Shadows of Mordor

Copyright : Melbourne House | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The last text adventure based on J.R.R. Tolkien?s Middle Earth novels to be released on the Amstrad, Shadows bore less expectation due to the critical mauling received by its predecessor, The Lord of the Rings, and slipped out quietly without many people really noticing.

Building on the complexities of the earlier game, Shadows of Mordor continues the quest of the Ring bearer as Frodo and Sam split from the Fellowship and are joined by the most unexpected of travelling companions as they march towards Mount Doom and the final battle.

Graphics

Seemingly taking on board the criticism levelled at the games graphics, the Amstrad version of the Shadows of Mordor has eradicated the actual graphics and puts the majority of its efforts into creating vivid descriptions of the locations which evoke pretty well those found in the novel. The big problem with this though is that for most of the time Frodo and Sam have to cross barren wastelands? not at all the fault of the programmers but still a fault none the less. I know, there?s just no pleasing some people!

Thankfully the window presentation has been jettisoned in favour of the more traditional text adventure layout with a grey band along the top of the screen giving you a brief status outline of who you are controlling. This system works much better and speeds up the game enormously with the story being displayed in the majority of the screen and an input box at the bottom giving the game a tidy appearance with blue writing on a white background.

The picture on the loading screen is very good too and for those not quick enough to save their progress this is something you?ll be seeing quite regularly!

Sound

None.

Gameplay

Obviously making a conscious effort to move further away from being a direct copy of the content of the books, Shadows of Mordor?s intent is clear even from the title as the game is based upon only one half of the second novel in the trilogy, The Two Towers. This is a blessing in disguise and although dedicated Tolkien buffs may be put out that Aragorn, Legolas and co. have been left out, it allows the game a sense of structure that would otherwise have been shambolic as The Two Towers is much more complex and tricky to follow than it?s fairly linear predecessor, The Fellowship of the Ring.

With over 200 locations, it will take a long time to make it all the way to Shelob?s Lair at the end of the game. Additionally, there are several different methods and characters that can be encountered which means that unlike the majority of games in this genre, Shadows of Mordor stands up to repeat plays and although it doesn?t feel as encompassing as previous games in the series, it?s still head and shoulders above most of the fantasy based text adventures for the CPC or any other format in terms of scale and plot.

The game is considerably faster than LOTR without any real noticeable sacrifices in terms of the parser and artificial intelligence used in the game. Characters still wander in and out of the screen going about their own business and you can fully interact with most of them. Smeagol though is a bit of a throwback to The Hobbit in his fairly aimless wanderings and nonsensical gibbering but this is entirely keeping with character and cannot be unduly criticised.

The complexities of the parser are evident and stand up well to abuse! While no game has a perfect text input system, Melbourne House?s Inglish is as good as any other and rarely leaves you stumped as to what to put in. In fact, it?s in your best interests in some puzzles to be as anally retentive in your instructions as possible!

Originally released on tape, Shadows of Mordor suffers from the same problem as LOTR did before it that when you die, you have to reload the entire thing from scratch - a massive drawback in the days before emulation.

Not without it?s own bugs, Shadows of Mordor has clearly been more stringently tested than LOTR and the result is a far more playable game. I?ve yet to come across any with the same severity of consequence as those found in the first game and they are more of a slight annoyance than anything that will ruin the game for you.

It might not be the most poetic of scenarios from the trilogy of novels and like the book, it is hard going at times but there?s enough creativity in the puzzles to justify persevering with Shadows of Mordor.