Middle-earth: Shadow of War

 Xbox One
User Score
4.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 456 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 196 out of 456
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 456
  3. Negative: 212 out of 456
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  1. MrTusks
    Jan 18, 2021
    5
    Lots of tedious pickups. Microtransactions are gone but the game still feels balanced around them. The nemesis system is still cool, except that 50% of your nemeses come back from the dead and ambush you, usually when you're in the middle of fighting someone else. There is so much going on that it feels bloated to increase play time. Scouring the map in Shadow of Mordor was fun--somehowLots of tedious pickups. Microtransactions are gone but the game still feels balanced around them. The nemesis system is still cool, except that 50% of your nemeses come back from the dead and ambush you, usually when you're in the middle of fighting someone else. There is so much going on that it feels bloated to increase play time. Scouring the map in Shadow of Mordor was fun--somehow this feels like work.… Expand
  2. Japandabear
    Oct 19, 2017
    5
    Was going to give this a 7 when I thought I was almost done, but after what I thought was the ending wasn't and they make you grind out the army mini game for the rest of the game i decided to knock 2 more points off for forcing me to play a broken mini game. First off to get your army leveled you need to go to the fight pits, which in theory are pretty cool and fun but are actuallyWas going to give this a 7 when I thought I was almost done, but after what I thought was the ending wasn't and they make you grind out the army mini game for the rest of the game i decided to knock 2 more points off for forcing me to play a broken mini game. First off to get your army leveled you need to go to the fight pits, which in theory are pretty cool and fun but are actually horribly designed. A lot of times your orc will just stand there while the enemy hits them until they die, other times they'll just run after minions while the captain kills them. After this you Have to defend your fort which isn't too bad (IF you fully upgraded your fort and have high leveled orcs) now multiply this process by 4 or 5 times just to get to the end of the game.

    Aside from that combat seems to be really poorly done, it's fine 1v1 (which never happens) or even 1v5 but most of the time you're fighting 1v20+ and a captain, and then you get ambushed by another captain at the same time, which is be fine if the game didn't actively try to sabotage you; if you need to dominate an enemy quickly, the button will just not work and after pushing it the 3rd time it'll work but you'll be hit by another enemy before you get it off. Trying to dodge? You'll be forced to dodge over an adapted captain who will just throw you to the ground even though you are dodging the opposite direction. Need to counter an enemy? The game will flash the button prompt before you can push it. You actually saw it and pushed the button in time? The game won't register it and you'll still get hit. Successfully countered multiple times? The game will slowly force your camera into a bad angle making extremely hard to continue countering (ie looking up at the sky instead eye level). Now to top it all off every time you fight a captain he has to introduce himself (sometimes twice) and then again when he's fleeing, this would be fine but they make it unskippable and force pause the game canceling any action. A lot of times this will be an ambush causing the captain you're currently fighting to one shot you (I was playing on Nemesis difficulty till the end of Act 3 easier difficulties won't be as bad) once they finish their intro. The intros are kind of cool the first few times you see them, but after a while they become insanely repetitive, especially when your rival is an orc that just literally screams at you and you have to listen to it every time you see him. To top this all off they through in loot boxes in a single player game (with minor online elements).

    If you're gonna play, start it on casual and just power through it as quickly as possible, anything harder and you'll just want to gouge your eyes out.    … Expand
  3. SuperkenGaming
    Oct 27, 2017
    7
    Middle Earth Shadow of War
    Lacking Soul
    I’m about to break most of your hearts, I didn’t like shadow of war as much as every other reviewer… As to me this game feels like a soulless cash grab Shadow of War is the sequel to the much better middle earth shadow of Mordor.. You once again play as Talion who sets out to bring balance to middle earth... As a less personal story compared to    Middle Earth Shadow of War
    Lacking Soul
    I’m about to break most of your hearts, I didn’t like shadow of war as much as every other reviewer…
    As to me this game feels like a soulless cash grab
    Shadow of War is the sequel to the much better middle earth shadow of Mordor..
