I loved The Lord of the Rings as a teen. I read the books over and over and over again. Back then the internet barely existed and I certainly didn't have access to it so I'd sift through bookstores and libraries hunting down every scrap of information I could find on Middle Earth. I'd secretely tear out pages when no one was looking and bring them home to my archive.
It was also around this time that I discovered PC gaming, and one of my first games was a fantasy adventure game called Drakan, a vast and beautifully rendered world of endless mountains and seas, dark twisted places and hordes of goblins to kill and dismember. The worlds of Middle Earth and Drakan had one thing in common: they were immersive, I wanted to explore and learn everything about them. The developers of Drakan were later absorbed by Monolith to work on Shadow of Morder.
Shadow of Morder is as impressive and hollow as a Hollywood movie.
As soon as I step into the game I'm informed that I must kill spiders. Why? Why should I kill spiders? I haven't been convinced to kill them and I don't want to... but the UI informs me I must. So I kill a few spider... MISSION COMPLETE! Now the UI updates and tells me to kill flying creatures. Why should I? I really don't care, and I don't want to. Screw this, I'm going to explore. The UI pops up to inform me I must find and kill a slaver orc. I immediately begin scouring the horizon, excitedly plotting my kill. Then a dull UI prompt pops up to inform me the orc is located in "the next mission".
The Next Mission? It feels like the programmers are speaking directly to me now. Why not use language from the lore, such as "Find him within the gates of Girith Gordor".
On my way I encounter a band of orcs persuing an escaped slave. I hide and watch. 20 seconds later the slave escapes and the orcs stop their pursuit. One exclaims, "OH WELLLLL MUST HAVE BEEN RATS".
So I run in and kill one, then climb up a tower to escape from the others. 20 seconds later "OH WELL, MUST HAVE BEEN RATS". I descend and kill the rest. Then more orcs spawn and begin to chase me so I ascend once again into my safe place. "OH WELL I GUESS IT WAS NOTHING"
After repeating the orc killing-and-retreating-to-safetey process a few more times I decide to tackle the story mission. I am informed of the exact distance to the mission by the UI. I get there and am told to press "e" to enter the mission.
I love being drawn into amazing fantasy worlds; to sink into rich atmosphere and lore, compelled to discover every hidden secret. Shadow of Morder does not provide this experience. Everything is force fed to you by UI messages and target markers. Maps tell you EXACTLY where to go and what to do. There is no discovery, no mystery, no higher narrative. It is pointless big budget action.
I hope we get to explore Middle Earth again some day- without map markers and UI prompts.