3/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

Going to try and keep this a bit more succinct. This is a better game than Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. There is a good game tucked away here, but it is bearing the weight of tar. The tar from the free-to-play, mobile-driven, pay-to-win, bloated bullshit-era of games. The game doesn't actually open up to the player until 5-hours in. It then didn't find it's groove with me until 10-hours in. I almost gave it up. But, I stuck with it and found some cool things to like. The Nemesis System is better here. Creating really fun and unique scenarios, that almost make you care about what's happening in the world. This system could really make another game, a better game, breathe. It's still a wonderful showcase here, though one that starts to get overplayed the more hours you put into it. The monologues from the different Orks/Uruks start to feel exhausting after a while. The combat is better, though still lacking impact. Cutscenes are still pre-rendered, but look better than the first game. The story is as meaningless, and as canon-breaking as ever; making it feel really pointless, even though there are some interesting ideas and moments throughout it's run-time. Traversal is also better here, though still feels dis-jointed. There is some variety in environments this time around, and they are all welcomed here, though they are not super unique as far as layout. Also, there is actual loot in this game, with customizable options for Talion. However, you can absolutely tell that the loot was inspired by mobile gaming, and even though it has been patched to operate better, it still is noticeable. Mission structure is an absolute mess here. Side-missions are broken out into different mission-tree's, but you can go almost the whole game without doing some of them, and some of them include pretty important abilities. Though, the stories for all of them are nothing to even remember. The world-map looks pretty, and is actually really awesome to look at, but my God. What were the dev's thinking littering the maps with just random markers everywhere? Between the messy mission structure, all of the nemesis missions, and all of the collectable stuff, the map is cluttered and annoying to look at (until you put 12-hours into the game to figure out what matters to you on the map). The actual cool mechanic here is the sieges. I'm surprised there isn't a siege mechanic implemented in more games. This game really delivers the feeling of going to war on an entire castle. It's the coolest part of this game, and probably the part that fits most with being a Lord of The Rings game. Thankfully, they patched the end-game, and you can now complete the final act of the game, and get the full ending, in under 25-hours, which I accomplished here. You also get some cool-new abilities, that actually kind of change the game up in a fun way. The sieges make this worth it, though, I don't really think I would recommend this game to anyone. I'm not sure why I decided to replay this game, after playing it in 2017. Maybe, because I thought it would have been better than how it was in my memory, but, it is not. I did decide to try the DLC here. The first one, Blade of Galadriel, has you playing as Eltariel. There are some interesting ideas here, but this is mostly forgettable, and makes the mess of the base-game's story, even more messier. There is just no foundation for pacing or time-frame here. Also, some of the abilities you get with Eltariel are just worse. Hard-pass (even though it did only take me 2-hours to beat). I also gave Desolation of Mordor (DoM) a try, and it made me question the overall direction of the base-game. I would have appreciated something more akin to what is on offer here; relating to lore, it makes more sense to be recruiting human fighters for the cause. And, while there are certain mechanics that are fun in the base-game, there is equally fun mechanics in this DLC. It also made me wonder why the developers went in the direction of a story that is tied so heavily into the main franchise of the source material. Why is the story so big and grand and involved with meddling with events and characters that relate to what players know? It's a weird choice for me that didn't work. Regardless, DoM has you playing as a human soldier. Nothing more. There aren't any flashy powers, or ethereal things at play here. You have attacks and abilities, and they work for a soldier. It's fun, straightforward, and not over-bloated. The story was pretty forgettable, but the gameplay loop works better here, for the most part. You are essentially playing as a Batman-inspired soldier here, with a grappling hook and glider, if I were to summarize what this DLC is. So, that's how I felt. I'm tired. I don't know why I did this to myself, even though this game wasn't really that bad of an experience. The first 10-hours of the game were a real struggle to get through, and I legit almost quit. However, there is some good things to like about this game if you can push through those first 5-or-10-hours, and if you absolutely love the Lord of the Rings, or need a game that would be perfect to kill some time on a Steam Deck or something, then this game might be for you. Personally, I would suggest skipping this one, despite it being an okay package. After nearly 30-hours of this game, I'm ready for some gaming comfort food. There are large parts of this game that straight up, do not respect the player's time. So, time to move onto things that feel better to play, and feel more respectful towards my time. Console Played On: PC (Steam) Game Played: 01/2025 - 01/2025 Review Written and Published: 01/19/2025