Howdy!

I'm a junior at A&M and, up until recently, I was a Bioenvironmental Sciences major who planned to go on to dental school after graduation. After deciding that teeth were not my passion, I finally settled on sports journalism as a solid career choice.

Because I've been in chemistry, physics and biology classes for the last two years, I haven't had a chance to write much since high school. Obviously, if I'm going to be writing for a living, I need to shake some rust off of the keyboard.

Video games have been my favorite hobby, other than Aggie sports, since my grandma got me an N64 and Donkey Kong 64 for my 5th birthday. Since that fateful August day, I've probably played too many, spent too many hours on the couch and missed out on all sorts of social events, but I think it was worth it.

So, faced with the need to write more and my love for all things pixelated, I've decided to start writing game reviews of whatever I end up playing. Some reviews will feature new games, some older ones that I play for nostalgia. You can probably expect higher praise for the older games, considering I really only go back and play my favorites. I don't always have time to play, so reviews may be posted sporadically, but hopefully it'll be fun whenever the thread gets bumped.

This is mostly just a writing exercise for me, so if you feel like the thread is cluttering up the board, don't feel bad for shouting me down. My hope is that I can get some good practice while also steering people toward good games they may not have played yet. Any constructive criticism on my writing and game discussion is absolutely appreciated.

Anyways, let me know what you think! Hopefully, I'll have the first one up tonight!

So is there supposed to be a game review or something here?

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Review

Satisfaction

Leading up to Shadow of Mordor's (SoM) release, I was cautiously optimistic. Lord of the Rings (LotR) games, and licensed games in general, have a history of disappointing fans and being below average games. As a Lord of the Rings fan, I've been waiting for a solid addition to the franchise since the release of Return of the King on the PS2. Now, without any reservations, I can say that game is here.

Shadow of Mordor does almost everything right, dropping you into the boots of a Gondorian Ranger hell-bent on revenge with crazy wraith-like abilities thrown in for good measure. With a large, open world, a variety of play-style choices and a personal connection to even the most insignificant enemies, SoM hits almost every note I like in a game. Throw in the LotR skin that covers everything, and I had a heck of a time-waster on my hands.

SoM's gameplay borrows significantly from other franchises, most notably adopting a very similar stealth and free-running system to Assassin's Creed and the combat system from Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham games. While wedding these two may seem like a crazy idea at first, having the choice to stealthily pick your way through a stronghold with only your dagger or to jump into the middle of it and wreak untold havoc with a multitude of combat choices is the definition of fun.

One thing in particular that made fighting even the most generic orcs so satisfying was the amount of execution moves in the game. Much like in the Arkham games, building up a combo gives Talion the ability to perform an instant finishing move on most orcs. These moves are brutal, producing large amounts of blood. Many of them are so violent and satisfying to perform that they still ellicited a verbal reaction from me 20 hours into the game.

The rest of the combat flows smoothly. Talion is very responsive, countering, leaping and attacking even more promptly than Bruce Wayne most of the time. Using the powers that are unlocked through the game's ability tree, Talion becomes a force on the battlefield. While a small band of uruks may give you trouble to begin the game, toward the end you can walk into a stronghold and take one just about anyone.

The game's stealth components work surprisingly well, considering they are adopted from the often finicky Assassin's Creed games. Part of this is due to some questionable orc AI, but for the most part, sneaking and stabbing your way around Mordor is a lot of fun.

On the subject of graphics, this game is simply beautiful. From Mordor's dismal landscape to the pre-rendered cutscenes that litter the main campaign, no one can accuse this game of poor looks. A special shout-out needs to go the the team that developed the character models for the various uruks. These are some of the best, most impressive looking enemies I've seen in a game. If you can knock anything in the graphics department, its that the orcs might actually look better than the main character in this one.

If SoM falters in any department, it's the story. The main campaign drags on through 20 missions, most of which are glorified tutorials. The story is nothing special, mainly serving to teach Talion new abilities and provide boring missions. At some points, the main campaign missions seem more like chores that must eventually be endured, while the side missions appear to be enticing new gameplay opportunities.

The highlight of SoM is easily the innovative new Nemesis system that it employs. At any point in time, there are as many as 30 uruk captains roaming freely around each of the game's two maps. These guys tend to show up at the most inopportune times, such as when you're in the middle of a tough mission and they feel like spoiling your day. Any random uruk that kills you is automatically promoted to captain, and captains, in turn, are promoted to one of the 5 warchief positions when they are available.

The Nemesis system opens up a new world for gamers, where even the most insignificant NPC can be elevated all the way to the rank of warchief. This makes Mordor feel like a living world, with power struggles taking place between rival captains, and many things happening outside of your control. Captains and warchiefs all have unique personalities and will even remember you if they've killed you before or survived a fight with you.

Although SoM is disappointing when it comes to story-telling, its Lord of the Rings trappings help make up for it. With ridiculously fun combat, satisfying stealth, amazing graphics and a living, breathing open world thanks to the Nemesis system, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor is a must play for gamers in 2014. It may even be the Game of the Year.

What I played: 100% completion; Platinum Trophy

Platform: PS4

Overall: 9/10

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So is there supposed to be a game review or something here?

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Took a while to write and format, but its up now!

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Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Review

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nice review

I disagree completely with the main story being boring. As a huge LOTR dork I find it very interesting. I also find the artifact lore to be very interesting to listen to.

Note that I am not done yet, about 80% I think.

And good luck with journalism, tough to break into. Sorry Dental didn't work out for you but better to realize that now than after building up professional school debt.

Nice job! I'm around 95% right now and will be aiming for the Platinum Trophy as well. One thing I would've mentioned though is some performance problems, mainly when combat branding with multiple enemies in the area. The frame rate does drop significantly and it has thrown me off now and then, ruining my hit streak. I'm sure this isn't a problem for the PC folks though.

Keep it up, man! Sucks that dental school didn't work out but I hope that an awesome opportunity lands your way. What other games are you planning to review?

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I disagree completely with the main story being boring. As a huge LOTR dork I find it very interesting. I also find the artifact lore to be very interesting to listen to.

Note that I am not done yet, about 80% I think.

And good luck with journalism, tough to break into. Sorry Dental didn't work out for you but better to realize that now than after building up professional school debt.

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Thanks! I'm a LotR fan as well, and there are definitely some interesting tidbits, but I felt that overall, the story was the weakest part of the game. There just wasn't much to it.

As for dental, you can't do what you don't like. I had the grades, but I just didn't see the point. But sports? I can get behind that.

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Nice job! I'm around 95% right now and will be aiming for the Platinum Trophy as well. One thing I would've mentioned though is some performance problems, mainly when combat branding with multiple enemies in the area. The frame rate does drop significantly and it has thrown me off now and then, ruining my hit streak. I'm sure this isn't a problem for the PC folks though.

Keep it up, man! Sucks that dental school didn't work out but I hope that an awesome opportunity lands your way. What other games are you planning to review?

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Thank you! I didn't notice any performance hiccups on my end, but I don't have the most trained eye. Next review is most likely going to be BioShock. After that I'll just play it by ear!

Very good review...I've never been interested in the game until I read this; I may give it a go.

If you plan to write for a living, take a refresher look through punctuation rules to make sure you are using your commas appropriately. If you feel a natural pause in what your are writing, you may have need for a comma.

I'd suggest you pick up the Elements of Style and Associated Press guidebooks as well. They are my two favorite reference books.

Overall, you can write...keep it up!

Good luck!

Choose a major you love, and you'll never work a day in your life! Because no one is hiring for it. And then you die.

j/k. Good luck, and keep writing!