Middle-earth: Shadow of War

I thought the first game was great, but I must admit that I think Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a better game. Sure, it plays fast and loose with the subject matter’s lore, but I actually liked that. I am going to tell you right now that this is a tremendous action RPG that is a blast to play no matter how much of a fan you are of Tolkien’s work!

A New Ring Of Power?

The plot follows on from the last game. The main character, Tallon still has the spirit of the Elf Lord, Celebrimbor inside of him. They head to Mount Doom to make a new Ring of Power. Of course, things do not go to plan and before long your quest to defeat Sauron has many twists and turns that involve some very interesting characters. At the time of release, this game got a lot of hate for the story which I think is completely unfair. I loved the story this game told, but more than that I loved the characters that you came across. Not just the ones we know from the movies, but the new characters like different Orcs are fantastic to interact with.

The Mighty Sword

I honestly do not think that I can do justice to just how great the gameplay of Middle-earth: Shadow of War. It has a very Batman Arkham feel to the combat and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. The first game was more of a hack and slash kind of deal, but this one feels fare more “RPG” like with the way you get new abilities and loot to enhance the way you play. It means, you can make Tallon just the way you like him.

The combat feels fantastic, taking down just one enemy is never a problem, but this game is more difficult than its predecessor due to the smarter AI that will see them try to gang up on you.

Take Me To Your Leader

The most enjoyable aspect of the game for me was dealing with leaders of various Uruk factions. These always had a different personality such as this one who was a bard that was singing about my death. These battles are just so much fun and once they are defeated you can kill them or mind control them so that they join your side.

The Five Boroughs There are five main areas in Middle-earth: Shadow of War and each one has a unique style to it. If you are a fan of the movie or the books, I am sure you will get a kick out of these different areas. Even if you are not, they look great (even if there is a bit of pop-in here and there) actually the whole game looks fantastic. Many creatures are used from the last game, but I feel this game just has a higher level of polish to every aspect of it.

Take The Fortress!

There are now fortresses in the game which you can battle for and take over and this does also play into the multiplayer aspect of the game. You need to siege a fortress you take the creatures you have gotten to join your side and then you try to take a fortress. It all leads up to an epic battle with the “boss” of the fortress and let me tell you the actual siege is not all that difficult, but taking the fortress from the boss is one heck of a challenge.

Pros:

• I loved the way the story went
• Some of the higher-level characters you encounter have a ton of personality
• The combat feels very satisfying
• Riding a dragon into battle is perhaps the most epic it has ever been!

Cons:

• There is a bit of pop-in here and there
• They tried to force microtransactions into this game!