Shadow of War is, quite literally, everything Shadow of Mordor was, exept better, bigger and more in every way possible. The game, like it's predecessor, is a relatively slow burn, which is made worse by the fact that the overall loop is so enjoyable and addictive. Shadow of War was an unfortunate event in almost every way possible, pissing everyone off at release and cementing Warner Bros. as a truly awful entity. But for what it's worth, Shadow of War is an amazing game, well worth the time and effort the team has poured into it, and it is worth your time as well.
Led Zeppelin be like
epic hard rockin guitar riff
Ohh baby...i need some a-lovin...oooh baby...gotta give me some lovin...you know that i love you...like i always should...you know that that i love you...baby come on give me that lovin
HEAVY POUNDING DRUMS
YEAH! GIVE ME THAT LOVIN!
guitar vrooms across left and channel
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
guitar vrooms
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
vroom
ARLGITH RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIBGHT RIGHT!!!!! OOOH YEAH. OH BABY. OH BNABNY BABY BABY BABY. BABABABABABBABABABABBABABABY
music gets a bit quiter
baby...ooo baby...come on baby...baby...
guitar starts to do some trippy shit with some phaser pedals, drums start panning around speakers
baby...come on...i want you to come...baby...i want you to come...baby i want you to come to me...I WANT YOU TO COME TO ME TONIGHT
Band: DUN DUN
COME TO ME TONIGHT
DUN DUN
COME COME COME
Guitar: WOWOWOW
COME COME COME
WOWOWOW
I WANNA COME ON YOUR FACE BABY!!!!
DUN DUNNN
COME ON YOUR FACE BABY
DUN DUNNNN
oh yeah...FRODO!!!!
Band: DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN
FRODO AND SAM!!!!
DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN *
FRODO AND SAM!!!!
DUN DUN DUN DUN
THE BATTLE OF ASGARD!!!!
Guitar: WOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOW
GOLLUM!!!!!
Drums: BADOOMDOMDOMDOMDOMDOMDODMODM
GANDALF!!!!!!
Guitar: WOACHOWHCOAHWIOCHAIOWHCAIOHCIOWAHCIOAW
LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!!!!!
Drums: BRATARTATRATRATRATRATRATRATRAT
AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DUNDUDNUDNUDNUDNUNDUDNUNDUNUDNUDN
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
VROOOOM
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
VROOOOOM
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN BABY
Band hits an ending crescendo, but Plant keeps singing a-capella
....OH YEAH
I WANT THAT LOVIN
GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
OH YEAH BABY
AH AH AH AH AH AH
AH AH AH AH AH AH
LOOVVVVINNNN
LOOOOVVVVINNNNN
OH BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY
I WANT YOUR
LOVVVVINNNN
COME ON...GIVE ME THAT
LOOOVVVINNN
OH YEAH
OH BABY
BABABABY
BABY BABY
COME ON BABY
SUCK MY COCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the end
epic hard rockin guitar riff
Ohh baby...i need some a-lovin...oooh baby...gotta give me some lovin...you know that i love you...like i always should...you know that that i love you...baby come on give me that lovin
HEAVY POUNDING DRUMS
YEAH! GIVE ME THAT LOVIN!
guitar vrooms across left and channel
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
guitar vrooms
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
vroom
ARLGITH RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT RIBGHT RIGHT!!!!! OOOH YEAH. OH BABY. OH BNABNY BABY BABY BABY. BABABABABABBABABABABBABABABY
music gets a bit quiter
baby...ooo baby...come on baby...baby...
guitar starts to do some trippy shit with some phaser pedals, drums start panning around speakers
baby...come on...i want you to come...baby...i want you to come...baby i want you to come to me...I WANT YOU TO COME TO ME TONIGHT
Band: DUN DUN
COME TO ME TONIGHT
DUN DUN
COME COME COME
Guitar: WOWOWOW
COME COME COME
WOWOWOW
I WANNA COME ON YOUR FACE BABY!!!!
DUN DUNNN
COME ON YOUR FACE BABY
DUN DUNNNN
oh yeah...FRODO!!!!
Band: DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN
FRODO AND SAM!!!!
DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN *
FRODO AND SAM!!!!
DUN DUN DUN DUN
THE BATTLE OF ASGARD!!!!
Guitar: WOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOW
GOLLUM!!!!!
