Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life.

Shadow of Mordor starts out slowly. But I'm warming up to it.

Its introduction is narrative-heavy, and actually does a great job of balancing exposition with control tutorials. Or it would, if that exposition was actually interesting. Talion the Ranger's premise is utterly trite -- modest life in Middle-earth, orcs rampaging around, you know the drill. What makes the game's plot fascinating are elements of the world (Mordor) that differentiate it from the novels and films, and the backstory of the wraith character; but these aspects are regrettably absent from the game's opening. In fact, three hours in, I'm still waiting for the wraith's in-game story to catch up to what was revealed in pre-release trailers.

But the game comes into its own as soon as the pretense is dropped and the open world becomes "open." A map dotted with disparate activities. Stealth kills and sword brawls. Collectible points and upgrades. I always love collecting and accomplishing random shit in an open-world game, and Shadow of Mordor provides ample opportunities for all of that.

The "Nemesis" system is playing out a lot better than I expected. Granted, the procedural characterization of orc captains (the eponymous nemeses) is unremarkable; but the way that the orc heirarchy is framed, both when Talion defeats one and when one defeats Talion, makes the enemy horde feel more alive than is typical in a video game. And it achieves the impressive feat of making player-death rewarding, by affecting the game world in an appreciable way -- promoting the victorious captain, making him stronger and bolder.

Most of the game's remaining mechanics, though, are more lukewarm. Not bad, just, not significantly distinct from a modern-day Batman, Assassin's Creed, or Saints Row "style" of game. As in AC, Shadow of Mordor's contextual controls are pretty overwhelming at first, although I'm getting used to them. The weapon runes are ... okay -- they feel more meaningful than the throwaway equipment in Darksiders II, but are lacking in excitement so far. And I haven't unlocked enough character upgrades, yet, to change or direct the way I play the game.

It's fun, but - my cool orc anti-buddies aside - I'm still waiting for the game to "wow" me with its world or with its moment-to-moment gameplay. Right now I'm more motivated by my desire to remove to-do items from the map, than I am by any story missions.

Progress: 6%