Middle-earth: Shadow of War

 PC
User Score
4.6

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1110 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 401 out of 1110
  2. Mixed: 180 out of 1110
  3. Negative: 529 out of 1110

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  1. vova22379
    Jun 10, 2023
    0
    ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
  2. nietzfk
    May 20, 2023
    3
    I thought maybe I would enjoy it if I experienced this universe in a different form. I enjoyed playing this game with the head of an average AC game with a different theme. I didn't like the SJW move he did with the DLC. The main story doesn't give a **** about it either. I have a very close friend who is a fan of the Lord of the Rings universe. I wish I could tell these people that theI thought maybe I would enjoy it if I experienced this universe in a different form. I enjoyed playing this game with the head of an average AC game with a different theme. I didn't like the SJW move he did with the DLC. The main story doesn't give a **** about it either. I have a very close friend who is a fan of the Lord of the Rings universe. I wish I could tell these people that the only literary work in the world is not this ****ing series.… Expand
  3. TheAlgerian
    Oct 27, 2022
    4
    The potential is there, but the game design's a mess, and this is one of these games where the devs asked themselves first how they could keep the player on their toes and force them to mix things up and adapt, but never asked themselves if it was enjoyable.

    So you'll spend most of your time on the floor doing a bunch of dodge-rolls like a little weakling, because you will not be able    The potential is there, but the game design's a mess, and this is one of these games where the devs asked themselves first how they could keep the player on their toes and force them to mix things up and adapt, but never asked themselves if it was enjoyable.

    So you'll spend most of your time on the floor doing a bunch of dodge-rolls like a little weakling, because you will not be able to just fight standing up and feel like a badass.

    What's that? Playstyles? We got no use for it here, you'll play our boring way or the highway.    … Expand
  4. danilogan7
    Jul 3, 2022
    3
    O jogo se perde completamente ao introduzir micro transações. No final do jogo fica evidente a forçada para terminar as missões as comprando.
    O jogo é bonito, tem uma gameplay maneira, história justa e com algumas ligações com o filme do senhor dos anéis.
  5. pokeaatrox
    Apr 2, 2022
    0
    like Shadow of mordor The game will push you to grind after a while before you can continue advancing through the main campaign. Unless you go through the store. Clearly a Pay to win. In a single player game.. disappointing
  6. ZzTopNemesis
    Mar 1, 2022
    3
    Score: 3.6

    I loved the Shadow of Mordor, i really did. Years later this one was announced, and i got for free after buying some hardware on a local store. I immediately jumped it, and after 2 hours i gave up, idk why just didn't feel like playing it. A couple of months later i forced myself to play again.... I did this 4 times already, i have 20 hours on the game and every single    Score: 3.6

    I loved the Shadow of Mordor, i really did.
    Years later this one was announced, and i got for free after buying some hardware on a local store.
    I immediately jumped it, and after 2 hours i gave up, idk why just didn't feel like playing it.

