Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
This is for those of you, who like me, were introduced to the books of J. R. R. Tolkien as a child, or subsequently the films many years later.
One of the very first books I attempted to read as a young teen was The Hobbit, and to be brutally honest, I didn't get more than half way. I was never the best or fastest reader and found Tolkien's writing a tad more tricky than the usual. I have been a big fan of the Lord of the Rings world and lore for as long as I can remember. The beauty of games is that it is a combination of books and movies, and you get to be a part of it.
I would have to give those of you who call yourselves die hard fans a fair warning. Unfortunately, as with the previous title, the developers do not stick to well established canon and lore, much like what they did in the movies.
Shadow of War is the sequel to the 2014 game, Shadow of Mordor, the story takes place during the 60 year gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.
The hero of this tale is Talion, a ranger and captain of Gondor. He serves within a garrison which is responsible for guarding the Black Gate of Mordor. He is attacked by the forces of Sauron and is captured along with his wife and adult son. All three are ritually sacrificed by the Black Hand in an attempt to summon and merge with the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor. Something goes wrong and Celebrimbor, who has suffers from amnesia due to his centuries as a wraith, merges with Talion instead. This prevents him from dying along with his family. Talion then manages to miraculously escape. Talion now infused with the wraith of Celebrimbor sets off on a journey to discover his identity and avenge the death of his family.
That was pretty much the plot of the first game Shadow of Mordor, I have a serious issue with starting in the middle of a story, so felt it was very necessary to fill you in. It's all about the context, things become confusing when it lacks context.
"Three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-Lords in halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Shadow of War continues almost immediately where the previous game ends, Talion and Celebrimbor travel to Mt. Doom, where they forge a new Ring of Power to rival that of Sauron's ring, in an attempt to overthrow him.
As great stories usually go, things don't always go according to plan, Celebrimbor is abducted and held hostage by Shelob. Yes, that huge ass spider that Frodo has to face in Return of the King, who then asks Talion to hand over the Ring in exchange for Celebrimbor. Talion reluctantly agrees and they end up having to work together with Shelob, it's that old enemy of my enemy is my friend rule.
I must say I truly enjoyed the story as it intertwines with the original story, and gives some great back story to the characters who we have come to love and hate. The flashbacks to the Ringwraiths corruption was really awesome, as this is one of those questions that is never answered in the films. There are a few original characters that return, like Ratbag, who provides some decent comic relief to the non-canon version of events.
The game itself is visually a big step up from the previous one, each zone looks and feels remarkably different, from Sergost's ice mountains to the volcanic terrains of Gorgoroth.
The overall area is much bigger this time round, so be prepared for a lot of running, until you unlock the fast travel locations. I found that they could have added some deeper dynamics to the locations like environmental effects and a bigger variety of wildlife in the different areas.
The zones are covered with enemies, everything in this game is bigger and badder than before. This includes the names that are at times just hilarious. I found that almost every enemy I encountered was different, each had a very unique appearance and set of abilities, this was particularly noticeable when it came to the voices.
One aspect that sets Shadow of War and it's predecessor apart from other games is the Nemesis system.
The game tracks encounters with enemy Uruks and if you get killed, or run away due to a fight being too hard, that Uruk becomes more powerful and gains specific buffs. They also gain favor by defeating you or surviving an encounter with you, then become leaders and then bosses that you need to defeat. This also greatly changes their appearance and their names, and at times you'll have to decide between brainwashing him to add to your army or killing him for the potentially game-changing loot. One of the really awesome online features is when you are killed by any enemy, any of your friends playing the game will have the chance to avenge you by facing the same enemy.
The fighting system in this game is very much similar to that of the Batman Dark Knight series, and once you get the hang of it, you become a master Jedi fighting machine, taking on a group of 50 or more Uruks at a time. The nice addition to the gear and loot you pick up is a side quest, which then unlocks the full potential of that item. The skill tree has also gotten a upgrade and a few new abilities have been added, one which I seem to use the most is Shadow Strike, which lets you teleport to any enemy in sight and instantly kill them, great for silently getting to a high vantage point.
Lastly, one of the biggest new features to Shadow of War are the fortresses, it's basically like the battle of Helms Deep, you and hordes of brainwashed Uruks attack a base. The battles are really impressive, and there are probably between 100 and 200 Uruks running around hacking each other to pieces. It really reminded me of when Legolas and Gimli were arguing over who has killed the most.
Shadow of War is an action role-playing, third person game developed by Monolith Productions, who also created the F.E.A.R. series, which was a pretty fun and scary PS3 shooter.
The game is published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and these guys have a multitude of titles under their belt. Mostly titles from DC and the Lego franchises. Shadow of War is the sequel to Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and was released at the end of October 2017, so it's still very new. The game is available on PS4, Windows and Xbox, and is around $59 on the PlayStation Store, which is about 15 Steem Dollars.
I give Shadow of War a well deserved 8/10.
In case you missed it, here is the previous game review
Thanks for popping in, hope you liked the post. Please leave me your thoughts and or opinions in the comments below, have a beautiful day.
Game review for ADSactly by MorkRock
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ADSactly
the way you express makes me want to play this game day and night, I really like that, I also wanted to download it but I do not have time for that.
I liked your post
I do not speak English, but I tried to tell you what I think
You did a good job! I understood you perfectly. Well done!💜
Yes well done :)
Not much a fan of games but the way you described what the game is all about aroused the desire for me to give it a trial, you took your time to break it down into sections and each and every minute spent reading about the game wet my appetite for the game. i am sure downloading this game.
