10 "Assumed To Fail" Video Games That DESTROYED Expectations

Lord of the RIngs shaped modern perceptions of fantasy. The books and the movies are inspirational tales of heroes and villains, betrayals and loyalty, and created one of the most immersive universes in recent memory through sheer words on paper. There have been plenty of games set in the Lord of the Rings universe, but nothing really succeeded in being widely popular.

Many thought this would be the same for a recently announced third-person open-world Lord of the Rings game, called Shadow of Mordor. When gameplay trailers were released, many thought this was a weird Assassins Creed clone. In fact, one person outright accused Warner Brothers of stealing code from Assassins Creed 2.

At the time, the game promised some new sort of gameplay mechanic where enemies in the game would actually form rivalries with the player and create a system referred to as the Nemesis system. Most people thought that sounded really stupid and likely a feature the devs could not deliver upon release.

Surprisingly the game was released in 2014 to near-perfect reviews. The game was fun and unique, it wasn't just Assassins Creed in Mordor. The Nemesis system especially became a stand-out feature quickly copyrighted by Warner Brothers.

The story was interesting, the combat was fun and fluid, the Nemesis system created infinite stories from simple goons to epic warlords, and many felt Shadow of Mordor was part of Tolkien's works, even though it was a completely original story.