User Score
4.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 1686 Ratings

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  1. Oct 10, 2017
    5
    There's a lot going for this game and the first two acts are pretty good. Unfortunately, the final half of the game is an enormous, tedious grind to collect more and more Orcs and level them all up.

    There are loot box micro transactions and the developers assured everyone before release that the game had been balanced/designed around NOT using them but having played the game, I can now
    There's a lot going for this game and the first two acts are pretty good. Unfortunately, the final half of the game is an enormous, tedious grind to collect more and more Orcs and level them all up.

    There are loot box micro transactions and the developers assured everyone before release that the game had been balanced/designed around NOT using them but having played the game, I can now confirm they lied. That horrendous, boring grind at the end of the game is clearly there to strong-arm people into buying those loot boxes.

    There is also a multiplayer mode but it is basically unplayable unless you're sinking lots of money into those boxes because your Orcs can permanently die in that mode so without the loot boxes, you'll need to do hours of grinding in singleplayer between multiplayer matches to replenish your Orcs.

    First few hours were great but I got the game yesterday & I'll probably be selling it back come the weekend because I'll be done with it by then.

    Knowing what I know now, I would have given this one a miss.
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  2. Oct 10, 2017
    5
    Year 2017. You can FAIL the mission because you LEFT THE AREA of the mission in an OPEN WORLD GAME. This is ridiculous. Why are you doing this??? I don't understand...
  3. Jan 26, 2019
    6
    Bought this game during the "post-microtransactions" era so I didnt experience that microtransaction BS.

    Starting with the positive, the climbing mechanics are good, graphics are good, setting too.The fighting mechanics are also clean (although it can be a spamfest at times). The story is kinda interesting, though may not be still at the same level as Witcher 3 but still decent. The
    Bought this game during the "post-microtransactions" era so I didnt experience that microtransaction BS.

    Starting with the positive, the climbing mechanics are good, graphics are good, setting too.The fighting mechanics are also clean (although it can be a spamfest at times). The story is kinda interesting, though may not be still at the same level as Witcher 3 but still decent. The negatives for me are, the cutscenes everytime you meet a captain. It gets really annoying. The lack of a legit save game. I mean, every game should have a basic save your game mechanics but this game has NONE. You need to fast travel to save your progress which is FREAKING STUPID. The repetitiveness also makes me stop playing at some points. Overall, I enjoyed it. It gets addictive as you play. Glad i bought this after the microtransactions BS
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  4. Oct 16, 2017
    6
    Talion is back in a continuing adventure in the land of Mordor. Following the events of Shadow of Mordor, Monolith Productions and Warner Brothers brings us Shadow of War. Does Shadow of war rule middle earth or should it have been burned and destroyed along with the rings? Let us find out.

    Story: The story picks up right from the events of Shadow of Mordor you are back playing as
    Talion is back in a continuing adventure in the land of Mordor. Following the events of Shadow of Mordor, Monolith Productions and Warner Brothers brings us Shadow of War. Does Shadow of war rule middle earth or should it have been burned and destroyed along with the rings? Let us find out.

    Story: The story picks up right from the events of Shadow of Mordor you are back playing as Talion and Celebrimbor. In the very beginning of the game, we see them making a new ring to fight against Sauron and the Azgul. There is a war happening in middle earth in this installment of the series between the Orcs, Uruks and Olacs and the Minas Ithil. You take sides with Minas Ithil to help them win the war; however, down the line you find out there is a traitor in the Minas Ithil. In the story, we run in to new characters that have an effect in the story like Shelob, a woman who can turn in to a big spider, which is cool in my opinion. She takes Celebrimbor as a hostage in exchange for the ring you created, so that she can take on Sauron herself. As the story continues, it became more confusing because there was so much going on with all the different characters and became less interesting as I progressed through it. There are four different acts throughout the story the second being by far the longest.

    Game play: The game play in Shadow of War is pretty much the same as the first one but with more RPG elements. However, it adds a few things as well; we still have the fighting style that we have seen in the Batman series. One thing I really enjoyed and found very annoying at the same time was the fortress raids. In order to progress through some of the story you need to take over these fortresses to clear the region. While doing some of these missions you feel like your weapons are never strong enough to defeat all the captains at one check point, but luckily I was able to beat this game without using the micro transactions. Throughout the game, you will brawl, use stealth, manipulate and climb your way through Gondor. Another feature I found in this game that was a bit tedious was building your own army. How you do this is by recruiting captains after you weaken them and they help you when it is time to do a fortress raid and take on the overlord of the fortress. This is not mandatory but it helps when it comes to difficulty but I just found it tedious. Game play design is not great in this case and unfortunately is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to games. When you clear a camp, it should remain cleared and not have the enemies re-spawn. As you progress through the story you will run in to a fair bit of collectibles like artifacts and memories which are words that go to a poem that unlocks a door and behind that door is a high level armor or weapon.

    Conclusion: Shadow of War is a fun game but by the time, I hit the Twelve-hour mark I felt it became very lack luster, and I just wanted to be finished. It has lot of new additions to compare to the first one, but does not feel as polished. The story is far less interesting and has a lot going on with it between the characters and your character that is becomes hard to follow. With some game play flaws that are very noticeable it becomes very lack luster just a few hours in to the game I struggled just to finish it but the pay off at the end of the game was worth it.

    Shadow of War 6/10 Average
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  5. Oct 26, 2017
    7
    This is not a bad game. This is not a great game. This is a good game that could have been much better. I like a lot about this game, which is why I'm so let down by many aspects of this game. To begin, I love the new fortress system where you can capturing and then defend them. Building your army in a area to then bring them to take a fortress is amazing! It's so rewarding to see yourThis is not a bad game. This is not a great game. This is a good game that could have been much better. I like a lot about this game, which is why I'm so let down by many aspects of this game. To begin, I love the new fortress system where you can capturing and then defend them. Building your army in a area to then bring them to take a fortress is amazing! It's so rewarding to see your effort pay off. Every time you dominate or kill an enemy captain in a fortress assault makes the hours building your army worth it. Even more satisfying, is when you make your way through the fortress and into the overlords room. It is the best feeling when you get that killing blow and take the fortress for you and your army. However, after the first three time it can get very repetitive. This can be due to how many times you need to do this (especially in Act IV: Shadow Wars). The amount of times must do this to complete the game is ridiculous. It is enjoyable when it naturally occurs but act IV outstays its welcome and leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The combat is also has positives and negatives. When you are facing three or four orcs it is smooth and fun but when you are facing large groups (like in the fortresses) it begins to show it flaws. Many times I was wanted to vault over a normal orc but Talion decided to jump over an olog just to have it throw me to the ground every time. This type of thing happened to often and completely ruined to flow of the combat. Even when I tired to use of finisher on a captain the game would use it on a grunt orc and waste it. The story is around 20 hours (not including shadow wars) and is okay. There are some cool things but nothing that sticks out to me and nothing I will remember in years to come. I also noticed that many of the orcs look and often have very similar names. This happened few and far between in the first game and it seems to happen even more often here. The amount of times I have seen an almost identical captain is insane and makes it an inferior system compared to the original game. The loot crates may be to blame for this because of how easy you can unlock captains. You can buy crates and get 100+ captains easy so the orcs will begin to look very similar. It may sound like I completely dislike this game but I don't. The story, mixed with the random events, plus the fortresses made for a fun 20ish hours. After you complete the third act, the game wares out its welcome and becomes very repetitive. I'm fine with some repetitive tacks but when the game is only repetitive, without the story to distract me, it get bored. This is a game that is good but was held back by a lot of small issues. Tolkien is probably rolling over in his grave by the violence being added in the world he created, hahaha. Expand
  6. 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
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  7. Oct 18, 2017
    6
    Ok so before i start the review i just want to say that the whole game not counting the endgame doesn't need any microtransactions, i had a high score for this game but the endgame runied it by blocking the true ending with act 4 shadow wars which is basiclly 10 stages of defending all your fortress which is kinda fun i guess but takes a lot of in game curenncy and here is where theOk so before i start the review i just want to say that the whole game not counting the endgame doesn't need any microtransactions, i had a high score for this game but the endgame runied it by blocking the true ending with act 4 shadow wars which is basiclly 10 stages of defending all your fortress which is kinda fun i guess but takes a lot of in game curenncy and here is where the microtransactions shine i refused to continue playing and stopped after stage 2 this game had a lot coming for it and i really dont want to give out pros and cons because i dont want people playing this game and supporting that endgame microtransactions bullcrap so ill just say this
    i Spent 26 hours on the game and could Spent more but i could not do 10 stages of defened the fortress becuase it takes so much ingame money to do it and if you fail you have to retake it and then defened it again the whole thing is a pain

    the game it self is great but the endgame just ruined it this game had a lot of potential and could be a 9/10
    but greed ruined it my final score to shadow of war is 6/10 but again i do not recommend it at all because of the endgame
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  8. Oct 30, 2017
    7
    Great game good gameplay but also lootbox grind + market i just wish i could play as one of the Orcs :D
    gameplay has added features but feels almost same as its predecessor
  9. Jan 7, 2018
    5
    You know what I can say?
    4 act - a simulator of monotonous actions to capture towers.
    3 act - a good production, excellent CGI videos, the plot in this act is greater than in all the others combined. Act 2 - we are taught how to capture the towers in the middle of the earth, which is quite, at first, not bad and it looks interesting. I advise you not to kill the leaders, so that the
    You know what I can say?
    4 act - a simulator of monotonous actions to capture towers.
    3 act - a good production, excellent CGI videos, the plot in this act is greater than in all the others combined.
    Act 2 - we are taught how to capture the towers in the middle of the earth, which is quite, at first, not bad and it looks interesting. I advise you not to kill the leaders, so that the attacks were as in gameplay, commercials, commercials, at least were approached to this.
    1 act - enter the world, introduce some characters and give the ground for a good story, which did not happen.