    You once again play as Talion who sets out to bring balance to middle earth...
    As a less personal story compared to the first... the game struggled to keep my attention with its story or world…
    Basically Shadow of War feels like more of the same with none of the heart…
    It’s a cash grab riding off of the success of the original…
    The world is much larger this time, but bigger isn’t always better as every area in this game feels generic and unmemorable…
    Back are the assassins creed like syncing point that lets you scout out this games collectables to unlock new moves in the skill tree…
    Skill wise there isn’t anything special…
    You’ll easily have every skill unlocked by time you reach the end of act 3 which takes around 19 hours.. and is the base of this games story…
    skills for the most part unlock moves you had in the first game though they have 1 of 3 modifiers that take away their annoyances from the first game like allowing celebrimbor to counter attacks while you’re doing a ground finish or add an elemental effect to a special attack like poison or fire for example…
    There’s also a really cool weapon and rune system here where you can craft runes to give you boosts like xp or life drain.. and each rare, epic, and legendary weapon or clothing item has a challenge attached to them that will unlock a perk… giving a little personality to each
    These items of course picked up off of orcs with the same rarity
    Getting rid of the annoyances is the best shadow of war does, you’re now able to run extremely fast taking away the annoying fleeing enemy moments and there’s a cool double jump added to the parquor making you feel like you’re a super hero running through the game..
    Which honestly may be the reason I feel this world is so forgettable…
    I’m able to get around it so quickly that I never had the opportunity to notice or care about my surroundings…
    a new change that I’m not a fan of is the fact that special moves are now tied to a meter instead of attack chains… of course this meter is the only way to make this games boss encounters work... but I felt like I was less in control and that building up uninterrupted attack chains was unrewarded…
    a mix of both systems in the next game if one comes would be cool… where successful chains fills the meter at a faster rate than were given here….
    There’s also an eleven rage meter that lets you unleash multiple attacks while invincible, but this meter takes so ridiculously long to fill up that it might as well not even exist... I used it probably 4 times my entire time playing because I would save it as a just in case thing…
    The nemesis system is back once again but this time the game from the jump is focused on domination after the first act...
    It’s up to you to go and capture 4 towers to get to the end of the games story…
    though I found myself gaining followers naturally through story, I didn’t have to do much hunting towards the end…however in the first few hours, this domination thing is annoying as you’re only able to capture orcs at your same level or lower…
    you’re able to humiliate them and lower their level.. But all this does is make them run away and forces you to have to go find them again somewhere else…
    this to me felt like the game just wasting the players time...
    I see no harm in letting the player just take the orc at a lower level and letting them move on..
    With your orcs you can command them to kill other orcs or prove themselves and become the bodyguard of a warchief... you can assign an orc to be your bodyguard to help you in combat…you can also go capture the bodyguards of warchiefs and have them betray… making their battles easier as you can take out each warchief individually to lower the level of a fortress greatly with each one…
    While you’re doing these hunts and gathering intel for the weakness on your next target you have to be warry of how you treat your followers, as they’re able to betray you as well…
    and once you feel you’re ready to take on a fortress you assign your orcs to positions, you give them weapons and armies to increase your odds of success and you charge in to take what’s yours…
    The review has a bit of a negative tone, but Shadow of War is a really good game….
    Its more of the really great shadow of Mordor with deeper systems and less annoyances…
    But to me it also has less heart and soul…
    This is an enjoyable experience.. But a very forgettable one…
    I give Middle Earth Shadow of War
    a 7.5/10    … Expand
  4. CenkAlp
    Dec 30, 2018
    5
    Hikaye = 7
    Oynanış = 6
    Grafikler = 7
    Sesler = 7
    Keyif = 5
    Atmosfer = 5
    Süre = 6
  5. Erroneus
    Jan 11, 2020
    5
    I really liked Shadow of Mordor, so it was quite a surprise to me, that I didn't really enjoy Shadow of War. My biggest gripe was without doubt the controls, and maybe it's simply because other games like AC: Origins and AC: Odyssey has evolved, and Shadow of War has not. The controls felt slow, often the parkour failed where the ranger wouldn't climb where you expected or grab on toI really liked Shadow of Mordor, so it was quite a surprise to me, that I didn't really enjoy Shadow of War. My biggest gripe was without doubt the controls, and maybe it's simply because other games like AC: Origins and AC: Odyssey has evolved, and Shadow of War has not. The controls felt slow, often the parkour failed where the ranger wouldn't climb where you expected or grab on to ropes, which sometime means landing between 20 enemies, fun....

