User Score
4.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 456 Ratings

User score distribution:
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  1. Sep 7, 2018
    4
    Disappointment. The graphics aren't really an improvement over the first one, even the One X version is underwhelming. The story/gameplay wouldn't be all bad, but the endgame is what really makes me cry. At least the previous one had a decent ending!
  2. Mar 30, 2020
    4
    Thanks to the all people who wrote that there were microtransactions in this game.It saved a lot of my time, and I ended up throwing it in my trash can.
  3. Oct 17, 2022
    4
    i played Shadow of Mordor, so i thought this would be like that. Unfortunately, even after they scrapped the real money lootboxes, this game is a frustrating mess. The graphics look worse, the sound is bad, skills are underpowered and the difficulty is all over the place. The whole game screams MMO, the whole game revolves around sieges, either by assaulting fortresses or defending them,i played Shadow of Mordor, so i thought this would be like that. Unfortunately, even after they scrapped the real money lootboxes, this game is a frustrating mess. The graphics look worse, the sound is bad, skills are underpowered and the difficulty is all over the place. The whole game screams MMO, the whole game revolves around sieges, either by assaulting fortresses or defending them, so you need to get the best legendary captains for that. This means grinding out the nemesis system through dieing and pit fighting your dominated captains. The missions range from laughable to insane to laughable within the first 20 or so hours. The game likes to throw dozens of enemies at you, when you are confronted with captains. This was fun in the beginning, but when you need to watch when to press A, B or Y, it becomes one big cluster f#$%. Apart from that the story is non existent. It's like everything is compartmentalized like gondor missions, balrog missions, siege missions, outpost raids, she elf missions, elf challenges, artifacts. In the end you're just trying to improve your defenses for your fortresses to survive another attack on you. So unless you want a real challenge, this game is not for everyone. The game feels like work, a lot, and not the nice and easy kind. Expand
  4. Nov 12, 2021
    4
    This game is the best bad game I've ever played. The story is boring, the ai is dumber than my goldfish, the combat is way too easy unless there are two or more orc captains, and worst of all, you can't even go 20 minutes without finding minor or major bugs. One time all the enemies in the map despawned and I was just walking around a huge empty map. I saw Orcs spawning before my eyes, IThis game is the best bad game I've ever played. The story is boring, the ai is dumber than my goldfish, the combat is way too easy unless there are two or more orc captains, and worst of all, you can't even go 20 minutes without finding minor or major bugs. One time all the enemies in the map despawned and I was just walking around a huge empty map. I saw Orcs spawning before my eyes, I saw like 50 enemies phase into walls, one time the enemy walked through a house to get to me. You can just crouch walk directly in front of enemies and they won't spot you, I literally sprinted into an Orc once and them killed him and it counted as stealth. With all that being said, I had a blast **** with the **** ai and laughing at the absurd and constant glitches. This game is the only game I've played that I think is truly so bad it's good. I would just straight up give this game a ten but I don't want to skew the user score and make people think this is an actually good game. Expand
  5. Nov 22, 2017
    3
    Initially a good game, but it turns repetitive and grindy as you get to the end. Endless fortress sieges all identical and with boring mechanics. and if you lose a battle you doubles your grind. Never touching this game again
  6. Oct 12, 2017
    2
    Haven't even played it but you know what? You can't forgive the level of greedy micro transactions like this in a single player game...

    Don't take this review seriously in the sense that I haven't played the game and hardly did any research... But I know for a fact that the micro transactions in this game are on a level of butt ****ery that's beyond any form of mercy. So **** this game!
    Haven't even played it but you know what? You can't forgive the level of greedy micro transactions like this in a single player game...

