friday... dunno if i can wait that long. So far from reading and peoples exp it seems like a blast.
The story involves the Rings of Power, but the story is separate to The Lord of the Rings canon.
and especially this:
Tolkien stated that, aside from Beren, dead men did not return to life in Middle-earth.
so basically - this game shits all over middle earth lore, but it's okay because it's just a game... i guess... so why call it a middle earth game at all? why not set up your own IP?
so basically - this game shits all over middle earth lore, but it's okay because it's just a game... i guess... so why call it a middle earth game at all? why not set up your own IP?
this makes me angry and sad =[
/end tolkien nerd rage.
Think about it like it's an Extended Universe. There were tons of comics, cartoons,books and games about Star Wars before this year and they were all declared as non-canon. So basically it's all for good fun. Star Wars: Force Unleashed is a good example. That game was about a secret apprentice of Darth Vader, which seemed like a plausible idea. Nope, not a canon, and they made 2 games about that.
5 hours in and enjoying every moment of it. I can't wait to dive back in.
Tolkien stated that, aside from Beren, dead men did not return to life in Middle-earth...so basically - this game shits all over middle earth lore
I recall several wraiths and apparitions, an entire army of the undead, and a certain character that was originally referred to as a necromancer. This game isn't shitting on the lore; canon or not it believably fits right in with everything else. There are also currently no less than six other LotR games featuring the undead, and those are all a lot more dead than Talion was shown to be (from what I took out of the game's opening, he didn't even die at all).
5 hours in and enjoying every moment of it. I can't wait to dive back in.
I recall several wraiths and apparitions, an entire army of the undead, and a certain character that was originally referred to as a necromancer. This game isn't shitting on the lore; canon or not it believably fits right in with everything else. There are also currently no less than six other LotR games featuring the undead, and those are all a lot more dead than Talion was shown to be (from what I took out of the game's opening, he didn't even die at all).
None of which actually comes back to life, they just didn't die properly and have some kind of reason for sticking around as ghosts.
5 hours in and enjoying every moment of it. I can't wait to dive back in.
I recall several wraiths and apparitions, an entire army of the undead, and a certain character that was originally referred to as a necromancer. This game isn't shitting on the lore; canon or not it believably fits right in with everything else. There are also currently no less than six other LotR games featuring the undead, and those are all a lot more dead than Talion was shown to be (from what I took out of the game's opening, he didn't even die at all).
the Nasgul are wraiths, they're dead.
the army of ghosts, they're dead.
the character referred to as a necromancer? he's a maiar, a "lesser spirit" just like Gandalf, only way more powerful.
Nazgul aren't dead - their lives were extended by the rings and they live in the wraith world (so you can't see their faces unless like Frodo you wear the one ring which sends you into their world, making you also invisible in the real world). The term wraith in LOTR is different from its conventional usage outside LOTR.
Of all the things to have wrong with this game, though, having an issue with the dead/alive setup seems like a strange one to fixate on. Is there anything key in this game that goes against the purpose for LOTR? The books were trying to make statements -- is this game making a statement that's incompatible, or that is trivial compared with the books? The books were about the power of corruption and the glory of nature; what is the game about?
Nazgul aren't dead - their lives were extended by the rings and they live in the wraith world (so you can't see their faces unless like Frodo you wear the one ring which sends you into their world, making you also invisible in the real world). The term wraith in LOTR is different from its conventional usage outside LOTR.
Of all the things to have wrong with this game, though, having an issue with the dead/alive setup seems like a strange one to fixate on. Is there anything key in this game that goes against the purpose for LOTR? The books were trying to make statements -- is this game making a statement that's incompatible, or that is trivial compared with the books? The books were about the power of corruption and the glory of nature; what is the game about?
that's actually a good point, about wraiths being "different". that said there is something that goes against the established canon:
the wraith that posesses the main character is... spoilers:
celebrimbor, an elf of the first and second age, last heir of faenor and creator of the three elven rings of power.
and the problem there, is that when elves die, their spirits return to the halls of Mandos and do not return (with the exception of Glorfindel - possibly, never confirmed that it's the same elf, and even if it is he is a very very special exception to the rule).
Mandos being (for those who haven't read the bibl... silmarillion) the greater spirit who is judge of the dead and master of doom. he is the keeper of elves souls. once an elf is dead, he keeps their soul in his halls until the battle of battles. He does the same for humans, and only once has he returned a soul to life; Beren.
and the problem there, is that when elves die, their spirits return to the halls of Mandos and do not return (with the exception of Glorfindel - possibly, never confirmed that it's the same elf, and even if it is he is a very very special exception to the rule).
But he was cursed by Black Hand, that's why he possessed the main hero.
Setting the Tolkein lore aside, this is a very fun game.
I played it for a solid 4 hours last night.
I got my fuggin' ass kicked for the first two hours, though, until I figure out the controls well enough. After that I was the one kicking ass and fighting like 15 orcs at once.
So fun. This type of game would be perfect for co-op.