    A couple of months later i forced myself to play again....
    I did this 4 times already, i have 20 hours on the game and every single one of them i forced myself to play it.
    Idk why it just doesn't hook me anymore.    … Expand
  7. Hellanger
    Dec 30, 2021
    3
    Nothing but grind. The plot is made for the fans, absolutely nothing is clear. The blunt cutscenes before the fight are the maximum krinzh.
  8. JackKnowles
    Nov 27, 2021
    0
    Shallow, repetitive gameplay, horrible story written by some of the worst 'writers' out there, lore-wise a complete bastardization of Tolkien's great work. This game is the very embodiment of a soulless husk meant only to separate people from their money.
  9. Goshan220
    Jul 31, 2021
    4
    Скучно. Много всего но при этом как-то скучно. не смог пересилить себя и пройти даже за одного персонажа, а их там 3. Весь геймплей сводится просто к выкашиванию локации от противников и нахождения боса. Повторить. Поиграл 3 вечера и удалил.
    Сюжет: 2
    Геймплей: 2 Реиграбельность: 0 Личный интерес: 10 - к сеттингу, но не игре    Скучно. Много всего но при этом как-то скучно. не смог пересилить себя и пройти даже за одного персонажа, а их там 3. Весь геймплей сводится просто к выкашиванию локации от противников и нахождения боса. Повторить. Поиграл 3 вечера и удалил.
    Сюжет: 2
    Геймплей: 2
    Реиграбельность: 0
    Личный интерес: 10 - к сеттингу, но не игре
  10. bread22
    Mar 2, 2021
    2
    Fun for first 2 hours, then repetitive repetitive repetitive. Developer just copy paste everything they can. All captains are the same, all war chiefs are the same, all fortresses are the same, even all executions feel the same. All player need to to is smash buttons.
  11. Oleksandr_
    Feb 10, 2021
    0
    Patenting the nemesis system, despite your game being created base on others' ideas. The industry is built on innovating of existing ideas.
  12. NemesisBruh
    Feb 7, 2021
    0
    Imagine patenting the nemesis system, despite your game being an Assassin's Creed re-skin. Not to mention that nemesis system itself existed long before this game. The industry is built on innovating existing ideas. Everything is inspired by something that came before it. That's how games, art, music, writing, culture itself and everything else works. Patenting the nemesis system is likeImagine patenting the nemesis system, despite your game being an Assassin's Creed re-skin. Not to mention that nemesis system itself existed long before this game. The industry is built on innovating existing ideas. Everything is inspired by something that came before it. That's how games, art, music, writing, culture itself and everything else works. Patenting the nemesis system is like patenting a color blue, or like patenting an the idea of a powerful corrupting item in storytelling. WB Games needs to back down on this.… Expand
  13. sherbz
    Nov 24, 2020
    0
    No way near as good as the first one. Certainly not terrible by any means. But theres a few glaring things which stand out as either pretty annoying, or even downright stupid. The first is that the game released with microtransactions and loot boxes in a single player game. Thats a huge no no in my book. I only bought it once they had been removed from the game, otherwise i wouldntNo way near as good as the first one. Certainly not terrible by any means. But theres a few glaring things which stand out as either pretty annoying, or even downright stupid. The first is that the game released with microtransactions and loot boxes in a single player game. Thats a huge no no in my book. I only bought it once they had been removed from the game, otherwise i wouldnt have bothered. But Monolith compromised the integrity of their game in order to include them. And that i think is a real shame. The second is that the end of the game was a chore. So much so i didnt bother trying to do all of it and just watched the ending on YouTube. And the reason it was such a chore is because they had to make their monetisation system seem worthwhile in buying. Even with them removed the game was still a drag. Personally i wouldnt bother with this and just play the original. Which is a far superior game IMO.… Expand
  14. Halyo
    Oct 8, 2020
    1
    Piece of trash AAA game, all tropes included :
    - **** stealth segments with braindead ennemies whose player detection makes no sense
    - abysmal button-mashing combat
    - garbage controls
    - **** american story full of "minority" pandering
    A disgrace to Tolkien's legacy.
  15. Man_of_duty
    Jul 23, 2020
    2
    The game suffers heavily from the typical open world game system. It has a lot of quests to complete, it also has no evolving continuity for the combat, the style is basically unchanged throughout the whole game. There is no visible progression from the previous title, it honestly looks like they just recycled the old game. Apart from fortress missions I can't tell any difference betweenThe game suffers heavily from the typical open world game system. It has a lot of quests to complete, it also has no evolving continuity for the combat, the style is basically unchanged throughout the whole game. There is no visible progression from the previous title, it honestly looks like they just recycled the old game. Apart from fortress missions I can't tell any difference between this game and its predecessor.

    Boss animations. There will be a point when you get so annoyed and tired from the unskippable animations of enemies making cringe statements. It was cool the first three hours but then it will just waste the time.

