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I'm not suggesting that they would have been mellow or that they were mind controlled, but their POV (bitterness, aggression) makes sense when you think that the world is literally set up to be against them.

Life in Orcish society is violent and full of betrayals and tension. It would be a horrible society to live in, and it would mold the orcs into horrible people.

That is still a tragedy, and probably the biggest one in LOTR- these guys are likely irredeemable, but in the end, it's not entirely their fault that they are the way they are. The creation of the Orcs was the worst thing that Morgoth did.

It basically is Assassin's Creed: Mordor. Good game overall. Cannot enjoy it as a LotR game as it poops all over the lore.

Nah, the game doesn't "poop all over the lore." It feels right at home in the 'Jacksonian' vision of LotR, which is itself a pretty nice fit in many fans' minds including people who are far greater sticklers than me. There are technical critiques but the IP is in service to the product, not the other way around. After years of gratuitous marketing, I figured LotR fans would be used to this by now. Shadow of Mordor tries and succeeds to hew to the spirit of Tolkien's work, as we are discussing regarding the game's theme.

RE: Orcs

They are a pitiable race but that sentiment itself is of course unknown to them. They would not be orcs if they were able to experience pity. Bred to be slaves, they have never had a choice and certainly not as to what they are. Yet so they remain what they are: no less an orc for having no say in the matter. To slay them is no sorrowful thing; to wipe them out entirely would be a mercy to them and the whole world.

None of this justifies cruelty on the part of those who do have a choice. Torturing an orc cannot offend its dignity as it has none. Torture, however, does offend the dignity of the torturer. The moral quality of an act does not depend on the moral quality of its object. This is the very temptation that defeated the honor of Boromir. If we can learn anything from the orcs it is that the Enemy's weapons slay those who wield them. This is true even of the Dark Lord.

 Da Boss wrote:
I'm not suggesting that they would have been mellow or that they were mind controlled, but their POV (bitterness, aggression) makes sense when you think that the world is literally set up to be against them.

Life in Orcish society is violent and full of betrayals and tension. It would be a horrible society to live in, and it would mold the orcs into horrible people.

That is still a tragedy, and probably the biggest one in LOTR- these guys are likely irredeemable, but in the end, it's not entirely their fault that they are the way they are. The creation of the Orcs was the worst thing that Morgoth did.

likely irredeemable? We dont know that since tolkien never mentionad anyone TRYING to redeem them.

Has anyone encountered on orc chieftain called "Flak the Relentless"? I've killed him twice and he keeps coming back. Not sure if it's a glitch.

The game does have some silly stuff and bugs. Spent quite some time trying to kill a warlord who kept on running and climbing in circles, didn't help that he was armored to the teeth and almost had no weakness... and then he got eaten by a Castigor after I finally got rid of about 6 guatds and captains while chasing him... Serves his ugly ass right.

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Has anyone encountered on orc chieftain called "Flak the Relentless"? I've killed him twice and he keeps coming back. Not sure if it's a glitch.

Part of the game. Unless decapitated, Uruks can come back. They often look differently - if, for example, you kill one with a headshot, it might return with an eye-patch.

I killed one at least five times. The last time, he came back with a bloody bag covering what was left of his face.

 Sigvatr wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Has anyone encountered on orc chieftain called "Flak the Relentless"? I've killed him twice and he keeps coming back. Not sure if it's a glitch.

Part of the game. Unless decapitated, Uruks can come back. They often look differently - if, for example, you kill one with a headshot, it might return with an eye-patch.

I can testify to that.

One particular Orc Captain... Just. Would. Not. Give. Up.

First time we met, I blew him up and burned his face, prompting him to run away.

The second time we met, he was covered in hideous facial scars. I set him on fire again, but couldn't catch him as multiple other captains interfered.

The third time we met, he was sporting a leather mask covering up the burns, and he was [understandably] pissed at being burned alive twice. "You've burned me twice, that ain't gonna happen again!"

No...no it did not. This time I cut his head off.


I kinda regret it though, he was shaping up to be an interesting character with a deep grudge against me.

I've finally finished Udun, having killed or converted all of the Captains and Warchiefs, and I'm moving onto Nurn. I think in future I'm going to start experimenting with the Nemesis system by messing with Orcs, burning them then running away, letting them kill me, raising them to max level (20) etc just to see how much they change and react. Plus I know a very talented miniature sculptor who works commissions so if theres a particular Orc that I like, I might get him made into a miniature for LOTR SBG. I'm saving screenshots of all my Orcs for that purpose.

Overall impression. Fun game, worth the purchase. The character feels rather flat although there are a few interesting maybe he's being corrupted by Mordor plus why he got on the wall to begin with. It's somewhat a lonely game considering basically the map's just Uruks and Uruks and more Uruks with the slaves you can rescue if you want being basically your only company. The combat can be rather easy all said and done, perhaps a bit too much frankly, and it does have several derpy moments in the story. That said, for all my concerns as a LoTR fan, I think it's the best LoTR game and actually deserves the title.