    In general, the game is monotonous, the visual design is nothing, the graphics are bad, nothing new, except the towers, in comparison with the previous game - no. The plot leaves a lot of questions about the characters, which, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ simply forgot. Yes, there are characters about whom they forgot at the stage of developing a new act, but yes, it's right - ♥♥♥♥♥♥ with him, we'll better introduce lutboks.

    And yes, defenders of lootboxes, you are just hydrocephalus, amoeba, you have a cognitive distortion. In general, you ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ f, stupid, dolbaebi with aberration. These objects with binary thinking will ask: "Well, why do you allow such a talk?", Yes because, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Lutboks kill a single game and it's wrong. I would write a full opinion on this, but too much text for too small audience (those who will read this review). The game does not convey the atmosphere of the Lord of the Rings.

    I recommend only to those who want to come after work / school and kill time for the liquidation of orcs.

    The final score is 5/10, not including lootboxes. Mediocre.
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  10. Oct 10, 2017
    6
    Ok, in the name of impartiality, I will ignore the micro-transaction ****
    The game is still very empty and void of LOTR lore.
    Literally the exact same Issues I had with the first game.

    There is no LOTR, it's just an orc killing simulator.
    Fun but disappointing.
  11. Dec 12, 2017
    7
    So I just completed the main storyline. Overall gameplay has expanded upon what was already in place, I enjoyed it throughly WITH a few issues. The timing doesnt always seem like line up. The enemies ability to adapt is annoying when some of them have only one weakness to begin with (i.e. shield enemies need to be vaulted over, then they adapt and you can no longer do that). The storySo I just completed the main storyline. Overall gameplay has expanded upon what was already in place, I enjoyed it throughly WITH a few issues. The timing doesnt always seem like line up. The enemies ability to adapt is annoying when some of them have only one weakness to begin with (i.e. shield enemies need to be vaulted over, then they adapt and you can no longer do that). The story line was pretty good, it surprised me. I haven't got into the lootboxes yet, but it has gotten kind of grindy. Imagine Pokemon where you can only catch a pokemon at your trainers level. The game can probably be beaten in 1 sitting. Maybe around 8 to 12 hours of storyline gameplay only. Subquest and just going around merking s*** is what makes this game fun for me. ALSO I bought it at black friday. It is not worth more than 30$ imo. Not a bad game, just not long enough, and to combat that they add extensive grinding to compensate lack of content. Fun. But has its issues. Also f*** the lootboxes, Im not with that movement, at all. Expand
  12. Oct 19, 2017
    7
    Shadow of war takes the nemesis system from the last game and blows it out of the water. This game improves on every part of it and the combat is also much better. I bought the gold edition and got the platinum without spending any extra money and the time spent was well worth the money. While many people play a game for its story, this game has a much weaker story than the predecessor andShadow of war takes the nemesis system from the last game and blows it out of the water. This game improves on every part of it and the combat is also much better. I bought the gold edition and got the platinum without spending any extra money and the time spent was well worth the money. While many people play a game for its story, this game has a much weaker story than the predecessor and doesn't improve the relationship between Talion and Celebrimbor. Even still though, the game was fun to play the highlight was the amount of personality that the orcs had. The game is good and definitely a must buy, even if it has an iffy story and the fourth act being a slight grind. Expand
  13. Dec 3, 2017
    7
    First off, I understand the bad user score and overall microtransactions have really gotten out of hand. BUT, how Shadow of War implements them is not completely ruining the game. If you choose to ignore the microtransactions it makes the game a little more grindy. However due to SOW's fantastic nemesis system it kind of makes it into an OK grind and still manages to keep it as anFirst off, I understand the bad user score and overall microtransactions have really gotten out of hand. BUT, how Shadow of War implements them is not completely ruining the game. If you choose to ignore the microtransactions it makes the game a little more grindy. However due to SOW's fantastic nemesis system it kind of makes it into an OK grind and still manages to keep it as an interesting experience.

    You can still obtain orc followers, training orders and items from "regular chests" bought with in-game-gained currency which is really easy to farm on higher levels. Basically all the microtransactions do are ensure that you get a legendary item or legendary orc follower, which defeats the whole sense of purpose and accomplishment that already is present in the game if you play it normally. I don't feel forced to purchase loot boxes to enjoy the good qualities of the game.

    With that out of the way:

    Pros

    ++ Nemesis System
    ++ Movement and Combat
    + A lot of skills with many variations
    + Graphics and Performance (Played on PS4 Pro)
    + Orc Pit Fights
    + Fortress Battles (Both offline and online)
    + Some updates are free without the need of a season pass
    + No crashes (personally)
    + Voice Acting (Except Talions generic dialogue)
    + Better story boss battles than Shadow of Mordor, even though some bosses are very "copy-paste"
    + Story is interesting at times

    Cons

    -- Loot boxes
    - Obsolete gear and item system
    - The need to occasionally enter the slow and laggy market section to purchase chests for in-game currency (mainly training orders)
    - Mediocre main character
    - Some glitches (like getting stuck) may require game restart
    - Repetitive Act 4 and Nemesis missions
    - Slow and grindy progression in late-game

    I totally understand if people won't buy the game simply because of the disgusting microtransactions, it's just that they're missing out on the awesome game that lies beneath the pile of **** if they can't see past them.
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  14. Oct 19, 2017
    5
    A strong middle-aged man. A strong middle-aged man.A strong middle-aged man.A strong middle-aged man.A strong middle-aged man.A strong middle-aged man.A strong middle-aged man.
  15. Nov 2, 2017
    6
    read this review of middle earth shadow of war. every single user review i have seen only talk about micro transactions and nothing else. the gameplay is good and builds up from the last game with more to do in this world. the siege of towers is a ton of fun to do and has replay value to it. the story is underwhelming overall but that was expected when i went into this game. the nemesisread this review of middle earth shadow of war. every single user review i have seen only talk about micro transactions and nothing else. the gameplay is good and builds up from the last game with more to do in this world. the siege of towers is a ton of fun to do and has replay value to it. the story is underwhelming overall but that was expected when i went into this game. the nemesis system, is still fun to use and what they added to it makes it even better. even though it has pros it still has cons. yes the micro transactions do ruin the fun of getting all the loot yourself instead of just buying it. the game has buggy issues for when it comes to combat and even just looking at your army. i would wait for a sale if i were you to get this game because right now it is not worth the full 90$ you have to pay for it i think 60$ (U.S PRICE IS FINE). Expand
  16. May 17, 2018
    7
    This game really disappointed me. The world is full of useless secondary activities and stuffing to give a feeling that "there are many things to do". The mission menu is messy and confusing. The story is terribly boring, and the characters without charisma and for oblivion. The new multiplayer mode does not add much. The best thing is the nemesis system, the orcs are the only thing and the best.
  17. Oct 10, 2017
    5
    The game play, soundtrack and story are all good, Improvements have been made on all the predecessors features.
    This game's biggest flaw is the greed of the studio, no single player game should have micro-transactions, this has been repeated a lot in the comments section and I have to agree with it all, we have to take a stand against these practices especially when the game play it's
    The game play, soundtrack and story are all good, Improvements have been made on all the predecessors features.
    This game's biggest flaw is the greed of the studio, no single player game should have micro-transactions, this has been repeated a lot in the comments section and I have to agree with it all, we have to take a stand against these practices especially when the game play it's self pushes the player through artificial difficulty spikes in an attempt to garner micro-transactions. That said the core game is still very good.
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  18. Oct 11, 2017
    6
    just started act two been on shadow of war most of the day my very first thought that comes to mind is disappointment the games combat is the same as the first which works fine but the start is terrible the games been filled with mindless fluff story is drivel the world seems well crafted and orks are great but i have to say as a massive fan of the first game which i still own and playjust started act two been on shadow of war most of the day my very first thought that comes to mind is disappointment the games combat is the same as the first which works fine but the start is terrible the games been filled with mindless fluff story is drivel the world seems well crafted and orks are great but i have to say as a massive fan of the first game which i still own and play this is a major step backwards graphics dont make a game and game content shoved behind microtransactions is a joke all in all a average game at best shame as i had really high hopes for this--- update it's just the same grind over and over pretty much using the fabled batman gameplay mechanic the game world feels far to light losing the dark and gritty feel of the first and anyone who thinks this story is good well each to there own first game a surprising almost a master peace in my humble opinion but this is not garbage but very average there's better games out there simple fact i'd advise anyone to wait for abit before jumping into a full price game here Expand
  19. Oct 26, 2017
    7
    Let me tell you a story, Mortalus bought Shadow of War, Mortalus did not cry like a little **** about micro-transactions that are totally nonessential to the game. Mortalus on the other hand enjoyed the new upgraded nemesis system (which is now nuts), loot, running and jumping all over Mordor, collecting stuff, Mortalus died like 20 times on the hardest difficulty totally having fun. BeLet me tell you a story, Mortalus bought Shadow of War, Mortalus did not cry like a little **** about micro-transactions that are totally nonessential to the game. Mortalus on the other hand enjoyed the new upgraded nemesis system (which is now nuts), loot, running and jumping all over Mordor, collecting stuff, Mortalus died like 20 times on the hardest difficulty totally having fun. Be like Mortalus.

