Rating
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Go behind enemy lines to forge your army, conquer Fortresses and dominate Mordor from within. Experience how the award winning Nemesis System creates unique personal stories with every enemy and follower, and confront the full power of the Dark Lord Sauron and his Ringwraiths in this epic new story of Middle-earth.
Details
- Released
- October 10, 2017
- Developer
- Monolith Productions
- Genres
- Action · Role-playing (RPG) · Adventure · Open world
- Publisher
- WB Games
How it plays
Time to beat · 5 player times (IGDB)
Similar Games
Middle-earth: Shadow of War Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
As an enthusiast of the open-world genre, I was pretty excited to get my hands on Middle-earth: Shadow of War. The first instalment in the Lord of the Rings
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is great for veterans and tough for newcomers, but a joy to play for either party once you get a hang of the mechanics. It gets tedious at times, and there are missed opportunities here and there, but the Nemesis System that was a beacon of success in the first game has come back bigger and better than ever. It's definitely a return to Middle-earth that is worth the play, and an homage to Tolkien's works that everyone can appreciate.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is the sequel Shadow of Mordor deserves.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War like its predecessor is built upon the dynamic "Nemesis System." While the sequel offers an interesting story, it often becomes convoluted between the various arcs it wants to go in. Thankfully, the second by second gameplay has never felt better. With the addition of Shadow Wars, the best parts of the game will continue long after the story ends.
Shadow of Mordor was a bombastic, grandiose romp through a very storied land, steeped in a much-beloved history, as penned by Tolkien. Shadow of War takes what made the original such a great experience and magnifies it tenfold, blowing it up into a titanic game. Embrace the Bright Lord and play this game if you've got even a passing interest in the Lord of the Rings saga. Even if you don't, this high-fantasy action game has a bit of everything.
Republished on Wednesday 28th October 2020: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of November's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows.
While its gameplay stylings are going to mostly feel familiar, Shadow of War is an impressive package and far more expansive than the original, but when is a lot of a good thing too much?
Shadow of War managed to grab hold of me much harder than any other open-world game ever has. Despite its inherant faults, I still had a great time playing through, and can’t say I regret the hours I put in to it. For fans of the original, the expansion of the Nemesis system alone is worth giving the game a shot. For newcomers to the series, or even the genre as a whole, this game is a worthy entry point.
Shadow of War is bigger, but not better.Sometimes, less is more. In the case of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, that aphorism has never been more [...]
Talion has returned to Middle-earth alongside his annoyingly grumpy and totally overpowered wraith/elf sidekick (Celebrimbor) to fight a systematic hierarchy of talkative Orcs. Yes, we are of course talking about Middle-earth: Shadow of War.