Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
The sequel to Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War, might be on the horizon, but with the original game hitting the Steam Summer Sale there is no excuse to skip out on this excellent hack and slash game from the Lord of the Rings universe if you haven’t played it before. Shadow of Mordor’s main selling point, besides the fluid combat, is the incredibly crafted nemesis system. The nemesis system was groundbreaking when the game first released in 2014 but since no game has really tried to imitate it, Shadow of Mordor remains a wholly unique experience.
The nemesis system is built on the idea that each playthrough of the game is special to the individual player. Every time an orc kills you it will grow in power. The orcs will remember their past encounters with the player and maybe even develop new ways to combat them. The nemesis system allows for multiple subplots going on in the game that have nothing to do with the main revenge-driven story.There are countless hours of fun to be had in just crafting special rivalries with certain orcs. Your nemesis will be a far more interesting and personal enemy than the game’s Big Bad of Sauron.
There is even more content offered in the Summer Sale as all of the game’s DLCs, each of which exist as a standalone campaign with their own maps, are bundled with the main game. At just 3.99 for the whole package any Lord of the Rings fan needs dive into the original before the sequel hits in October.
This post was originally authored by Derek Stauffer.