    Edit: As I finished the game, I must say the story was nice, but the game does not end, and that is where it all fell apart, you basicially need to achieve max level to get to the secret ending, I ended somewhere near level 50 with all my quests done, so all you are left with is killing orc captains, but I dominated all of them, so everything I was left with was shun my orcs from my army and then kill them, but it takes a lot of time, to get from level 47 to 48 you need to do 70 captain missions. It does get repetitive, it is very big grind to full level, I do not know why developers went this way, Still microtransactions are not needed, maybe those XP boosts might come in hand, to new players I might recommend gem your armor with XP gems and play on lower difficulty as you will not get extra health from green gems which you will sacrifice for the white ones, maybe this way you will be able to get extra XP from quests and actually finish the game for cut scene that lasts +- 1m30s. Overall the game was pretty fun until ACT 4.

    (I do support these micro-transactions as it is a way for developers to make some extra money for their hard effort, as far as they do not push you to buy those boxes, you do not need them at all, not a little bit.)
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  20. Oct 20, 2017
    5
    A genuinely excellent game marred by a lootbox system.While it's true that they are not necessary,the endgame is clearly designed to "encourage" players who have little time or patience to repetitively grind,and to purchase fast tracks to success.This is disgusting.So after spending a huge amount of time(In the pits mostly) grinding my way to 100% completion,I'll give this game a 10 forA genuinely excellent game marred by a lootbox system.While it's true that they are not necessary,the endgame is clearly designed to "encourage" players who have little time or patience to repetitively grind,and to purchase fast tracks to success.This is disgusting.So after spending a huge amount of time(In the pits mostly) grinding my way to 100% completion,I'll give this game a 10 for the first 80%,minus 5 for the insidious,predatory single player lootbox system. Expand
  21. Nov 13, 2017
    6
    Although the game can be buggy at times an improved story, improved combat system, improved nemesis system and a huge open world cannot take away the fact that this was a great game and thoroughly enjoyable. I finished the story to a point where I couldn't stop there and simply carried on afterwards. I found new monsters such as drakes a great implementation, and were fun to upgrade withAlthough the game can be buggy at times an improved story, improved combat system, improved nemesis system and a huge open world cannot take away the fact that this was a great game and thoroughly enjoyable. I finished the story to a point where I couldn't stop there and simply carried on afterwards. I found new monsters such as drakes a great implementation, and were fun to upgrade with the improved RPG system, giving a feeling of satisfaction when leveling and finally being able to ride one. Moreover I found the leveling system on the whole in the game extremely satisfying to unlock new move sets, and skills to aid me on my journey.

    Finding a legendary captain felt scary and when you are ambushed at the point of almost killing another captain for your army it feels very real. To build on this you see betrayals against you, betrayals against the warchiefs, seemingly a much more real and immersive feeling surrounded the game this time, as mini stories were built up within your armies and at points I felt small bonds connected to particular captains that stuck with me or helped me in situations I did not expect.

    The game built on the best bits of the former game creating a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The gigantic battles that were the sieges were perhaps the best part of this game, with huge and reasonably challenging battles, and more than enough choice to plan how you can attack. I feel the first, fight and capture part was reasonably easy however the Overlords themselves are no push over. Each with unique and tough abilities, interesting designs and never feeling samey due to lazy design, fighting them always felt like a new experience, the setting, the time taken to get there was beautifully crafted.

    However... the game is let down due to the gambling aspect of it. This game has succumbed to micro transactions, another let down of a great game. It was unnecessary and could have been completely avoided and been a fantastic game without it. Moreover due to these micro transactions the end game was a lot more grindy than enjoyable and with a lack luster ending. Moreover, the fact that the micro transaction aspect of the game is always in your face, when you're spending hours after hours grinding the same things over and over, it becomes tempting which I do not like at all, and for younger gamers I'm sure it would be more than enough to convince them to purchase something in this. However in 2017 it no longer surprises me when Triple A titles contain micro-transactions, it could have easily been left out and felt like a much more satisfying experience after grinding all your huge army up, rather than knowing that someone had skipped all that and simply bought their way into most probably a better position than you. Without these, it would have easily had a lot of better reviews and been a much more well appreciated game, it's part of what made the first game fun, the feeling that you were at the bottom and had to make your way up the ranks of orcs with no other way of simply cheating/buying your way up there. A fantastic game let down by greed..
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  22. Nov 3, 2017
    5
    Update:

    I've been playing this for about 80 hours now and im still not done.. Great right? yea i guess but something dawn on me that made me put the game down and made me stop playing. So legendary orcs, where the **** are they? I remember at the start of the game when i was in the first map, I had an orc become legendary after coming back to in my first 5 hours of the game. Then one
    Update:

    I've been playing this for about 80 hours now and im still not done.. Great right? yea i guess but something dawn on me that made me put the game down and made me stop playing. So legendary orcs, where the **** are they? I remember at the start of the game when i was in the first map, I had an orc become legendary after coming back to in my first 5 hours of the game. Then one day i came back home tired and i just wanted to get a quick kill in and I mistakenly agreed to the agreement at the start of the game which shows up every-time you boot up the game which enables the online mode and now im 80 hours in and I barely get nemesis to come back to life, and barely get legendary orcs. This is a clear indication that the ****ing loot boxes effect the balance of this game greatly. It's disgusting that it had to come to this.

    First Impression ( Will Update): First off im only maybe 4 hours into the game:

    Graphics: Look worse than the first game, textures on the orcs especially look stretched out and blurry and its especially noticeable on my 4k TV. This is probably due to the scale of the game. The open world is bigger (for no reason) so the graphics had to take a hit. It's unfortunate that dev still believe bigger maps equals better game. Talions face model looks better so does the models for the other humans.

    Gameplay: Same as the first but it doesn't feel as fluid or as responsive as the first game. The reused animation from the first game still look great but the combat doest feel like a dance like the first did. Maybe it will feel better when I unlock more skills. One skill i absolutely hate and breaks the flow the combat animation is the new Staff they force you to use. I never want to use this thing, the animation when you use it feels so clunky and unsatisfying. I hope I can turn it off later.

    Lootboxes. I did not agree to the terms in the beginning so i wont have to deal with any loot boxes or multiplayer nonsense but of course I will continue to get prompted to agree anytime I boot up the game because they really want me to use the market which I never ever will. I wont know until later in the game wether or not the loot boxes will effect the game or not so we shall see. if it does I will promptly change the score to a 0 if i feel like the game is effected. I don't mind grinding as long as its fun and progression is fair but if this starts feeling like a cell phone game im going to lose it.

    Supporting Characters: I already hate them.

    Story: Not Sure, The intro to the game did nothing for me tho. Felt poorly executed. But i will update as soon as I beat the game

    I payed $18 dollars for this game so I won't feel too bad if it disappoints me but i hope that it doesn't because Mordor is one of my favorite games of all time.
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  23. Oct 24, 2017
    5
    This game is nowhere near a 10 nor is it a 0 pretty dumb how the gaming community is fighting between these two scores. So here is a real review.

    This game is an overhaul of the first game if you liked the first game then you will LOVE this one pretty much same controls and the game is fluid at times. I thoroughly enjoy the rag doll effects that happen sometimes really releases the
    This game is nowhere near a 10 nor is it a 0 pretty dumb how the gaming community is fighting between these two scores. So here is a real review.

    This game is an overhaul of the first game if you liked the first game then you will LOVE this one pretty much same controls and the game is fluid at times. I thoroughly enjoy the rag doll effects that happen sometimes really releases the stress when fighting tons of enemies.
    The Nemesis system has been improved dramatically but the RNG of seeing descent orcs is very icky which tries to capture you into paying real money to get them quick Epic/Legendary Orcs.(I'll go more into that later.)
    They dubbed down the graphics engine but easily understandable as there are usually 15-25 orcs at a time on screen so better performance. There are some minor issues I have with some of the clunky controls like lets say I try to roll dodge away from an enemy instead I try to roll over an enemy that has vault breaker(can't roll over these orcs). Another thing is how great it is to climb just about anything now it does get lame at times cause more times than not as you chase some enemies it will cause you to climb a wall as you run through like an underpass which is ANNOYING as Im chasing an orc not trying to climb to Mt.Everest. The game seems to be crazy grindy once you hit lvl 45ish+ which is ok as the game is a lot longer than the first but the story is very short and usually only grants about 15lvls through all of them.

    Now to talk about End game and if you need super strong orcs for the last part of the game. The answer for it is no a good player can easily make a difference in how easy the game is and setting up proper equipment can help you out dramatically. Like I carry 3 different swords all aiming for a different thing. Same with Daggers and Chest piece. Also if you can get the lvl 20-30 cloak to drop that restores ALL health on stealth atk keep it forever!! As it doesn't drop at higher lvls. Now the whole idea buying orcs cause the RNG of orcs appearing in rarity is utter trash and it really kills the game for me but I managed to make common orcs work as long as they have only 2 weakness or just 1 cause it happens and they can be a great addition to the team if you don't wanna spend $$. Now spending $$ to get the high lvl orcs for ranked play is bs to heres an example. I spend 20usd and get an legendary orc army then go attack someone on Ranked play during the battle an orc you just BOUGHT dies there goes 5usd lost. They really need to fix this issue as its not ok to sell push to win buttons in a Single player game. But just about everything else this game hits silver for me. Seeing my Nemesis form the previous game was really worth it as he kicked my butt so much and my warchief that joined was AMAZING!!