    The story is luckily entertaining that until the end, where everything feels so rushy. It's as if they expect the players to be LOTR experts. It looks like they just skipped some major stories to explain the upcoming events. I know that the game is referencing to the film series but also it would be helpful if they just kept the same pace and not make the ending look like an unfinished game. Can't be that hard if you just recycle most things from the previous game, right? Horrible finish of the main character's story    … Expand
  16. cyberdamn
    Jul 1, 2020
    4
    The first game was kinda boring but this...
    the commander (or w/e it's called) system is simply disappointing, often you almost kill a captain, then his "death-defying" ability turns in, then you beat him up again, fork up the stupid QTE and the captain just "runs away" (actually he just disappears right in the air)
    Also, it just spits on all the ideas of original lore.
  17. waverfader
    Jun 20, 2020
    2
    Visually decent but the game falls far short in the entertainment category. With repetitive fights topped with some of the worst controls ever to grace the gaming world, any difficulty above the easiest becomes nothing more than a chore. I used to think Assassin's Creed was pretty atrocious in this regard, but Shadow of Mordor takes it to the next level. Makes the Assassin's CreedVisually decent but the game falls far short in the entertainment category. With repetitive fights topped with some of the worst controls ever to grace the gaming world, any difficulty above the easiest becomes nothing more than a chore. I used to think Assassin's Creed was pretty atrocious in this regard, but Shadow of Mordor takes it to the next level. Makes the Assassin's Creed franchise seem extremely solid.… Expand
  18. metaDoctrine
    May 13, 2020
    0
    Well this is my first review and I'm sad to say, it's a negative one. This could be amazing game, instead it's one of the worst I have ever touched. The amount of annoying things in this game is beyond normal. Cinematics that you cannot cancel sometimes reach a point where you feel like you aren't playing at all, you're just being bounced around one clip to another. This game is anWell this is my first review and I'm sad to say, it's a negative one. This could be amazing game, instead it's one of the worst I have ever touched. The amount of annoying things in this game is beyond normal. Cinematics that you cannot cancel sometimes reach a point where you feel like you aren't playing at all, you're just being bounced around one clip to another. This game is an absolute disaster and if I could I'd take my money back. Shame they have LOTR in the title as it does not deserve it!… Expand
  19. Teufler80
    Mar 3, 2020
    0
    Some missions in this game are so utter **** that you just want to quit this game.
  20. Tk4Bullet
    Feb 24, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is an example why piracy will continue to grow. The story is fine, might get repetitive at some point but I was having fun till that happened. However, the game lags, freezes, sometimes also crashes. Loading a fortress defence takes about 5-10 minutes each time, while assigning a captain for a slot freezes the game for another 2-4 minutes for every 6 or 7 slots. As for the gameplay, some perks such as "no chance" or "adapted" are unfun to play against. Who the hell thought that if you die during a fortress defence, it is a loss already? It means that your captains automatically flee or won't fight anymore? A pity. Defending it is such a mess anyways, if your captains die in a middle of enemies, you have no chance to revive them because there is no way to target them, system will target anyone but him. But at least we have microtransactions in a 60$ game :D… Expand
  21. Corefitz
    Feb 15, 2020
    1
    Fast travel crashes the game, so I can't change region... which the game doesn't explain how to do anyways... I'm at a loss for words... Oh! yeah, and you get 1-shot because of the Nemisis System... so there's that... Seroiusly breaks the pace of the game.

    I suppose the game looks nice but... that's about all there is to it.
  22. BernardTheBeast
    Feb 2, 2020
    3
    I bought the Silver Edition so that no one could look at my review and think I didn't put in effort in trying to enjoy it.

    When the game started, I discovered that if I declined the Terms of Service, I could disable the Market and all Loot Box content (including the Silver Edition Lootboxes I paid an extra $20 for). Therefore no one can look at my opinion and think I'm biased just    I bought the Silver Edition so that no one could look at my review and think I didn't put in effort in trying to enjoy it.

