Shadow of Mordor is a third person action RPG game, in which your goal is to revenge your slaughtered family. With a very polished and fluid combat system you will spend most of your time cutting through an endless horde of orcs. But what makes this game unique is the Nemesis System which sure will make you feel like those orcs developed some brains!
The Nemesis System keeps track of your actions toward each named enemy and among themselves, so any orc worth enough to receive a name will have a personality and memory of your actions, as well as the desire to ascend the "orc social ladder". Any time you cross such enemy they will have a different line depending on your previous actions, their personality and their rank in the orc army. Sparing an orc life, threatening him before combat, running away or even if you happened to die by their hands, they sure will make you remember that.
In game mechanics it means that every orc will have a rank in Sauron's Army, a preferred combat method, Strengths and Weaknesses that you can explore. They will also fight against each other to increase in power. Any orc that killed you will have a "Revenge" tag and will award you a minor bonus when killed. There is also a very interesting feature where you will be able to kill whichever enemy killed your friends that also play the game. Despite the minimal rewards, the feeling of revenging your fallen friend does make you feel good. This Nemesis System is so ingrained in the game that as soon as you start playing you will understand how everything spins around this mechanic.
Now, into the action itself! The game has three different combat "styles" characterized by three different weapons: Sword (normal standing combat), Bow (ranged combat) and Dagger (stealth combat). Each of these styles can be further personalized and mixed with runes acquired by killing chieftains and warchiefs.
By completing missions you will be awarded Power Points, that will unlock increased tiers of powers that can be purchased with Ability Points and will make you more dangerous than ever! Ability Points are awarded by earning experience, every orc slain will give you a small amount, but once your body pile starts to stack, you will be getting them in no time at all! You also have six attributes that can be increased by completing missions and optional objectives: health, arrows, focus (how long you can slow time with a drawn arrow), and additional runes for your three weapons. 
A final mechanic that plays a big part in this game is the branding system. With your wrath powers you will be able to turn orcs to your cause, while not giving you direct control over them, they will follow and fight with you until they are dead or dismissed. That also means that if you brand any named orc you will be able to send them to kill other orcs or even turn on previous allied orcs.
The game has a very short tutorial that may overwhelm you with many different commands at once, but throughout play you will come across them again in a more friendly fashion. With great cinematographic combat, responsive commands, and wrath powers, this game will sure make you feel like a epic warrior fighting the army of Sauron. The game also approach player failure in a consistent manner that does not break immersion. Unfortunately the DLC's do not add much content and neither increase upon the story mode, being stand alone versions of the game itself with minor tweaks. Despite that, we highly recommend this game to any action and/or Tolkien fan!
Final Score: 10 out of 10.
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