    Also the pattern of the missions started to feel very repetitive soon and since the surroundings wasn't very interesting, and the generally the graphics felt dated, it was hard to love.    … Expand
  6. arunscript
    Apr 20, 2021
    7
    I see a lot of review referring to loot boxes. Maybe some of this stuff was around at the time of release. I played the game on my XBox with Game Pass and I have played it multiple times. The combat system is phenomenal (and difficult if you're all about button mashing like in Witcher 3). Perfectly executed combos make for what's perhaps the best sword-based combat system of all time. ThisI see a lot of review referring to loot boxes. Maybe some of this stuff was around at the time of release. I played the game on my XBox with Game Pass and I have played it multiple times. The combat system is phenomenal (and difficult if you're all about button mashing like in Witcher 3). Perfectly executed combos make for what's perhaps the best sword-based combat system of all time. This is one of the best games I've played.… Expand
  7. SWFan523
    Jun 21, 2020
    7
    A really fun game set in Middle-Earth. Great send off to Tallion. People complaining about microtransactions must not be very good at the game. The final third or so of the game is a grind to get the true ending but it's fun. A light recommendation.
  8. freedy22
    Jan 9, 2021
    7
    A greatful nemezis system, a lot of loot and very nice world. After delete
    microtransactions its very good game
  9. qBoris
    May 19, 2023
    6
    Game is repeating itself too much. People are saying you need pay for micro transactions. Yes it's not belong that kind of game but I felt like I don't need to pay for anything.
  10. Watcher117
    Jun 10, 2022
    5
    Llevo más de 30 horas jugadas y puedo decir que es entretenido el sistema de combate estilo batman el cual me gusta mucho gráficamente es bonito pero el movimiento del muñeco es horrible parece sacado de Assassins Creed IV y estamos hablando de un juego que salió en 2017 y muchas veces te quedarás enganchado en algún sitio o no podrás saltar un obstáculo cosas que no deberían de estar enLlevo más de 30 horas jugadas y puedo decir que es entretenido el sistema de combate estilo batman el cual me gusta mucho gráficamente es bonito pero el movimiento del muñeco es horrible parece sacado de Assassins Creed IV y estamos hablando de un juego que salió en 2017 y muchas veces te quedarás enganchado en algún sitio o no podrás saltar un obstáculo cosas que no deberían de estar en un juego de ese calibre pero bueno el juego es bueno el sistema némesis está muy guapo lo de las cajitas de loot ni lo menciono, si te parecen una estafa como a mí entonces no las compres pero ponerle una nota baja precisamente por eso me parece un poco de ignorantes. Así que eso buen juego pésima movilidad y buen combate una secuela digna… Expand
  11. ZackH25
    Mar 23, 2023
    6
    Worse than the prequel of sure. The loot system in this game is somewhat annoying as its mostly the same items and including orcs as loot was a terrible idea. Defending and attacking a fortress is fun at first but does get tedious especially at the end! There are more variety of orcs which is fun and some missions are also really fun. Including less than 5 different types of enemies wasWorse than the prequel of sure. The loot system in this game is somewhat annoying as its mostly the same items and including orcs as loot was a terrible idea. Defending and attacking a fortress is fun at first but does get tedious especially at the end! There are more variety of orcs which is fun and some missions are also really fun. Including less than 5 different types of enemies was foolish as well. The open world is good but since it all is not connected it does worsen the experience.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Best Xbox One Game of 2017
9
#9 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2017
19
#19 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Impulsegamer
    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.
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  2. Cubed3
    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.
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  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]
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