I don't really understand the whole "lore breaking" issue. "Humans don't come back to life, except for this (exception to rule)." "Elven spirits return to the hall of Mandos, and do not return - except for this (exception to rule)."
Tolkien is dead, has been for a long time. His hand is not around anymore to pen in explanations to lore-breaking events (Glorfindel), to make them magically not lore-breaking. And whether or not it was his intention, he created a massive fantasy world full of lore, and equally full of possibilities for people to enjoy and expand upon for generations.
So here we are, generations later, and people are expanding upon the universe in the form of a game that as a whole looks pretty solid. Getting hung up on another exception to a rule seems silly. If we were only to go by Tolkien's whims, we probably wouldn't have a significant amount of the LoTR/Middle Earth type media/entertainment that we've had over the past however many years.
The LOTR lore in the game just makes it feel familiar.
Another lore note: Uruks didn't exist until Saruman made them in the third age by breeding men with orcs. The game is full of Uruks and claiming they are Sauron's (which is very incorrect because the Uruks are Saruman's personal army).
The books/movies even has squabbles between Mordor orcs and the Uruks because they serve different masters.
Was playing a bit last night and a friend was asking how your death plays into everything. essentially when you die, you come back, and life has gone on, and the ones who killed you remember killing you.. so what happened? did you actually die? how does your body manifest itself to come back.
those sort of things are really good points as far as lore goes and for where i am in the game its not really explained yet (if it ever is), but regardless.. im enjoying the hell out of this game.
Was playing a bit last night and a friend was asking how your death plays into everything. essentially when you die, you come back, and life has gone on, and the ones who killed you remember killing you.. so what happened? did you actually die? how does your body manifest itself to come back.
those sort of things are really good points as far as lore goes and for where i am in the game its not really explained yet (if it ever is), but regardless.. im enjoying the hell out of this game.
The main hero was cursed and he's stuck between life and death. He can't die, even when killed.
I think the question you should be asking is why didn't they make the main character into an Elf in the first place with his own version of artifact/curse, instead of this pseudo Star-Wars midichlorians stuff for humans/elf parasitic relationship?
Nothing was stopping Monolith/WB from doing that, especially since Peter Jackson, under license studios, wasn't allowed to expand the Lore without banging head on into the other books Tolkien had written which were off limits, Monolith/WB on the other hand, while under the same obligation, had the whole field open to them in more ways then one.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, or else you end up with another Prometheus segregation.
The LOTR lore in the game just makes it feel familiar.
Another lore note: Uruks didn't exist until Saruman made them in the third age by breeding men with orcs. The game is full of Uruks and claiming they are Sauron's (which is very incorrect because the Uruks are Saruman's personal army).
The books/movies even has squabbles between Mordor orcs and the Uruks because they serve different masters.
A fantasy game based on Lord of the Rings that plays like Batman Arkham? With a deep and interesting nemesis system and awesome voice acting? SIGN ME UP
Game is pretty awesome, played about 6 hours so far and it still feels really fresh, to me it feels like the LotR universe and everything feels quite believable (as a person that has watched the films and read the hobbit books).
Getting lore 100% right isn't a bad thing as I highly doubt people with specific lore knowledge was their target audience... Would be cool to get more environments in the game and more enemy types though! Second game perhaps?
why then in the beginning of the game did Talion tell his son that "They're not Orcs, they're Uruks. They're far worse and there's too many."
i even remember some sort of confusion in the first movie where in Moria one character (maybe Gandalf?) referred to the creatures in there as Orcs, and Legolas referred to them as Goblins.
Was severely disappointed when after bothering and collecting all wall signs I got absolutely nothing. Developers, for the love of all, stop wasting my time! I repeat: achivements/trophies aren't replacement to in-game rewards. Give me a new dagger, a character skin, SOMETHING!
Was severely disappointed when after bothering and collecting all wall signs I got absolutely nothing. Developers, for the love of all, stop wasting my time! I repeat: achivements/trophies aren't replacement to in-game rewards. Give me a new dagger, a character skin, SOMETHING!
Wow... really? Damn, guess I'll stop wasting my time with those O_O
Wow... really? Damn, guess I'll stop wasting my time with those O_O
You also get nothing for completing all Blade,Dagger and Bow missions and for artifacts. I mean, is some reward too much to ask for? I don't get it, it should be video game development 101 by now.
It's sooooo hard to stop playing at night to go to bed. It's just so fucking cool to kill one more orc.
No.... just one more.
Wait, one more!
I totally get it. That happened to me a few times in these last three days. The gameplay is just so addictive. I sometimes start huge brawls with several captains at the same time, just to continue fighting and slashing Uruk's heads off their shoulders. So satisfying.
i actually havent expected to get anything for completing those extra missions.. other than the "money" to buy my upgrades. ive been saving for 2500 for those flame arrows.. and it seems that those missions are the only way.
Replies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9SZpf0gMsQ
Do you think 6 Gb of v-ram is OK and in this generation it's normal ?
A must have!
By pure speculation it appears I was wrong. This game looks incredibly intriguing.
I will likely pick it up eventually
A lot of people say this.
