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. falberto
    Nov 4, 2017
    7
    O jogo ia muito bem, mas no ato 4 perde a mao, entra num grid louco korean style, fica repetitivo e chato demais!!!
    E o pior que o true end está nessa parte, mas ai vc pode pagar uns trocados e pegar orcks mais fortes, ou seja, jogo foi pensando em loot box o tempo todo
  2. DemKin
    Feb 18, 2020
    7
    As of today, it seems micro-transactions have left the game (?), haven't noticed them anyway.
    The game is okay and will grab your attention for 20-30 hours. However after that point, I do find myself lacking excitement for what's next, as it does feel very repetitive after a while. They chose to build the entire gameplay of their sequel around that "dominate captain" feature. Find    As of today, it seems micro-transactions have left the game (?), haven't noticed them anyway.
    The game is okay and will grab your attention for 20-30 hours. However after that point, I do find myself lacking excitement for what's next, as it does feel very repetitive after a while. They chose to build the entire gameplay of their sequel around that "dominate captain" feature. Find suitable captains to dominate and build your army with, attack the fortress, rinse, repeat. Shadow of War did more than Shadow of Mordor but oddly enough it ended up feeling like too little, and certainly worse than the prequel.    … Expand
  3. Tomle1202
    Feb 21, 2018
    7
    Middle-earth: Shadow of War's forgettable moments are too noticeable, whilst the brilliant ones never shine brightly enough to hide a rather stretched, tiresome experience created by microtransactions.
  4. jelikey
    Mar 3, 2023
    7
    O jogo ia muito bem, mas no ato 4 perde a mao, entra num grid louco korean style, fica repetitivo e chato demais!!!
    E o pior que o true end está nessa parte, mas ai vc pode pagar uns trocados e pegar orcks mais fortes, ou seja, jogo foi pensando em loot box o tempo todo
  5. SuperkenGaming
    Oct 27, 2017
    7
    Middle Earth Shadow of War
    Lacking Soul
    I’m about to break most of your hearts, I didn’t like shadow of war as much as every other reviewer… As to me this game feels like a soulless cash grab Shadow of War is the sequel to the much better middle earth shadow of Mordor.. You once again play as Talion who sets out to bring balance to middle earth... As a less personal story compared to    Middle Earth Shadow of War
    Lacking Soul
    I’m about to break most of your hearts, I didn’t like shadow of war as much as every other reviewer…
    As to me this game feels like a soulless cash grab
    Shadow of War is the sequel to the much better middle earth shadow of Mordor..
    You once again play as Talion who sets out to bring balance to middle earth...
    As a less personal story compared to the first... the game struggled to keep my attention with its story or world…
    Basically Shadow of War feels like more of the same with none of the heart…
    It’s a cash grab riding off of the success of the original…
    The world is much larger this time, but bigger isn’t always better as every area in this game feels generic and unmemorable…
    Back are the assassins creed like syncing point that lets you scout out this games collectables to unlock new moves in the skill tree…
    Skill wise there isn’t anything special…
    You’ll easily have every skill unlocked by time you reach the end of act 3 which takes around 19 hours.. and is the base of this games story…
    skills for the most part unlock moves you had in the first game though they have 1 of 3 modifiers that take away their annoyances from the first game like allowing celebrimbor to counter attacks while you’re doing a ground finish or add an elemental effect to a special attack like poison or fire for example…
    There’s also a really cool weapon and rune system here where you can craft runes to give you boosts like xp or life drain.. and each rare, epic, and legendary weapon or clothing item has a challenge attached to them that will unlock a perk… giving a little personality to each
    These items of course picked up off of orcs with the same rarity
    Getting rid of the annoyances is the best shadow of war does, you’re now able to run extremely fast taking away the annoying fleeing enemy moments and there’s a cool double jump added to the parquor making you feel like you’re a super hero running through the game..
    Which honestly may be the reason I feel this world is so forgettable…
    I’m able to get around it so quickly that I never had the opportunity to notice or care about my surroundings…
    a new change that I’m not a fan of is the fact that special moves are now tied to a meter instead of attack chains… of course this meter is the only way to make this games boss encounters work... but I felt like I was less in control and that building up uninterrupted attack chains was unrewarded…
    a mix of both systems in the next game if one comes would be cool… where successful chains fills the meter at a faster rate than were given here….
    There’s also an eleven rage meter that lets you unleash multiple attacks while invincible, but this meter takes so ridiculously long to fill up that it might as well not even exist... I used it probably 4 times my entire time playing because I would save it as a just in case thing…
    The nemesis system is back once again but this time the game from the jump is focused on domination after the first act...
    It’s up to you to go and capture 4 towers to get to the end of the games story…
    though I found myself gaining followers naturally through story, I didn’t have to do much hunting towards the end…however in the first few hours, this domination thing is annoying as you’re only able to capture orcs at your same level or lower…
    you’re able to humiliate them and lower their level.. But all this does is make them run away and forces you to have to go find them again somewhere else…
    this to me felt like the game just wasting the players time...
    I see no harm in letting the player just take the orc at a lower level and letting them move on..
    With your orcs you can command them to kill other orcs or prove themselves and become the bodyguard of a warchief... you can assign an orc to be your bodyguard to help you in combat…you can also go capture the bodyguards of warchiefs and have them betray… making their battles easier as you can take out each warchief individually to lower the level of a fortress greatly with each one…
    While you’re doing these hunts and gathering intel for the weakness on your next target you have to be warry of how you treat your followers, as they’re able to betray you as well…
    and once you feel you’re ready to take on a fortress you assign your orcs to positions, you give them weapons and armies to increase your odds of success and you charge in to take what’s yours…
    The review has a bit of a negative tone, but Shadow of War is a really good game….
    Its more of the really great shadow of Mordor with deeper systems and less annoyances…
    But to me it also has less heart and soul…
    This is an enjoyable experience.. But a very forgettable one…
    I give Middle Earth Shadow of War
    a 7.5/10    … Expand
  6. CaptainPuGDoG
    Nov 16, 2017
    7
    Loot boxes,Loot boxes,Loot boxes,Loot boxes,Loot boxes,Loot boxes,or Grinding Grinding Grinding Grinding Grinding Grinding
    But this game have interesting story 8,and beautiful animation 8,and this fight animation only one,because of this, it is time to spend on Grinding
    World 5 all game design so primitive and unremarkable
  7. josei1985
    Nov 3, 2017
    7
    Este análisis lo hago tras acabar el acto tercero. Me niego a perder el tiempo y hacer lo mismo que las anteriores 50 horas.

