Shadow of War review

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Gamesweasel

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Published on October 19, 2017 9:32:37 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMKDovUBl7w

Game:

Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017)

Category:

Review

Duration: 3:46

3,767 views

107

Shadow of Mordor kind of came out of nowhere. I was just expecting a pretty middle of the road Middle Earth adventure but instead what we got was a cross between Assassin’s Creed and the Batman Arkham games. The game did feel a bit like you were alone in the wilderness a bit too much but this has been rectified with Middle Earth: Shadow of War. It’s bigger and better in every way.
The game pretty much begins where the last one ended, with the Wraith that inhabited you Celerimbor crafting a new ring in the fires of Mordor. Soon though, the clumsy oaf gets captured by the spider Shelob, and Talion trades the ring for Celerimbor so they can merge once again and live. And so they travel through the land killing Orcs and the Nazgul, rescuing humans and taking down Warchiefs in an attempt to end the reign of Sauron once and for all.
You’ve probably forgotten the control scheme since playing the last game so the first hour or two is filled with tutorials that show you how to attack, block, use wraith abilities, creep around, stealth attack and use the abilities you unlock as you level up. To be honest it does feel a little overwhelming so I do recommend playing the game for a good sitting to get the muscle memory to make things second nature as you fight and explore. Fighting the army of orcs is still a thing as well, and you’ll encounter many bosses to fight that all level up if they defeat you, and have their own strengths and weaknesses you’ll have to discover by interrogating weak worms, or by trial and error. For instance, some you can take down with a single head shot from range, while others will block your attacks or be immune to execution moves. The combat is just as slick as the Arkham games, if not a little more forgiving. As long as you press the button prompted above an enemy’s head at some time while it’s on, you’ll still block, counter or evade, meaning you can build up massive kill streaks and feel like a total badass in the process.
There’s plenty to do and explore in this world as well. Purify a tower and you can search for hidden areas with the right stick. You’ll then be able to take part in extra missions such as Shelob memories and Celerimbor flashbacks which will earn you special items you can then equip. This is another thing to distract you as you can equip new versions of capes, bows, daggers and swords and even apply gems to grant more health and XP as you fight. Perform a certain number of actions whilst wearing them and they grant you even more abilities. There is plenty of depth here to keep RPG fans happy.
The world also feels a lot more populated. Not only will you be fighting loads of enemies on screen at once you’re also fighting in the cities as well as out in the plains, so humans will also get in on the action to help you fight. You can even unlock the ability to have them help you as you sneak about, taking down enemies with a tap of the d-pad.
You can even take the battle online by murdering Orcs that have killed fellow players before. Here you get revenge and earn even more swag and valuable XP.
But that’s not the end of it. Once you enter act two you can then start building your own armies by dominating captains and Warchiefs to fight alongside you. It’s kind of like Pokémon Go but a lot more ugly!
It’s not all plain sailing though. Some of the basic animations feel a little off, such as running and jumping up cliffs and towers, and the auto targeting can be a hindrance as much as a help. You’ll sometimes perform an execute command on precisely the wrong foe because the game sends you the wrong way. It’s like a bad pass in FIFA! Having to manually collect dropped items in a really slow way is also a hindrance. It’s not Resident Evil with limited slots, so why would you not want to pick up everything?
The presence of micro transactions will also annoy some. Helpful hint - don’t spend all your in-game currency before the end game or you might have to fork our real money!
Shadow of War really is a lot of fun to play and if you get the knack of the fighting, you’ll feel like a total badass. It will keep you amused for ages so it gets a head exploding 9 out of 10.