    Don't take this review seriously in the sense that I haven't played the game and hardly did any research... But I know for a fact that the micro transactions in this game are on a level of butt ****ery that's beyond any form of mercy. So **** this game! I guess I could give it a 5 or a 4 or a 0 or whatever... Who cares? It's a bad game...
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  7. Jun 4, 2018
    2
    I loved Shadow of Mordor but was bummed when it ended so soon. Shadow of War has lots of battle practice where you slowly gain levels doing the "Online Vendetta" however as you advance many battles are completely skewed towards the game with characters with unrealistic abilities or who simply can not be killed because of special powers. Also you're not able to go past level 60 but yet I'mI loved Shadow of Mordor but was bummed when it ended so soon. Shadow of War has lots of battle practice where you slowly gain levels doing the "Online Vendetta" however as you advance many battles are completely skewed towards the game with characters with unrealistic abilities or who simply can not be killed because of special powers. Also you're not able to go past level 60 but yet I'm constantly fighting level 62, 63, 64 and 65 fighters... how is this so? Is the game openly cheating to try to get the upper hand to just beat you now and then?? Also the 4th castle you take over from Sauron is a level 70 castle.. level 70? How can this be when my max level is 60? At first I did not understand the game and it was very difficult but I have come to understand it better but there's always those little cheating moments the game likes to throw in to piss me off. There are many levels and training to be done first to you, then your army before attacking other users castles which is the fun part until you face a captain that all the Avengers themselves together couldn't kill. . Expand
  8. Nov 23, 2017
    1
    I'm not going to complain about the micro-transaction, that's just how things are now. This game was my biggest disappointment in recent times. It failed to fix the problems of the first game, Talion still cannot target an enemy (you hit what you intend to 60% of the time) and he climbs things wildly, even if you do not intend for him to. The bodyguard is a great feature except that heI'm not going to complain about the micro-transaction, that's just how things are now. This game was my biggest disappointment in recent times. It failed to fix the problems of the first game, Talion still cannot target an enemy (you hit what you intend to 60% of the time) and he climbs things wildly, even if you do not intend for him to. The bodyguard is a great feature except that he will assuredly betray you. The betrayal mechanic creates a lair of anxiety, and of divestment as it devalues any investment you put into collecting and improving your orcs. Once an orc betrays you it gets this Iron Will trait which you must clear to recoup your loss. Once you've cleared it your orc goes insane and looses his personality. The process requires you to delevel your orc which undoes what you may spend most of your time doing. Find a cool singing orc? Spend hours leveling him? He'll just betray you. You'll have to fight a bunch of Ring Wraiths which is the most annoying part of the game. These fights mostly consist of repetitive dodges and swinging for very little damage. You have to do it a lot, and it is redundant. The end game is mostly just managing being betrayed. There isn't really any reason to do anything in this game. Expand
  9. Oct 10, 2017
    1
    Great fun can be had in Shadow of War. The gameplay feels good, and for the most part improved upon. The Nemesis system has been fine tuned to almost the point of perfection. The developers at monolith really out did themselves this time around. Before I got to the end of the game this game was a 9/10 for me. I then confirmed what my friends have been trying to tell me about the trueGreat fun can be had in Shadow of War. The gameplay feels good, and for the most part improved upon. The Nemesis system has been fine tuned to almost the point of perfection. The developers at monolith really out did themselves this time around. Before I got to the end of the game this game was a 9/10 for me. I then confirmed what my friends have been trying to tell me about the true ending being locked behind a pay wall or astronomically large grind loop. I can either spend a "Destiny" amount of hours grinding for Legendary Orcs, or spend an abundance of cash getting legendary orcs through loot boxes, because Legendary Orcs are the only type of Orcs that will even give you a fighting chance at the end game battles. Seriously. The end game battles CAN NOT be won with Orcs lower than Legendary status. I refuse to spend money on that **** and I desperately BEG players to not buy them either. PLEASE!!! This CAN NOT be the future of gaming! Expand
  10. Oct 18, 2017
    1
    there is a thing unnecessary the loot box!!! because of this the low score.
    the game have good graphics, but the need to buy with real money make the game bad
  11. Jun 26, 2019
    1
    If I had read the reviews I would not have purchased this game. No wonder it was $9 at Gamestop unopened in the original case and plastic. It's going right back for a trade. Countless orcs that never stop spawning. Endless orc promotions once they kill you (and they will)
  12. Oct 10, 2017
    0
    Microtransactions, especially in a SP game, are a plague on the gaming industry. Don't support a game like this, just watch a stream if u wanna see the game.
  13. Oct 21, 2017
    0
    AVOID THIS GAME LIKE THE PLAGUE!
    DLC...Microtransactions bullcrap all over the place...And if you support this you are making the gamimg industry worse and worse!
  14. Oct 12, 2017
    0
    Greed is ruining gaming!
    ignore it & enjoy today @ expense of tomorrow..
    Did you see/hear bout new SW Battlefront?
    greed is out of control....
    All these companies know 100% we are upset- they don't care because that 1 kid outta 100 will justify their spreadsheets.....save us ****
  15. Nov 2, 2017
    0
    Yay, lootboxes!