    When the game started, I discovered that if I declined the Terms of Service, I could disable the Market and all Loot Box content (including the Silver Edition Lootboxes I paid an extra $20 for). Therefore no one can look at my opinion and think I'm biased just because of Microtransactions, because in my gameplay, they were entirely disabled.

    This game is equivalent to the very first Assassin's Creed, but with a Lord Of The Rings reskin, written and directed by a greedy fanboy. The content is functional but limited. The story is average, occasionally boosted by likable and even humorous orcs, yet at the same time often feels soulless. The gameplay is functional, but nothing truly unique when compared to other games of the recent past. The randomly generated orcs...both the best, and worst part of the game: they're creative in design, ability and behavior; yet they are the spawned outcome of a randomly generated number that the game decides without any regard for your action or playstyle, because they're based on the integrated Lootbox system, and are therefore not supposed to be unique—otherwise orcs from Lootboxes would be different from orcs found in gameplay, and render the microtransaction system less beneficial.

    This is the summation of my thoughts, based on the time I spent playing (again, with a Disabled Market/Microtransactions/Lootboxes).

    I loved Shadow Of Mordor, I had high hopes for Shadow Of War. Sadly, the horrific impact of Warner Brothers has left a stain on the game, if not the franchise, through it's continued mishandling of intellectual property: within which WB itself would be the enemy of mankind, were J.R.R. Tolkien himself to write an adaptation of this story, in addition to flagrant disregard for ethics; specifically towards what is becoming legally recognized as a form of gambling (Lootboxes), in addition to avoiding labor laws on other projects, not to mention the whole controversy surrounding the death of a Monolith Developer. Bottom line, what could have been an enjoyable experience has been twisted and warped, and is hardly the game I had been hoping for.

    It's got a overall Mostly Positive rating on Steam. I'm not one to judge the community; if people like it, great. If you yourself enjoy this game, then do have fun with it. But despite wanting to like it, I couldn't enjoy Shadow of War. Whatever heart was poured into this game, was utterly corrupted by greed, as demonstrated by one particular scene:

    Let me call to your attention a moment where one of the orcs you encounter who is important to the story. After joining the protagonist's side, he offers to share his knowledge with Talion regarding orcs and how they function. There's a cutscene that plays, in order to explain specifically, the Combat Arena: a "minigame" that is essentially nothing more than a mobile game: you select one of your orcs, and your orc duels an enemy orc. You have no influence over the outcome, essentially making it a 'game of chance' (I won't insult your intelligence by pointing out what that technically is). During this cutscene, the orc, who is written to be friendly and likable, speaks to you—not Talion, the character—but to you, the player, in a first-person cutscene, in which his dialogue is explicitly written to compel you to give this 'minigame' a try, with the outcome potentially coercing or forcing you to buy microtransaction orcs to get better results.