Drums: BADOOMDOMDOMDOMDOMDOMDODMODM
GANDALF!!!!!!
Guitar: WOACHOWHCOAHWIOCHAIOWHCAIOHCIOWAHCIOAW
LORD OF THE RINGS!!!!!!!!
Drums: BRATARTATRATRATRATRATRATRATRAT
AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DUNDUDNUDNUDNUDNUNDUDNUNDUNUDNUDN
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
VROOOOM
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
VROOOOOM
YEAH GIVE ME THAT LOVIN BABY
Band hits an ending crescendo, but Plant keeps singing a-capella
....OH YEAH
I WANT THAT LOVIN
GIVE ME THAT LOVIN
OH YEAH BABY
AH AH AH AH AH AH
AH AH AH AH AH AH
LOOVVVVINNNN
LOOOOVVVVINNNNN
OH BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY
I WANT YOUR
LOVVVVINNNN
COME ON...GIVE ME THAT
LOOOVVVINNN
OH YEAH
OH BABY
BABABABY
BABY BABY
COME ON BABY
SUCK MY COCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the end
This review contains spoilers
A fucking kaiju battle between an Ent and a Balrog. God I wish the story wasn't hot garbage so I could justify that crazy shit.
Sidenote: fuck everyone but the orcs. Bruce aside it's impressive how every single plot character is so boring and yet so hateable and infuriating.
Edit: I somehow suppressed the memory of Shelob in this game. Do not google "Shelob Shadow of War", worst mistake of my life!
Sidenote: fuck everyone but the orcs. Bruce aside it's impressive how every single plot character is so boring and yet so hateable and infuriating.
Edit: I somehow suppressed the memory of Shelob in this game. Do not google "Shelob Shadow of War", worst mistake of my life!
The unique nemesis system is even better in this title, with the same fun Arkham style combat and a great story set in middle earth.
Unfortunately, it’s let down by repetitive gameplay loops and a final act that outstays it’s welcome.
Worth a play if you can get it cheap, but definitely not worth full price.
Note that the problems caused by micro transactions on launch have been completely removed.
Unfortunately, it’s let down by repetitive gameplay loops and a final act that outstays it’s welcome.
Worth a play if you can get it cheap, but definitely not worth full price.
Note that the problems caused by micro transactions on launch have been completely removed.
The lack of imagination demonstrated by Shadow of War's interweaving systems is best understood through a story lens :
Fifteen years have passed and we're still chasing the shadow of Sauron all across Middle-Earth. Still summoning the specter of an old armor for petty squabbles. There's no endgame here, just stacks upon stacks of meat puppets.
Fifteen years have passed and we're still chasing the shadow of Sauron all across Middle-Earth. Still summoning the specter of an old armor for petty squabbles. There's no endgame here, just stacks upon stacks of meat puppets.
This sequel takes away fun aspects from the first game and turns them into a grindy microtransaction riddled mess.
The story is a lot weaker here too, I know the story in the first game wasn't all that good either but you could tone it out. But here they really want you to get invested in the story, and it failed, at least for me.
The microtransactions are gone as off me writing this review but the game is still a grindy mess since the game was built with the microtransaction in mind so technically there is no fixing this game, that's how fucked it really is.
The story is a lot weaker here too, I know the story in the first game wasn't all that good either but you could tone it out. But here they really want you to get invested in the story, and it failed, at least for me.
The microtransactions are gone as off me writing this review but the game is still a grindy mess since the game was built with the microtransaction in mind so technically there is no fixing this game, that's how fucked it really is.
The moment-to-moment gameplay here is great. I loved making little objectives for myself: new orcs to recruit, old friends to train, schemes to plan. The thrill of being saved from death by a loyal bodyguard. A movie-quality raid on a towering fortress.
But then those stories lose their luster after you've completed the first zone or two. You start seeing the machinery behind the magic, and the moments that were amazing the first time around begin to feel less and less unique.
This is an unfortunate casualty of the Ubisoft philosophy, a game that would have benefited from a significant scale reduction. I loved what I played in the first 30-ish hours, but I'm stopping here while my feelings are still mostly positive.
But then those stories lose their luster after you've completed the first zone or two. You start seeing the machinery behind the magic, and the moments that were amazing the first time around begin to feel less and less unique.
