I thought I would shake things up a bit and review these two games at once. (And, yes, I'm back to playing games after being sorely hurt by Rise of the Tomb Raider's shitty bugs and even shittier customer service. I mean, the balls those guys have to tell ME to restart my game after over 20 hours of invested time just because they were too lazy to finish it in the first place!!! I mean, HOW DOES A MAJOR DEVELOPER LIKE SQUARE ENIX FUCK UP THIS BADLY... Ok, Ok... Trevor, calm down. This isn't you. You're better than this... I'm not going to cry... I'm not gonna... OH, JUST START THE POST ALREADY!)
Middle earth: Shadow of Mordor and Undertale. Two very different games, two very different experiences. One coming from a major game developer costing millions to make. The other, some dude hanging in his basement who may or may not have a major fan-love to the Earthbound series (or Mother for all those purists out there!).
First, let me recount my journey with Shadow of Mordor. Not a terrible one, but definitely not a great one. After playing the game, I have to imagine that the pitch meeting for its development went something like this:
LEAD DEVELOPER: So I was thinking a bit about those Tolkien books the kids seem to like, right? Then I thought, "How do we make a game about that?" Wait, Jerry what are you playing there?
JERRY THE INTERN: Oh, this? This is Assassin's Creed.
LEAD DEVELOPER: Assassin's Creed, eh? Is it popular?
JERRY THE INTERN: Well, yeah... I mean, it's a huge franchise with a giant following. It even has a film coming out this year with the "Young-Magneto" guy staring in it.
LEAD DEVELOPER: You don't say... Alright, tell you what, let's take that game, only we'll put it in the world of those damn Tolkien books the kids love so much.
JERRY THE INTERN: You mean Middle-earth?
LEAD DEVELOPER: Middle what?
JERRY THE INTERN: Middle-earth is where Lord of the Rings takes place.
LEAD DEVELOPER: I'm not talking about the movies, I'm talking about the books!
JERRY THE INTERN: Actually the movies were based off the book--
LEAD DEVELOPER: See you kids nowadays are always glued to your damn smart phones and never read anymore. We're making this game true to the source material and we'll give it that Assassin's Creed flair. Hell, with any luck we'll get a movie deal too.
JERRY THE INTERN: Sigh...
LEAD DEVELOPER: Jerry, what the hell are you still doing here?! Get the team some coffee already. We're going to crank this gem out before any original ideas throw us off track.
JERRY THE INTERN: **I wish I was dead**
LEAD DEVELOPER: Dead... Hmmm... Maybe our protagonist could be a ghost for no reason at all. Jerry... what do you think about that?!
JERRY THE INTERN: (Missing -- an empty chair swivels)
Aaaaand scene.
OK, so maybe that's not how the game got green lit, but it harkens to my point that there's not much original in this game, especially for the first installment on what's eyeing to be a new franchise.
The fighting mechanics are nearly spot on to the like of Assassin's Creed (maybe throw in a dash of Arkham Asylum). So, there's flashes of entertainment, but nothing truly refreshing. Then we have the worlds that are fairly uninspiring to say the least. You travel through Mordor and through Gondor. While that might sound badass, it's really bland. It's essentially the same monotonous map only one's lit with daylight and the other shrouded in darkness. Aside from satisfying some sense of an environment while walking from point A to point B, it does nothing to transport you to a different state of mind, nor does it encourage you to explore in hopes of discovering new items or places you never new existed.
All that aside, the only thing that's somewhat worth praising is their AI enemy system. You see, this game remembers not only how you die, but who kills you. An your enemy (in this case, the Uruks) are all competing to be the top-dog in their own army. So a death for you means the person responsible for your kill will level up, and that could pose a significant challenge... if you happen to fail at understanding the game mechanics and just suck balls at fighting.
My final dig against this game is that it's fairly easy to level up, and once you get on a roll, no one will stop you. Now, this is a top-seller game. Won tons of awards. So, yes, it's clear people love it. And I believe they love it mostly for its fighting mechanics. However, while the mechanics are fluid and can be initially fun, ultimately they feel immensely over-powered as you level up to the point that there's no fucking challenge. Maybe some people found sheer enjoyment from leveling the shit out of their player and just having a blast wreaking havoc on their enemies. In reality, it's pretty much an exercise in futility because your final boss fight is not much more than a series of quick-time cut scenes that don't really make use of all the grinding and leveling up I had dedicated so much of the game to. All-in-all, what people praise it for, I denounce it for.
So there you have Shadows of Mordor. An unoriginal concept with a so-so execution that left for some mild enjoyment. I guess you could get into it more if you're a big Tolkien fan--
--and read every little detail in the game while playing (much like Zoë was doing). But I'm a fair-weather LOTR fan. Sure, it's fun and all, but I'm not going to geek out learning Celebrimbor's backstory on how he fell to Sauron and made the rings.
Middle earth: Shadow of Mordor and Undertale. Two very different games, two very different experiences. One coming from a major game developer costing millions to make. The other, some dude hanging in his basement who may or may not have a major fan-love to the Earthbound series (or Mother for all those purists out there!).
First, let me recount my journey with Shadow of Mordor. Not a terrible one, but definitely not a great one. After playing the game, I have to imagine that the pitch meeting for its development went something like this:
LEAD DEVELOPER: So I was thinking a bit about those Tolkien books the kids seem to like, right? Then I thought, "How do we make a game about that?" Wait, Jerry what are you playing there?
JERRY THE INTERN: Oh, this? This is Assassin's Creed.
LEAD DEVELOPER: Assassin's Creed, eh? Is it popular?
