One of the most intriguing games to come out in the past decade, and one of the major reasons I looked forward to getting a PS4, is Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The major draw for the game is what is called the Nemesis System. This feature creates an extra level of drama for the player outside of the main story. Interactions with the enemies become more meaningful because each encounter actually means something. Uruk, basically the bosses of the orcs, have procedurally generated features and names as well as strengths and weaknesses. You learn of these weaknesses by interrogating random orcs, and you can exploit the weaknesses in battle. However, if you defeat an Uruk, it does not mean the Uruk is completely out of the game. You may scar them, and your means of defeating them may no longer work in the next fight. Defeated Uruk may show up during one of your missions and call you out for defeating them last time — or for running away. Later in the game, you may send orcs back to them to make death threats, powering up the Uruk (resulting in a better loot drop) and giving them something else to yell at you about when you fight them. This is a fascinating feature of the game that I’m sure I’ll return to from time to time. Continue reading “Shadow of Mordor — or why I should retire from open world action games” →