This is an unfortunate casualty of the Ubisoft philosophy, a game that would have benefited from a significant scale reduction. I loved what I played in the first 30-ish hours, but I'm stopping here while my feelings are still mostly positive.
I booted up Shadow of Mordor last summer, and my memory had betrayed me. I didn’t enjoy that game nearly as much as I had thought I did when I first played it. Shadow of War fixes almost every problem I had with Shadow of Mordor.
I’ll get the bad out of the way first. Talon has some major control issues. The parkour and targeting in battle are huge in my opinion. He would rarely scale the environment the way I wanted him to, which led to getting spotted or standing in place and taking damage. In terms of combat I believe a temporary lock on mechanic would have gone a long to easing some combat woes I had (Nemesis Difficulty). The general structure of Shadow of War’s main campaign is bloated and generally pushes back against the interesting aspect of the game, the nemesis system. Most missions feel very restrictive in what you can and can’t do and really the 15ish hour campaign is just training for the best aspect of the game; the nemesis system and the shadow wars.
The Shadow wars at the end of the game followed by endless wars is a fantastic addition that lets you play with the nemesis system in a truly free form way. Monolith need to be applauded for improving the nemesis system on the first game to a form I would say has perfect foundations. Enemies can no longer become immune to every form of attack. Instead the strengths and weakness have been separated into 8 different ability descriptors, ranging from immunity to certain tactics on one side, abilities in the middle and vulnerable damage techniques on the other side. Orcs can still adapt to your tactics and thanks to a ‘quick adapter’ perk they can often do it mid battle if you don’t mix up your strategy. So the nemesis system is always making your orcs, in the 4 main territories grow, and possibly die.
The story is told in two ways. The first is the better way described in a Mark Brown (GMTK) video on the nemesis system; it's all head canon. This is very rewarding and honestly fun to do as the nemesis system lets hyperactive brains go to work picking favourite orcs not just because of their stats and perks but because of the different moments of gameplay that orc has specifically impacted. This leads to a greater connection to the orcs than you may think. None have Mass Effect companion levels of interactions but they are enjoyable to spend time with.The second is the actual story which is in short completely fucking bananas. For what it’s worth the story is the equivalent of a child playing with action figures and I love that about it. Everything about it is over the top and supercharged from the Ent Balrog fight, to turning a horrific spider into a ‘sexy lady’. The story is dumb, but I see what it was trying to do, and I appreciate it for what it is.
I’ll get the bad out of the way first. Talon has some major control issues. The parkour and targeting in battle are huge in my opinion. He would rarely scale the environment the way I wanted him to, which led to getting spotted or standing in place and taking damage. In terms of combat I believe a temporary lock on mechanic would have gone a long to easing some combat woes I had (Nemesis Difficulty). The general structure of Shadow of War’s main campaign is bloated and generally pushes back against the interesting aspect of the game, the nemesis system. Most missions feel very restrictive in what you can and can’t do and really the 15ish hour campaign is just training for the best aspect of the game; the nemesis system and the shadow wars.
The Shadow wars at the end of the game followed by endless wars is a fantastic addition that lets you play with the nemesis system in a truly free form way. Monolith need to be applauded for improving the nemesis system on the first game to a form I would say has perfect foundations. Enemies can no longer become immune to every form of attack. Instead the strengths and weakness have been separated into 8 different ability descriptors, ranging from immunity to certain tactics on one side, abilities in the middle and vulnerable damage techniques on the other side. Orcs can still adapt to your tactics and thanks to a ‘quick adapter’ perk they can often do it mid battle if you don’t mix up your strategy. So the nemesis system is always making your orcs, in the 4 main territories grow, and possibly die.
The story is told in two ways. The first is the better way described in a Mark Brown (GMTK) video on the nemesis system; it's all head canon. This is very rewarding and honestly fun to do as the nemesis system lets hyperactive brains go to work picking favourite orcs not just because of their stats and perks but because of the different moments of gameplay that orc has specifically impacted. This leads to a greater connection to the orcs than you may think. None have Mass Effect companion levels of interactions but they are enjoyable to spend time with.The second is the actual story which is in short completely fucking bananas. For what it’s worth the story is the equivalent of a child playing with action figures and I love that about it. Everything about it is over the top and supercharged from the Ent Balrog fight, to turning a horrific spider into a ‘sexy lady’. The story is dumb, but I see what it was trying to do, and I appreciate it for what it is.