I basically only play it and Wasteland 2 right now and, chosing between the two, it's my go to when I just want to spend a few minutes playing a game rather than sitting there for a long time. What really makes the game worthwhile is a combination of entertaining mechanics mixed with the Nemesis mechanic, something I'd honestly love to see more of in games. Heck, I remember I was hunting down a officer and two came back for revenge. It was actually amazing and the first time my character was brought to his knees (stupid poison arrows)

 Sigvatr wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Has anyone encountered on orc chieftain called "Flak the Relentless"? I've killed him twice and he keeps coming back. Not sure if it's a glitch.

Part of the game. Unless decapitated, Uruks can come back. They often look differently - if, for example, you kill one with a headshot, it might return with an eye-patch.

That explains why they stopped coming back after a while...
Got the Brand now so i'm branding the entire uruk power tree as far as I can go. Going to try and have all the warchiefs branded as well XD

 purplefood wrote:

 Sigvatr wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Has anyone encountered on orc chieftain called "Flak the Relentless"? I've killed him twice and he keeps coming back. Not sure if it's a glitch.

Part of the game. Unless decapitated, Uruks can come back. They often look differently - if, for example, you kill one with a headshot, it might return with an eye-patch.

That explains why they stopped coming back after a while...
Got the Brand now so i'm branding the entire uruk power tree as far as I can go. Going to try and have all the warchiefs branded as well XD

I did that in Udun. I must have over 20 Uruks under my thrall, including the 5 Warchiefs.

Weird story, but I'm really liking what I see of the gameplay so far.

Gotta wait for the 360 release though...

 Shadow Captain Edithae wrote:

 purplefood wrote:

 Sigvatr wrote:

 Mr Nobody wrote:
Has anyone encountered on orc chieftain called "Flak the Relentless"? I've killed him twice and he keeps coming back. Not sure if it's a glitch.

Part of the game. Unless decapitated, Uruks can come back. They often look differently - if, for example, you kill one with a headshot, it might return with an eye-patch.

That explains why they stopped coming back after a while...
Got the Brand now so i'm branding the entire uruk power tree as far as I can go. Going to try and have all the warchiefs branded as well XD

I did that in Udun. I must have over 20 Uruks under my thrall, including the 5 Warchiefs.

It's also a ton of fun to brand a low ranking captain and push him up through the ranks.

Yeah. Remember to take lots of screenshots as they grow up for the family scrapbook!

I've just been shooting everything in the head.
The infinite focus and elf-shot for 15 seconds is super OP when you just set everything on fire.

 Da Boss wrote:
I'm not suggesting that they would have been mellow or that they were mind controlled, but their POV (bitterness, aggression) makes sense when you think that the world is literally set up to be against them.

Life in Orcish society is violent and full of betrayals and tension. It would be a horrible society to live in, and it would mold the orcs into horrible people.

That is still a tragedy, and probably the biggest one in LOTR- these guys are likely irredeemable, but in the end, it's not entirely their fault that they are the way they are. The creation of the Orcs was the worst thing that Morgoth did.

If you believe Tolkien, the worst thing Morgoth has ever done was even consider raping Tolkien's waifu, Luthien.

Game is pretty fun. Don't have much issue with Talion butchering orcs and terrorizing them en masse. I don't agree with it but in Tolkien's works the murder and torment of orcs lacks any moral implications. Actually, it might just make you heroic.

Slowpoke late to the party here, but $25 on Black Friday sale and sloooow delivery means I just got the game.

Anyway, on Xbox 360 the little cutscenes before things like Feasts, Duels, Hunts etc. play about half a second, then cut to black loading screen, then another half a second, then another loading screen, then mission start. I pretty much miss out on all the orcish banter in those segments which is a shame and seems to be down to the 360's inability to load it quickly enough.

I've also noticed slow loading of textures and slow loading between menus.

Anyone else had this issue? Is there gonna be a fix?

Damn, that sucks. The Orc personalities are the best part of the game.

From the sound of it, I'm glad I waited until I have an XB1 available to play it on, then.

Yep, definitely get it on Xbone or PS4, it's a very fun game.

I'll likely rebuy it whenever I get around to a new console.

My bro just beat it one of the best games hes played really liked the combat, story, and graphics (playing on xbox 1) Im really excited to play it as well really cool!

My bro also said it didn't trash the lore at all but I didn't really press for more info considering how i want to play it.

 zombiekila707 wrote:
My bro just beat it one of the best games hes played really liked the combat, story, and graphics (playing on xbox 1) Im really excited to play it as well really cool!

My bro also said it didn't trash the lore at all but I didn't really press for more info considering how i want to play it.

Its perfectly in keeping with the Peter Jackson interpretation of Middle Earth. But whether or not you think SOM trashes the lore of the books probably depends on whether or not you think Peter Jackson's films trash the lore.

Personally, I do think PJ trashed the lore - with the Hobbit trilogy - but still enjoyed his 6 films nonetheless and have been inspired after seeing The Battle of the Five Armies to re-read the Hobbit once again.

I watched my roomie play. Too much magical stuff for what the Tolkien universe is supposed to contain. That actually disappointed me more than I'd have expected.