Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor

Scott_Arm said:
I think I might get this. At first I heard there was no multiplayer, so I was going to skip it, but reading reviews it sounds like they have some really interesting gameplay ideas. Wish there was co-op, but it looks like a great game. I hadn't followed it at all.
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Yah. All of the reviews I've read state that it takes a couple of hours of settle into the gameplay and combat which explains some of the negative impressions I read from hands on experiences at E3 and Gamescom.

Nice to have a game with some actual deeper gameplay rather than something that's just shiny graphics. But then this is from Monolith who produced the brilliant No One Lives Forever and its sequel, not to mention great game engines.
 
Texture/mesh variety not just quality.

Skyrim for example which loads the assets for ugridstoload into memory you might have max 15 variety of enemy/npc with unique meshes and textures at one moment loaded into memory.

However with this Mordor game they try to create as much variety in enemies as possible. Its the elimination of the twin triplelet quadruplet clone effect we've seen in games since time immemorial, and even in newer games like Ryse. Atr least in the nextgen/pc versions in a given battle nearly every enemy in a given battle may draw upon a huge pool of unique combinations of textures and mesh model. They were showing the enemy variety in a preview video. Its not just texture quality, and the impending "ultra texturepack download" , but quantity as well for this game that increases vram memory requirements.

Now the 6GB vram for 1080p sound like Nvidia/AMD marketing partnership pr and may involve downasmpling, but I could easily see 3-4GB for the unreleased "ultra" texturepack without downsampling. This might also be a combination of that as well as the result of poor optimization of the game for PCs split memory system.
 
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DieH@rd said:
Few more PS4 share button shots:

shadow-of-mordor.jpg

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ibfpLSnefSOEXm.jpg

ibH8ErFRN72B2.jpg
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Wow, the PS4 edition looks gorgeous... PS4 should be melting with that IQ. :LOL:

Seriously, can't wait to see a DF head-to-head article on XB1/PC/PS4 editions.
 
DSoup said:
Ok cool. I wonder how big the map is and long it takes to get around it.

I see the PS4 digital version is 26Gb. Still deciding whether to go for digital or Blu-ray.
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I don't know how big the map is, sorry.
Anyway I have pre-ordered it on the PS Store and you get access to two extra mission which unlock special rewards (runes) plus you get the dark ranger skin and a combat but in all costs more than physical version.


P.S.
A plea to everyone: use spoiler tags in the future.
 
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DSoup said:
Several of the reviews mention this is an open world game, which was a surprise, but none of the reviews that I've read (or watched) explain the open world mechanics. Do you have to walk everywhere like Assassin's Creed until you unlock fast travel points?

Every single review has focussed on the combat, Nemesis system and upgradable skills.

Can anybody point me to a review that explains the open world mechanics, or is it just like AC/GTA etc?
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From the Polygon 9.5 review:

Shadow of Mordor also has all the requisite, expected attractions of a modern open-world game. Its two massive maps are beautiful, full of interesting landmarks and fun to navigate. There are collectibles that provide Lord of the Rings backstory to hunt down, as well as plenty of sidequests and weapon challenges that test your skills.
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Arwin said:
The poor guy, he seems so heart-broken by the framerate ...
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What was wrong with the framerate? It looked OK to me although admittedly I didn't watch the whole thing because a) spoilers and b) French - which I don't speak.

Looking forward to playing this Friday - yes, inexplicably, it's a UK Friday launch. I don't understand what determines a Tuesday or Friday launch in the UK. Phases of the moon? Chicken entrails? RAND? :nope:
 
Look up the Eurogamer investigation into launch dates. Friday is the preferred release day for UK retail, but it's Tuesday to match the US at time. Or vice versa. Can't remember, but it'll be somewhat covered.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
Look up the Eurogamer investigation into launch dates. Friday is the preferred release day for UK retail, but it's Tuesday to match the US at time. Or vice versa. Can't remember, but it'll be somewhat covered.
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I recall the post, it was bloody Dixon's who initiated the Friday launch in the UK but why do half the games now launch on a Tuesday and half on a Friday?

  • Alien Isolation - Tuesday, 7th October.
  • DriveClub - Friday, 10th October.
  • Sleeping Dogs - Friday, 10th October.
  • COD AW - Tuesday, 4th November.
  • The Crew - Tuesday, 11th November.
  • Lego Batman - Friday, 15th November.
  • AC Unity - Friday, 15th November.
  • GTA V - Tuesday, 18th November.
  • Far Cry 4 - Tuesday, 18th November.
  • Dragon Age - Friday, 22nd November.

Why sometimes Friday and sometimes Tuesday? And who decides? And why? ARGHHHHH! :runaway:
 
Billy Idol said:
Which version has better graphics: PS4 or my PC with a 670?
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The game has "ultra" settings which generally seem to go beyond the top console settings and based on how those ultra settings perform on a 970 it's safe to say assume they will look better than the PS4. However without knowing how well optimised the game is and how lower settings perform it's tough to say whether the 670 will be able to maintain a similar frame rate while also looking better than the PS4. Given the performance gulf between the two though it's safe to say that if the 670 can't perform better at the same visuals/look better at the same performance then the game is lacking on the optimisation front on PC.
 
If it's an anticipated game, I'd rather it launched on Friday. That way, I can have a 3 day weekend to really dig into it. I never understood a Tuesday launch. Right in the middle of the goddamn work week.
 
Played through the opening scene just before you unlock the open world. Graphics look really nice. Combat is definitely Batman Arkham series, which I dig. Should be fun.
 
pjbliverpool said:
The game has "ultra" settings which generally seem to go beyond the top console settings and based on how those ultra settings perform on a 970 it's safe to say assume they will look better than the PS4. However without knowing how well optimised the game is and how lower settings perform it's tough to say whether the 670 will be able to maintain a similar frame rate while also looking better than the PS4. Given the performance gulf between the two though it's safe to say that if the 670 can't perform better at the same visuals/look better at the same performance then the game is lacking on the optimisation front on PC.
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Thanks, mate! I'll wait a bit for benchmarks...but PS4 seems to be a good option.
 
Scott_Arm said:
Played through the opening scene just before you unlock the open world. Graphics look really nice. Combat is definitely Batman Arkham series, which I dig. Should be fun.
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Hm, didn't know that. Up to now, I didn't really like the Batman games...need to watch more gameplay.
 
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