Orc Slayer … Fulfilled

It’s been, what …. about a year since I made that longing post for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and I’m happy to say that I’ve experienced what it’s like to decapitate and wreck each orc I come across.  And it was/is glorious.

Let’s backup a bit to how this came to be.  In my last post, I mentioned that the largest hurdle to overcome what the lack of a next-generation console (at the time a Xbox One or PS4).  Recently, the prices of these have been falling due the shear amount of time passing and technology evolving as it always does.  But the price never dropped to a satisfactory level. One day, I noticed an online contest on a website that I frequented for a new Xbox One.  No frills.  No extra controller.  Although it did come with an online code for Halo.  Well, it didn’t cost me anything other than time to enter … which was minimal.  And sure enough, I got an email about a month later from that website saying, “Hey !!! You won !!”  As I am an perpetual skeptic to all things that would seem to benefit me (especially in email form), I thought this to be a rouse.  I sent an email to website asking if that particular email was legitimate and the responded with a yes !!  In a week, I was the proud owner of a new Xbox One that I did not pay a single cent for.  It’s also fun to note that I did purchase Shadow of Mordor before the Xbox arrived, although I did have tracking information about the shipment.

So I jumped right in and started cutting off heads and slicing throats of orcs with the fervor of a blood thirsty pirate (or ranger in this case).  With all my video-watching on the game and lusting over it, I took to the task with ease.  There was very little any orc captain or war-chief could do to prevent my reign of terror.  Within a couple of days, I had successfully completed the main story-line of the game and felt the overwhelming rush of a job well done.  And since I had purchased the Game of the Year Edition, I immediately dove into the DLC content in order to exert my dominance in those stories.  The satisfaction felt is akin to finally relaxing after an exhausting day of work or drinking a glass of your favorite beverage after feeling parched.  The sense of completeness after a long time of wondering what it would be like was tranquil.

This happened a while ago, but even to this day, I turn on the console and run around Mordor, dispensing justice against perverted versions of Elves and Humans.  But now I can move on to other things and maybe experience a similar rush of anticipation with some other task/game/obsession.  Hopefully it will be soon.  Hmmm …. there is Pokemon Go ?!?

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor – Game Longing

This is not a game review as I have never played the actual game.  This is my description of my longing for the game.

There are plenty of good reasons for this game winning the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year 2014.  Large open world, full of dirty, dirty orcs to hack up or bend to your will.  Glorious looking combat animations that give a grim satisfaction each and every time an enemy falls.  The Nemesis System, which gives each player a different encounter with captains and war-chiefs, each with a distinct personality.  These things alone give me the overwhelming urge to possess and play the game, but since I lack a powerful enough computer or a latest generation console (XBox One or PS4), playing this game would take a considerable monetary investment on my part.

So I’m left with watching others play on YouTube or Twitch.  Some may think this would diminish my enthusiasm for the game, but this is far from the truth.  My urge to slice off heads of orcs with a blazing stroke of a sword, shoot arrows at heads to make orcs crumple to the ground, and throw helpless bodies from a cliff to plunge to a sudden stop, have been heightened.  Many of the videos are well produced and provide much entertaining commentary.  One YouTube channel to note of is TearofGrace.  Excellent work in providing hilarious and satisfying gameplay.

One day I may think that emptying my home’s septic tank is worth less than a next-gen console, but today is not that day.  So many other responsibilities and needs that far outweigh a need for entertainment.  And that’s all it really is … entertainment.  But it looks like so much fun !!  And unfortunately I tease myself with emails about XBox One and PS4 deals and bundles.  Almost everyday I see a good deal, just so hard to justify couple hundred USD investment.

And games/game systems are so fleeting.  New technology arises and the old stuff never makes a real comeback.  I remember I used to play Guitar Hero quite a bit, but no one plays or talks about it anymore.  Sitting in the corner, collecting dust.  Never to be used again … mostly because the game system I have for it has fallen into a state of disrepair.

Maybe I’ll wait till the system is old and inferior and hopefully, a bit cheaper.  I actually joked about waiting till the game is abandon-ware before I actually play it.  That sounds like me.

*Moral ahead* The longing continues and so does life, which contains much more important things than video games in this man’s opinion.  Feel free to contradict.