    With the potential present in which your orc will be killed, and the only options for regaining orcs being lengthy gameplay to recruit orcs, or the easier option of "buying orcs" via Lootboxes, I'd hope that anyone, even those without a comprehensive understanding of Gambling Mechanics, Advertisement, Marketing and Business principles, can recognize how this system is inherently designed to guide a player (who has already spent between $60 - $100), to invest more time or real-world money, in this situation. I won't get into the ethics of it, but I will point out that there was a time when games were built to be played and enjoyed first and foremost, not to be tools that, in a very real sense, scheme to manipulate gamers into emptying their wallets further.    … Expand
  23. fajnalowiec
    Jan 5, 2020
    2
    2+ year after and it is still awful, gameplay is terrible, the core of the game is fighting orcs and it should be fun. It is not, moreover for most of the time you are gonna avoid it, cause there's no benefit plus you just cannot kill' em all. A new hordes appear instantly during fights. Endless. I had 90% complete in the beginning of epilogue, still 9lv below my final opponent, with some2+ year after and it is still awful, gameplay is terrible, the core of the game is fighting orcs and it should be fun. It is not, moreover for most of the time you are gonna avoid it, cause there's no benefit plus you just cannot kill' em all. A new hordes appear instantly during fights. Endless. I had 90% complete in the beginning of epilogue, still 9lv below my final opponent, with some legendary gear I cannot upgrade, cause I'm below required lv (55), if you do not have at this point **** load of money, quite big orcs army, not big enough level you can quit or start the grind. Better to watch the plot on yt, cause it's only worthy point of the game.… Expand
  24. greenisgood
    Dec 27, 2019
    3
    TL;DR
    Will the game companies ever get the news that we do not like micro transac/loot boxes in our full priced games??? Even though they have been removed now at the time i played this game, It still is a horribly imbalanced mess with a few good things going for it.
    The Good Nemesis System - One of the best Game mechanics to come out of the gaming industry. Decent Combat Mechanics -    TL;DR
    Will the game companies ever get the news that we do not like micro transac/loot boxes in our full priced games??? Even though they have been removed now at the time i played this game, It still is a horribly imbalanced mess with a few good things going for it.

    The Good
    Nemesis System - One of the best Game mechanics to come out of the gaming industry.
    Decent Combat Mechanics - Talions Skill tree makes for a fluid play style.
    Some Canon Bending story - a positive for me since I am a Tolkien Noob.
    Look and Feel - The world is Breath taking though often same feeling at times, nevertheless easy to get sucked into the story.

    The Bad - Oh My... here we Go
    The Camera - Often had an Unresponsive camera during battle and traversing which respectively makes getting stuck in the world and off screen attacks very prominent, the camera would routinely not respond to my input of a camera pan.
    The Pit Fights - OMG this is the biggest offender in my opinion as all of the ferocity that you face while fighting the Enemy seem to disappear in the pit, they just poke, prod and make noises at each other compared to the fights you have with the captains. This along with a stupidly imbalanced RNG that can have your dominated characters die to low level scrubs, this is just a stupid waste of time especially since you will spend a lot of time in the pit fights.
    The Controls - It feels like the controls are fighting back at you almost all the time, Talion will often face and attack, move or preform an action in the direction opposite to where you are facing. The highly slick Arkham series of Combat scheme that made us love the first Shadow of Mordor is downright unfinished and unpolished here.
    Excessively Grindy - This game really gave me my money's worth with side-quest busy work... But most of it is meaningless busy work since the EXP for the main missions and kills seems severely throttled as u cross level 25. No doubt designed to force players to buy the nasty loot boxes and exp boosts.. which got even worse once the said loot boxes were removed since the grind was already inbuilt into the game.
    Act 4 GrindWall - Of course. But since Enough has been said about this considering the 3.5 user score I am not gonna elaborate. It just feels like a giant disappointment to not finish the game considering all the noted cons you have to deal with just for the True ending. Just Youtube it.

    All in all Sadly this highly anticipated game turned out to be very underwhelming for me since Shadow of Mordor was a refreshing firestorm and scratched the itch of more Batman Arkham feels.    … Expand
  25. RomanGor
    Nov 27, 2019
    2
    Та же первая часть, только с чуть улучшенной графикой. Все остальное- практически то же самое. Да, есть нововведения, но унылости прохождения они они не убирают.
  26. Cougargames
    Nov 1, 2019
    4
    Normally id give this game a 1/10 but beacuse of the removal of microtransactions i can rate this game a little bit higher, thoe this does not change the fact that we were left with and everlasting, tedius ending where you had to grind enlessly for orcs to pass on to the next fortress. They made it so tedius to make money from mainly casuals or people who just dont have much time wich isNormally id give this game a 1/10 but beacuse of the removal of microtransactions i can rate this game a little bit higher, thoe this does not change the fact that we were left with and everlasting, tedius ending where you had to grind enlessly for orcs to pass on to the next fortress. They made it so tedius to make money from mainly casuals or people who just dont have much time wich is wrong the disrespect from the devs is just wrong. I mean of course the game has good sides such as the different orcs and literely giving you wars to partake in. And of course you dont have to deal with the microtransactions anymore but there is still a company here i dont want to support after making this decision.… Expand
  27. passionne
    Sep 7, 2019
    4
    I played Shadow of Mordor and I thought that this 2nd episode would be as good but it is an error :

