Depending on your definition of 'a Lord of the Rings game', this could easily be at the top spot, but we'd contest that it's the elements within the next two entries that elevate them above the many things Shadow does well. Coming completely out of nowhere to prove almost everybody wrong, so far Shadow has easily got itself in the running for Game of the Year - if not the generation - thanks to the perfect mix of meaty third-person movement, satisfyingly gory combat and a pretty complex brain underneath all the brawn. Lofty claims? Perhaps, but they're more a reflection on just how many standout titles there haven't been for the new consoles. Borrowing liberally from Assassin's Creed's general movement and Batman: Arkham's combat, Shadow of Mordor lets you get completely immersed in your half-human, half-spectral tale of vengeance. It's then that developer Monolith unravel the staggering amount of work they've put into everything from the reactionary world around you to enemy character designs, hero Talion's movements and the brilliantly original Nemesis system. It's their way of giving personalities to the enemies we'd usually not give a second thought about as they're dispatched across the land, but here unless you manage to take someone's head off, fallen foes will return with patched-up wounds and one hell of an axe to grind. It's one thing to see a character you've beaten with an arrow through the eye come back with a piece of metal grafted on, but another entirely to hear stories being told of your character "The Gravewalker" as some sort of orc-based night-terror - all thanks to how much of an impact you're having in the world throughout. In short, Shadow of Mordor is a huge achievement regardless of the title meaning that it's its own tale - as if it weren't for Tolkien's masterwork, it wouldn't exist in the first place.