    Este juego es clavado al 1 con la diferencia que lo mejora en todo, siendo un juego de notable pero que como aquél se hace repetitivo y añade contenido secundario tan poco inspirado como en los juegos de la competencia. Recomiendo el juego YA para aquellos    Este análisis lo hago tras acabar el acto tercero. Me niego a perder el tiempo y hacer lo mismo que las anteriores 50 horas.

    Este juego es clavado al 1 con la diferencia que lo mejora en todo, siendo un juego de notable pero que como aquél se hace repetitivo y añade contenido secundario tan poco inspirado como en los juegos de la competencia.

    Recomiendo el juego YA para aquellos fanáticos del mundo de Tolkien y del Sombras de Mordor, no les va a defraudar. Para el resto, aconsejo esperar a que esté a 20-25€ o ed. goty.

    Pros
    - ambientación
    - buenos gráficos pero no punteros
    - Salvo al final en una misión, ningún fallo o bugs. Ni tirones ni nada raro.
    - Sistema nemésis mejorado aunque en cada región te toca un orco que no te lo quitas ni con agua caliente y resucita siempre.
    - Sistema de combate igual al anterior que recuerda al Batman. Funciona bien aunque a veces tienes que mantener el botón para saltar y mientras tanto te meten de leches. Ha fallado ocasionalmente a la hora de ascender paredes.

    Contra
    - Continuista. Una hipotética tercera entrega pide a gritos una renovación integral en los siguientes puntos.
    - Repetitivo: parece tener una plantilla y las misiones se reducen a hacer las 4 o 5 cosas una y otra vez. En cada región como vayas a saco a hacer tu ejercito y tomar la fortaleza sin alternar con misiones se te va a hacer un poco pesado de jugar
    - Contenido secundario: lo mismo que en el uno. Poca imaginación.
    - Orcos parlanchines. Se hace pesado tragarte la retahila de tonterias que te sueltan antes de luchar con ellos sin poder pasarlo.
    - Arbol de habilidades. Raro, desaprovechado. En nivel 25 ya no sabes en qué gastar los puntos.
    - Acto cuarto. Inexplicable decisión. Como muchos he optado por acabar el juego al término del tercero, que ya me ha dado más de 50 horas con todo al 100% completado. Peor aún que las cajitas.    … Expand
  8. antonzhalob
    Oct 16, 2021
    7
    Не плохое завершении Дилогии о средиземье! 40 часов экшона и сюжета!
    Вполне не плохо - если проходить в 2021 году!
  9. auditbadger
    Apr 26, 2020
    7
    I think that this is truly a unique game and I would recommend that if you are a fan of this type of genre then I think you should give this game a try.
  10. Blunter
    Oct 25, 2017
    7
    Game is great until the Shadow Wars and then it starts getting annoying unless you like grinding. If you don't like grinding then watch the ending on youtube.

