Imagine what Assassin's Creed was always trying to be; that idea of a seamless experience where a perfectly-animated hero darts up and down some stunningly realised structures, plotting exactly how to take out a target and disappearing off into the night - the only remnant of their passing being one silenced foe. Shadow of Mordor nails it, taking equal influence from both Assassin's Creed and Batman's Arkham games, but ties them together with a phenomenally original game mechanic - the Nemesis system. Chances are you'll never make it through any game without dying, but Shadow elects to make that a core part of the experience. Where other developers reconcile you to replaying a part over again, fail states in Mordor give you enemies to hunt down later on. By creating personal enemies for every player it means you'll get consumed in carving your own way through the enemy ranks for hours, interrogating lower-ranked goons to exploit weaknesses and fears in whoever brought you down. It's a superb system, and acts as something that gives Shadow more replayability than a vast number of releases this year combined. This is all alongside a brilliantly fun story that although it's nothing to write home about, sees you journeying across some gigantic expanses of land as well as meeting up with Gollum for a bit too. In the end although Middle-earth's influences are plain and obvious for all to see, but the simple fact is there's barely been a game this year that wrapped everything up in such a downright fun package as this one.
