Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. You play Talion, a ranger whose family is killed at the Black Gate and who ends up fused with the wraith of Celebrimbor, the Elf who forged the Rings of Power. The result is a revenge story built on possession, memory, and the idea that the best way to hurt Mordor is to twist its own hierarchy against itself.

On the ground, the game plays like a blend of Batman-style counter combat and Assassin’s Creed-style traversal and stealth. You free-run over ruins, climb towers, drop assassinations, and then drop into melee where timing your strikes, counters, and finishing moves keeps you alive against crowds. Wraith abilities layer on stun moves, domination, and ranged options that make the whole thing feel like a power trip without removing risk.

The Nemesis system is the real hook. Orc captains and warchiefs are procedurally generated with names, traits, fears, rivalries, and grudges. If one of them kills you, he ranks up, remembers the fight, and might mock your last death the next time you meet. You can manipulate that hierarchy by killing, shaming, or later dominating them, orchestrating betrayals and ambushes that feel like your own schemes rather than scripted set-pieces.

The open areas of Mordor — starting with Udûn and moving into more corrupted zones — aren’t massive in size compared to newer worlds, but they’re dense with patrols, strongholds, and dynamic events. Orcs fight each other, hold feasts, executions, and power struggles whether you’re there or not. You’re stepping into an ecosystem, not just clearing icons.

In the Vault, Shadow of Mordor is filed under “games that pushed AI systems forward and then got weirdly ignored.” If someone wants to talk about emergent storytelling or enemy hierarchies, this is exhibit A.