    Now would I recommend buying this? Yes I would but I would stray away from Micro Transactions unless you do the daily quests and earn them that way. They really could have high 8-10 scores with this game but I feel they worked so painfully hard on the Micro Transactions they missed an amazing opportunity.
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  24. Oct 18, 2017
    6
    I'd like to start by saying that micro-transactions have almost no affect on the game. I'm one trophy away from beating the game while platinuming it on PS4 and have not spent a cent on the game. If today's gaming community is foolish enough to buy them then I can't blame the developers for putting them in. With that said, Shadow of War is one of the most frustrating experiences I've hadI'd like to start by saying that micro-transactions have almost no affect on the game. I'm one trophy away from beating the game while platinuming it on PS4 and have not spent a cent on the game. If today's gaming community is foolish enough to buy them then I can't blame the developers for putting them in. With that said, Shadow of War is one of the most frustrating experiences I've had in a while. I had such high hopes going into to it after absolutely loving the first one (getting a platinum trophy on the regular and GOTY edition). Parts of SoW are really good, almost 9/10 good, but these parts are surrounded by a couple dozen hours of what is essentially frustrating time killer missions. There are far too many collectables, far too many missions for each faction, and the end-game fortress capture is horrible. I can't believe that when this game was playtested (and it's polished enough that I know it was well playtested) no one said "doing the same type of mission four times isn't fun, how about making fewer, but more memorable missions." If you're doing Gondor missions, be prepared to untie lots of soldiers, if you're doing Carnan missions be prepared to destroy lots of necromancer totems, and so on and so on. Without spoiling why, I'll just say that the final chapter of the game requires to defend your forts over and over again, each fort multiple times. This mechanic goes from amazing to beyond annoying so quickly. I found myself tired of it before the final act. The controls still need work, and this is unacceptable. The studio straight lifted the controls from Assassins' Creed, so they really only needed to fine tune AC's wonky controls. Instead, we're still left with controls that will have you climbing up walls when you don't want to, not climbing up walls when you want to, draining an orc off screen rather than the broken captain, and more. The worst part of all this is that buried in the middle of this tedious borefest is a great game. Some really fun, memorable missions are hidden in here. The new features such as pit fights and fort attacks are really fun at first too. It's only with an insane amount of repetition that they become aggravating. If you go into this game with a completionist mentality you're going to have a bad time. If you go into it thinking you'll just hit up the main story quest then it would be a really fun game. The developers should have left it a short, fun romp leaving you wanting more instead of a long, drawn out process leaving you wishing it was over. Expand
  25. Oct 27, 2017
    5
    Just on 20 hours in and it’s the most boring, repetitive game of 2017, there’s hardly any difference to the first one. The story is c grade trash. Zzzzzzzzz.
  26. Oct 12, 2017
    7
    Shadow of War...

    Gameplay: The gameplay in Shadow of War is brilliant, I never get tired of killing orcs, Uruk's and other enemies, there are so many different combat options you can use to take down your foe. Graphics: The Graphics aren't terrible but I don't really see any improvement compared to Shadow of Mordor. Story: The story is way over the top and as much as they tried to
    Shadow of War...

    Gameplay: The gameplay in Shadow of War is brilliant, I never get tired of killing orcs, Uruk's and other enemies, there are so many different combat options you can use to take down your foe.

    Graphics: The Graphics aren't terrible but I don't really see any improvement compared to Shadow of Mordor.

    Story: The story is way over the top and as much as they tried to tie into the trilogy it just doesn't make much sense.

    Do the Microtransactions take anything away from the game? the answer is yes and no. The game overall is solid, but the microtransactions and loot-crates are in the game and are very noticeable. The biggest issue is the end game where the ending is locked behind tedious grinding defending all of your forts successfully or you can fast track that by buying legendary orcs/uruks/trolls... overall at its core it is a great game that has lost part of its soul by corporate greed.
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  27. Oct 13, 2017
    7
    People giving this a 0 because there's microtransactions. If they actually played the game they would know they are absolutely unnecessary and you don't have to buy crates to win, it's not pay to win, it's pay to get stronger.
    The story is fantastic, which is obviously expected from one of the biggest franchises in modern history. The combat is still in my opinion the best combat out
    People giving this a 0 because there's microtransactions. If they actually played the game they would know they are absolutely unnecessary and you don't have to buy crates to win, it's not pay to win, it's pay to get stronger.
    The story is fantastic, which is obviously expected from one of the biggest franchises in modern history. The combat is still in my opinion the best combat out there in gaming, very fast, very slick. The loot change was needed in my opinion from the first one. Where you just got runes to upgrade your gear, you now drop new weapons and armour, along with upgrades and runes to make them more powerful.
    The reason I gave this an 7 and not a 10 is simply because of it's price tag, yes, microtransactions and bugs. $60 for a single player game with very small multiplayer implementations, and that's only the base game. You'll need to fork out extra for expansions if you didn't buy the higher editions of the game. It's wrong to have microtransactions, but, they aren't something you need to buy to beat the game, yes you need to grind for better gear to be able to finish the game, but overall, it's something to give you a boost, nothing more. BUT, having said that, WB are a disgrace, and being a multi billion dollar publisher, it's very wrong to ask for MORE money like they are, especially when you have 3 editions of your game.
    So, to the people giving this game a 0 simply because of MT's, you're idiots who simply haven't even played the game, who're following the crowd because it's not "cool" to hate on video games without even using the brain you was given.
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  28. Nov 22, 2017
    6
    Having played and loved Shadow of Mordor, I was very disappointed in this sequel, mainly due to the campaign, which is so short and fragmented, it is practically non-existent. The game-play is fun like in the original game, and with a few new added elements, but it is not enough to make up for the lackluster narrative. Another huge flaw is the last act in the campaign, which is theHaving played and loved Shadow of Mordor, I was very disappointed in this sequel, mainly due to the campaign, which is so short and fragmented, it is practically non-existent. The game-play is fun like in the original game, and with a few new added elements, but it is not enough to make up for the lackluster narrative. Another huge flaw is the last act in the campaign, which is the grindiest portion I've played in any video game, regardless of whether or not you purchase loot boxes with real money. I didn't, and it didn't affect my experience whatsoever because you collect enough in-game currency as you play to get those loot boxes. You certainly don't need to spend real money. For those who played Shadow of Mordor; don't get Shadow of War unless you REALLY love brutally killing orcs because that's all you're getting here. It lacks the epic and fun experience and novelty of the original. For those who haven't played the original yet, just go get it and skip this one. Expand
  29. Nov 8, 2017
    7
    shadow of war loot box arrrhhh score 0-0-0-0- haha I dont play online say I can happily say I didn't encounter any of it. The game itself is more or less just as good as the last the orcs themselves dont look quite as polished but with alot more variety it doesn't really matter. the story is abit of a hit and a miss but so was the last one. Shame about the massive grind wall at the endshadow of war loot box arrrhhh score 0-0-0-0- haha I dont play online say I can happily say I didn't encounter any of it. The game itself is more or less just as good as the last the orcs themselves dont look quite as polished but with alot more variety it doesn't really matter. the story is abit of a hit and a miss but so was the last one. Shame about the massive grind wall at the end that is what made me give it a 7 and not higher. Making you either pay or grind is really a poor decision by the developers but does it make this game a zero? Nah. Expand
  30. Nov 9, 2017
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm very happy with this game except for 2 very distinct reasons:

    The Captain and War Chief endless speeches become very annoying. There needs to be a way to disable this "feature". A little bit is fine, but some of these bosses go on FOREVER.

    The second issue I have and is a huge let down for me is Act 4: Shadow Wars. It's just a series of defending your territories over and over and over again. This is just plain STUPID. If you want to play a never ending campaign of defending your castles, that's fine. Add it as an option. But to be part of the actual story line is a huge let down for an otherwise fantastic game. I feel like this was just added as filler and has no real purpose nor adds any value to the game itself. If the story is essentially ended after Act 3, then why add this? It really makes no logical sense.

    Honestly, the micro transactions really don't mean anything to me. I really don't care if it's there or not. I'm not going to spend any additional money on this game and I really don't have to pay attention to it if I want. I do spend the in game Miriin to add new Captains to my armies. But that's it.

    This game started out with a fantastic premise and has a great story line to continue the tale of Talion. But in the end I feel it falls way short of the original game Shadow of Mordor. I feel that scoring it as a 7 is a bit generous, but the overall game play is every bit as fantastic as the first game and what story there is, is also very well done. No game is perfect, but what's odd here is the game designers gave us too much of a good thing. For me the game is equal parts over the top good and over the top bad. In this case, a little bit less of both would have made a much better overall game.
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  31. Nov 19, 2017
    6
    Overall great game, but just skip act 4 and watch the 'true' ending on youtube, because it's not worth the grindfest. Acts 1-3? FANTASTIC. Act 44? I mean, if you have nothing better to play for the next four months, go for it. It's still the same keep seiges and defenses as before, but you can only do the same thing in the same 4 areas so many time before it just gets dull, and the endingOverall great game, but just skip act 4 and watch the 'true' ending on youtube, because it's not worth the grindfest. Acts 1-3? FANTASTIC. Act 44? I mean, if you have nothing better to play for the next four months, go for it. It's still the same keep seiges and defenses as before, but you can only do the same thing in the same 4 areas so many time before it just gets dull, and the ending you get from all that work is just not worth it.
    This isn't a terrible game, but Act 4 almost ruins all the awesome stuff about the rest of it. Without act 4, I'd give it a 9. With Act 4, I'd give it a 6.
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  32. 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
  33. Oct 12, 2017
    7
    It's such a good game it's such a shame they would cheapen it with micro transactions... It could be a 10/10 it nicely develops from the last game but I am almost ashamed myself for supporting such a cheap cash crab. I am glad people are taking a stand but I've now put a couple of hours in and I don't see a reason why it's needed- I would play with out them for a great game.
  34. Nov 6, 2017
    5
    Short and sweet
    -Horrible Story with characters that range from horrible to somewhat promising
    -smooth and initially enjoyable gameplay, which unfortunately personally grew dull rather fast -Microtransactions in a singeplayer game that directly relate and effect the core mechanic of the game -is a sad excuse to be part of LOTR universe (Feels like its only LOTR for brand recognition)
    Short and sweet
    -Horrible Story with characters that range from horrible to somewhat promising
    -smooth and initially enjoyable gameplay, which unfortunately personally grew dull rather fast
    -Microtransactions in a singeplayer game that directly relate and effect the core mechanic of the game
    -is a sad excuse to be part of LOTR universe (Feels like its only LOTR for brand recognition)
    +core mechanic of nemesis system is a unique and impressive feature that makes all players experience somewhat unique and personal
    -Ratbag shoulda **** died in the first one bruh, thats BS