To me this is good. Very good.
I'm sucker for this type of games myself, so I'm satisfied.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth:_Shadow_of_Mordor
this line in particular though:
and especially this:
so basically - this game shits all over middle earth lore, but it's okay because it's just a game... i guess... so why call it a middle earth game at all? why not set up your own IP?
this makes me angry and sad =[
/end tolkien nerd rage.
Attaching it to the LOTR universe kind of helps with initial interest to new players.
I watched a lot of videos today and had to buy it. It looks right up my alley.
Hunting some orc tonight!
I recall several wraiths and apparitions, an entire army of the undead, and a certain character that was originally referred to as a necromancer. This game isn't shitting on the lore; canon or not it believably fits right in with everything else. There are also currently no less than six other LotR games featuring the undead, and those are all a lot more dead than Talion was shown to be (from what I took out of the game's opening, he didn't even die at all).
None of which actually comes back to life, they just didn't die properly and have some kind of reason for sticking around as ghosts.
the Nasgul are wraiths, they're dead.
the army of ghosts, they're dead.
the character referred to as a necromancer? he's a maiar, a "lesser spirit" just like Gandalf, only way more powerful.
you took the games opening wrong.
Of all the things to have wrong with this game, though, having an issue with the dead/alive setup seems like a strange one to fixate on. Is there anything key in this game that goes against the purpose for LOTR? The books were trying to make statements -- is this game making a statement that's incompatible, or that is trivial compared with the books? The books were about the power of corruption and the glory of nature; what is the game about?
that's actually a good point, about wraiths being "different". that said there is something that goes against the established canon:
the wraith that posesses the main character is... spoilers:
and the problem there, is that when elves die, their spirits return to the halls of Mandos and do not return (with the exception of Glorfindel - possibly, never confirmed that it's the same elf, and even if it is he is a very very special exception to the rule).
Mandos being (for those who haven't read the bibl... silmarillion) the greater spirit who is judge of the dead and master of doom. he is the keeper of elves souls. once an elf is dead, he keeps their soul in his halls until the battle of battles. He does the same for humans, and only once has he returned a soul to life; Beren.
But he was cursed by Black Hand, that's why he possessed the main hero.
He literally asked if he was dead, and was told he wasn't.
I played it for a solid 4 hours last night.
I got my fuggin' ass kicked for the first two hours, though, until I figure out the controls well enough. After that I was the one kicking ass and fighting like 15 orcs at once.
So fun. This type of game would be perfect for co-op.
Tolkien is dead, has been for a long time. His hand is not around anymore to pen in explanations to lore-breaking events (Glorfindel), to make them magically not lore-breaking. And whether or not it was his intention, he created a massive fantasy world full of lore, and equally full of possibilities for people to enjoy and expand upon for generations.
So here we are, generations later, and people are expanding upon the universe in the form of a game that as a whole looks pretty solid. Getting hung up on another exception to a rule seems silly. If we were only to go by Tolkien's whims, we probably wouldn't have a significant amount of the LoTR/Middle Earth type media/entertainment that we've had over the past however many years.
Another lore note: Uruks didn't exist until Saruman made them in the third age by breeding men with orcs. The game is full of Uruks and claiming they are Sauron's (which is very incorrect because the Uruks are Saruman's personal army).
The books/movies even has squabbles between Mordor orcs and the Uruks because they serve different masters.
"Saruman didn't see you there"
those sort of things are really good points as far as lore goes and for where i am in the game its not really explained yet (if it ever is), but regardless.. im enjoying the hell out of this game.
Nothing was stopping Monolith/WB from doing that, especially since Peter Jackson, under license studios, wasn't allowed to expand the Lore without banging head on into the other books Tolkien had written which were off limits, Monolith/WB on the other hand, while under the same obligation, had the whole field open to them in more ways then one.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best, or else you end up with another Prometheus segregation.
Uruk = orc in their language.
Uruk-hai = Saruman's crossbreeding program.
I like my LOTR lore but I also realize this is a game for another kind of audience.
Still hoping that at some point I'll see a middle earth based game that's more walking simulator/dayz than button mashing power fantasy.
Getting lore 100% right isn't a bad thing as I highly doubt people with specific lore knowledge was their target audience... Would be cool to get more environments in the game and more enemy types though! Second game perhaps?
YES.
why then in the beginning of the game did Talion tell his son that "They're not Orcs, they're Uruks. They're far worse and there's too many."
i even remember some sort of confusion in the first movie where in Moria one character (maybe Gandalf?) referred to the creatures in there as Orcs, and Legolas referred to them as Goblins.
That's actually a pretty interesting idea
EDIT: Almost certain there will be, but would love to see an Art book for the game!
Interesting thread for those who are confused about Uruk, Orc and Uruk-hai.
TIL Uruks are Jamaican :icon60:
That was a cool read
Wow... really? Damn, guess I'll stop wasting my time with those O_O
It's sooooo hard to stop playing at night to go to bed. It's just so fucking cool to kill one more orc.
No.... just one more.
Wait, one more!