Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™

Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™
N/A
Metacritic
88
Steam
84.214
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$9.99
Release date
9 October 2017
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
88 (69 091 votes)
Recent
91 (705 votes)

Experience an epic open-world brought to life by the award-winning Nemesis System. Forge a new Ring of Power, conquer Fortresses in massive battles and dominate Mordor with your personal orc army in Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™.

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Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 7 SP1 with Platform Update
  • Processor: AMD FX-4350, 4.2 GHz / Intel Core i5-2300, 2.80 GHz
  • Memory: 6 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD HD 7870, 2 GB / NVIDIA GTX 660, 2 GB
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Network: Broadband Internet connection
  • Storage: 70 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: X64 required
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capnbeerchaser
capnbeerchaser

Shadow of War game play loop is satisfying if a little limited. the nemesis system is great for adding a layer of narrative to a game that otherwise would be a Batman: Arkham City set in LOTRs.

Drottenssten
Drottenssten

Killed a "Tarz" from an early mission, he came back as a poison-cyborg. I tried to kill Tarz twice and got him the second time, he came back again and I failed thrice to kill him, moved on with the story and got locked out temporarily from his region. When I came back he was overlord. I am now going to dominate Tarz and make him my own overlord.
9/10 really annoying on nemesis or higher in the early game but very rewarding mid- and late-game.

crimsonjim
crimsonjim

I have been a long time LOTR fan. Stayed away from the games at first because I heard some stories about how they messed with the telling of the second age. But after looking into the Nemesis system and about 2 hours of gameplay I realised that they are upholding the Tolkien legacy in their branching timeline pretty well and the interaction that you get with orcs are so interesting and engaging its a shame that only this developer has the rights to it.

As for gameplay. I had one of the coolest interactions with an NPC I have ever had in a game in my life, The first Orc I could enlist after playing through act 1 was an Ologhai named Bruce the chopper. Bruce the Chopper was a mountain with an Australian/english sounding accent and made a joke every 2 seconds. Everything about this guy reminds me of chopper reed including the name. Anyway long live bruce the chopper and Shadow of war. A truly wonderful experience after you get through all the handholding. Looking forward to 100 more hours of gameplay.

ArtsyCielo
ArtsyCielo

After 50.8 Hours of playing, I finally finished all the story lines... its a great game also i love dominating orcs and gliding with baranor haha

MAHEILONG
MAHEILONG

The jankiest bullshit of controls and overlong titles and submenus and "boss" talking bullshit. Let me play the F*@!king game already. BS

Jibaro
Jibaro

all righty so dont get me wrong, over all this is a great game with a lot of depth. I just cant get over how "mushy" the controls feel. The climbing of walls drives me nuts. I dont get why its so slow, horizontal scalling is even worse, and god forbid you try to jump off. Trying to jump off platforms is rough too. You can hold down your jump/run button but, if youre just not lined up right or dont have a running start, you might as well be running into a wall.
Locking on to enemies during combat can be pretty frustrating at time too. Usually its pretty great if its one on one combat and the AI can just be exploited.
for how long this game has been out too im surprised how many times ive gotten stuck in a wall or pinned between objects. Its not a bad game at all but, the bugs just get to me for how persistent they are.

Taonath
Taonath

The game itself has great potential, but there are way too much bugs, a completely broken online part (cheaters unchecked) and a lot of instability and crashes for a game that had that much time to be polished.

I got it for 7,49 € including DLCs, so no harm, no foul but at full price - hands off.

Vitlök
Vitlök

Many little things that eventually broke the camel's back.

I don't normally play these "big" AAA games. But back in 2015 I played Shadow of Mordor and it was a little dumb and movie-like but still fun; I even 100%'d it. But now, 7 years later, even though in a lot of ways Shadow of War is quite similar to Shadow of Mordor, after two hours I just couldn't take it anymore.

Instead of getting into discussions about shifting tastes and the state of AAA game industry, I'll just write about stuff that bothered me. Oh, and for the record: I'm not a fan of LotR, I just appreciate a good story, no matter what the setting is. So here we go.