    Buy the game if you loved Shadow of Mordor and want an expanded version of it with a better story. If you don't like the microtransactions then you don't have to buy any.
  11. dacgames
    Dec 7, 2017
    7
    I think that general criticisms are very much mediated by micro-transactions. The game is an acceptable evolution of Shadow of Mordor with a combat system and more balanced difficulty and, therefore, more interesting. The separation of the game spaces in 5 differentiated regions turned out to be a "half-way" success that gives a variety of scenarios, but it is not used because it does notI think that general criticisms are very much mediated by micro-transactions. The game is an acceptable evolution of Shadow of Mordor with a combat system and more balanced difficulty and, therefore, more interesting. The separation of the game spaces in 5 differentiated regions turned out to be a "half-way" success that gives a variety of scenarios, but it is not used because it does not grant unique environmental elements that complement the mechanics of gameplay.

    Likewise, the progression of the character feels extremely comfortable, up to level 40 at least. Then the remaining skill points acquired even though they serve to complete the skill tree become relatively complex to acquire. Especially for granting some of them through the progression of missions or collectibles.

    I see the most serious flaw in the narrative level, where you do not feel identification or intrigue to explore the story that counts. Added to that practically the game does not take shape until well into chapter II with the most established mechanics. It does not feel organic or fluid in the first instance. It almost seems insipid and irrelevant.

    The graphic level seems average, not sublime because it has a nice finish to look at. But it feels "past", almost old in comparison to the titles offered in this same temporality of release.

    The real attraction is in the nemesis system, much better complemented by new possibilities and combinations that manage to generate identification with the war chief and captains that you face or dominate. The jewel of the game is here in all its glory.

    The management and interface is quite intuitive, it is not annoying and allows you to easily deploy through the selection menus. With the map it is a bit more rudimentary but just as functional.

    The Achilles heel falls into a built-in micro-payment system. Although it has no "real" implications for the basic online mode it has, it feels almost a steal for the ridiculously high profits you can acquire in such a short time, which completely breaks the balance of the game and its development during levels and zones. in which the player unfolds. The game is not really bad, but it turned out to be a kick to the consumer's cheek by proposing this semi-pay to win system that completely eliminates the attraction it has to show.

