The first game that I tackled in the latest Challenge Me! was Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Viking: Battle for Asgard. Seriously, having played (and loved) Shadow of Mordor, it was impossible for me to play Viking without noticing quite a few similarities between these two games. The Assassin’s Creed and Arkham games are often credited as being the forerunners to Shadow of Mordor, and although I can’t personally confirm that since I haven’t touched either of those series, yet, I would definitely say that it drew some inspiration from Viking, which feels like a simpler, less polished version. It got a little repetitive and seemed too long for what it offered, but it was still an enjoyable game.


Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell was another Challenge Me! pick, and I liked it a lot. Although it was third-person in a much more modern setting, the nostalgia of playing the original Thief games returned as I skulked around in the shadows, knocking out enemies and carrying them away to cover my tracks. (Just like in Thief, I found myself piling up the bodies on top of one another in a dark corner somewhere. I guess old habits die hard. :P) I thought the stealth and level design was done rather well, making some areas challenging without being impossible, and while the game won’t allow you to be a complete pacifist (sorry Lenor!), you can tailor the difficulty on the fly by choosing whether or not to snipe enemies, knock them out, or try to sneak past them. This is a fun game if you’re patient and like being stealthy, and each of the missions felt like a good length to play in a sitting.