Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017)
Recruiting orcs into your own army? Taking over fortresses? Riding a drake into battle? Most importantly: Microtransactions are gone! I´m sold.
As its predecessor, Shadow of Mordor, the game is an epic story driven action RPG game, where you utilize the power of the ring at its full potential. You fight and recruit armies of orcs that sometimes lead to epic battles, alliances and even betrayals. I really enjoy the game in its highest difficulty, since it adapts to the needs and the playstyle of the player.
The free-flow combat as well as its parkour aspect are thrilling. You can really ‘feel’ the power of the ring, as it’s combos and the surprising changes in certain abilities leave a special charm. The skill tree in my opinion is very well made and you can always switch playstyles in order adapt to your different needs. Last but not least, the game revolves around repetition, grinding and careful planning, that’s why it takes time before Shadow of War reveals its true potential.
A lot of stuff is going on simultaneously, combat is brutal and very well detailed, animations are smooth, and the story is great.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is one of my favorite games of all time for one massive, outstanding reason:
The Nemesis System
What I love most about this game is that your encounter with every single orc has the potential to turn into an epic story.
“A lot of stuff is going on simultaneously, combat is brutal and very well detailed, animations are smooth, and the story is great.”
To this date, I have yet to encounter anything as dynamic, fun, unpredictable, and exciting in a story driven combat game as the Nemesis System. It a is high risk – high reward play, in other words: choose your approach carefully. There is an uncertainty factor involved as you might get ambushed by an assassin or betrayed by your own follower or past foe who cheated death.
It feels like magic how each orc evolves, depending on whether you make them an ally, shame them or simply cut them into pieces. I humiliated an orc so many times, that after some point he became obsessed with me! Your actions now have consequences, so do not be surprised if an enemy or ally champion cheats death, just so that he can serve you or even worse, kill you.
This is an epic game. Play Shadow of Mordor first to understand what’s going on in the game. The foundation for the game mechanics was laid in shadow of mordor and they expanded on it and tried to create something big, and the devs succeeded in this attempt.
Even though, it does not follow the story of the Lord of the Rings books, it describes an amazing adventure that can please even the most demanding players.
Verdict
Always been a big fan of single-player action adventure titles and this one is the most addicting one I’ve played in a good while. Combat is fluid and fun, graphics are great (if you’ve the specs for it) and the story is thrilling. Lots of stuff to do, lots of replayability. 10/10 would recommend.
Platforms: PC, Steam, Playstation 4, Xbox One
Developers: Monolith Productions
Publishers: WB Games