    In short: as a sequel is fairly well achieved with points to improve to innovate in narrative and exploitation of a single system in which no one has thought to venture even (the nemesis system). But the micro transactions completely damage the positive that may have and even transgress the player / consumer itself that acquires the title either in pre-sale or on the date of release.    … Expand
  12. NikeSh
    Sep 13, 2018
    7
    В данной рецензии не буду затрагивать тему лутбоксов, т.к. они уже убрали их на момент когда я проходил игру. Игра весьма неплоха, сюжет интригует и будет интересен фанам LotR, но его мало, приготовьтесь к тому что всё будет завязано исключительно на геймплее, с одной катсценой в пару часов. Ну так будет у тех кто как и я проходил сайдквесты. Геймплей затягивает, гринда много по этому - наВ данной рецензии не буду затрагивать тему лутбоксов, т.к. они уже убрали их на момент когда я проходил игру. Игра весьма неплоха, сюжет интригует и будет интересен фанам LotR, но его мало, приготовьтесь к тому что всё будет завязано исключительно на геймплее, с одной катсценой в пару часов. Ну так будет у тех кто как и я проходил сайдквесты. Геймплей затягивает, гринда много по этому - на любителя. Графика хороша, не заметил чтоб от первой части сильно улучшилась, но всё таки иногда видишь что постарались. Управление на клаве очень - не очень, так что совет - играйте на контроллере. DLC сюжетные к игре хороши в сюжетном плане. На прохождение сюжетки с большей частью сайдквестов ушло чуть больше 40 часов.… Expand
  13. Kotofon
    May 9, 2020
    7
    Плюсы:
    + Осады
    + Систему "Немезис" прокачали + много новых механик + кастомизация персонажа, теперь игра еще и наполовину РПГ + 3 акт довольно неплох, хоть и не хватает масштаба + локации выглядят красиво Минусы: - Игра короткая, мне показалось что даже короче первой части. - С лором разрабы не дружат, Толкиен в гробу не одну сотню раз успел переврнуться, пока писался сюжет для    Плюсы:
    + Осады
    + Систему "Немезис" прокачали
    + много новых механик
    + кастомизация персонажа, теперь игра еще и наполовину РПГ
    + 3 акт довольно неплох, хоть и не хватает масштаба
    + локации выглядят красиво
    Минусы:
    - Игра короткая, мне показалось что даже короче первой части.
    - С лором разрабы не дружат, Толкиен в гробу не одну сотню раз успел переврнуться, пока писался сюжет для этой игры. Из-за этого игра ощущается скорее как фанфик.
    - захватываешь ты крепость или нет - неважно, по всей локации все равно всегда будут бегать в основном враги, лишь пару раз замечал рандомные стычки 5х5. Это убивает всю грандиозность захвата цитадели, потому что ничего не меняется за пределами замка.
    - По сюжету вы идёте штурмовать столицу Саурона. Да ту самую здоровенную башню из фильма ! И что вы думаете ? Против вас на мосту сражается всего лишь орков 30 не больше, за вас столько же. Аху*!&ь вот это эпик, да у меня зарубы школьников после уроков и то зрелищнее выглядят.
    Итог. Игра понравилась в отличие от первой части, где та после середины начала сдуваться. Вся "Война теней" с 4 актом проходится часов за 30, так что как только мне игра уже понемногу начала надоедать она тут же и закончилась. Если не надоело, то можно пойти проходить длс за бабу (короткое и скучное, meh) и длс за книггу (норм). Лутбоксы убрали еще давно, самое полное издание на распродаже стоит всего рублей 300, так что можно взять.    … Expand
  14. JaydenPickens
    Dec 20, 2019
    7
    Buckle up boys and girls, this is going to be a long one. After the average Shadow of Mordor, a sequel called Shadow of War is released. It gets a lot of negative reactions, because of the microtransactions and other s***y practices, which are condemned (rightoseouly if I might add). This leads to the removal of microtransactions back in 2018. So in 2019 I finally get around to play andBuckle up boys and girls, this is going to be a long one. After the average Shadow of Mordor, a sequel called Shadow of War is released. It gets a lot of negative reactions, because of the microtransactions and other s***y practices, which are condemned (rightoseouly if I might add). This leads to the removal of microtransactions back in 2018. So in 2019 I finally get around to play and finish this game. DId I have a good time? Yes, I did. But this good time was haunted by moments of pain and suffering. Let me tell you one thing: my PC isn't the strongest nor the weakest one out there. But the first time, I tried to play Shadow of War, the game would just not start. Turns out the only solution, I found on the internet, that worked was installing INTERNET EXPLORER 11. Can you imagine? This is laughable. Internet explorer should not be necessary to play a game. Internet explorer should be buried deep down in the ground and rot in a shallow grave. With the help of amazing Internet Explorer 11, I was finally able to run this game. It's great. The game is great. Nemesis system is amazing, gameplay is too. I loved the graphics and audio as well. You know what I didn't like? The story. You know why? Because no way in hell this would happen. This is not canon. And it saddens me, because half of the ideas here are actually good and could enrichen the Tolkien universe. The rest of the ideas were so garbage, they should be buried in the same grave that Internet explorer is supposed to be not running a f**** 2017 game. Other things I loved were: shaming orcs, dominating orcs, killing orcs, talking to orcs, making love to orcs, get killed by the orcs, sending death threats to orcs, cutting out orc limbs, starting a Nickelback tribute band with orcs, having breakfast with orcs, what about a second breakfast with orcs, going to Limp Bizkit show with orcs, Orcs And Recreation and other cool activities that orcs were involved in. Guess, what I didn't like. F**** bugs. At one point, I was retaking a fortress and Talion just fell down... below the textures into the void. It's still a better fate, that what the screenwriters for this game gave him. Other than bugs, there were more problems with the game. Especially running it. Sometimes the game just wouldn't start. You'll ask me: why?. My answer: I don't know. There would be a black screen. Sometimes changing the graphic settings from ultra to high would help. But later they wouldn't. Later changing to low would help. Then to very low. Then back to ultra. Later nothing would help and the game would just work magically or not. You'll tell me "oh your PC must be **** or something, update your graphic card drivers etc etc etc". Well, I'm not a f***** moron buddy and I know these things, my PC is completely healthy and vegan. All the other games work perfectly, but for some unknown reason a s***stain called Shadow of War just wouldn't. Still, I liked this game. I wouldn't consider this a waste of time, because the orcs make up for it. Ratbag is a bae. I loved the ending to this game (and I also laugh at the fact how s**** the dlcs for this game are and destroyed that ending). But I have a better idea for the ending of Shadow Of War. Talion and Ratbag become actual best friends and destroy all evil in the world including Sauron and other c*nts. At the end Talion dies, going back to his family and Ratbag changes the orc ways for the better and there's peace. Nice, right? Check this out you Monolith Productions bastards, make this a plot for the third game. Shadow Of Friendship. I'd play that. Thanks for reading this retarded review and see you next time. Pickens approves.… Expand
  15. Babutto
    Jul 29, 2023
    7
    A legit game.