    Anyone who disagrees with my score, either thinking it should be lower or higher probably has some valid points, respect y'alls opinions either way
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  35. Oct 16, 2017
    5
    El juego en su campaña en solitario sigue siendo tan bueno como el anterior, o aún mejor, de eso no tengo queja. Pero en cuanto al multijugador y a los micropagos y las cajitas aleatorias, creo que era algo totalmente innecesario en este tipo de juegos. Un gran trabajo dañado por la avaricia y las políticas abusivas. Sigan así Warner Entertainment que van por buen camino
  36. Nov 7, 2017
    7
    Shadow of War is filled with a lot of great moments. Sadly there aren't enough of these to make the game reach the highs of it's predecessor. I was hoping more compelling campaign this time around with interesting characters, but instead it's more of the same cliches we got the first time around. To be fair, the plot has a couple interesting twists that were good enough to motivate me toShadow of War is filled with a lot of great moments. Sadly there aren't enough of these to make the game reach the highs of it's predecessor. I was hoping more compelling campaign this time around with interesting characters, but instead it's more of the same cliches we got the first time around. To be fair, the plot has a couple interesting twists that were good enough to motivate me to complete it, but it's the orcs that make this game worth playing; nothing else really. Once you finish each NPCs arc and complete the final mission, you'll get that familiar "that's it?" feeling that commonly plagues open world games like this one.

    The game just never finds its stride. Buffing Talion to god level and manipulating the story lines and progression of your orcs is a lot of fun, but it's a shame that the game cheapens this in its final act by turning orcs into stats to be purchased instead of characters to remember. Every strength the game has is marred by a weakness.

    The combat this time around is very one-note. It's just chaos with berserkers, defenders, ologs always overwhelming you and the game devolves into spamming overpowered skills like chain consume and headshots. The first game had tighter encounters with more balance put into each one. The game ramped up its difficulty organically. Shadow or War just throws it all into the blender and makes combat feel like a mess. I think that's how I feel about it in general. It's a very tangled game that does a lot right and a lot wrong.
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  37. Mar 7, 2018
    6
    Больше - не значит лучше.

    К сожалению, именно эта мысль приходит в голову при прохождении Shadow Of War. Да, хваленная система Nemesis стала разнообразнее, количество сюжетных вставок возросло, общая режиссура слегка подняла свою плану - но стала ли игра от этого НАМНОГО качественнее? Единственное, за что хочется хвалить Тени Войны, скрыто в осаде и обороне крепостей, доступ к
    Больше - не значит лучше.

    К сожалению, именно эта мысль приходит в голову при прохождении Shadow Of War. Да, хваленная система Nemesis стала разнообразнее, количество сюжетных вставок возросло, общая режиссура слегка подняла свою плану - но стала ли игра от этого НАМНОГО качественнее?

    Единственное, за что хочется хвалить Тени Войны, скрыто в осаде и обороне крепостей, доступ к которым открывается лишь спустя 3-5 часов игры. Именно благодаря масштабу и эпичности данных сражений хочется проходить скучные сюжетные квесты. И именно этот аспект игровой механики вытягивает творение Монолитов на 6 баллов из 10.

    Если вам понравилась первая часть - можно смело продолжать рубить орков и тут, но если вы равнодушны к миру Толкина и однообразному геймплею, то следует однозначно проходить мимо очередной ААА-игры с микротранзакциями.

    P.S.
    Ах да, спустя полгода после выхода баги все также встречаются на просторах Средиземья - будьте к этому готовы.
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  38. Oct 11, 2017
    5
    Love how all the critic's that reviewed this game giving it 80+ rating, all say the same thing. Oh its a great copy of the 1st game. That's nice so they polished it, added loot boxes, expanded the nemesis system, made a lack luster story, and also locked the anticlimactic ending behind ether grinding, or buying loot boxes/ Such a shame, loot boxes in a 60 usd game is retarded, but forcingLove how all the critic's that reviewed this game giving it 80+ rating, all say the same thing. Oh its a great copy of the 1st game. That's nice so they polished it, added loot boxes, expanded the nemesis system, made a lack luster story, and also locked the anticlimactic ending behind ether grinding, or buying loot boxes/ Such a shame, loot boxes in a 60 usd game is retarded, but forcing people to do the multiplayer system whether they want to or not just to make extra money is appalling, and if a critic can give you a score of 80+ after that then shame on them as well. Expand
  39. Oct 19, 2017
    7
    All the microtransactions are LIES! you can purchase every item in the game via daily mission, and the grinding system are Middle-Earth WAY, if you don't like it just don't buy the game!
    The story are a little bit linear but its good anyway, the main reason you want to buy this game is about the gameplay not the story.
    The gameplay looks nice, but the control of the main char are not too
    All the microtransactions are LIES! you can purchase every item in the game via daily mission, and the grinding system are Middle-Earth WAY, if you don't like it just don't buy the game!
    The story are a little bit linear but its good anyway, the main reason you want to buy this game is about the gameplay not the story.
    The gameplay looks nice, but the control of the main char are not too good, i play it on my ps4 slim and the main char sometimes do something that i don't want him to do.
    Overall the game is good but need some improvement at graphic and controlling
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  40. Apr 14, 2018
    6
    Un gioco che inizialmente sembrava ottimo,ma poi la trama si è rivelata assurda,priva di senso e totalmente incoerente con l'universo di Tolkien. Aggiungo ambientazioni abbastanza scarne e una parte finale allungata sino allo schifo a dir poco orrenda
  41. Mar 27, 2018
    7
    Es un buen juego en el que las criticas están exageradas, no necesitas pagar para pasarte la historia cómodamente, y todos los orcos se pueden conseguir jugando y subiéndolos de nivel tu mismo. Me parece un buen juego que mejora a el primer shadow of mordor.

    It is a good game in which the critics are exaggerated, you do not need to pay to spend the story comfortably, and all the Orcs
    Es un buen juego en el que las criticas están exageradas, no necesitas pagar para pasarte la historia cómodamente, y todos los orcos se pueden conseguir jugando y subiéndolos de nivel tu mismo. Me parece un buen juego que mejora a el primer shadow of mordor.

    It is a good game in which the critics are exaggerated, you do not need to pay to spend the story comfortably, and all the Orcs can be achieved by playing and by uploading them level yourself. I think it's a good game that improves the first shadow of Mordor.
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  42. Aug 5, 2022
    6
    Continuing from the events of Shadow of Mordor, Talion (who is still infused with the spirit of the elf lord Celebrimbor) travel to Mount Doom to forge a new Ring of Power. The ring soon falls into the wrong hands however…

    Upon release Shadow of War, rightly, received a lot of criticism for the inclusion of loot boxes and micro-transactions that made levelling up your character to the
    Continuing from the events of Shadow of Mordor, Talion (who is still infused with the spirit of the elf lord Celebrimbor) travel to Mount Doom to forge a new Ring of Power. The ring soon falls into the wrong hands however…

    Upon release Shadow of War, rightly, received a lot of criticism for the inclusion of loot boxes and micro-transactions that made levelling up your character to the required level a grind unless you paid real money. Thankfully these have now been removed, but this game still remains a bit of a mixed bag. At the core of the game is the excellent ‘nemesis system’, that has enemies remember your actions, and both the stealth and combat are extremely satisfying. The story missions however just aren’t particularly interesting, and are usually less enjoyable than just trying to take out enemy captains. Shadow of War can also feel overwhelming at times with an almost endless list of quests and collectables being constantly thrown at the player, and as a result the game just goes on for far longer than it needs to. The end result is a decent game, but one that is inferior to it’s more focused predecessor.
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  43. Aug 7, 2019
    5
    This game is okay mechanically and visually. Combat becomes repetitive due to habitually using the same attacks and counters on basically the same enemies over and over and over and over again. All of Act II is a 15+ hour grind that barely proceeds the story and largely serves to prolong the game. Same with the entirety of Shadow Wars. In a nutshell the only meaningful gameplay to thisThis game is okay mechanically and visually. Combat becomes repetitive due to habitually using the same attacks and counters on basically the same enemies over and over and over and over again. All of Act II is a 15+ hour grind that barely proceeds the story and largely serves to prolong the game. Same with the entirety of Shadow Wars. In a nutshell the only meaningful gameplay to this game is siege conquests, something that can be done in an hour but spread over 30-40 hours. Expand
  44. Feb 9, 2018
    7
    Pros: Fun combat mechanics, moderately entertaining Nemesis system, beautiful environments and a diverse skill / inventory system.
    Cons: Nonsensical story, highly repetitive gameplay and bland characters.
    It's a decent game, but the grind at the end of the game is so annoying that I gave up and just watched the ending on youtube. If it had a cohesive story to support the grind, that
    Pros: Fun combat mechanics, moderately entertaining Nemesis system, beautiful environments and a diverse skill / inventory system.
    Cons: Nonsensical story, highly repetitive gameplay and bland characters.