- the good first five minutes were cutscenes; or should I say "wannabe movies" (classic cutscenes and movies use different cinematic languages, and here they used the movie style)
- also, the content of that cutscene was: Talion and Celebrimbor forge a new Ring of Power, they get separated, Talion finds Celebrimbor locked up in a cave and trades the Ring for Celebrimbor's freedom. In other words, they make and then lose the Ring, they separate and then reunite; nothing really happened except now there's a third party who has a second Ring of Power.
- because this game has a gear system, Talion almost instantly gets rid of his trusty blade and the broken sword of his son that he used as a dagger. So was the sword important to him, reminding him of his roots, or just a tool?
- on that topic, I was almost instantly told from the menu to subscribe to their newsletter for an EXP boost.
- of course, DLC, DLC everywhere. Would you like to play the main story? Or would you like to play the story of Elontril the Antidepressant, sold separately, make sure to get actual Elontril too because the world is constantly trying to drain you of any and all wealth you have.
- the game allows you to turn off the minimap, but if you do so, you also won't see your health bar among other things.
- you can turn off quest markers and quest descriptors in the corner, but for the first hour of the game the quest menu is locked so you literally have no way of seeing what your current objective is.
- I got a game over pretty early on because I "left the mission area" because I was supposed to examine an object on the ground... and the way to know that was to look at the minimap, it wasn't said in the dialogue and I didn't get any warnings.
- and yet, there were hint popups everywhere. Hey look, you can do an air stealth kill here. Remember? You can do an air stealth kill here! Hey, press E to interrogate a worm. Remember to press right mouse to block? Press E for Elven Stun! You can turn them off, but it looks like you'll either will get constantly insulted about being a goldfish brain or you will never get told how to perform newly acquired skills.
- zooming out the region map doesn't zoom it out, it switches to the big world map.
- the captain detail system: I found it hard to read. Not that much info, but scattered over multiple submenus and a huge bother to browse.
- I got stuck during the "find points of interest when scouting from a tower" phase - couldn't leave, couldn't progress. Turns out I was supposed to press X (that's keyboard x, not controller) when targeting an object - the game never told me that and I had to google the solution.
- in a cutscene, Talion and the new Waifu of the Week™ got separated by a castle gate; right after that the Waifu is found talking to her commander - on top of the walls, in safety; and right after that Talion talked to him as well. So what happened here? Did Talion climb the walls? Did he use his gravewalker powers to just shift there? Was it an illusion? Did the Waifu leave? Am I going crazy? I already was, but yes.
- and finally, I reached an interesting tomb-like place from Celebrimbor's past, played a quest that was more cutscene than gameplay (fair, it was supposed to be historical exposition)... and then I found a door, and I immediately got told something to the effect of "this door will only open if you bring pieces of a poem here, look for them and get the treasure inside"... and that's what broke me. Do I ever get to observe? Think? Consider? Plan? Guess? Ponder? Do anything but press buttons, follow quest markers, and watch movies?

Now, all of those things could be seen as nitpicks; and sure, they are. It's the fact that I was assaulted by the barrage of such annoyances from the very start that ultimately wore me down. And even then, when I wasn't getting annoyed at those little things, the game was just... okay. Yeah, yeah, another AssCreed-like where you hold spacebar to climb stuff and do stealth kills from five meters away. Shadow of Mordor was the same, I'll give you that, but... maybe I've simply seen this formula one too many times.

That's all there is to say. Maybe the game gets better later, but my patience is spent. Back to indie games for me.

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gav THE killa
gav THE killa

We desperately need more games in Middle-Earth of this caliber. SoM and SoW are some of the best action games of their time.

muhammad.afzali.samat
muhammad.afzal…

If you like LOTR. this is the game u need to follow and play.. i was like is it gonna be awesome game or meh game.. DAMN.. the game is awesome..

CrispyGreedo
CrispyGreedo

I couldn't get into this sequel the same way that I did its predecessor Shadow of Mordor. Shadow of War is mostly the same game, but with some new added mechanics. Orc captains have longer voicelines, and there are often clusters of them, so combat may be interrupted for some time by them talking to you. The voicelines can be funny, but that quickly got kind of old. Also, I got insta-gibbed by a caragor on Easy difficulty, which was a bit much for me. Maybe not a bad game - just not my thing.

Hugh Jazz
Hugh Jazz

Same recipe as shadow of mordor, just large maps with a #$#"load of repeatable side quest and collectibles sprinkled all over. Whilst it was better than its prequel, "one does not simply" review the game alone but rather the series as a whole, and for that reason alone i dont recommend it. I'd rather have Witcher 3 in mordor instead of another Assassins creed clone.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Fun game if you enjoy Lord of the Rings and/or RPGs. The nemesis system is unique and makes the game much better.

