Systems-heavy open-world games have always suffered from a level of tedious repetition, but the Nemesis system gave Shadow of Mordor an extra dose of character and some much-needed chaos. Shadow of War might not have a great central narrative, but its complex, interlocking systems deliver plenty of great stories. While playing the game I’ve had morning-long feuds and ongoing vendettas. At another point, I was rendered speechless when a captain not only killed me but broke my favourite sword. At one point I became so obsessed with taking vengeance on a slippery orc assassin, that I practically forgot the main campaign. You’ll loathe these guys, you’ll hate them, and you’ll love it. Orcs who kill you will remember you and sneer, while there are incentives for you in dishing out payback, including better gear. In doing all this, Shadow of War makes the conflicts personal. An ordinary orc that delivers a lucky, fatal blow might become a local legend, and scrap their way to captaincy. A captain that kills you grows in status and might start slaughtering their way up the orc corporate ladder. The clever thing is that the world reacts to each encounter. To cripple the army, you take out the captains and warchiefs one by one.
As before, each region you visit has an army of orcs in charge – if you can call such a loose, warring conglomeration an ‘army’.
What’s not to like?Īnd the revamped Nemesis system only amplifies the ultraviolence. You can even make their poor little heads explode. Early on, you’re busy mastering the normal parry or evade and counter moves, but get halfway through and you’ll be freezing orcs as you vault over them, firing arrows while you spin gracefully mid-air, and finding myriad ways to torch, pin, poison, drain and generally harass the orcs. While Shadow of War apes the open-world style, stealth and parkour of Assassin’s Creed, the real joy lies in introducing Middle-earth’s orc population to the sharp and pointy ends of swords and daggers, thus earning experience points to spend on more inventive orc slaughter skills and a growing collection of more potent slashing, stabbing tools. If you loved what the first game threw at you, the second gives you even more to love. We didn’t praise Shadow of Mordor for its faithfulness to Tolkien or its storyline – and the sequel is even sillier – but for its satisfying combat, gameplay loops and systems. Think of it as National Lampoon’s Middle-earth, if it makes you feel any better. Here’s my advice to Tolkien fans: get over it. By the time you’ve kicked off a whole new war for Mordor, or battled Nazgul, trolls and Balrogs, nothing will surprise you. Monolith’s orcs have always had more in common with Games Workshop’s greenskins than those of Tolkien, but this bunch of Aussie/cockney/Bristolian/middle-European nutters takes the biscuit.
The next they’re tangled up with Shelob, now a suspiciously hot shape-shifting spider/witch/goddess thing. One minute Talion and Celebrimbor – our dynamic ranger/wraith duo in a single body – are forging a new ring. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor played fast and loose with Tolkien’s mythology, but the sequel’s approach is positively banzai. Either way, the spin rate is only getting faster, thanks to Monolith’s unbelievable Middle-earth lore-mangling in Shadow of War.īuy Middle-Earth: Shadow of War now from Amazon UK | If he didn’t then surely the whole Tauriel/Kili/Legolas love triangle in The Hobbit would have done it, or maybe the dwarfs’ scheme to gold-plate Smaug in the second Hobbit movie. Perhaps he’d already started long ago, after Legolas’ Oliphant trunk-surfing antics in Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King. Hear a strange sound emanating from a quiet Oxford cemetery? It’s probably Tolkien spinning in his grave. Available now on PS4, Xbox One (with Xbox One X support) and PC.
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