    - far too repetitive : I played about 40 h and I always do the same things... - the RPG part is useless : at level 30, I still need to strike the same hits number even on low-level enemies ! - Textures are bad, low-resolution. - Story is uninspired. The only good part is    I played Shadow of Mordor and I thought that this 2nd episode would be as good but it is an error :

    - far too repetitive : I played about 40 h and I always do the same things...

    - the RPG part is useless : at level 30, I still need to strike the same hits number even on low-level enemies !

    - Textures are bad, low-resolution.

    - Story is uninspired.

    The only good part is combat. Everything is trash. My last Middle-earth game for sure.    … Expand
  28. MoonCanLight
    Feb 11, 2019
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What have you done with this nice and addictive story?! Why you gave up on alternate Middle-Earth history? Why gameplay is so boring? And why main hero, after conquering almost all lands of Mordor doesn't have a chance to fight against Sauron and lost by default? It makes no sense. And you turned him to be a bad guy?! Really?! What terribly ending was this?!… Expand
  29. cousinit99
    Nov 26, 2018
    3
    Three words: Quick Time Events

    This game is complete and utter sh*t because of those three little words. Prepare to feel nothing but frustration and contempt. Monolith and WB both deserve the firing squad for this malevolent horse sh*t. I won't be buying another title from them for a considerable period of time. I give it a three solely for the remarkable cinematic sequences.    Three words: Quick Time Events

    This game is complete and utter sh*t because of those three little words. Prepare to feel nothing but frustration and contempt. Monolith and WB both deserve the firing squad for this malevolent horse sh*t. I won't be buying another title from them for a considerable period of time.

    I give it a three solely for the remarkable cinematic sequences.

    EDIT: Nope, sorry. All this "cheating death" horse sh*t just lost you the other 3. F*cking garbage. I'm done with it.    … Expand
  30. Ljungman
    Oct 7, 2018
    4
    I honestly couldn't play through the entirety of this game because of all the grind that is involved in doing so. Near every story-mission is locked behind the same thing, which is taking over orcs in order to build an army. This army is then used to taking over fortresses. Not only that, but you can't take over orcs that have a higher level than yourself, which means I have to meet theI honestly couldn't play through the entirety of this game because of all the grind that is involved in doing so. Near every story-mission is locked behind the same thing, which is taking over orcs in order to build an army. This army is then used to taking over fortresses. Not only that, but you can't take over orcs that have a higher level than yourself, which means I have to meet the same enemy twice in order to shame them to the same level. I grew tired of doing the same thing over and over for the small amount of story I got as a reward and the story itself isn't worth the effort.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017
69
#69 Most Shared PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 16, 2018
    60
    A huge game that, despite of the quality of the fight and the delight of the Orb, offers paradoxically very small. It's not a failure, but we were expecting more. [Issue#279]
  2. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Dec 30, 2017
    76
    Nemesis is a one-hit wonder of a mechanic. Everything else in Middle-earth is mediocre at best, but Nemesis makes it all worthwhile, since every playthrough is truly unique – a feature none of its triple-A competitors can offer. [Issue#225, p.38]
  3. Riot Pixels
    Dec 23, 2017
    63
    A lot of people were upset to find out that Shadow of War has loot boxes, and they are kind of annoying. Unfortunately, loot boxes is the least of its problems.
    Read full review
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