The nemesis system deserves some credit, too. The orcs themselves were terrific, but the combination of the top-notch character design with a system that gave those characters a context based on the player’s interactions with them took it to the next level. It was fun seeing an orc rise in the ranks because you killed his boss, or having an orc that you thought you’d killed return unexpectedly wanting revenge. The game even made losing to an orc fun. The orcs and the nemesis system gave those games so much replay value. A truly worthy use of an open world setting.