Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

MIDDLE EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR (2017) was definitely a worthy sequel to the Tolkien Middle Earth inspired ME: Shadow of Mordor and as a hardcore, diehard Tokien fan, I'm glad to have a sequel to the Middle Earth themed games to play. Since this game came out it's been both lauded and criticized, and I can honestly understand why. My opinion is often mixed as well. I tend to lean more on the optimistic side however, and remain just grateful to have a decent Tolkien-inspired game, and honestly because I did truly enjoy this series of games, I will rate it accordingly.

As other reviewers have said before, this game had strong similarities to Assassin's Creed series, as well as other similar parkour action styled games with elements of stealth, adventure, fighting, (i.e. Assassins Creed series, Watch Dogs, inFamous, etc.) however the unpredictability of the AI for the Orcs made this game really fun and much more strategic. I enjoyed the premise of the battlefield being the main focal point, recruitment of orcs, building your own army, all the while analyzing and dismantling the enemy army. Uber cool. And the revenge aspect often made it more enjoyable as well.

While it can still be a bit repetitive, (Aren't most games when you think about it?) the graphics are pretty great, cutscenes are visually praisable, and the story is compelling enough to drive the player onwards WITHOUT overstepping too much outside of the Tolkien lore and world. I really appreciated that the writers didn't want to diminish or tarnish an epic masterpiece world by adding too much of their own. Not saying everying here is cannon, per say, but just that it didn't really feel overdone or too butchered. I enjoyed how the many collectables offered room to share lore and background to players that might not know about it. Lastly, while Talion as a character was alright, I really liked the persona and portrayal of Celebrimbor as a main lead.

Overall, this game was really fun and offered a decent ammount of play time. While, not perfect, it was still pretty great for a Tolkien / Middle Earth inspired game and I hope to get more sequels in the future, as long as they don't stray too far from the literature or take too many liberties with the source material.

I'm a massive game, have been since my first console (Sega mastersystem) I have played/owned hundreds of videogames. So it's very rare for me to find a game that has something new and original. But this game I think is special it improves on the predecessor shadow of Mordor in many ways manly the nemesis system and the storming and defended forts and avenging other players that have died. Story is good and the gameplay is fantastic. But the real element of this game is the nemesis system we're there is an ever changing hierarchy of orcs and warlords fighting for power and your actions as a player will impact this ever changing system. Not to mention the variety of the orcs themselves. A nice touch when you kill an orc and they comeback from the dead only to be disfigured from how you killed them is a particular favourite of mine. Also hats off to the developers who listened to there fans and removed the micro transactions. I really can't praise this game enough it's probably my favourite game on the current generation of consoles on one of my favourites off all time. So if your on the fence and still thinking about playing it I say give it ago especially seeing as it's incredibly cheap now. I just hope they make another one. I think the nemesis system still has a lot to offer.

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.

This game is so good that I replay it every year... The Nemesis system is awesome and makes it fun to do the Nemesis-things. After you finish the story, which clocks in at about 27 hours, you can go on in the Shadow Wars. The fun is literally never-ending... There's not much to add. The combat is perfect, the storyline is well-written, navigation in games is also without a fault and the characters (yes even the Orcs) are all interesting. I give this game a 9,3/10.

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.