So, it's Assassin's Creed meets LotR. That's cool, I can work with that. I was discussing a while back how it would be cool if the spirit linked to the main character was one of the Ring Wraiths or one of their minions or something, CynCat thought it would be cool if the guy ended up becoming the new vessel for one of the Wraiths, and we both agreed it probably wouldn't be the way it ended up, though both would be cool.
Well, they've revealed who the Wraith is, and I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming.
Don't watch if you wanted to be surprised, though I suspect that I'll probably be the only one checking this game out.
This is actually pretty interesting. Celebrimbor was tortured to death, and his works were perverted by Sauron, so this has a lot of potential for all sorts of story fuckery down the line. Is he a Wraith, is he corrupted by Sauron? In any event, it looks like the writing team behind this one has done some work and is looking to set up a very interesting story (though I don't know if they're aiming to get a sequel or not).
Heh, the Bright Lord is a clever title for someone whose name means Hand of Silver. It's interesting though, usually elven ghosts go to the Halls of Mandos where they await to be reincarnated in Aman, but this one wanders Middle Earth unknowing of who he is or why he haunts this human. The game looks pretty interesting, though a lot of the claims they're making in the gameplay trailers seem rather outlandish. I've been promised dynamic, living, breathing worlds for ten years and nobody's delivered so I'm not holding my breath. It does seem like it would enhance replay value some at least, and even if not the game looks pretty cool regardless. I would definitely play it if I had the means, but sadly I do not. Guess it goes into the forever backlog for that theoretical future period when I have both money and free time.
Also the cinematic trailer is one of the best trailers I've ever seen, as evidence by the fact that I keep watching it. It's almost up to par with the Metal Gear Solid 3 trailers.
Lys is lily, or lilium.
The pretty flowers remind me of a song of elves.
Tolken wrote that Elvish ghosts could choose to linger and that those ghosts while mere shadows of who they were in life they still had powers beyond that mortal men...
By the Beards of the dwarves they did not betray the lore afterall!
I am now excited by this game!
"it takes two sides to end a war but only one to start one. And those who do not have swords may still die upon them." Tolken
First Impression here, based on a little too much time playing it today:
First off, I played it a little too much today.
Second, my goodness they have about the worst introduction to the mechanics and gameplay I've seen in years. Yes, there's a basic tutorial level, but after that, they basically throw you into the game full steam, and it's difficult to get your bearings. If it weren't for the fact that I've played the shit out of the Assassin's Creed series and stealth games for years now, I'd probably have been fucked. I understand now why Angry Joe got so boned in his game.
Short version, after the tutorial, you're in Mordor. Shit's gotten real. You are supposed to do the storyline missions for a bit to unlock powers, abilities, and gain basic tutorials on some of your more cool shit, but everything pulls you off to the side very quickly.
Case in point, the Captains. Oh Captains, my Captains. This game could be about nothing more than these glorious fucks and I'd probably be happy with it.
Combat in this game is difficult. Not because it's cheap, though sometimes you might get stuck on terrain and get hit by a spear or bow because of it, but because it's hard. The combat at it's core is Assassin's Creed/Arkham City style combat, with an attack, a stun, a parry, and a dodge, with ranged attack options and special attacks to mix things up. You will die. A lot. I can't speak to the keyboard controls on this one, because it's an Assassin's Creed style game, I'm using my gamepad for better control of my movements, and it works like a dream there. No doubt you'll have similar issues to movement as you might with a keyboard for Assassin's Creed, but perhaps somewhat less forgiving here. You are not in a city where you can blend in with the civilians, you are in hostile fucking territory, and while the Orcs are stupid and can be given the slip with (relative) ease, you're not blending into crowds or causing distractions by hiring courtesans. No, your tricks are far more of the lethal sort, and you should not feel bad about killing any of the Orcs here. Hell, this would be a theme park for Frigidmagi, what with all the slaves they have.
So when you die, and you will, the Captains come out of the woodwork. If it was a normal Orc that killed you, he'll get a promotion. If you've been killing Captains pretty regularly, he'll take one of the empty slots. If you haven't, he'll fight one of the existing Captains for the position, either winning or losing. New meat always fills the lower spots, so that roster will always be changing. Always. Every time you die, they have the chance to level up and get promoted, though not to the top spots (I don't think). As they do, they become more powerful, less vulnerable, harder to kill. You'll want to kill them, but it's not always that easy. Like your stealth kills? Sooner or later you'll have to deal with a guy that's so paranoid he's immune to stealth kills entirely. You have to change up how you approach these guys from encounter to encounter, and you will be seeing many of them over and over again.
The game doesn't have a lot of scripted encounters, so you can end up with some really nasty fights. Very early on, as I was exploring, I came across a Captain I didn't know about, and as I was fighting him, two more showed up with their warbands. This wasn't scripted, this happened on the fly. I tried to fight, but I knew nothing about the guys that just came in, and when I tried one of my methods of taking them down, he shrugged it off, poisoned me, and his buddy threw a spear straight through my chest. They all survived, and I had to watch them grow in power from a point where they already kicked my ass, so I had to go and find out more about them, hunt down worms and other, weaker captains, before I could try to come at them again.