    It's a decent game, but the grind at the end of the game is so annoying that I gave up and just watched the ending on youtube. If it had a cohesive story to support the grind, that would probably be more tolerable, but as it is, it's just unbearable. This game is a "wait for sale", imo (I bought this new but with deep discount).
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  45. Sep 10, 2018
    5
    Pros:

    Combat system
    Graphics

    Cons:

    Flimsy story
    Very, very repetitive. You will be doing the same thing constantly with no variety. I stopped playing after finishing the story as I couldn't face grinding the same thing over and over for the rest of it.
  46. Apr 12, 2022
    7
    I think this game is decent time killer. I just finished all the quests and that's enough about this game for me. I don't know what people are raving about microtransactions and loot boxes because I didn't put a single coin in this. If you are into Middle-Earth lore this not it. It has some resemblance but no, it isn't. Mechanics are a bit crappy and there's still some weird glitches butI think this game is decent time killer. I just finished all the quests and that's enough about this game for me. I don't know what people are raving about microtransactions and loot boxes because I didn't put a single coin in this. If you are into Middle-Earth lore this not it. It has some resemblance but no, it isn't. Mechanics are a bit crappy and there's still some weird glitches but nvm. If you get it free or cheap, play, otherwise don't. Expand
  47. Nov 9, 2018
    7
    The gameplay is still solid. The story is still secondary to the nemesis system. I really wished they built on that potential and really integrated the two. It's good, it's just more of the same.
  48. Jan 13, 2019
    5
    I bought it when then micro-transactions have been removed but honestly it's still kind of boring. There is a lot of repetition and it all feels just a bit less exciting than the first game.

    The main character. So annoying. You start the game thinking that he's all acrobatic but the more you play the more you will realised that actually he's a clumsy oaf who much prefers to continuously
    I bought it when then micro-transactions have been removed but honestly it's still kind of boring. There is a lot of repetition and it all feels just a bit less exciting than the first game.

    The main character. So annoying. You start the game thinking that he's all acrobatic but the more you play the more you will realised that actually he's a clumsy oaf who much prefers to continuously roll up against walls than climb them or stubbornly refuse to let go or not climb a wall when you want him too.

    The story. Who cares? Unless you're a direct descendant of JRR Tolkien himself or an actual elf it's not very interesting.

    Yeah, for 13 bucks its tolerable for a period but don't expect to get any long term enjoyment out of this game.
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  49. Nov 6, 2022
    5
    What to say about this game? Stressful, repetitive and frustrating. I only played this game for 6 hours until I saw that I should do unnecessary things to continue. I also played the first game on my ps3 years ago for a few hours and I had the same feelings although at that time I quitted because it used to crush all the time. I'm not giving it a 4 because graphics are decent and althoughWhat to say about this game? Stressful, repetitive and frustrating. I only played this game for 6 hours until I saw that I should do unnecessary things to continue. I also played the first game on my ps3 years ago for a few hours and I had the same feelings although at that time I quitted because it used to crush all the time. I'm not giving it a 4 because graphics are decent and although you'll only see a few secondary characters of the movies and books you can appreciate the effort to make kind of dialogues and intonation from the movies. I'd only recommend this game to those that like "changeling games" (which for more are just stressful games) and like to grind. The gameplay will remind you the latest Assassin's Creed games. Expand
  50. Sep 8, 2018
    6
    I want to start out by saying that I did not finish this game but I did play a lot of it. I just don’t have it in me to keep going. The game is split into 4 Acts and I’m still in the middle of Act 2. I really ended up getting side tracked with the Nemesis System and ended up spending too much time with that.

    The games 1st Act isn’t that great, its all a tutorial and the game really
    I want to start out by saying that I did not finish this game but I did play a lot of it. I just don’t have it in me to keep going. The game is split into 4 Acts and I’m still in the middle of Act 2. I really ended up getting side tracked with the Nemesis System and ended up spending too much time with that.

    The games 1st Act isn’t that great, its all a tutorial and the game really doesn’t begin until Act 2 where you can truly start playing the game. The goal of the game is to recruit and army of orcs and then lead that army to defeat Sauron. You can’t even start recruiting until the 2nd act so the first act is kind of pointless. Its setting up a story but its not an overly engaging story and the game would be stronger if you could skip that entire act.

    The games story and premise is not that great, the best way I can describe it is it’s kind of like bad fan fiction of Tolkien’s world. People were upset over the fact that the game took Shelob and turned her into a “sexy” woman. I didn’t care that much because the story isn’t good enough to care anyways. Not to mention, all of the story missions are not fun and poorly designed. Its definitely the worst part of the game.

    Where the game truly shines is how great of a Sandbox game it is. Its very dynamic and completely random. You can get together with 10 different people and you all would have a different story of the Orcs that you fought along the way. The fact that system just works well and nothing feels overly that scripted is great. It feels like you’re creating your own story.

    The problem that I am happening with the game is the Nemesis System is the only part of the game that I’m having any fun with. The scripted parts of the game are not fun and I’ve done everything I can with the Nemesis System and all I have left are story missions. I’m just kind of done with the game.

    I spent 25-30 hours playing around with the systems that its hit a point where I’m done with the combat as well. I think part of the problem is, in the last year and a half I have played Shadow of Mordor and all 4 Arkham Knight games. So I’m just kind of over that combat system. Not to mention, what makes the Arkham Knight games so much better is, they’re not 50 hours games. They’re 15 hour games so you don’t get sick of the combat.

    There is not much more I can say. This is a fun game that overstays its welcome. This is probably going to go down as my favorite game of the year that I didn’t finish.
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  51. Sep 29, 2021
    6
    There's something that didn't click with me. It's by no means a bad game, I just found it bland and repetitive and liked the first one way more.
  52. Jun 16, 2022
    7
    A beautifully built game an improvement on the first but maybe just a bit too long on the side. The nemesis system and the Orcs have back and better den before even the combat have gotten some tuna to make it more fun and more varied to you can have your own play style. My biggest gripe about the game is there a lot of missions in the middle of the game that you feel like you're not goingA beautifully built game an improvement on the first but maybe just a bit too long on the side. The nemesis system and the Orcs have back and better den before even the combat have gotten some tuna to make it more fun and more varied to you can have your own play style. My biggest gripe about the game is there a lot of missions in the middle of the game that you feel like you're not going anywhere it just feels like the story stops in the middle and it only really picked up in the end again.And my second nepick about the game is the climbing is awful. It really feels like not fully control where you're climbing. i absolute love how they destroy the Lord of the Rings Canon in this game is it just me but I enjoyed when cannons get f***** with. Expand
  53. Sep 2, 2020
    6
    Waited a long time to play this. They patched out some of the more egregious micro transactions and shortened the end game length. Loved the loot system and improved on most other systems form the first game. Maybe a little rushed out, a few rough edges.
  54. May 22, 2018
    5
    I have a serious problem with this one. On one hand I am a big fan of the series, but on the other hand those big lore mistakes (I could get along with those), and the horror of all gamers, the dreadfull microtransactions. MICROTRANSACTIONS IN A SINGLEPLAYER GAME.!!!

    Let's face it, this game is a 7,5-8/10. They improved basically every aspect of it: - It runs smoother, - the gampley
    I have a serious problem with this one. On one hand I am a big fan of the series, but on the other hand those big lore mistakes (I could get along with those), and the horror of all gamers, the dreadfull microtransactions. MICROTRANSACTIONS IN A SINGLEPLAYER GAME.!!!

    Let's face it, this game is a 7,5-8/10.
    They improved basically every aspect of it:
    - It runs smoother,
    - the gampley is better,
    - world bigger,
    - characters well written,
    - boss battles fun and challenging
    - nemezis system and combat improved
    - and of course the siege battles
    There is no major issue, that you can complain about, except Lord of the Rings lore. But if, you are not a hardcore fan of Tolkien's books, you will not notice them.

    And then comes ACT 4 "The Grind Chapter". Act that made everyone furious:
    - pay to win in a singleplayer game
    - boring repetetive waves just to unlock one short ending scene (scene that everyone can check on Youtube)
    - hours of grind to test the gamer, if he is willing to pay extra money to finish the game significantly faster
    - a part of the game that is so lazy in it's design, that it's an insult, not a real chapter
    - pointless act that has done much more harm than WB and Monolight expected it would.

    Because I am a big enemy of microtransactions (not only pay to win but all of them), and despite the fact that I had a lot of fun playing the game I will give it a 5/10. Unfortunately I am again dissapointed about a game that I was waiting for this year.
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  55. Jul 5, 2018
    5
    Entretiene hasta que te das cuenta que estás haciendo lo mismo en un mapa sin cohesión alguna pensado para venderte cajas de botín, prolongando el juego de manera artificial y haciéndolo tedioso. Cierto que el sistema némesis ha mejorado y el resto de elementos se han pulido, pero son demasiadas las asperazas que encuentro. No tan siquiera presenta una historia y personajes a la altura delEntretiene hasta que te das cuenta que estás haciendo lo mismo en un mapa sin cohesión alguna pensado para venderte cajas de botín, prolongando el juego de manera artificial y haciéndolo tedioso. Cierto que el sistema némesis ha mejorado y el resto de elementos se han pulido, pero son demasiadas las asperazas que encuentro. No tan siquiera presenta una historia y personajes a la altura del maravilloso universo de Tolkien. Expand
  56. Jun 2, 2020
    7
    MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR
    ....................................................................
  57. Jul 22, 2020
    7
    This was my first Middle-Earth game that i played. I didn't play Shadow of Mordor because players suggested I would be exhausted by the end of Mordor before jumping into this one and they were right because when this game ended i was just exhausted from playing it. Here are my likes and dislikes about the game:

    Likes: - I like how you can drain health from other enemies, though i wish
    This was my first Middle-Earth game that i played. I didn't play Shadow of Mordor because players suggested I would be exhausted by the end of Mordor before jumping into this one and they were right because when this game ended i was just exhausted from playing it. Here are my likes and dislikes about the game:

    Likes:
    - I like how you can drain health from other enemies, though i wish it was executed faster seeing how you will have Orcs swarming you most of the time.
    - This game puts Assassins Creed wall climbing and aerial traverse to shame.
    - The skill tree offers a lot of really cool things for you to do.
    - Fast travel, and boy was it needed.
    - The enemy counter system works really well.
    - How the game gives you a couple of chances to live when your health is depleted as long as you hit a well timed button.
    - The different environments were cool.
    - Bruz and Ratbag are hilarious as well as other Orcs I encountered.
    - Building your own Army was cool too.