    Pros.: - Story. - Cut scenes. - Gameplay is neat. - Multiple quests. - Multiple skills. Gemstones were also cool. - Ratbag. Yep. - Shelob! Real babe. Cons.: - Act II is garbage. - Could be more quests anchored to the LoTR lore. - Another bait for the continuation. - Idiotic mechanic of introductions that cannot be turned off from the game. Have to manipulate    A legit game.

    Pros.:
    - Story.
    - Cut scenes.
    - Gameplay is neat.
    - Multiple quests.
    - Multiple skills. Gemstones were also cool.
    - Ratbag. Yep.
    - Shelob! Real babe.

    Cons.:
    - Act II is garbage.
    - Could be more quests anchored to the LoTR lore.
    - Another bait for the continuation.
    - Idiotic mechanic of introductions that cannot be turned off from the game. Have to manipulate with the files.    … Expand
  16. RareFroggy123
    Dec 15, 2019
    7
    You can build a orc army and conquer fortresses in huge battles. But it's pretty much the same thing over and over again.
  17. ErayTellezi
    Nov 17, 2020
    7
    İlk 20 saat harika combatı, geniş haritası, nemesis sistemi, farklı mekan ve karakterleriyle çok iyi ilerliyor. Ancak belli bir noktadan sonra kendisini tekrar etmeye başlıyor ve yeni haritaya geçtiğinizde "aynı şeyleri baştan bir daha mı yapacağım" diyerek isyan etmenize neden oluyor. Uzun süreye yayarak yavaş yavaş oynanabilir.
  18. matee75
    Dec 18, 2020
    7
    It was too monotonous. The combat system was meh. The story quests were very short and the same. Although it had much content.
  19. Scoutajayjay
    May 30, 2023
    7
    So I brought the game on sale for around 20$ and I have to say, there is a great game for that price. The action is above average, if I have to give a similarity, it would be batman arkham. Next up is the story, It took me around 25 hours to do the story which is definitely not that long. The game's nemesis system is a fun and creative way to add additional playtime and fun. I can't waitSo I brought the game on sale for around 20$ and I have to say, there is a great game for that price. The action is above average, if I have to give a similarity, it would be batman arkham. Next up is the story, It took me around 25 hours to do the story which is definitely not that long. The game's nemesis system is a fun and creative way to add additional playtime and fun. I can't wait for this studio's next game since they have all the formulas for a good action-RPG game.… Expand
  20. Zeneko90
    Jul 14, 2022
    7
    Nettes. Spiel es hat echt viel Spaß gemacht. Mehr davon! Nicht zu lang, nicht zu kurz. Genau richtig.
  21. Polthank
    Mar 12, 2022
    7
    A basic story, great combat and very colorful but its status as a must-have game in your library is earned by the unique nemesis system.
  22. mkhue108
    Feb 26, 2023
    7
    Enjoy the nemesis system but the gameplay will get grindy and very repetitive.
  23. Svenergy
    Jun 16, 2023
    7
    Good not great. Had some nice concepts with the nemesis system and some good writing but fell short in meaningful character progression, shallow and broken completionist tasks, and lack of true customization.
  24. DvorkaM
    Oct 21, 2017
    6
    It is an above average game. It is enjoyable, but but if you remember Assassins Creed 1 ... yeah, it is that kind of game.

