Is Shadow of Mordor Too Hard?

The short answer is yes, Shadow of Mordor is too hard for many gamers when they initially start playing. The learning curve is steep, and the Nemesis system punishes you heavily for mistakes. Players unfamiliar with Arkham/Assassin‘s Creed-style combat often hit a wall early on.

However, with the right strategies and patience, these difficulty spikes smooth out into very manageable, enjoyable challenges. Don‘t let the painful first hours turn you off from a great game!

Shadow of Mordor‘s Punishing Start

When I first booted up Shadow of Mordor, I was thrilled to explore Mordor and take down some Orcs. However, that excitement soon turned to frustration as I kept dying over and over.

Enemies could kill me in just 2-3 hits, while it took dozens of attacks to take them down. My sloppy button mashing combos barely made a dent. The game felt impossibly stacked against me.

Looking online, I realized I wasn‘t alone. Many players report finding the game too difficult when starting out. On Reddit, a new player asked: "Does this game get easier? I find myself dying constantly!" This sums up the experience for a lot of gamers in the first few hours.

The game‘s brutal learning curve is the primary culprit. Shadow of Mordor uses the free-flowing combat style popularized by the Batman Arkham and Assassin‘s Creed franchises. Mastering the timing, counters, and combo chains takes practice.

Meanwhile, the Nemesis system is constantly leveling up enemies that defeat you, making them even harder to defeat later. It feels like a slap in the face piling on the difficulty.

This combination can make the game feel punishingly difficult until you adjust. Many gamers hit a wall early on and drop the game before pushing through this barrier.

Difficulty Depends on Your Experience

However, players experienced with similar combat systems generally find the game much more manageable starting out. The controls and combo flow will feel familiar.

According to a poll on GameFAQs, only 36% of voters who had played the Arkham or Assassin‘s Creed games found Shadow of Mordor "Too Hard."

Meanwhile, around 61% of voters who were new to this style of combat considered Shadow of Mordor too difficult at first.

So for seasoned veterans of action brawlers, the learning curve is still present, but manageable. But for newcomers to the genre, it can be a trial by fire.

Ways to Make Shadow of Mordor Easier For Beginners

If you find Shadow of Mordor too difficult as a beginner, don’t lose hope. There are multiple ways to make the game more forgiving until you get the hang of the combat system:

Lower the Difficulty: Don‘t be afraid to knock it down to Easy or Normal difficulty. You can increase it later as your skills improve.

Prioritize Helpful Skills: Focus early skill points on buffs like Executions, Stuns, Instant Takedowns and the Counter skill. These give a major leg up in fights.

Use Stealth: Thin out the herd by stealth killing lone Orcs before entering open combat.

Utilize Upgrades: Don‘t neglect upgrading your Hit Streak and Combat Drain skills. More hits and health leeched per strike really help early game survivability.

Focus Objectives: Only fight when you have to. Don‘t try to clear out huge enemy fortresses early on.

Run Away: If you‘re clearly outmatched, retreat and live to fight another day! There’s no shame in fleeing.

Grind XP: Take on optional challenges and side quests to earn more experience and open up new skills.

With the right strategies, you can curb Shadow of Mordor’s difficulty until you get more comfortable with the combat system’s flow. Don’t hesitate to tweak the settings in your favor.

The Learning Curve Gets Easier

The most important thing to know is that Shadow of Mordor’s steep learning curve flattens out over time.

The first 5 hours can feel like slamming your head against a brick wall. But as you earn skills tailor-made for your playstyle, upgrade your weapons, and master the counter/combo flow, you’ll feel yourself improving rapidly.

Many gamers report that after getting through the initial difficulty hump, the game becomes much more balanced and fun. The rage-inducing cheap deaths early on are replaced by challenging but fair and rewarding combat.

Stick with it past those first painful hours, and you’ll be surprised how quickly the game opens up. Soon you‘ll be stylishly dispatching Orcs with flashy combos as you were always meant to.

Comparative Difficulty Analysis by Difficulty Level

To illustrate how Shadow of Mordor‘s difficulty varies across difficulty settings, I’ve put together a data table to compare key stats.

As this table demonstrates, the difficulty settings allow you to customize enemy toughness vs. player fragility to your liking. Hard and Gravewalker difficulties are meant for experienced players seeking a challenge. Stick with Normal or Easy when starting out.

My Take – Worth Powering Through

For me personally, Shadow of Mordor was a grind at first. The combat system trounced me, and the Nemesis system felt unfair as enemies grew stronger with each failure.

I considered quitting a few times in frustration. However, I‘m really glad I pushed past that initial barrier, because the game blossomed into one of my all-time favorites once it clicked.

Exploring Mordor never gets old, the Nemesis system creates memorable emergent storytelling, and stylishly defeating Orcs with your parkour and sword skills becomes incredibly fun and rewarding.

Is Shadow of Mordor too hard at first? For many gamers, absolutely. You really get thrown into the deep end, and the learning curve is steep. But with the right difficulty settings and strategies, you can smooth out those sharp difficulty spikes into a much more enjoyable ride.

If you hit a wall and feel like quitting, I suggest giving it another chance. Stick with it, focus on XP/upgrades, lower the difficulty if needed, and don‘t be ashamed to run from fights you can‘t win yet. The experience improves dramatically once you master it.

For a quality game like Shadow of Mordor, that initial hardship is well worth pushing through. You’ll be very glad you did. The game hides some of the most rewarding and enjoyable combat out there, once you get over that initial barrier to entry.