Sentinel
Sentinel

Middle-earth™: Shadow of War is an experience like no other.
With the Nemesis System, you always know that you're in for a challenge.
It's a game that takes your breath away as you play it.
I could imagine myself coming back to it every year or so, never getting bored with its unique gameplay.
The gameplay, graphics, and story are all incredible. I cannot believe how many hours I have spent on it already...

Cad Bane
Cad Bane

Good game..If one likes grinding it's very good for them . The story is non canon but it's good enough to have fun . For the people who love Lord of The Rings .

winchick2
winchick2

If you turn off your PC during gameplay (not even during a save or loading, mind you), it will stop your save from uploading to the cloud. When this happens, you lose your progress and get pushed back about 10 hours or so. There doesn't seem to be a way to fix this. So ignore this game, and watch videos of its story, ignoring the repetitive, highly addicting, highly disappointing gameplay.

Phoon The Potato
Phoon The Potato

great combat mechs and even greater movement and parkour., good storyline(well obviously, its a lord of the rings game)... highly recommend it

CR1M$9N
CR1M$9N

If this game was 12 hrs long, it would have been enjoyable, but after doing the same s#it for 20 hrs, I deleted the game during the final act, the fun combat becomes frustrating because of the grind required to level up yourself and your 6 different fortresses (smh).

The Revelator
The Revelator

Personally I think this is a must Buy for everyone.

Pros:
+ Good Optimization
+ Great Storytelling
+ Good ingame BGM
+ Great Voice Acting
+ Fun Gameplay and quite challenging even on easy mode, perfect for casual players
+ I'm so glad they remove all the MTX so we can earn all the Items/Orcs through playing the game

Cons:
- Cinematic Cutscenes 30fps
- The Graphics kinda meh it's not bad also not good

potato farmer
potato farmer

In many ways a downgrade from the previous game. The character upgrade system is a big grind. Combat does not feel as good: attacks miss, executions take almost twice as long to charge. It’s a slog, designed to keep you playing as long as possible and buying loot boxes.

DoctorGrievous™
DoctorGrievous™

How is it that the devs at Monolith have a better understanding and appreciation for Tolkien's lore than the writers at Amazon? If you want the Rings of Power, they're here. Pick this up and fun in Mordor.

XII_VI_I_XCIX_VII
XII_VI_I_XCIX_VII

Dark side or Light side, They're all just bunch of greedy dudes who're hunger for power.
Wish there's a mode where you can just take out every single living things in Middle-earth.

Also it do kinda get repetitive sometimes, But I like that Invading/Defending fortress system playstyle in this one.

BLU3BL00D
BLU3BL00D

This is, without a doubt, one of the best games I have ever played. Shadow of War may already be getting "old" in terms of graphics and gameplay, but it's the heart and passion these developers put into it that makes it just -so- good all the way through.

The nemesis system is amazing. Your actions in how you handle certain orcs throughout the game continually come back to tell amazing tales. Sometimes when you set an orc on fire, he will cheat death and the next time you see him, he is wearing gauze all over his body. Or maybe on another orc, you'll cut off his arm, so the next time he comes back with some mechanical contraption in place of the hand you severed. It's genius, it's cool, it's fun.

The development team lost some coworkers along the way. I don't know the cause, but to see them honor their late comrade is heartwarming as well. You can really tell the team that put this together are wholesome folk who cared deeply for their work and their partners.

This game captures Middle Earth in beautiful form. The combat is fun and rewarding. The nemesis system is captivating, and the story takes a bold leap that I think is incredible. Don't hesitate on this game. Totally worth it full price. This one will forever remain in my library.

BludeuS MaximuS
BludeuS MaximuS

Great game. Lots of fun. This is one title that had remained as fresh and as fun to play now as it was on day 1.

Valkyrie
Valkyrie

Very satisfying ending, and while it can get a bit repetitive to go for 100%, there's plenty of variety in how you approach things in order to keep it interesting

PheasantKing
PheasantKing

I promise if you pay attention to the titles of the Orc Captains and listen to their speeches, you will see how much freedom they thankfully allowed the creative and voice acting departments to have. They delightfully demonstrate the ridiculousness of Sauron's inherently self-destructive hierarchy system.

Bit of (probably obvious to many) advice: Unless they are Legendary, (you will find out why later,) recruit every Captain you possibly can. You are the Bright Lord.