Shadow Of War definitely beats the first one by far with more action, more blood, more gore, more weapons, sweet looking armor, new characters, and an expanded nemesis system. Now I'll be honest, I was hesitant over the last few weeks being worried about repetition of the original. Well I was very surprised. I'm sure you've been reading, you don't need to spend real money. From the beginning, you are given a sense of scale while still being given depth into each character. Than I can confirm that it feels a lot deeper. Especially when they come back to life with stitches and remember the exact encounter! This has been such an incredible part of the series so far and I love that they keep making it more intricate. Overall the story feels deeper and so much more noteworthy than the original. The world is huge and it makes every penny feel worth it. Nemesis 2.0 is even better than the original with enemies feeling extremely unique. More characters in the story that fit the new narrative. The combat is smooth and at times I like it more than even the Batman games.
I agree with everything you’re said, I wish they could create this kind of a game for LOTR and Hobbit. Thanks for the comment good sir.
Very very good game review. I like how you break the review down into "sections" and then elaborate on said section. Many people just spit out a few words and that's that.
I commend you for taking the time to write a remarkable review which has inspired me to actually try out this game. PC version though.
I'm upvoting this post for excellence
good
looks like a good game but what PC specs do you need to play it... I have an older laptop it works for what I need it for but not sure if it could handle a game like this.. the last game I played was Diablo 3 and World of War craft.. is this game out on any console..
Thanks for the awesome comment bro, you will totally love this if you’re a fan of Rings like I am.
very good game
I just saw the trailers for it.
I'm really excited for this game. I put well over 400 hours into the original, and this one looks significantly bigger, more developed, and faster paced.
What I really like is the fact they've built on the Nemisis System instead of just leaving it as it was, or worse, getting rid of it. It was amazing and revolutionary in the original, and I was expecting other games to copy it, but sadly it didn't seem to disturb the status quo. I'm hoping that with a slightly better tested, better working, and more in depth system, it will be able to prove itself beyond all doubt.
I loved the first game too, didn’t put that amount of hours in, but probably more than half. Really like how it touched on parts of the Silmarillion. Yeah nemisis system upgrade rocks.
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good gaming dear
I like that so far
upvote and resteemit done
Glad you enjoyed it
The plot was very poorly written and the loot boxes were screaming of exploitation
I’ll agree with you on that.
I like video games too. I like boxing and battlefield. Listen fellas the TRUTH is video games are a method of control. It consumes many people worldwide. It absolutely affects people in different ways but it does have a great affect. I watched a gta5 live youtube channel for a few min last night. Guy needs ride to his garage some live playing dude picks him up bout 30 seconds I he asked him if he like boys. Dude is like ahhhh NO....Creep says awww come on we can pretend to be girls...LIKE WTF!!! wake up!!! Why do you think they don't rate the online play of any game??? Where do you think the latest tech. will be released to the public?? They already base drones on PlayStation controllers. Wake up.
You are correct these games can be used to control, the amount of time invested is crazy. I have been playing video games since the days of Atari 2600, I’m amazed the way they have changed in 30 years, the scary part is the online chat and the things that people say to others. Also amazed how popular people watching others playing has become.
Excellent game..I like this game..Thanks dear sharing this post..
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Honestly not quite as good of a game as I expected. Still a solid game, but the original was one of my favorite games of this whole gaming generation. I'm hoping this turns into a great series! The whole rivalry system is really cool, imo.
Yeah it does get a tiny bit repetitive, but honestly what game doesn't?
I really like your post that is amazing. i want to follow a pretty good amotifasi.terimakasih have shared, very good game ..
i loved the captain system, it is deeper and more fun now
Totally rocks!!
Oops am so excited to see the series of games because my love for action games can not be told@adsactly 100%
Great posts.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Great..Thanks for sharing specialized all.
wow very nice exceellent blog friend
Amazing post
Thanks I tried really hard
nice gaming dear
thanks for sharing
resteemit done dear
Good content. Thanks
Can't wait to try that 😆😆😆
great post.thanks a lot for sharing.
please carry on...
Very nice post
Wonderful game thanks for sharing
I really like your post thanks for sharing the things I can learn from you
This looks so cool. The graphics are sick!!
Looks amazing.. the first game was really cool, capturing the middle earth feeling like few games has ever done :) Thanks for the review, can't wait to play this
Thanks for that reveiw! A very good game indeed! I hope to play it!
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This was a great game, better than the first in my opinion.
With you on that
Very excellent recreation evaluation. i like the way you wreck the assessment down into "sections" after which elaborate on said phase. Many humans just spit out a few phrases and that's that.
I commend you for taking the time to put in writing a first-rate review which has inspired me to in reality try out this sport. laptop version although.
very good game
Well presented review. I really do like this game, it has some flaws but over all I liked the same things you mentioned here. Looking forward to seeing more.
Yes that is really a creative post
Wow...!!! I so much like your review on this game...!!! I played it on my android device and it was awesome.
My best characters were the tanks followed by the fighters, the assassins the rangers...!!!
This game has given me so much joy...but I have to stop playing it last year for some reasons...
Good work,very nic game video.i like it very much.
Great page 👌😎👍⚡
Nice post
That is a nice game.I guess game loving people are going to like it.Iam not a game lover still after reading your post i wanna play the game for sure.I hope the game will rock.
Oh it totally rocks!! Harder than Gimli's axe
It's seems action game . I like the action games , movies and dramas 😋 appreciate this blog .. I will try re-read your blog @adsactly
It sounds like you don’t know LOTR, so so worth it, great films too, very long though.
Hmm good I have to search about , thank u
excellent post , thanks for sharing
I have played lord of the rings but this shadow of war looks more interesting and i will try it.
You will definitely enjoy it. if not you can always just sell the game
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very nice gaming, great post , thanks for sharing
wow nice
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Whoa!
The graphics are amazing
🖒🖒🖒
great stuff