    Despite being fairly long (I logged in 34 hours while getting 50% through act IV (will elaborate on) and finishing ALL except the act 4 stages), with one notable exceptions and two beasts, no new types of enemies appear after Act 1 (of four), which makes the game    It is an above average game. It is enjoyable, but but if you remember Assassins Creed 1 ... yeah, it is that kind of game.

    Despite being fairly long (I logged in 34 hours while getting 50% through act IV (will elaborate on) and finishing ALL except the act 4 stages), with one notable exceptions and two beasts, no new types of enemies appear after Act 1 (of four), which makes the game very monotone. Especially since the end boss is always the same enemy type.

    The second crux is the story. By gods is it forced, there is just no flow to the narrative. And while the cut scenes are fairly enjoyable and voice acting decent. The final product is just bad.
    The golden rule of story telling is, that one scene to another should get via 'Because of that' or 'Therefore'. This game is just full of 'and then', 'and then', 'and thens'. And the worst thing is, the players action, are often irrelevant to the story itself. For example (sans details),
    Quest: Do something, to stop something
    Result: You did it, it happened anyway
    Next quest: Stop the new thing
    Result: You did but it escaped in cutscene

    And this happens almost every time until the end of a given quest chain. The story is happening regardless Talion, which makes the experience less enjoyable.

    And finally forts. Huge part of act 2 and 4. This is where AC1 comes in. IT IS THE SAME THING 4 TIMES in act 2 and 10 TIMES in act 4. While the mechanism of conquering and defending forts is extremely enjoyable the first time, it is passable the second time and chore every other time, since it is ALWAYS THE SAME THING. Sure there is a little variability (weaknesses and number). But it is just not enough, here come 2 bosses, then 3 bosses then 5 bosses, rinse and repeat. In act 4 I finished stages 1-4, then I lost at stage 5 (wanted to see what will happen). Saw it, will not play this game anymore, I am just not enjoying myself no longer.

    Infuriation factor is further increased because of introductions in the nemesis mechanics. Every time captain enters the field, the game pauses and he makes a speech about how pathetic you are and how he will kill you. It is funny the first 6-10 times (They only started to repeat past the 30h mark which is admirable), but after that COME ON, I single single handedly defeat half the Mordor, and some turd 30lvls below me still makes the "I will kill you, since you suck" speech? This, with an inability to skip it, might actually be half the reason for me not finishing Act 4. (You get to hear it 5-10 times per stage)

    Kind of pity they didn't gut the fort mechanic down to one fort in ACT 2 and 2 stages in act 4. And leave them just to MP. Sure the game would be only 15 hours long, but it would be extremely enjoyable and worth a 7, as is 6    … Expand
  25. Mandulum
    Dec 11, 2017
    6
    Five Word Review: Engaging game, ignore some parts.
    Favorite Thing: I still love the combat, it's very responsive and engaging. There are also a lot of rather enjoyable quests.
    Least Favorite Thing: Act 4 feels like it was created to steer you toward purchasing loot boxes. It's a HUGE grind and not very fun. Date Completed: 2017-12-10 Playtime: ~ 30h (did all side quests, skipped the    Five Word Review: Engaging game, ignore some parts.
    Favorite Thing: I still love the combat, it's very responsive and engaging. There are also a lot of rather enjoyable quests.
    Least Favorite Thing: Act 4 feels like it was created to steer you toward purchasing loot boxes. It's a HUGE grind and not very fun.