Jerber69
Jerber69

This game falls short of it's good looks and solid fantasy background. Everything feels very shallow, including the characters they try and introduce. There are better and much older farcry (3) games that do what this game tried. I am a huge LoTR lover and wanted to like this game and it's cool but meager stealth mechanics. More attention was put into cut scenes and "hidden collectibles" than enjoyment of gameplay. Please spend your money on games by developers who show thoroughness and fun in their work.

Falcor
Falcor

I feel like this game is a good way to let out your inner rage... Just pretend you're Gutts, from Berserk and you'll be right at home.

MeowTiger
MeowTiger

Its more of the same from the first one third person wise, less story driven and more army building through recruiting.

Ghost_Operator
Ghost_Operator

Fantastic Game all around. I have run into a bug in a mission that will not allow me to go any further in the game.

AfroHun
AfroHun

The previos game was great.
The gameplay is not that bad and the nemesis system is great.
The problem is that there are too many different regions and you cant bring your orcs with you. Why is this a problem? Because the nemesys system which is the main strengh of the game cannot really be felt. You just go around and find and recruit some generic orcs that you mostly cannot care that much. There are some interesting ones that you actually can connect with but you can have them in only one of your regions. This means even if you could connect with someone you will loose that pretty fast, not to mention the fightning pits that is only to slaughter your orcs.
And also getting equipment may sound fun but it is extremaly grindy because there are a lot of types and they are also random to find so etting sets are really boring and long.
It has great mechaincs but the world is big and empty and I couldnt connect with it. The story is "fine" but honestly not that great, it went too superhero direction.

nikoboi
nikoboi

THIS GAME..... oh boy, this motherfucking game is a godsend. I love every thing about this game, I would have bought it at full price, but i got it on the cheap for $7.99 and it was so worth it. from the nemmisis system to the parkour, it's just chock-full of shit to do.

Neverweres
Neverweres

Here we have some of the best LOTR fan-fiction and user-friendly hack n' slash. The combat is gorgeous, the finishers and specialty-moves are excellent, and the strengths/weaknesses of the various orc captains definitely makes you refine tactics constantly. It's just an all-around fun game with gravity defying action and hilarious orc dialogue.

BeskarHead1313
BeskarHead1313

Trying to chew through my backlog of games, I realised I never played the sequel to Shadow of Mordor. Man, was I missing out! Instead of one open sandbox, you get a handful of smaller, but very different regions. The characters are well voice acted, cutscenes have some pretty epic moments and I never get bored of the slow-mo deaths, some of which still surprise me like the wookie-arms-removal.

My favourite new feature are the sieges where you take your army of Orcs and take over the Warchief's fortress.

fajar13k
fajar13k

If you're considering Soulsborne series is a hard game, this one is underratedly hard, and it's satisfying to actually progress and conquer the game.

- Story is a continuation from the previous one (Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™), but you are not entitled to play the first game, it's honestly good to hop right in.
- Orcs VAs are actually funny
- Difficulty slider is available, scale is 1 - 5, so I usually want my game to be challenging, therefore I stupidly chose Brutal which is 5/5 and I'm suffering even during my endgame, it's still HARD AF
- Easy-ish early game, progressively becomes harder but it gets boring during mid - endgame.
- RPG element, strong, although it leads to the samey playstyle since that's how the skill tree develops around you.
- I like when you try to fight the bosses, they have traits so you have to do different approach for each one of em. Let's say this guy is fireproof and poisonproof, but oh hey he's scared when I do Stealth Attacks to him, so let's do it efficiently and stealth kill him.

harshitology
harshitology

Better assassins creed than assassins creed

Furiousfarmer
Furiousfarmer

The pacing/curve of this game is rediculous. Its either a hack + slash where you just stay on the outside of the horde slashing in.... or they have a couple of archers in their team in which case you spend 22 hours flipping around the horde hoping to take 5% off the archers health with a cheeky hit...

The story and writing is horrid, orc captains interrupt you every 2 secs to speak **** at you which at first is ok but becomes so tedius and you can't skip. Its insanely difficult if you try to search the open world at all at the beginning, with a system that can create terminators out of basic orcs if you slip up a couple of times. At the end... you can just summon your own dragon if you're bored of the battle and light everything on fire from the air, and kill most battles using your overpowered army while you eat lunch.

Has some good moments but mostly a waste of time, not a fan.