    You are paying for those extra profits with user ratings. I think you will find that in the long run, it's not worth it. Just ask Ubisoft.
  16. Oct 11, 2017
    0
    Game ruined by microtransactions. This game is getting good scores from the legacy gaming media because they never have and never will look out for the consumer. If a publisher wants to ruin their game by putting gambling via microtransactions in at the cost of quality then they must accept the poor review scores from the consumer.
  17. Oct 24, 2020
    0
    I left a 4 on here because I hit level 62 and all I kept experiencing were spiders on online forts. Well thank COVID for keeping me bored enough to get to level 80. I've been focusing on the single player conquests and an issue I've frequently crossed was the game never loading after a victory. Like it's just showing the loading icon and that's it. For 15 minutes before I restarted.I left a 4 on here because I hit level 62 and all I kept experiencing were spiders on online forts. Well thank COVID for keeping me bored enough to get to level 80. I've been focusing on the single player conquests and an issue I've frequently crossed was the game never loading after a victory. Like it's just showing the loading icon and that's it. For 15 minutes before I restarted. Seriously though last straw was a 40 min siege that saw me running back and forth reviving my allies. I lost one unfortunately but I kept it going, this was level 700 siege. Well come the end, guess what happened. It just kept showing the loading icon after I killed all warchiefs. And guess what happened when I restarted. The guy I lost was alive and I had no rewards. 40 min wasted. F this game Expand
  18. Nov 22, 2017
    0
    Despite all the microtransaction stuff I still think the game itself is OK. The gameplay itself is definitely entertaining and playing with orcs is fun but still no excuse for the overall lackluster open world. Side quests have next to none actual connection to the story and just feel repetitive. The main quest line is interesting but could be improved a fair bit as well.

    As I didn't
    Despite all the microtransaction stuff I still think the game itself is OK. The gameplay itself is definitely entertaining and playing with orcs is fun but still no excuse for the overall lackluster open world. Side quests have next to none actual connection to the story and just feel repetitive. The main quest line is interesting but could be improved a fair bit as well.

    As I didn't finish the game yet I can't say anything about the expected grind at the end but will update when it's necessary.

    Overall it is a good game with a poor open world, so I'd say wait for a sale since if you're not totally into the nemesis system, there are similar games with a more organic and better overall feeling.
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  19. Nov 23, 2017
    0
    ok where to start... there is a lot of problem here
    1.Clumsy/unresponsive control, in a stealth/assassination game like that control is REALLY important and VERY often in this game it feels like you are trying to do something specific and the game just dont understand what you are trying to do.
    2.it feels like the nemesis system is force down your throat, sometimes you just KNOW that the
    ok where to start... there is a lot of problem here
    1.Clumsy/unresponsive control, in a stealth/assassination game like that control is REALLY important and VERY often in this game it feels like you are trying to do something specific and the game just dont understand what you are trying to do.
    2.it feels like the nemesis system is force down your throat, sometimes you just KNOW that the game wanted you to die right there
    3.in the previous game the number of enemies were fix, but in this one they keep spawning all the time, so you cant ''plan'' and execute like before, overlord mission feel cheesy asf.
    4. the dmg you inflict is just to low compare to the dmg you take ex: a little grunt will take 25% of your HP per attack, the counter window is really smaller compare to the previous game, a captain CAN 1shoot you, when you are in these big fit, there is basically nothing you can do except run and even that dont usually work, feels unfair
    5.flying mechanic... my man... painful
    6.mission seems harder the first time you do it, it feel like they want to force death upon you
    7. fighting wraith is disgusting, counter window to small, they attack off screen you barely see it and so punishing and if you fight them while fighting other orc, i was dying inside
    8.i was chasing this legendary orc that was godlike and when i finally dominated him he lost some of his attribute....? wtf is going
    9.at some point i sent my epic orc on a mission, give him 2 reinforcement and for some reason my epic orc did some dmg (i think) to the 2 others and they started attacking him and they killed him ...?! this happened to me twice.... wtf AI
    10. the AI .... is really bad....
    last but not least micro transaction , i dont think it has his place in a full priced game but it wasnt intrusive but then again i cant stop thinking about how this game could have been without it