    Date Completed: 2017-12-10
    Playtime: ~ 30h (did all side quests, skipped the Shadow Wars)
    Enjoyment: 6/10 (-2 points of Shadow Wars)
    Recommendation: I quite enjoyed the game until Shadow Wars. If you're okay with technically not finishing it then it's worth your time.    … Expand
  26. Klewer
    Nov 5, 2020
    6
    Being a few years since I played the First game, Shadow of Mordor, the first half of this game was great. The Nemesisi system and main story quests were good fun and the side missions also interesting. Half way through nothing feels fresh anymore and most of the quests are extremely repetitive. Game play is good and the game looks great, however all missions felt as though I'd already doneBeing a few years since I played the First game, Shadow of Mordor, the first half of this game was great. The Nemesisi system and main story quests were good fun and the side missions also interesting. Half way through nothing feels fresh anymore and most of the quests are extremely repetitive. Game play is good and the game looks great, however all missions felt as though I'd already done them many times before and the final part of the game is a grind.… Expand
  27. RMDsilva
    Dec 27, 2020
    6
    A quick snack, enjoyable if you're okay with mediocre everything, from storyline to game mechanics.
  28. Legendb2015
    May 30, 2018
    6
    Ok, well now that they took away microtransactions I decided to give this game a try. The current 3.1 metacritic score is a HAMMERING and justified from launch until this past month when they FINALLY stop asking players to pay to win or go through a god awful grind. Im glad players are finally start to rebel against these predatory practices, and can only hope we continue to fight againstOk, well now that they took away microtransactions I decided to give this game a try. The current 3.1 metacritic score is a HAMMERING and justified from launch until this past month when they FINALLY stop asking players to pay to win or go through a god awful grind. Im glad players are finally start to rebel against these predatory practices, and can only hope we continue to fight against this corporate gaming scam thats been brutalizing players and the fun out of games for years now. I do think this game deserves to have players go back and update their reviews now after trying it without the microtransactions. On to my thoughts.

    The Good:
    Graphics A+ (mordor looks pretty freakin awesome)
    The Story (only made it to act 2 so far but its decent thus far.
    Getting Orcs to fight by your side (though i've been having a frustrating time getting this to happen, more on that below).
    Finishing Moves and Upgrade system is in depth.

    The Bad:
    The enemies arent nearly as a push over like those in Assassins creed, but they're still lacking intelligence or good combat...its manly only the fact they surround you in alot of numbers that gives the illusion of good, "skilled" if you will, fighting. I find the combat system bitter sweet, finishers are nice, but its manly just a hack n slash with alot of frustrations...especially since you cant heal out of combat or use a potion of sorts. Very frustrating trying to finish an enemy off and constantly being trolled by another enemy during the same finishing sequence over and over and over. Programming enemies to be frustrating and to rush over EVERY time you're about to do a finisher is pretty lame IMO. Makes battles long and drawn out,gets pretty repetitive fast, most orcs you'll find yourself just wanting to run around.

    The Ugly:
    Whomever programmed the green marked orcs (ones you need to interrogate for information on the armies), I want to talk a long walk off a short pier and get out of the industry, your mechanic you decided on is freaking STUPID..constantly having to chase green marked orcs across the map 20 times for each army across, what like 6 armies is the lamest mechanic and nothing but time consuming filler.

    The first few hours I spent being constantly interrupted by pop ups, need this, need that, do this when you get this, do that when you get that...HOLY CRAP..how do you expect anybody to remember all this crap when you flood it in the first 2 hours and harass players like that...learn to spread things out.

    Overall:
    I doubt I beat it (or care to) because of the frustrating game mechanics, annoyances, and sheer repetitive filling, but we'll see..as it stands now I'll give it a 6/10. Hard to get above that from me in this day and age, most games just lack the extra time needed to polish or add decent content due to corporate greed wanting to assembly line crap out of door every year. Wish developers would take back their pride and put some more effort into their art...oh wait, its hardly art anymore, thanks for selling out (sarcasm).    … Expand
  29. YetAnotherJohn
    Jun 8, 2021
    6
    I bought this game at a discount on Steam in 2021, after most, if not all, of the micro-transactions had already been removed. Many of the user reviews focus on that admittedly ugly stain on the game, so I think it's important to point that out because even without them I still didn't enjoy the experience as much as I had hoped. This is a 6 out of 10, closer to a 5 than a 7, and I wouldn'tI bought this game at a discount on Steam in 2021, after most, if not all, of the micro-transactions had already been removed. Many of the user reviews focus on that admittedly ugly stain on the game, so I think it's important to point that out because even without them I still didn't enjoy the experience as much as I had hoped. This is a 6 out of 10, closer to a 5 than a 7, and I wouldn't recommend buying it unless at a discount or if you're REALLY desperate for more of the same gameplay as the previous installment.

