PC, PS4, and Xbox One are the focus
One of the big talking points for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has been developer Monolith’s Nemesis system, which involves procedural generation of orcs ranging from their fighting styles to their individual rank and role to their personalities. I’m skeptical it’ll truly have that much of an impact after the novelty wares off, but it’s something. Well, on PS4 and Xbox One it is. Don’t expect exact parity between those versions and last-gen.
Speaking to IGN, design director Michael de Plater summed up development: “We’re focusing on the [current-gen] platforms, and then going to do whatever we can to get as much as possible on [last-gen]. To break it down, some of the stuff we’re pretty confident will still be very similar on current gen: the core mechanics, like combat, stealth, ranged and movements; the basic control and gameplay, that should all be really solid. What it won’t have is the same level of depth and variety and simulation within the Nemesis system.”
According to de Plater, Nemesis is “just so huge in terms of content, calculations, and AI we’ll just have to try and get as much of it in as we can.” Heh, I’m thinking about Resident Evil again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy devs are still supporting older consoles in the short term — but I’m ready to see more games that are solely concerned with the latest hardware.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor ‘Focused on PS4 and Xbox One’ [IGN]