This Sneak a Kiss Day, Remember Mordor

It’s always a surprise what exactly comes to mind when you see certain things, especially relatively unknown holidays. For instance, I recently discovered that today was Sneak a Kiss Day, a holiday that I can honestly say I’ve never really celebrated. However, it did bring to mind a game that offered one of the most natural (and yet strange) stealth tutorials: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. 

Now, I realise that might seem like an odd connection, as you’re not having Talion sneak around to grab a kiss from Orcs… at least I don’t think you do. Maybe it’s an upgrade I missed. However, you do when you sneak up on your wife in the opening of the game, which then immediately transitions to trying to save her from the forces of Mordor. Unfortunately, and very minor spoilers here, it doesn’t end well, and she’s killed. With that being said, this remains one of the most naturalistic examples of weaving story and mechanics that I’ve seen.

It’s always a bit of a challenge for developers to make tutorials feel natural, especially when playing a character who is supposed to know what they’re doing. Now, one way around this problem is to simply have prompts appear above the player in the opening stages of the game. This can work well, but the issue is that they can be easy to miss. I certainly found that during my playthrough of CRIMSON DESERT.

The alternative, as we see in Shadow of Mordor, is to have it be an actual part of the plot. It’s not just stealth; you also have Talion training his son in sword fighting, giving a solid reason to show off all the mechanics without feeling like it’s dumbed down (spoiler: the son also dies, so maybe he needed more training). 

It’s odd to think that something that, in reality, we don’t really consider can be more important than we might give credit for. Sure, if you’re playing a game for a second, third, or even fourth time, they can be a bit of a pain to get through. The original Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 2 always had this problem, with the openings having you stare at rectangles to calibrate your view.  However, if you’re trying a game out for the first time, then the tutorial is usually the first contact you’ll actually have with the game, as well as with the characters you’ll be playing. So it can be really important to get through them.

The opening of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor manages to do that really well; it lets you learn the controls and basics of the game while keeping within the plot and helps to introduce the characters. It’s a minor part of the plot, all things considered, but it sets the player up with everything they need to start conquering Mordor.

So, today, make sure you sneak a kiss with your loved ones, then make sure you kill a whole bunch of Orcs! Alternatively, why not tell us some of your favourite or most hated tutorials from games?