Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

The lore of LOTR brought me to play this game. It was fun, the fighting mechanic is heavily inspired by the Batham Arkham series. It is satisfying. An okay game for me to be honest.

VISUALS

Artistry: 9/12

Technical Merit: 6/8

SOUND DESIGN

Music: 8/12

Sound Effects & Vocals: 6/8

INTERACTION

Control & Interface: 7/8

Player Agency: 6/8

Accessibility: 4/4

MECHANICS

Feedback & Fun: 10/10

Depth: 3/5

Variety: 5/5

CHARACTER

Narrative: 6/8

Heart: 3/6

Originality: 4/6

SUPER FUN COMBAT BUT THAT ENDING BOO

Awesome combat and Talion is a good protagonist. If not for a lackluster ending, I'd give this game a 10.

Lots to enjoy in this gritty action slaughter-fest set in Mordor. The story is basically Middle Earth fan-fiction (sorry, but it's true), with disposable characters and plot, but the dynamic combat, suite of powers, and tight gameplay make "Shadows" lots of fun to play. It improves on the first game in several meaningful ways, but is basically more of the same. The real star of the show is the orcs--which are simply the best. They're filled with personality, perfectly animated and acted, and just joyful in their reveling of orcishness. Not the best open world game, but the best one set in Middle Earth ... so there's that.