JERRY THE INTERN: Well, yeah... I mean, it's a huge franchise with a giant following. It even has a film coming out this year with the "Young-Magneto" guy staring in it.
LEAD DEVELOPER: You don't say... Alright, tell you what, let's take that game, only we'll put it in the world of those damn Tolkien books the kids love so much.
JERRY THE INTERN: You mean Middle-earth?
LEAD DEVELOPER: Middle what?
JERRY THE INTERN: Middle-earth is where Lord of the Rings takes place.
LEAD DEVELOPER: I'm not talking about the movies, I'm talking about the books!
JERRY THE INTERN: Actually the movies were based off the book--
LEAD DEVELOPER: See you kids nowadays are always glued to your damn smart phones and never read anymore. We're making this game true to the source material and we'll give it that Assassin's Creed flair. Hell, with any luck we'll get a movie deal too.
JERRY THE INTERN: Sigh...
LEAD DEVELOPER: Jerry, what the hell are you still doing here?! Get the team some coffee already. We're going to crank this gem out before any original ideas throw us off track.
JERRY THE INTERN: **I wish I was dead**
LEAD DEVELOPER: Dead... Hmmm... Maybe our protagonist could be a ghost for no reason at all. Jerry... what do you think about that?!
JERRY THE INTERN: (Missing -- an empty chair swivels)
Aaaaand scene.
OK, so maybe that's not how the game got green lit, but it harkens to my point that there's not much original in this game, especially for the first installment on what's eyeing to be a new franchise.
The fighting mechanics are nearly spot on to the like of Assassin's Creed (maybe throw in a dash of Arkham Asylum). So, there's flashes of entertainment, but nothing truly refreshing. Then we have the worlds that are fairly uninspiring to say the least. You travel through Mordor and through Gondor. While that might sound badass, it's really bland. It's essentially the same monotonous map only one's lit with daylight and the other shrouded in darkness. Aside from satisfying some sense of an environment while walking from point A to point B, it does nothing to transport you to a different state of mind, nor does it encourage you to explore in hopes of discovering new items or places you never new existed.
All that aside, the only thing that's somewhat worth praising is their AI enemy system. You see, this game remembers not only how you die, but who kills you. An your enemy (in this case, the Uruks) are all competing to be the top-dog in their own army. So a death for you means the person responsible for your kill will level up, and that could pose a significant challenge... if you happen to fail at understanding the game mechanics and just suck balls at fighting.
My final dig against this game is that it's fairly easy to level up, and once you get on a roll, no one will stop you. Now, this is a top-seller game. Won tons of awards. So, yes, it's clear people love it. And I believe they love it mostly for its fighting mechanics. However, while the mechanics are fluid and can be initially fun, ultimately they feel immensely over-powered as you level up to the point that there's no fucking challenge. Maybe some people found sheer enjoyment from leveling the shit out of their player and just having a blast wreaking havoc on their enemies. In reality, it's pretty much an exercise in futility because your final boss fight is not much more than a series of quick-time cut scenes that don't really make use of all the grinding and leveling up I had dedicated so much of the game to. All-in-all, what people praise it for, I denounce it for.
So there you have Shadows of Mordor. An unoriginal concept with a so-so execution that left for some mild enjoyment. I guess you could get into it more if you're a big Tolkien fan--
like Zoë and her Uruk-hai Scimitar
--and read every little detail in the game while playing (much like Zoë was doing). But I'm a fair-weather LOTR fan. Sure, it's fun and all, but I'm not going to geek out learning Celebrimbor's backstory on how he fell to Sauron and made the rings.
If you have no clue what I'm talking about, watch this.
Point is, this was a "huge" game. Big intellectually property, put out by a big developer, and released by a big publisher. Money was spent and money was made. But there's nothing to savor here. Much like age of magic in Middle-earth, this game will one day be forgotten.
However, not the same can be said about Undertale.
Undertale is... well, I really shouldn't say what it is. You see, Undertale is one of those games that works best knowing absolutely nothing going into it. The few things I can say about it without ruining anything is that it's not made by a series of big name developers and publishers; it wasn't made with a big budget to support big, flashy graphics; yet it's sure as hell fucking original. Despite it seemingly borrowing on a bunch of familiar gaming tropes, there's really nothing else quite like it. It will leave its mark on you, I swear it. And because of that it will never be forgotten -- unlike another game that I can't quite recall.
Currently, I'm making my way through a second pass of the game. Make what you will of that because I'm going to shut the fuck up about it now in fear I might let slip some other piece of info and I would hate to ruin what should be a fascinatingly fresh experience.
So there you have it. Two very different games that gave me two very different experiences. What I'm hoping you've taken away from this is that you need to respect the idea behind your creative ventures. Sure, graphics and glory can still delivery on some level, but when your message is truly extraordinary, it can lend to a transcending adventure.
Happy gaming.
Undertale is high on my list of games to play and I've only heard wonderful things. Yahtzee called it his game of the year and so did Kevin on a podcast we did. (J can be heard counting down 1000 spins on meatspin while Kevin tries to explain the game. Keith and I just make abortion jokes. We are all assholes.)
ReplyDeleteI know it's available on steam, but do you have any idea if console ports are coming? I'm weirdly pro-console when it comes to my video games, even my indie games.
I'm very pro-console as well, but that's likely because I have a MacBook instead a gaming PC. So, my experience with STEAM has been, generally speaking, limited.
ReplyDeleteWhile I know nothing on whether this is being ported to the consoles, part of me thinks it might not. Why? Well... like I said, this game fucks with you. And it may or may not fuck with you in a way only a PC can. That's all I'll say on the matter.