Recent reviews by MaladjustedBear

Hands down, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is the greatest game ever created involving JRR Tolkein's Middle-earth. The excellent story draws on the vast universe already established by The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and creates a new, previously untold story unlike any before it.

The combat system is, for all intents and purposes, exactly like what you've experienced before in the Batman: Arkham series--but that's not a bad thing. The system translates well into SoM, making it more brutal and visceral. There are many satisfiying moments, but few more so than executing an Orc in glorious, bloody fashion. Combined with a stealth system similar to that found in the Assassin's Creed series, it's a thing of beauty. Don't mistake these similarities to other games as laziness on the developer's behalf as these systems are fully realized in SoM. They've used what was great and fine-tuned it.

The real gem, though, is SoM's Nemesis System. Orcs develop and grow in power when they defeat enemies--you included. They betray each other, develop traits and personalities, and remember you if you've faced them before. Most of these Orcs are randomly generated, down to their looks and personalities. It makes the game seem more alive and substantially increases its replayability.

My only tiny, nay miniscule, compliant is that many of the side quests are fairly generic and often boring. Rescue quests often involve you saving three people using various strategies and abilities, and Orc-related quests become tediously repetitive after a while. Still, it's a small hiccup in an otherwise amazing game.

As I said, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is the best Middle-earth-related game ever made, but it is more than that. It pushes past its IP and establishes itself as a great game, improving upon what other games have done and bringing something fresh and interesting to the table, as well. Shadow of Mordor is a must buy for any gamer and Tolkein fan.

P.S. Bring your finest PC. This game is going to make it do things neither you or your computer thought possible.

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag is, in my opinion, the best of the AC series. Aside from obvious graphical and gameplay improvements, AC4 does a great job keeping things interesting, even while hunting down all the hidden treasures, locations, and artifacts. Naval combat is probably the best part about the game, although it makes it seem more like a pirate sim at times than an Assassin's Creed game. Still, it's absolutely wroth picking up and playing.