    so this game is ''good'' sometimes but the frustration you get from playing it just destroy those little moment of happiness, the only thing this game gave me, its a bad after taste in the mouth, feels bad man
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  20. Oct 10, 2017
    0
    DO NOT BUY. Nothing but a long boring grind unless you pay real money for loot boxes to get ahead. pass. Loot boxes have no place in a $60 game. Loots boxes are nothing but greedy and predatory. They are gambling, and they take advantage of people that they know will get addicted to this.
  21. Oct 11, 2017
    0
    Obligatory 0 for this nonsense. Still though I enjoyed the first enough that I bought SoM second hand from someone on Ebay, not giving my money to WB. Looking at SWBF2 it looks to be even worse in that game. Probably have to buy that 2nd hand as well (Soon as EA announced no season pass I knew there was going to be a massive catch).

    IGN giving this a 9 should be just another piece
    Obligatory 0 for this nonsense. Still though I enjoyed the first enough that I bought SoM second hand from someone on Ebay, not giving my money to WB. Looking at SWBF2 it looks to be even worse in that game. Probably have to buy that 2nd hand as well (Soon as EA announced no season pass I knew there was going to be a massive catch).

    IGN giving this a 9 should be just another piece of evidence how corrupt gaming journalism is. They listed quite a few problems with the game too, yet give it a 9.
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  22. Nov 14, 2017
    0
    To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations, To many microtransacations
  23. Oct 11, 2017
    0
    Eu sou de uma época onde se comprava o jogo e vinha completo, sem a necessidade de nada adicional. O tempo passou, e evoluímos. Agora é possível prolongar a história daquele jogo que você não quer que acabe nunca, um exemplo clássico é o GTA V, The Witcher 3 entre outros. Mas no meio disto tem empresas que só quer ganhar dinheiro e lança um DLC qualquer e já era. Mas neste ponto é possívelEu sou de uma época onde se comprava o jogo e vinha completo, sem a necessidade de nada adicional. O tempo passou, e evoluímos. Agora é possível prolongar a história daquele jogo que você não quer que acabe nunca, um exemplo clássico é o GTA V, The Witcher 3 entre outros. Mas no meio disto tem empresas que só quer ganhar dinheiro e lança um DLC qualquer e já era. Mas neste ponto é possível ignorar o DLC e pronto.

    Mas as empresas vendo isto não pararam por ai, criaram o Loot Box, caixas para adiantar sua vida no game. Mas hoje em dia está sendo usado de forma demasiada. Não vou citar os jogos...mas vamos falar deste que pra mim é um absurdo.

    Colocaram este sistema dentro da campanha do jogo. Chega um ponto na história, que você não consegue ir pra frente e o que dá a entender é que você precisa comprar estas malditas caixas. Pra que isto? Sabe o jogo é bom, mas este sistema de loot box mal utilizado acaba com a experiencia no game.

    Por este motivo esta nota. Se tem uma coisa que está irritando esta geração são estas malditas caixas !

