Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - The Bear and Badger

acemuzzy

I've just been running around killing people in the first area. Couple of Chiefs down, but I don't think they were War Chiefs or anything (just the Power 3/4 chaps). Good fun. Ran away from a Power 9 chap pretty swiftly!

About to do one of the first two story missions. Will see what happens.

Got a few of the ikilith / flower nonsense, that just lets your buy more health / ammo stuff right? Doesn't feel like there's too much to buy there, but the runes are maybe more interesting (and an incentive to kill more Chiefs).

Haven't quite worked out how all the things refill - health by flowers, focus over time, arrows seem to randomly appear I'm not quite sure how (having never knowingly picked one up)...

pantyfire

Some herbs seem to restock arrows and focus.
'Draining' an enemy does the same. Or, Yeh, snatch a ghostly arrow embedded in a wall dotted around maps. Tho these arrows just seem to restock arrows, not the focus.

I've picked up every ikilith and artifact I could see on the map and it appears to be about 50% of them, I dunno if more will appear as I get further into the story or if they have to be found by detective mode. If the latter... well balls.

But I'm liking it a lot. The Ass Crud bits are better than Ass Crud and so are the combat bits, the finishers are stupendously good and I'll never get tired of them.

google

I wish health refreshed itself after 30 seconds of not being hit or something. Getting hit three times and then an arrow kills you - annoying.

Curtis

acemuzzy wrote:

Haven't quite worked out how all the things refill - health by flowers, focus over time, arrows seem to randomly appear I'm not quite sure how (having never knowingly picked one up)...

Yeah, the lack of manual doesn't help. Your HUD bottom left is:

Red bar = Health. Regens very slowly but not fully. Hiding helps. You can eat flowers as you pass by, but you can't store them (i.e. there's no inventory of healing items).
White bar = Focus. Basically how long you can hold down the aim button in slo-mo mode. You can disable it with R3. Refills slowly over time. Drain enemies to refill immediately.
Blue squares = How many arrows you have. Once depleted refill by pulling Elf Arrows out of the wall. Or drain enemies. Certain runes increase the amount you get.

Useful tid-bit: if you enter Wraith mode, anything of interest will shine/glow, so get used to toggling that and be on the looksee for stuff like collectibles or exploding bonfires lol.

Curtis

pantyfire wrote:

I've picked up every ikilith and artifact I could see on the map and it appears to be about 50% of them

That's because there is another area/map/environment. Hopefully one a little more colourful.

pantyfire

Is there? WHOOP.
GENUINELY MADE UP ABOUT THAT.

Curtis

Yeah, I enquired about the map/world size and have been told there are definitely two areas.

pantyfire

I've absolutely battered this today, killed 1 Warchief and I've set another up for a pasting during my next session by taking out his captains. I was starting to worry that it was going to be a bit short but now I'm not.

Spoiler:

Curtis

I have 10 hours on the clock and I've done maybe 3 story missions. So many great distractions in this muddy playground. You are basically making up your own mini stories with each encounter, be it a minor outpost you feel the need to clear out, or an accidental happening across a new Captain.

I've been moaning about the drab and barren environment, but when it's pitch black and pissing it down, they've absolutely nailed the mood of The Two Towers.

Paul the sparky

Yeah, the rain adds heaps to the atmosphere.

Loving the combat, those shield fuckers are a pain in the arse.

Took down my first Warchief, he was immune to everything except explosive damage and the Y+B finisher. I had yo wait a fair while for him to go near a fire, when he did I shot an arrow into it and took half his health off. I leapt down yo press home the advantage, I got a few swipes in and the fucker ran away! I almost lost him thanks to some dodgy free running, but thankfully I caught up to him and smote his ruin into the cold mud. Glorious.

fullspectrum

Best rain ever. And hail.

Dark Soldier

I so want this but can't afford a PS4 til around January. May go 360 when it appears but next gen versions look lush.

Jimmy The Lips

Paul the sparky wrote:

I've avenged you Jimmy!

WHat, how? thank you x

acemuzzy

Is drain different from grab? Is that the B button thing, or the RB thing? I might need to skim the tutorials again!

One thing I found a bit silly, at least in the early sections, was how Y just makes you invincible. Makes survival a bit too easy IMO. I'm sure that'll change tho...

pantyfire

It does change with new enemy types.

Drain is B.
It can be done from standing or from a grab.

It also either kills, if the target is damaged, or causes some to flee.

TheDJR

I might get this today.

Curtis

Regarding grab: the 'shank' button is one of the nastiest moves I've seen in any game, especially because you can press it multiple times for that authentic prison retribution feel. lol!

Proper brutal.

Curtis

Dark Soldier wrote:

I so want this but can't afford a PS4 til around January. May go 360 when it appears but next gen versions look lush.

DO NOT BUY THE 360 VERSION!

Its missing the all-important Nemesis system, which makes this game more than just an AssBat clone.

stonechalice

Fuck really? Anyone here have the 360 version?

pantyfire

Omg. The fatal zoomy bow shot teleporter thing is incredibly good.

Chief

stonechalice wrote:

Fuck really? Anyone here have the 360 version?

Not out yet. PS3 and 360 versions were knocked back a couple of weeks.

pantyfire

Jimmy and sparky.
You have both been avenged.

M0stly harm13ss

It seems to have been kept quiet, but the 360 and ps3 versions are not the same game as Curtis said, missing a fair bit of the mechanics.

Paul the sparky

Unlucky, tramps.

@Panty cheers mate, but unless you killed 20+ Uruk in my name then I'm not truly avenged just yet. One particular shield twat has done for me twice, he's went from an unknown foot soldier to a Bodyguard for a Warchief.

Stuck this on for an hour last night as I was feeling a bit under the weather. Four and a half hours flew by and I had to tear myself away in the end.

pantyfire

I'm actually enjoying doing all the side missions as well, which is quite unusual for me. I don't normally do them all.

I am finding the sword ones a bit tough tho, partly thru design, my incompetence and bad luck.
I got mashed in the training room one - you have to kill 20 or so Uruk in one room but as I am whittling them down a load of patrolling Uruks burst in and joined the fight, which brought the total up to something like 30 of the buggers, unfortunately they where poleaxe and berserkers so that didn't go well. And the one where you have to fight the Grul. Jeez that's hard, I'm going to have to come back to that one.

Paul the sparky

I've never tried them, but I'd guess they're for when you've completed the story and are much stronger.

pantyfire

The Grul one definitely. There are a couple of unlocks that will help with that one a lot.

The clear the training room isn't too bad. I went back to it later and did it fairly easily, without the party crashes that is.

pantyfire

Just a quick kills video I made for a friend. He will cream over the kills.
Nothing you won't have seen or particularly good if you've played it but...

Paul the sparky

Can't view it on the page. Don't know what's changed as they always used to work.

I'll copy the link and head to YouTube.

Paul the sparky

Very good Panty, no shanks or 'FORFEIT YOUR MIIIIND!' interrogations though.

I'm far more comfortable dismembering Orcs than I am offing guys in Ass Crud. Batman was fine as although you were brutal, breaking bones etc. at least you let them live.

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