    Dislikes:
    - I hated how many Orcs would swarm me every time i was either spotted or battling another Orc. Especially when reinforcements arrive because all i was trying to do was get an artifact or something but it seemed like a grind to just get that.
    - For me the story up until the ending was good. Just when i thought the story ended it in fact did not and turns out you have to do more EXTREME TEDIOUS GRINDING which i did not do because I was already in the mindset that the game was already over. So i guess everything i did in the game was kind of pointless unless i were to take over every fortress in order to get to the true ending which is not worth my time.

    Misc:
    - I was overwhelmed earlier on in the game because i had not played Mordor but slowly caught on.
    - The Orcs are super dumb.
    - The game is a grind.

    I enjoyed this game and was about to give it an 8/10, but considering all of the grinding you have to do in Shadow Wars to get to the true ending it just wasn't worth the effort or time.
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  58. May 19, 2019
    7
    I stopped playing this game back when I saw a lot of microtransactions, but once I heard they removed it I came back to it to try it out. This time it isn't as grindy as it once was and it's a better game. The game was already good but it was the major microtransaction in a single-player game is what held the game down from being a good game. I'm glad it's better now but maybe it's tooI stopped playing this game back when I saw a lot of microtransactions, but once I heard they removed it I came back to it to try it out. This time it isn't as grindy as it once was and it's a better game. The game was already good but it was the major microtransaction in a single-player game is what held the game down from being a good game. I'm glad it's better now but maybe it's too late since everyone already see this as a really bad game Expand
  59. May 5, 2020
    6
    This game is a huge stepdown from Mordor. The combat is not as fun and fluid as Shadow Of Mordor, the nemesis system is bigger, but wasnt enough to keep me entertained like Mordor did, the story is predictable and cliché,(also, Celebrimbor is terribly bad writen in this game, as well as Talion) the graphics are ok, there is something wrong with the lighting in this game, some places areThis game is a huge stepdown from Mordor. The combat is not as fun and fluid as Shadow Of Mordor, the nemesis system is bigger, but wasnt enough to keep me entertained like Mordor did, the story is predictable and cliché,(also, Celebrimbor is terribly bad writen in this game, as well as Talion) the graphics are ok, there is something wrong with the lighting in this game, some places are dark as hell, and some places are bright as hell, Shadow Of Mordor had much better graphics, character models and enviroment, Shadow Of War even removed that BEAUTIFUL rain Mordor had.
    Dont buy Shadow Of War, buy Shadow Of Mordor.
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  60. Apr 27, 2020
    5
    A general downgrade from the first apart from the graphics and enemy types.
  61. Aug 21, 2019
    5
    Where Shadow of Mordor felt like a combination of other genres, but with a new exciting system (The Nemesis System), Shadow of War seems to completely commit to what other high profile games are doing: Collectibles to fill up play time, large open worlds that are barely utilized in the story, and a lackluster poorly written story.

    To start with the story: Monolith has taken liberties
    Where Shadow of Mordor felt like a combination of other genres, but with a new exciting system (The Nemesis System), Shadow of War seems to completely commit to what other high profile games are doing: Collectibles to fill up play time, large open worlds that are barely utilized in the story, and a lackluster poorly written story.

    To start with the story: Monolith has taken liberties with the Lord of the Rings lore in the past, but this time they decided to grab it by the hair and smear its face in a pool of mud. Shelob, which is the big spider from Return of the King, is somehow a future telling swimsuit model that has the power to imprison wraiths. If that sounds completely ludicrous to you, than you are spot on mate!

    Apart from that, the story itself seems to be more of a side objective to the main goal: Recruiting, killing and making captains. Talion has become rather dumb in between the previous game and this one, and does everything your gut tells you NOT to do. Want to learn what a cliché, ridiculous and dumb character is like? Play the story of Shadow of War, because all the characters in this game fit the description.

    As for combat, the game unfortunately takes a step back to its predecessor. Where Shadow of Mordor felt hard but ultimately balanced and precise, Shadow of War is a mess. Battles with groups are now even more like mosh pits. The AI seems to completely ignore you when a captain attacks, yet their IQ will raise by 50 points the moment Talion attacks. Grunts will hit you to the point that you will get stabbed in the back all the time if your finger isn't glued to your triangle button. Also, prompts are sometimes in such ridiculous quick succession of each other that it seems to be impossible to evade, counter or survive for that matter. I can say for a fact that it wasn't like this in Shadow of Mordor, as i've played it four weeks ago before i started playing Shadow of War.

    The amount of traits that Orcs can have are greatly increased. There are more than triple the amount of traits Shadow of Mordor had, and Captains will interact with the player much more. Some will betray or ambush you, and others defy death so often that you will wonder if they aren't wraiths themselves. This is a welcome addition, but it fails to make the Orcs more interesting and less of a number. In fact, some traits are so powerful that it will lead to some very cheap deaths. The traits can be so random among captains that it hardly ever leads to a memorable orc.

    Do orcs have more distinction? No, absolutely not. In fact, every orc now looks like they gathered their weapons and armor at a Lost and Found shelter. Their is rarely a coherent theme in their outfit, nor does it suit them. I've seen orcs wearing golden elven armor (stupid), an orc dressed as a bard (totally taking a dumb on J.R.R Tolkien's lore there) and even a few as pirates... The **** Monolith.

    The size of the game is more of a flaw than anything else. Prepare to switch between the game, the map and the army screen hundreds of times as there is no quick button, and you'll constantly be wondering where you will have to go to next. Orcs are mostly far away, especially if you just met them. They will then 'magically' transport all the way to the other side of the map. Great.

    The new Conquest or Siege mode is fun, but after 2 or 3 times you will really have seen all there's to it. Above the Warchief now stands the overlord, which is the boss of a region. After storming the fort, taking checkpoints and dealing with remaining warchiefs you'll be fighting the Overlord, which is usually a high leveled bullet sponge with minions around him. And somehow you have to fight them solo, even though you brought an army with you ...

    The camera in this game is a disaster, and so is directing Talion. You see, the camera is now more zoomed in on Talion and everything North of him. I say this because, unlike the previous game, the camera will not move with your direction and will even push back against you if you try to turn it! Also, Talion doesn't do actions in the direction you point him to, but rather tries to connect with highlighted targets and ledges. This leads to 80% of your playtime feeling frustrating as Talion pretty much doesn't obey your controller. This pissed me off so much that i considered to stop playing this game.

    Unfortunately the game as a whole has been disappointing and frustrating to me, especially because i really liked Shadow of Mordor. This game is too overstuffed, too incoherent, a mess in combat and a joke to the lore of Middle Earth. It's an average game, which i can only recommend if you like to be frustrated and punished for seeking more Shadow of Mordor fun. I give it a 5/10.
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  62. Sep 11, 2019
    6
    I initially put this game down right away. It was too repetitive and the fact that I couldn't advance the game without getting stronger orcs (mostly through microtransactions) was the last straw. 2 years later, after they took the heat and removed the microtranactions, I came back. It is still a fun LOTR game, and the Nemesis system is definitely cool. But the story felt soulless and theI initially put this game down right away. It was too repetitive and the fact that I couldn't advance the game without getting stronger orcs (mostly through microtransactions) was the last straw. 2 years later, after they took the heat and removed the microtranactions, I came back. It is still a fun LOTR game, and the Nemesis system is definitely cool. But the story felt soulless and the missions were empty. Definitely not what I wanted, but as a big LOTR fan in general, I put up with it. Expand
  63. Jun 4, 2019
    7
    Disclaimer: I just played this game for the first time in mid 2019 and the loot boxes that seemed to have caused a lot of controversy have been removed.

    To sum this game up simply, it's addicting and fun to play though the story never really interested me. I am a fan of the LOTR trilogy but I am no expert by any means. I played Shadow of Mordor a few years back and never really got
    Disclaimer: I just played this game for the first time in mid 2019 and the loot boxes that seemed to have caused a lot of controversy have been removed.

    To sum this game up simply, it's addicting and fun to play though the story never really interested me.

    I am a fan of the LOTR trilogy but I am no expert by any means. I played Shadow of Mordor a few years back and never really got into it. I found this game to be more enjoyable. The combat is excellent and the nemesis system works very well. I really took my time building my army up and enjoyed the grind of capturing the different regions. The story fell flat, however. And I would say is my biggest negative.

