When studios develop cross-generation games, compromises must be made to get titles up and running on the older consoles given the reality that they have only a fraction of the horsepower boasted by the newer systems. The latest studio being forced to make these tough choices is Monolith with Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Given the studio's predominant focus is maximizing the game's potential on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, key parts of the highly touted Nemesis system most likely won't appear on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Design director Michael de Plater broke down the reasoning to IGN.

"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," he said. "What it won’t have is the same level of depth and variety and simulation within the Nemesis system. The story will be the same and the core gameplay will be the same, but [the Nemesis system 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."

To read more about the Nemesis system and the rest of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, click on the banner below to visit our cover story hub.

[Source: IGN]

Our Take:

These sorts of compromises are to be expected when you're dealing with two generations of consoles with vastly different technical limitations. If you want to play the best versions of these cross-generation games, it's time to pick up one of the two new consoles.