Make no mistake, this game can be PUNISHINGLY hard. I'm a veteran at this sort of game and I'm finding it difficult, but gloriously so. I wouldn't go so far as to say this is to Assassin's Creed what Dark Souls is to Elder Scrolls, but it's sort of a happy medium.
But man the introduction to the game on a gameplay level is balls. Watch a let's play or some tutorial videos before diving into this one, unless you enjoy pain.
A bit further in, I'm now in the second map and can move between them, and I have the ability to subvert the Orcs. Haven't used it on a Captain yet, though I will soon, but a few things to note:
Captains can and do eventually become Warchiefs as they work their way up the ranks. Sending death threats is fun (in the game) and makes the captains even tougher. Any Ork can send a threat, and the slaves will sometimes now rat out the Captains, which gives me new sources of information that don't run. Only Captains, however, can send death threats to the warchiefs. Not sure what happens to them afterwards, but I'll bet it's not fun.
I'm familiar enough with the game now that I don't die as much anymore, and I'm learning some of the finer points of combat and how to best use weapon runes to match my playstyle. I had an absolutely brilliant run last night where I killed four captains in a row, then summoned a warchief, who brought another captain (a long-standing nemesis of mine) and I slaughtered them without mercy.
There is a moment when you recognize a captain that's bested you before where that desire to humiliate them comes to the fore. The desire to beat him within an inch of his life and then rip his head off.
But then I see that stealth attacks can one shot the bastard and I slip my shanking knife in through his ear.
Then I decapitate his boss, like so:
Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar, motherfucker.
I attempted to avenge Karrick in Shadow of Mordor, and immediately ignored my own advice in the previous post. After basically trying to get Youtube to play nice all night, I think I've finally got the damn thing working, though it may be an hour or two before the video actually shows up.
Well, this game looks awesome. I'll try to remember it when, around 2020 or so, I finally get a system able to play it. Also, Hotfoot, it seems that the point where you said, "I could just kill him," but didn't do so is the one where everything went to hell. Clearly you should have just killed him.
Lys is lily, or lilium.
The pretty flowers remind me of a song of elves.
Fun game....gotta get used to the controls (might try this out some more this weekend).
Amazing how I can do Assassin's Creed/Arkham City stuff and fight a crowd of ten orcs, and be on the winning side for awhile.....but then 3 Captains decide to join the fight and I start to lose.
Actually had one chase me down after running away once! I ended up dying because of a crossbow wielding Captain, but damn...it was interesting.
Allen Thibodaux | Archmagus | Supervillain | Transfan | Trekker | Warsie |
"Then again, Detective....how often have you dreamed of hearing your father's voice once more? Of feeling your mother's touch?" - Ra's Al Ghul
"According to the Bible, IHVH created the Universe in six days....he obviously didn't know what he was doing." - Darek Steele bani Order of Hermes.
DS's Golden Rule: I am not a bigot, I hate everyone equally. | corollary: Some are more equal than others.
Pugh the Venomous or Poisoner, or whatever the fuck his title is can go get himself eaten by Smaug.
I've beaten him to the point where his face is just a burlap sac with a mouthhole...
and he keeps coming back for more! I'm not even sure how he's coming back considering I've killed him with Wraith Power, and beheading...those Uruk medics must be fan-fucking-tastic.
Also I eventually need to do the story missions so I can get out of the Black Gate starting map....
Allen Thibodaux | Archmagus | Supervillain | Transfan | Trekker | Warsie |
"Then again, Detective....how often have you dreamed of hearing your father's voice once more? Of feeling your mother's touch?" - Ra's Al Ghul
"According to the Bible, IHVH created the Universe in six days....he obviously didn't know what he was doing." - Darek Steele bani Order of Hermes.
DS's Golden Rule: I am not a bigot, I hate everyone equally. | corollary: Some are more equal than others.
Eventually I put him down for good....I ended up killing him eight times or so before it happened.
Unfortunately I now have 2 Combat Masters I have to kill - one is a Captain I death Threated for funsies.....and he lost all his fears, became immune to stealth, immune to ranged, and gained Combat Master - which means I can't make his HP go down with my sword, or my arrows...and I can't Stealth Kill his ass or Brutalize him....
Which means I have to get OTHER things to fight him for me....
Oh wait...he has the "Monster Slayer" strength?
Well fuck me.
And he's a gimpy fuck too - missing a leg below the knee and a arm from the elbow down...
The other guy is a Warchief, but it's that lvl 20 Gimpy Captain that's worrying me more.....I feel like he's about to become a Warchief...
Allen Thibodaux | Archmagus | Supervillain | Transfan | Trekker | Warsie |
"Then again, Detective....how often have you dreamed of hearing your father's voice once more? Of feeling your mother's touch?" - Ra's Al Ghul
"According to the Bible, IHVH created the Universe in six days....he obviously didn't know what he was doing." - Darek Steele bani Order of Hermes.
DS's Golden Rule: I am not a bigot, I hate everyone equally. | corollary: Some are more equal than others.