    Overall, if you're looking for a fun game to play a good 50+ hours on, Shadow of War is a nice pick up. Just don't expect anything mind blowing.
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  64. Aug 26, 2020
    6
    В 2014 году прошел Shadow of Mordor, не ожидал такого от Monolith. Сначала прошел на Xbox 360 и это было мучение. Загрузки по 1 минуте при просмотре карты, отсутствующие текстуры, короче ужас. Но позднее перепрошёл её на Рlaystation 4 и оценил достаточно высоко.
    Продолжение ждал. И дождавшись, удивился. Игра была совершенно другой и не скажу, что мне это понравилось.
    Начну с хорошего. И
    В 2014 году прошел Shadow of Mordor, не ожидал такого от Monolith. Сначала прошел на Xbox 360 и это было мучение. Загрузки по 1 минуте при просмотре карты, отсутствующие текстуры, короче ужас. Но позднее перепрошёл её на Рlaystation 4 и оценил достаточно высоко.
    Продолжение ждал. И дождавшись, удивился. Игра была совершенно другой и не скажу, что мне это понравилось.
    Начну с хорошего. И это сюжет. Мне он, можно сказать, понравился. Повествование продолжает первую часть. Так же раскрывает судьбы Талиона и Келебримбора, героев мира оригинальной игры, хотя и не совсем героев Толкиена. Ну а финал (конечно общего с книгами не имеет), просто зашибись! Особенно меня "порадовало", что авторы включили Исилдура в число назгулов! Чего, естественно с точки зрения книги, быть не могло.
    Теперь о грустном. В игру добавили эти долбанутые захваты крепостей. Они просто разрушают целостность повествования. Сюжет вроде продвигается и тут на, захвати крепость. На хрен она мне нужна? Не важно. Но самое главное, что бы увидеть истинный конец игры, тебе нужно выполнять хренову кучу жопораздирающих заданий по защите этих самых крепостей от набегов. Полный отстой.
    Ещё из игры пропали полноценные боссы. Остался один, но этого маловато. Их заменили на хозяев крепостей, а это не одно и то же.
    Так же в игре появился этот грёбаный магазин с лутбоксами, который вообще делает всю трудовую прокачку бессмысленной. Кстати последнее задание по защите этих грёбаных крепостей вряд ли получится пройти без покупок лутбоксов (По крайней мере, будет ооочень сложно).
    Что же касается внешнего вида, то визуально я не заметил каких либо отличий от первой части.
    Играть советую только после прохождения оригинала. Будет с чем сравнить, да и история не будет казаться запутанной. При том Shadow of War полностью закрыла историю Талиона и Келебримбора, так что на продолжение вряд ли стоит рассчитывать. К тому же магазин, наконец, убрали!
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  65. Apr 16, 2020
    6
    I think the only compliments I have for this game regard the nemesis system and voice acting. I have no idea where these 10s have been coming from, but to each their own.

    Let's start here. The game handles about as well as you would driving on black ice. I can't assign a value to the number of times the character would get stuck on flat ground, ignore button presses mid-combat, attack
    I think the only compliments I have for this game regard the nemesis system and voice acting. I have no idea where these 10s have been coming from, but to each their own.

    Let's start here. The game handles about as well as you would driving on black ice. I can't assign a value to the number of times the character would get stuck on flat ground, ignore button presses mid-combat, attack the complete opposite enemy from where you had the stick pointing, and so on. The normal running speed is about on par with a 90-year-old grandmother (80 would be too fast, and I'm only half kidding, sadly).

    The graphics, while understandably depressing and muddy, are in effect not appealing to look at and it often feels difficult to make out details because, again, just about everything is faded and shades of the same color. There was also some weird blurring effect that made it difficult to see at times.

    Maybe a bigger LotR fan than I would care more about the side-quests and collectibles, but I personally found them boring and tedious to collect and complete. This may have changed if the gameplay was more engaging and, well, worked correctly more than 1/2 the time, but it does not.

    Trying to play this game feels like the few moments of fun you have here and there while taking care of household chores for a couple hours. 5.5 rounded up to a 6.
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  66. Jun 26, 2020
    7
    The game got review bombed at launch, but it isn't objectively bad, they even changed the last section of the game to be more bearable, and removed microtransactions. I still advice not playing it because it's the worst part of the game, and just watch the ending on youtube, it's not a great ending anyways.
  67. Jan 7, 2021
    5
    Shadow of War offers a bit better gameplay than the previous game, Shadow of Mordor. At the beginning, I thought that it is better than the Shadow of Mordor but at the end… it is not. Maybe it is even worse.

    Apart from smaller graphic improvements and a bit better gameplay there is not much more to see here. There is again the same setup; you are in Mordor surrounded by Orcs and 99% of
    Shadow of War offers a bit better gameplay than the previous game, Shadow of Mordor. At the beginning, I thought that it is better than the Shadow of Mordor but at the end… it is not. Maybe it is even worse.

    Apart from smaller graphic improvements and a bit better gameplay there is not much more to see here. There is again the same setup; you are in Mordor surrounded by Orcs and 99% of the time you will just fight them endlessly. Unlike the Shadow of Mordor, this game offers you three difficulty settings. One of them is an easy mode that should let you go through the battles more easily so you can have your focus on the story.

    The problem is, there is no story worth focusing on there. Just like the Shadow of Mordor, this game is a fan-fiction thing and it is on the edge of being completely stupid. It is inspired by the characters and places from Tolkien's Middle-Earth but there is nothing special about it. I do believe, whithout spoiling anything, that the fans of Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings will be completely disappointed after experiencing this "story". People who enjoy endless battles and spend days conquering forts and such things will naturally enjoy this game because it does have a good and challenging gameplay. Some others, like me, will be bored after twenty hours of that kind of gameplay, which at the end is based on going here and killing 30 Orcs and then going there and killing 20 Orcs.
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  68. Jul 21, 2020
    7
    Loved the actual gameplay but I can't give this a high score because it was ruined by greedy people.
  69. Feb 22, 2021
    6
    It was nice, simple game with same nice points in the plot. But to be honest its only a slasher. We can slay a lot of orcs and thats all. Its good that we have a few iconic bosses from movies. And finale is realny good!
  70. Nov 13, 2020
    6
    Its a great game but too much grind. Could have been a much better game if they didnt try to force in microtransactions
  71. Aug 13, 2020
    7
    The game is actually good, it has all features from the first part, adding new ones, and story is good, ending cutscene is totally worth playing it. But. The controls are horrible. It's like you play a dinosaur, or Homer Simpson. Talion is slow as turtle, it takes about second for him to implement your commands. Literally, a second. My favorite feature, is when you're running from orcs,The game is actually good, it has all features from the first part, adding new ones, and story is good, ending cutscene is totally worth playing it. But. The controls are horrible. It's like you play a dinosaur, or Homer Simpson. Talion is slow as turtle, it takes about second for him to implement your commands. Literally, a second. My favorite feature, is when you're running from orcs, then try to open a menu with the options button, and by the time the menu actually opens, Orcs got you and kick you. Never seen this. And grinding is in place... When you finish the game, you actually think, that you've been on the war, and you'll never want to return to this place again. Expand
  72. Sep 25, 2020
    5
    I kinda enjoyed it but I don't really like the combat style and after I finished it I had no urge of repeating it again.
  73. Jan 29, 2021
    6
    After completing game on 100 % i was little disappointed, Shadow of mordor was far better i was expecting some puzzles in this game. Story was quite good in my opinion.
  74. Mar 21, 2021
    7
    Although the story is pretty weird, the combat system and graphics still worth noticing.
  75. Aug 16, 2022
    5
    This game is okay. Weird controls. Cool combat, it does not care about balance, it gives you a fair amount of tools to play and do whatever you want in its world. The nemesis system is awesome, it works perfectly well. The problem with the game is its pacing. Quests appears to you in a weird way, most of them are bad and the game relies on grinding to extend its length.
  76. Jan 30, 2023
    6
    I think middle earth shadow of war is an allright game. It can keep you entertained for a few hours but if you have already played shadow of mordor i don't see much of a reason to buy this game. The combat system, the nemisis system and the parkour is the exact same as shadow of mordor even the story is in a lot of ways the same as shadow of mordor. i think monolith should have triedI think middle earth shadow of war is an allright game. It can keep you entertained for a few hours but if you have already played shadow of mordor i don't see much of a reason to buy this game. The combat system, the nemisis system and the parkour is the exact same as shadow of mordor even the story is in a lot of ways the same as shadow of mordor. i think monolith should have tried something a little more new stuff rather than copying the old game. Expand
  77. Jul 5, 2023
    5
    The plot is terrible. It is not clear how, where, when, actions take place. All that's good about this game is the combat, and the fortress conquest system is really interesting. Warner Bros, as always, will make some incomprehensible donation system. It's generally annoying when you can donate in a Single Player game. What is this nonsense. Pay £60 to spend money on loot boxesThe plot is terrible. It is not clear how, where, when, actions take place. All that's good about this game is the combat, and the fortress conquest system is really interesting. Warner Bros, as always, will make some incomprehensible donation system. It's generally annoying when you can donate in a Single Player game. What is this nonsense. Pay £60 to spend money on loot boxes later. And in the last act, knocking out the legendary orcs. Yes, I understand that you can complete the game without a donation, but grindy is 20+ hours, for loot boxes. Perfect! Maybe the combat is good, although varied, although the conquest system is cool. But loot boxes are something. Expand
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 69 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 69
  2. Negative: 0 out of 69
  1. CD-Action
    Dec 19, 2017
    80
    I was annoyed by various flaws (both technical and design-related) and tedious, dragged out final stages of the campaign, but overall I enjoyed the ride. It looks like the developers wanted to stuff the game with all the best elements Middle-earth has to offer. Shadow of War’s atmosphere is terrific and watching Talion rise in power is surprisingly addictive. [12/2017, p.62]
  2. Nov 26, 2017
    70
    A handful of issues, some much more annoying than others, do not negate how solid of an action RPG Middle-earth: Shadow of War is. A tremendous achievement for the team at Monolith Productions, this is an exciting, if not sometimes slow, and too often unfair, title that manages to be as impressively fun as it is big.
  3. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Nov 20, 2017
    60
    Big, brutal, and - alas - bloated, Shadow of War is a disappointing follow-up, conjuring battles of grand scale and then deadening their impact through grinding repetition. [December 2017, p.79]