Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor cover art

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Open-world action game where procedurally generated orc captains remember your encounters.

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Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION5 /10READS1 /10VARIANCE4 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    5/10

    Counter-timing combat and stealth execution

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    1/10

    Nemesis orcs remember you but remain mappable scripts

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    4/10

    Procedural captains with hidden strengths and weaknesses

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    6/10

    Intel gathering and exploiting known weaknesses solves fights

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Game details

Released
2014
Developer
Monolith Productions
Franchise
The Lord of the Rings
Platforms
PS3, PS4, Linux, PC, Mac, X360, XONE
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
84/100
IGDB users
80/100
Role-playing (RPG)Hack and slash/Beat 'em upAdventureActionFantasyStealthOpen world