Why Shadow Of Mordor Succeeds As A Current Generation Title

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a great game. More than that, it is the first current generation game I’ve played that delivers on its promise of providing players with a current generation experience. In particular, SoM’s nemesis system is a richly inventive enemy hierarchical mechanic that takes advantage of current generation processing power. It alone was reason enough to play the game for the 20 hours I did, offering such immense entertainment value and staying power that many of the game’s faults felt inconsequential in comparison.

In brief, SoM’s nemesis system is a randomization tool which creates enemy Uruk out of a sample of different voices, traits and appearances. These enemies roam the open-world wasteland, engage one another in power struggles, and engage you whenever they can. If you are defeated by one, it moves up on the Uruk hierarchy, becoming stronger and occasionally changing in appearance. Should you kill an enemy Uruk, it will be replaced. Should you wound one and let it escape, the next time you run into it, it may be physically scarred, and will be sure to recount how it will intend to kill you this time.

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the nemesis feature is that it truly feels as though its design belongs in the current generation. Sure, Elder Scrolls of yore was populated by a procedural world in which your actions appeared to have lasting consequences on the world’s inhabitants. But how often would you find yourself speaking to an AI, only to have it repeat itself, as though you and it had never had a conversation? SoM’s system seemingly addresses this by adding personality to its Uruk denizens and by adding a sense of interactive permanence to your encounters with the world’s AI.

Ultimately, SoM is a great game largely because it succeeds as a current generation title. Contrary to Adam’s views, I see the current generation more in terms of new design philosophies not capable of being explored in previous console generations, and not in terms of leaps of quality in terms of graphics and story. To that end, long after SoM’s simple combat system is mastered and its missions and story become tiresome, the game’s nemesis system remains spry and engaging. What other games in recent memory live up to this standard?