Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

One of the greatest games ever made! I have never been this addicted to playing a game in a long time. The Nemesis is honestly the greatest innovation in any video game ever, to this day. The complexity and thought put into the system are truly commendable and needs to be implemented into games more. I know the game is very known and popular, but it is still underrated in my opinion. It is one of the smartest and most fun games I've ever played, and I have the upmost respect for the devs. Deserves an 11/10. I almost never write reviews for games, but I said for this one I need to do it. This game needs to be appreciated more. It should've been game of the year and in the top 10 games of all time just because of how intelligent of a game it is.

Regarding the loot boxes. People don't understand how this works. You do NOT have to spend money on the game more than you already spent. Do you need to do online vendettas and online fortress assaults to get spoils of war to get legendary orcs? Yes. But this is in game already. The people rating this 1 without actually understanding its not a requirement are ruining it for other people making them believe something that just isn't true.

Now that that is out of the way. The game is far better than its predecessor. They took everything that worked in the first game and tweaked it to make it better. The orcs can also cheat death which makes it for a more difficult gameplay. You also got watch who you recruit and kill. If one happens to a be a blood brother of another they will avenge the death of that brother whether they are a follower of you or not. They will turn against you. Also you have to be careful about hitting your follower captains. They can get tired of it and switch back to the other side. Others will switch back for various reasons and once they do you can't get them back. So that really only leaves one option. You can also be ambushed so be careful. I don't feel I am really that far into the game but I think a lot of things opened up now.

But anyways ignore the lootbox bs. I get a lootbox every time I complete an online vendetta and those give you gear on or around your current level. They can also give you legendary gear. I have got one full set so far. They are apparently 54 legendary gear/weapons, in the game that constantly can be upgraded if you fulfill the challenge requirement. This also goes for the Epic Sword of Dominion you could have received with a preorder. Starts at level 5 weapon and I have it up to 30 right now. Keep in mind you can't recruit orcs/trolls higher than your current level. There also seems to be no inventory limit. There is legendary loot boxes that you can get once you have accumulated enough spoils of war which you get for online vendettas and online fortress assaults. You get more for the assaults so you choose which way you wanna go about it. Believe the lootboxthing isn't nearly as negative if it really is at all as people are making it out to be.

Shadow of War takes everything from its predecessor and improves upon it. It is everything the first game should have been. The nemesis system is incredible, the numerous large maps are amazing and provide plenty of beautiful locations to explore, and the combat is nearly perfect. The focus on warfare is really what make this game stand out from other action/adventure games. Where Assassin's Creed and Arkham focus on puzzles and solving mysteries, Shadow of War focuses on mass warfare between your army and Sauron's army. It also takes many elements from the wider LotR universe and gives them some screen time here, providing connections to the films and books. This is one of the greatest games I have ever played and that stands true as I play it a second time 2 years after release.

I honestly prefer this game than the first one(Not that the first game is bad, but I like this one a whole lot better). Some of the controls I like better and some of the online I like as well.

This game is amazing! Story DOES change Tolkien's a little bit but i don't think that is a problem. I think it's great that somebody made a game based on Tolkien's world, specially game like this. And I personally have nothing against the story in the game. For me, it was very fun experience, great graphics, great combat system, parkour, stealth, elven abilities... Nemesis system is also very fun and unique. You don't need loot boxes to beat the game, of course that then it is more difficult but where is all the fun if it's not hard. You will need to think about a lot of things (example: keeping your followers alive) and you probably will die few times against strong enemies but that is what makes this even more amazing. I recommend it to everyone who likes this type of games and especially for Tolkien fans.