Feature: That's no article
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
4 years ago
Update: Following a little leak, Middle-earth: Shadow of War [official site] is now officially announced. It's coming on August 22nd and yup, it sounds like more of the same but with an expanded Nemesis system. Check out the announcement trailer:
This is some kind of sick joke, isn't it?
Feature: 21 Of The Best 7/10 Games
We don’t do scores on RPS, but sometimes we mourn for the inability to deploy a 7/10. The ur-score, the most double-edged of critical swords, the good but not great, the better than it deserves to be, the guilty pleasure, the bungled aspiration, the knows exactly what it is, the straight down the line. One score that can mean so much. There is one particular…
5 years ago
FTC Say Warner Bros Paid YouTubers For Positive Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Videos
Warner Bros. paid "online influencers," including PewDiePie, to post positive videos of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The publisher have reached a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission over their alleged failure to adequately disclose these payments, as announced by the FTC yesterday.
"These charts are supposed to be weekly, Meer." "I know, but I keep having to go away for unhappy reasons." "Oh OK, but you'd damn well better tell me what were the top ten best-stelling Steam games last week, or I'm going to spraypaint pictures of bottoms onto your house." "Alright, alright, here you go."
Feature: Sometimes watching isn't enough.
I had twin criteria for this. The first was 'is it a decent game?' and the second 'does it meaningfully evoke the spirit, themes or characters of the movie in addition to having Quite Good Guns And Graphics?' The second saw quite a few games which would otherwise qualify ruled out. This year's Mad Max, for instance, was an agreeable murder-romp but it's much harder…
Feature: Sandbox satisfaction/dissatisfaction
Once a week most weeks, the RPS hivemind gathers to discuss An Issue. Sometimes it’s controversial news, sometimes it’s a particular game, sometimes it’s favourite things and least favourite things, sometimes a perennial talking point. This week, off the back of most of us being obsessed with Metal Gear Solid V, we're talking about open world, or sandbox games. Big map, go where you please,…
6 years ago
Feature: We gather here at the death of deals
What are the best Steam Summer Sale deals? Each day for the duration of the sale, we'll be offering our picks - based on price, what we like, and what we think more people should play. Read on for the five best deals from day 10 of the sale.
Last night, BAFTA gathered in London to dish out sinister metal masks to a chosen few gamesfolk who had been found worthy of such an honour. I tend to be dismissive of Awards Shows, unless something that I really like wins a tiny trophy - then I'm quite happy and momentarily convinced that the world is just and right. It happened with Cave Johnson at…
Feature: Action Games
PAGE ONE, PANEL ONEGraham lies in a crumpled heap beneath the looming figure of DOCTOR NO IDEAS. CAPTION: This looks like a job for…PAGE ONE, PANEL TWOPip, dressed in a (heroic) frog costume, sits typing at a computer.PAGE TWO, PANEL ONEA closeup of a Gchat window with the text "G, are there any games which do violence as well as comics?"
Feature: Anecdotal Roguelike Orc Slaying
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor came out last year to widespread appeal. Sure, the combat’s just a gorier, hyper deadly version of what we’ve already seen in the Batman Arkham games. Yeah, open world icon assassination was clearly lifted from Assassin's Creed. But this time those icons were orcs, with actual memories and personalities, balanced on a power structure which the player was free to tinker…
Feature: Rule Them
The greatest action game of 2014: Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's moment-to-moment biffing is a trick we've seen before, but it's still impressive to watch your wraith-Ranger shift and flip with seamless animations between punching one gribbly uruk and gutting another. Yet it's the Nemesis system, which gives the action context within the larger army of Sauron and world of Mordor, that makes every assassination matter so much more and which makes…
Dear Rock, Paper, Shotgun,I miss your smile. I miss your comments on my previews wondering how much sugar I have consumed to write it and what the heck kind of quirky BS is this and whether I will or will not ever get around to writing about triple A video games for you. But I come to you today to ask you about yourself. What…
Dear Video Games, Please observe what Monolith are doing with Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Recognising that its bland-o hero could be anything with two legs, two arms, and two blades, they've been releasing free outfits that turn Johnny Stabman into other people. First he became gothy villain the Black Hand of Sauron, and now we can play as a lady - Lithariel, the warrior commander…
If you've been playing Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor for a while, you're probably thinking "Hey! Why did Johnny Stabman here stop being so angsty? I miss that angst! When will he be angsty again?" Well, my friend, you're in luck. Warner Bros. yesterday released a free little DLC pack with a costume that lets you dress like a... I was thinking like a black metal…
Feature: Lend Us Your Boromir
MOOOOOORRRRRRRRRDDDOOOOOOOOORRRRRRR, is the primary form of communication about Monolith's Middle-hyphen-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor. However, we managed to break free of this trapping, and instead converse about the game in ever-so-slightly more erudite form. Below Jim, Alec and John have a natter about orc killing matter.
Feature: Orcward Love
Now I've played for a large proportion of the last five days, with the main storyline completed, and a worrying number of the collectibles and side quests ticked off, I feel far more prepared to give a more definitive statement on Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor: I love it.When I wrote my Wot I Think So Far of the game last week, I already knew it…
Feature: Sauron's Creed
I haven't finished Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor, because for whatever tiresome reasons Warner refused to give us (and seemingly us alone) code before the game’s release. This is after a couple of lengthy days spent plugging away at what is a huge, detailed, and really rather fantastic brawling action game, set betwixt Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings (and importantly, it’s fun even if you…
Middle-Earth: Shadows Of Mordor looks like quite the prospect. An open world RPG in Tolkein's universe, developed by Monolith. And you play as the best of all the classes, a ranger! It sounds rather exciting, but we've just learned that we're not going to be able to tell you if it is or not before the game's released, on the 30th September in the US.…