![]() Shadow of War’s movement system can only be described as Assassin’s Creed meets The Flash, with a similar range of parkour and wall-climbing hijinks as featured in the Ubisoft title, but with the added bonus of Celebrimbor’s wraith powers making everything all the more superpowered – and fun. The combat is fast and fluid and most definitely the best part of the game. The combat system harkens back to the Batman Arkham series and, just as in those games, fighting hordes of enemies and countering their attacks mid-fight really makes you feel truly powerful. The gameplay of Shadow of War is where the game truly shines. If the Mass Effect trilogy proved anything, it’s that regardless of how epic the journey may have been, a poor ending is all people will remember – and this statement holds true for far more than just Shadow of War’s story, as you’ll come to see. The need to tie off the game's ending in a neat bow that serves as a prequel to the movies is understandable, but I truly believe Celebrimbor deserved a far better send-off than the one he got. In the cutscene marking the ‘true’ ending – more on that later –, there is a slight nod towards what could be Celebrimbor, but that’s about it. (PARTIAL SPOILER) Even worse, his true fate is actually left in the air, because the games don’t necessarily kill him and the movies never even mention him. That’s precisely why the resolution of his story arc feels so meh, as the developers try and ensure he simply disappears from the story so anyone watching the movies after playing the game won't ask why he's never mentioned. ![]() A figure that’s only very briefly referenced in Tolkien lore as the creator of the three Elven rings of power, the story in the games attaches significantly more importance to Celebrimbor for obvious reasons. Without offering any real spoilers, I can say that while I did like the conclusion to Talion’s story - which contains a rather a fateful twist near the end - Celebrimbor’s fate was rather … anticlimactic and vague. It’s yet another iteration of the classic heroic narrative, and there’s nothing wrong with that.Ĭoming to the handsome and spectral duo of Talion and Celebrimbor, who serves as our protagonist, I found that their development in the story was handled rather well, with the end being slightly tweaked to bring the title's resolution more in line with the movies. While this is no Telltale game and you won’t be particularly moved by the story, it does stay true to the LOTR formula of one man fighting the forces of evil against all odds. Like with the first game, Shadow of War does play fast and loose with what is generally considered established canon in the Middle-earth mythos, but it does so in a way that is interesting and enticing. The character design of such orcs also stands out, with extravagant armour or funny weapons (the bards will often feature a guitar with a blade hanging out from it) that make them even more memorable. However, among the masses are also unique gems with peculiar quirks like a love of singing or an obsession with maggots. Many of them are the typical bloodthirsty savages you’ll soon learn to ignore. Meeting some of them, like Carnan, for the first time is indeed a significant milestone, but the truly memorable characters are the orcs. The characters in the main story are certainly memorable and epic, they’re well-developed and feature high-quality voice acting. ![]() It either greatly expanded on some of the more obscure characters from the movies like Shelob, or introduced entirely new ones like Carnan. Storyĭespite my rather low expectations going into the game, Shadow of War’s story left me pleasantly surprised, drawing heavily on Middle-earth lore. Unfortunately, a lot of that fun is ultimately marred by some truly befuddling design choices that, by the game's end, are bound to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, doesn't disappoint in that regard either, building on the enticingly fun gameplay by adding more content and a much larger open world. That was largely due to its combat system, an amalgam of the fluid button mashing of the Batman Arkham series and the parkour and stealth-focused shenanigans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. When Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor broke into the gaming scene in 2014, it was arguably the first and only game set in the universe created by Tolkien that actually felt fun to play.
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