Becoming the terror of the orcs in Middle-earth, every enemy remembering your past clashes, that was the big promise of Shadow of Mordor.

There is no gut-feeling ranking here, so let us read the profile criterion by criterion. And the verdict is harsh. Attachment falls to the very bottom, dead last in the ranking, and the art style nearly follows, right down there too. Fun and the wish to rediscover stay low in the table. Only the desert-island reflex saves face a little, just above average, but on few votes, to confirm. Here is the story this profile tells: a game famed for its Nemesis system, its sharp combat inherited from the Batman Arkham games, yet one the community does not hold in its heart.

In the open-world action genre, this is the paradox of well-built games you forget fast. The mechanics impress in the moment, the emotion does not linger. These criteria, built for attachment and lasting impact, simply are not where this game shines.

So, who is it for? For you if you love combat systems that hit hard and the idea of an enemy who remembers you. Much less if you want a world that grabs you and stays with you long after the end screen.