Do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor?

Do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor? - Photo of Two Red Dices

I am a huge fan of LOTR and now after all the hobbits and LOTR movies, I was looking for games based on LOTR and I found wiki Middle-earth in video games. Now in the List of video games many games are listed but I own a win 10 PC and looking at the latest windows game series "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor"'s gameplay, it is just superb.

Can I buy it straight away or should I first go for some previous selected games in the series for a better experience and story experience?



Best Answer

Simple answer

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor straight away.

More detailed answer

There really is no reason to play the games in a specific order, they have very little in common. storywise, they all are pretty much completely independent from each other.

What I know about the games in this list: Fellowship, Two Towers and Return of the king (2002-2003) are third person action games, which follow the movies fairly closely. Battle for Middle-earth 1 and 2 are great RTS games, whereas the first is close to the events of the books/movies, while the second looks at other parts of tolkiens mythology. Both feature a mode, where you can conquer the whole of middle earth (similar to the total war series). Despite being a series, the games really don't have anything to do with each other in terms of the story they tell. However as EAs license for LotR games expired it may be very hard to get a hold of those games.

War of the ring(2003) is not based on the movies, but the general tolkien license, it's a new story, but I haven't played the game.

War in the north(2011) is an action oriented-rpg featuring a storyline not covered in the main books or books. It's nice for a fan, but the game is nothing spectacular.

Guardians of Middle-Earth(2012) is a moba(think league of legends or dota), I haven't played it, so I can't tell anything more about it.

Shadow of Mordor(2014) is a 3rd person open world action game in the vein of assassins creed. The story isn't covered in the books or movies. It's a very good game with a great feature in the nemesis system, but like AC-games it suffers from being incredibly easy.

The big one is Lord of the rings online. It features a massive game world, a long sotryline quest series, which touch both new ground and elements from the main book series. It's a wealth of content to explore, but of course it is an MMORPG with all its drawbacks and trappings.

I can't say anything about other titles in the list.




Pictures about "Do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor?"

Do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor? - Crop unrecognizable man with controllers playing video game while having spare time on sunny day
Do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor? - From above of bright controller with pink drops and knobs with buttons placed on white table while casting shadow in sunny day
Do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor? - Blue and White Orange Green Rubik's cube



Is Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor before shadow of war?

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is an action role-playing video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the sequel to 2014's Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 10, 2017.

Should I play Mordor before shadow of war?

As others have said, it's not necessary, but it's suggested. Play a quick run through of the first game to get used to mechanics, basic plot, and fighting techniques. Knowing the story is great, and if you are a completionist, so is finally getting the best loot.

Do you need to play the middle-earth games in order?

More detailed answer. There really is no reason to play the games in a specific order, they have very little in common. storywise, they all are pretty much completely independent from each other.

Can I play Shadow of Mordor without knowing LOTR?

You can play without watching the films / read the books, but you'll be completely lost / won't understand the lore and backstory.



12 Things You Need To Know Before You Walk Into Mordor




More answers regarding do I need to play any Middle-Earth games before Shadow of Mordor?

Answer 2

Shadow of Mordor is a very fun game, and they give you everything you really need to know in cut-scenes and in the intro. Strangely, the less you know about Tolkien's universe, the happier you'll be playing it, as there are a number of glaring disconnects with established lore that are very likely to jolt you out of the narrative. See https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/70777/how-well-does-shadow-of-mordor-fit-into-middle-earth-canon for details.

If you are very familiar with Middle Earth and it's lore, just do your best to shut down that portion of your brain and just enjoy the experience.

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Jonathan Petersson, Eren Li, Bambanani Nguqu, Negative Space