Shadow of Mordor, released by Monolith on September 30, 2014, easily contains over 10 hours of content to keep players occupied. But let’s face it. If you’re reading this, chances are you’d really love to see all those hours lopped off like the head of an orc and stripped down to around, say, two hours. Chances also are that you’d like to know exactly how to achieve such a feat yourself, should the need to do so ever strike you. That’s why the current holder of the world record for Shadow of Mordor, FearfulFerret, has compiled two videos taking viewers through the speedrunning process and detailing all the ins and outs of the game mechanics.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4EFv4v9NxM[/embedyt]
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[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RYyzbm1rC8[/embedyt]
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Sometimes, the strategies runners use and the reasons for such aren’t immediately obvious, so it helps to have a play-by-play explaining the logic behind the madness. If, however, you’d rather just watch the record-holding run and enjoy the exploits of Middle-earth’s fastest warrior, FearfulFerret once again has you covered, with an impressive any% time of one hour and 56 minutes.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3uhrMPlZgU[/embedyt]
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The commentary in this video mostly consists of Ferret’s interaction with the stream comments, which can be read at the bottom of the screen. In many runs of this type, the watchers are just as involved as the runner, asking questions and offering tips to assist with the run. This level of engagement allows the gaming community at large to be a part of speedrunning, even if they aren’t the ones tearing the game to shreds themselves.
World record runs, when beaten, are usually by a matter of a few minutes due to lucky random numbers or successful performance of specific tricks. Once in a while, a whole new way of playing will be uncovered that changes the way runs are approached. This is one of the many reasons speedrunning remains such a lucrative and exciting eSport, both for the runners themselves and the viewers.