    I had a lot of fun with Shadow of Mordor, the previous game of the franchise, and just like then, the nemesis system absolutely carries Shadow of War on its back, that's undeniable. It serves as both the main source of fun and surprise in the game and, by comparison, a condemnation of everything else, because the orcs manage to be so much more interesting than any of the main characters or anything about the main plot. The random encounters and relationships you develop with orcs feel organic, engaging and full of personality, whereas the main questlines feel stale, boring and entirely by-the-numbers. Here's what 90% of the quests in the game amount to: first, meet this NPC in an arbitrary, eerily empty location in the world, typically with them just turning a corner like you're all hanging at a park instead of in the middle of orc-central, then you exchange 4 to 6 lines of dry and unimaginative dialogue and proceed to follow said NPC for a few minutes before killing a bunch of orcs. Repeat the same routine again and again for the next 50 hours and yes, the game ends up a massive slog, specially once you reach act II. There's no central hub, no logic to why or when you're meeting any of the characters, and once a quest ends NPCs just walk away into nothing, vanishing entirely from the world until they teleport back in for the next quest.

    Even if we commend Warner Bros. for eventually removing the micro-transactions, it's also undeniable that the game was tailored to emphasize numbers and grinding more than fun in many ways, so they took away the greedy money-earning mechanism but the underlying structure that originally supported said mechanism is still there, ingrained throughout the game. Most of the weapon and gear drops are just a cheap rotation of the same 5, weak gear sets; the rune system is so simplistic and uneventful that there's barely any tangible sense of progress nor impact in different configurations, it's just bloat, something to help justify item drops from orcs, and while we're on the subject of bloat, there are also side-quests which just amount to going to a spot and pressing a single button - Shelob memories are literally just a single cutscene broken into dozens of still frames. Never before have I felt so tempted to just abandon a game mid-playthrough out of raw boredom like this.

    The soundtrack is completely unremarkable, at its best managing to be a pale imitation of tracks from the Lord of the Rings. Talion and Celebrimbor bicker and argue, but instead of it feeling genuine or engaging it's just tiring, dry and annoying. The fortresses you can conquer at each zone feel copy-pasted - sure, there are cosmetic differences depending on the tribe of each overlord, but they're completely superficial - they all share the same blueprint and are conquered in the exact same way, even though it would have been easy to modify them in response to the environment of each zone. What's worse is that even once you've conquered all fortresses in the world nothing meaningful changes. There are still massive encampments of enemies everywhere, and you don't feel like you've made any impact on the region, just switched a few flags from red to blue.

    I finished the game tired and underwhelmed, having gotten bored with the lack of variety some 15 hours in and just trudging through the main quests to at least finish the game properly. It could have been so much better than this!    … Expand
  30. AloneUA
    Oct 21, 2017
    6
    The microtransactions are cancer, but the game itself is actually pretty boring as well.
    The first hours felt great and it looked like a game should be really fun, but after appriximately 12 hours and in the middle of the second act I just. Got. Bored.
    The battle system is ripped of from Arkham Knight and sometimes can be really cool, but it quickly becomes tedious. Most of the time orcs    The microtransactions are cancer, but the game itself is actually pretty boring as well.
    The first hours felt great and it looked like a game should be really fun, but after appriximately 12 hours and in the middle of the second act I just. Got. Bored.
    The battle system is ripped of from Arkham Knight and sometimes can be really cool, but it quickly becomes tedious. Most of the time orcs overwhelm you and you can do nothing about it. All that is left is to permablock their attacks or run away. Also there will always be some archers breaking your combo chain or some random orc will hit you from behind where you couldnt even see him. The combat is 50/50 fun and frustrating. But the further you get, the more frustrating it becomes.
    And that is so even if you spend a lot of time to grind and collect all the stupid stuff devs left on the map. You kinda have to do those boring challenges and fetch quests, cause you get skill points from them which are pretty important.
    Nemesis system is pretty interesting, but pointless as it never stops generating new orcs. You can kill a ton of them, but still they will be replaced with another ones, making your efforts kinda pointless. Truth be said I quit the game just before sieging the first fortress, but I doubt anything will change after that.
    Besides, if I get bored preparing for the first siege, how boring it will get doing the same 4 more times?
    The art and map design is mediocre at best. The Minas Ithil is good, but then you start to notice that every location has almost the same buldings and towers (even cave locations, jeez), which is disappointing.
    All in all, I deleted the game, cause I have better use for my time than to pointlesly run around and slaughter endless orcs. You can try it, but right now I will honestly recommend to get South Park or new Wolfenstein.
    And yes, microtransactions suck. This games deserve no more than 6/10 IMHO    … 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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