    Tirando isto o jogo é nota 8 até onde joguei.
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  24. Dec 6, 2017
    0
    First off no I don't care about micro transactions and yes I think this is a fun game.
    This game is not unlike the first one. It has fun stealth mechanics, somewhat repetitive gameplay, hilarious orcs that really bring life to themselves (you actually want some over other just because of what they say/do), and an interesting story even if it is a bit of a stretch to call it all cannon.
    First off no I don't care about micro transactions and yes I think this is a fun game.
    This game is not unlike the first one. It has fun stealth mechanics, somewhat repetitive gameplay, hilarious orcs that really bring life to themselves (you actually want some over other just because of what they say/do), and an interesting story even if it is a bit of a stretch to call it all cannon. To top it all off the siege battle are awesome, it feels like you are in the massive battles from the movies.
    So why the negative review? Because after 30+ hours in I missed a cutscene mid game and tried to back to my Xbox home screen to restart that part of the game and watch the cut scene. When I returned to the game all data was gone, my entire save erased magically. This is beyond game breaking and when I went to customer service their idea was to turn it off and on again. This is not something that should be in a game of this caliber. Save your money and spend it on a company who can finish their games
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  25. Nov 17, 2019
    0
    Le précédent épisode au Mordor était souvent pénible et perclus de sa jouabilité bancale et foireuse... on pouvait sans doute bien naïvement espérer quelques améliorations à cet égard avec l'Ombre de la Guerre mais en vérité... c'est pire !

    Toujours les mêmes défauts, toujours ce système de combat à la Batmou mal fait qui incite au bourrinage et qui se déroule dans la confusion la plus
    Le précédent épisode au Mordor était souvent pénible et perclus de sa jouabilité bancale et foireuse... on pouvait sans doute bien naïvement espérer quelques améliorations à cet égard avec l'Ombre de la Guerre mais en vérité... c'est pire !

    Toujours les mêmes défauts, toujours ce système de combat à la Batmou mal fait qui incite au bourrinage et qui se déroule dans la confusion la plus totale et toujours cette maniabilité désastreuse (tu vas grimper ce mur, putain d'abruti ou quoi ?!) ; toujours également un nombre d'ennemis hallucinant qui vous encerclent et qui reviennent sans cesse, générés par le jeu à l'infini : toujours des boss qui vous tombent dessus à bras raccourci sans qu'on ait rien demandé, qui vous empoisonnent la vie (littéralement...).

    Le passage dans l'arène en est un exemple crispant à mort : tant que le boss suivant (et le suivant) n'est pas clamsé, une horde vous les casse sévèrement dans le même temps et peu importe de les buter, le jeu vous en envoit encore et encore, des brouettes entières... on pourrait y passer des heures et des jours, on se croirait dans un mmo (de merde -pléonasme) qui vous fait bouffer de l'agro comme un joueur coréen en overdose de niveaux.

    Les capacités ou les coups spéciaux, on ne sait jamais quand on peut les utiliser, on dirait que c'est au petit bonheur la chance et la "rage elfique" lorsqu'elle fonctionne est si mal foutue et navrante qu'on a toujours l'impression de se battre avec un coupe-papier. De toute façon, le jeu n'est par ailleurs qu'un collectathon de merdes à ramasser, à faire mourir de honte les pires mondes ouverts de chez Ubisoft : quitte à copier, Messieurs de chez Monolith, ne copiez pas les conneries des concurrents !

    Le seul point amélioré concerne les graphismes, certes très jolis mais on s'en cogne carrément lorsque tout le reste n'est qu'un farmage forcé pour débloquer plus de compétences et que la jouabilité demeure aussi lamentable : la furtivité est encore trop accessoire ici et toujours perfectible. De toute manière, le jeu impose ses combats de merde à sa guise, pas à la vôtre.

