Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a great example of, not only an open world game, but also how a game developer can take a well known world and expand it. Middle-Earth is arguably one of the most well known fantasy world in any entertainment medium, so choosing to set the game in a part of Middle-Earth that is not fully explored, Mordor, was a great idea. Initially, I was worried that Mordor would be a bland environment for an open world game but I was happy to be proven wrong. Not only does it prove to be a menacing an treacherous place, but it also provides a great area for players to experiment with their wraith and ranger abilities.
Like with Mad Max, Shadow of Mordor, proves to be an excellent open world game. It has enough side activities and collectibles to keep the player occupied and to prevent Mordor from feeling empty; but not too many to flood the map. I also liked the variety of side missions that encouraged you to use all your weapons and skills to complete, rather than keep using the same playstyle. Speaking of the skills, these were quite varied but I did find that in the second half of the game I was only really using a handful of them and ignoring some like the poison ability, unless a quest needed me to use it. Overall, there is enough variety in the skills to suit most playstyles.
Unfortunately, not everything is a positive. I found both the stealth and freerunning gameplay to be quite limited. Both remined me of early Assassin's Creed games, as the gameplay felt clunky and basic. For eample, stealth is basically avoid the eyesight of your enemy. You can simply crouch behind an enemy and the won't sense you. Additionally, if you are spotted you can hide behind a wall and after a few seconds, the enemies forget you were there... despite killing their comrades. The other gameplay mechanic that isn't too fleshed out is the Nemesis system. This system is unique to Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and it is supposed to create orcs that act as your rivals in the game. I'll be honest, most orcs are pretty much the same, to the point where some have very similar names, and I kept forgetting which ones I had encountered before. Although these gameplay mechanics aren't as polished as in some games, they don't take too much from the overall experience.
Overall, I would recommend Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor to anyone who is looking for a fantasy open world adventure game or someone who is look for a great Lord of the Rings themed game. I definitely enjoyed my time with the game I will be playing its sequel at some point.
Like with Mad Max, Shadow of Mordor, proves to be an excellent open world game. It has enough side activities and collectibles to keep the player occupied and to prevent Mordor from feeling empty; but not too many to flood the map. I also liked the variety of side missions that encouraged you to use all your weapons and skills to complete, rather than keep using the same playstyle. Speaking of the skills, these were quite varied but I did find that in the second half of the game I was only really using a handful of them and ignoring some like the poison ability, unless a quest needed me to use it. Overall, there is enough variety in the skills to suit most playstyles.
Unfortunately, not everything is a positive. I found both the stealth and freerunning gameplay to be quite limited. Both remined me of early Assassin's Creed games, as the gameplay felt clunky and basic. For eample, stealth is basically avoid the eyesight of your enemy. You can simply crouch behind an enemy and the won't sense you. Additionally, if you are spotted you can hide behind a wall and after a few seconds, the enemies forget you were there... despite killing their comrades. The other gameplay mechanic that isn't too fleshed out is the Nemesis system. This system is unique to Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and it is supposed to create orcs that act as your rivals in the game. I'll be honest, most orcs are pretty much the same, to the point where some have very similar names, and I kept forgetting which ones I had encountered before. Although these gameplay mechanics aren't as polished as in some games, they don't take too much from the overall experience.
Overall, I would recommend Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor to anyone who is looking for a fantasy open world adventure game or someone who is look for a great Lord of the Rings themed game. I definitely enjoyed my time with the game I will be playing its sequel at some point.