[60 hours played]
Shadow of Mordor was my first platinum trophy, and I truly adore that game. I bought Shadow of War during a 2017 Black Friday sale; so why am I just now playing it? The short answer is I just couldn’t get back into it. I actually tried playing it a couple different times in the past, but I always gave up on it after a couple hours. Finally, I decided to stick with it, and I’m glad I did. Granted, it pales in comparison to the first game (in my opinion), but I still mostly enjoyed my 60 hours.
[Combat]
Going in, one of my concerns was whether or not this type of combat would still hold up in 2021, and the answer is “sort of”? When I say “type of combat”, I’m referring to the button mashy style that the Batman games made popular. Early on, it felt button mashy, but I got better once I started unlocking upgrades. My biggest problem with the combat in this game is how imprecise it is. There were soooo many times where I was trying to target enemy “A” with a finisher, only to end up hitting enemy “C”. That’s infuriating, guys. Keep in mind there’s no enemy lock-on feature, and there are a ton of enemies on the screen at once. The only time I really enjoyed the combat was the rare 1v1 encounters. Overall, the combat felt loose and very imprecise at times.
[Enemies]
Orc, Orcs, Orcs, and more Orcs! As with the last game, this is a really good thing. Each one has their own unique personality and quirks, and that leads to each encounter feeling special. My only real gripe with the enemies in this game is I wish there were more 1v1 encounters with them. Many of the battles consisted of enemies being all over the place, and that prevented me from enjoying the battles as much as I should have.
[Gear]
By “Gear”, I’m referring to weapons and armor, and I like how it was handled in Shadow of War. You can’t buy gear from an in-game merchant or anything like that, but it doesn’t matter because gear drops are in abundance. More often than not, you’ll get a piece of gear that has a perk attached to it. For example, a sword that does more damage when your health is below 20%. You’ll also be able to slot gems that further improve your weapons and armor. The one thing I didn’t like about gear was that some of the perks were locked behind certain achievements. For example, a dagger perk might be locked behind performing a stealth kill on 5 enemies. At the end of the day, gear was handled differently than the first game, and I liked it.
[Open World]
I know this is officially considered an open world game, but I don’t think I agree with that. When I think of “open world”, I think of a game where I can travel from one end of the map to the other, without encountering a loading screen (think Witcher 3). This game is made up of zones that all look similar and feel congested. I believe there’s a photo mode, but I don’t know why it’s needed because I never felt compelled to take a picture of anything. This isn’t a modern day Assassin’s Creed game boys and girls, so don’t go in expecting to be in awe of the open world.
[Shadow Wars]
This is part of the name, so this is a big part of the end game. However, I can’t speak on it because I didn’t try it. Once I finished the campaign, I didn’t have the motivation to go back and defend all of the different fortresses that I previously conquered. I’m not saying this is a bad feature, but it’s not something for me. If you really love the game, then I think this is something you might enjoy.
It took me a bit to *finally* play Shadow of War. While I like the first game better, I still mostly enjoyed my 60 hours of game time. But, I didn’t enjoy it enough to play through the end game. If you liked the first game, you’ll probably like this too. Heck, you may even enjoy it more, as many people seem to. Immortals Fenyx Rising; you’re up next!
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Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2021
Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
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Top reviews from other countries
Anurag Mangla
Great purchase!
Reviewed in India on November 16, 2022Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Sam
Amazing game
Reviewed in India on July 28, 2021Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Francisco Javier
El producto llegó bien, solo un par de días después de la fecha estimada
Reviewed in Mexico on August 4, 2022Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Francisco Javier
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Kunal Mhatre
Shadow of war came too far
Reviewed in India on October 12, 2020Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
Kunal Mhatre
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Leona D'costa
Average
Reviewed in India on June 28, 2021Platform For Display: PlayStation 4Edition: StandardVerified Purchase