    Bref, ça m'a soûlé comme c'est pas permis ce fatras et ce foutoir, alors vous pouvez bien aller vous faire foutre, Messieurs de chez Monolith, vous et vos sales jeux de merde !
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  26. Oct 10, 2017
    0
    SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
    I don’t write reviews. A lot of people do that for living and passion. I am more of a introvert.
    I always took refugee in games. I found acceptance and friends there. It allowed me to feel able and free, unlike in real world. Once you are in the game you are not ugly, stupid or poor, or pretty, smart and rich. We are all adventurers. We are all EQUAL. We are
    SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
    I don’t write reviews. A lot of people do that for living and passion. I am more of a introvert.
    I always took refugee in games. I found acceptance and friends there. It allowed me to feel able and free, unlike in real world. Once you are in the game you are not ugly, stupid or poor, or pretty, smart and rich. We are all adventurers. We are all EQUAL. We are all what we want to be, commit our time and effort to excel in what we believe in. We had to earn everything with our bare mouse and keyboard and gamepad.
    Microtransactions is killing the heart and soul of gaming.
    Wanna be more powerful? Pay up!
    Wanna look cool? Pay up!
    Don’t worry we made your beloved game a piece of grindy mobile dumpster.
    And Publishers say it is for your own freedom of choice.
    A testament to greed and falsehood.
    SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
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  27. Oct 12, 2017
    0
    Advertised as a sandbox game with where you hunt orcs using stealth and fantastic looking combat.

    Its just slots. You put in money and you just look at orcs and other supposed gear.
  28. Oct 13, 2017
    0
    Han malogrado una buena historia. Las empresas desarrolladoras como Monolith Productions le han agregado micro transanciones para poder avanzar en el juego. Sin embargo, se olvidan o no lo han pensado, el consumidor es el que tiene la última palabra sobre el producto que está en el mercado. Los que estudian administración o marketing saben que el consumidor o cliente está más empoderadoHan malogrado una buena historia. Las empresas desarrolladoras como Monolith Productions le han agregado micro transanciones para poder avanzar en el juego. Sin embargo, se olvidan o no lo han pensado, el consumidor es el que tiene la última palabra sobre el producto que está en el mercado. Los que estudian administración o marketing saben que el consumidor o cliente está más empoderado gracias a las redes sociales o páginas como esta. Las grandes empresas a pesar de ser multinacionales no pueden hacer lo que se les da la gana como hasta hace una década. El consumidor debe hacer valer lo que piensa. El juego cuesta 60 dólares o euros con los micropagos el usuario pagaría mucho más por un producto incompleto. Haz valer tus derechos como consumidor. Las empresas de videojuegos que hacen esto te ven como un tonto que pagará lo que sea.

    In English:
    They have failed a good story. Developing companies like Monolith Productions have added micro-transactions to help them advance in the game. However, they forget or have not thought about it, the consumer is the one who has the last word about the product that is on the market. Those who study administration or marketing know that the consumer or client is more empowered thanks to social networks or pages like this. Large companies, despite being multinationals, can not do what they feel like until a decade ago. The consumer must assert what he thinks. The game costs 60 dollars or euros with the micropayments the user would pay much more for an incomplete product. Claim your rights as a consumer. The video game companies that do this look like a fool who will pay for anything.
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  29. Oct 10, 2017
    0
    Loot boxes hid the game's true ending behind a gambling paywall.
    This is disgusting ina full priced game, let alone a single player game.

    Play the 1st one instead!
  30. Oct 10, 2017
    0
    I miss the days of cheat codes being a string of random buttons. Now you have to pay for cheat codes. Microtransactions do not belong in this game... i love how the critic reviews dont care though.. wouldnt want to upset the gaming industry and give an honest review.
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 38
  2. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Nov 29, 2017
    88
    Perhaps you might slap your forehead in dismay by the goofy plot or looseness to the source material but what's undeniable is, that Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a lot of fun.
  2. Nov 13, 2017
    60
    Middle-earth: Shadow of War has high production values and is a fun open-world slashathon, but it's stretched thin. The storyline starts off promising, but all of the interesting characters get pushed aside to make room for nothing of consequence. Hours upon hours are lost to the abyss as players engage in a relentless cycle of gear upgrades and Orc recruits. Assaulting fortresses and conquering territory loses its appeal a bit too quickly. The game is pretty entertaining in short bursts, especially when Talion can make full use of his powerful abilities. Still, the lack of finesse when it comes to combat will make fighting feel a bit bothersome. The Ranger is at his best when he's eliminating the opposition with surgical precision, or making use of hazards in the environment. All in all, this title is worth a look; just don't expect to grow too attached to it.
  3. games(TM)
    Nov 3, 2017
    70
    While it's huge and complex in many of its systems, it still feels as if it is caught in 2014. [Issue#194, p.68]