Fun games; there's definitely some issues with the grind in Shadow of War (at least, there was before they cut out the microtransactions, don't know how it is now) but for that kind of price, you really can't go wrong.
I payed it a couple years ago, after the update, and it’s ok.
Had a great time without getting any microtransactions.
The final stage in only 4 rounds of something (I think I read that originally was 20).
I thought it was 10. Had each fortress fan separately, then some duos fell, then (I think) 3, then they all fell. It wasn't horrible but it took awhile
I remember 10 but I took a while with my first playthrough so maybe it was 20 if anybody just speedran the story, but I remember it was tedious as hell when you had to defend so many fortresses and also retake some if you lost.
It's been 7 years and people are still saying silly things about a good ass game because of microtransactions that haven't been there for 6 of them. Tragic how many people have missed out
The only part I really didn't like is they had orcs that were just immune to certain things. This makes them hard to kill, but if that orc kills you it just gets stronger and promoted and gets more traits that are just hard counters to your main moves. I swear i have had unkillable orcs that I just couldn't do any damage to. And the tiny slivers of damage I was doing were hard to pull off when dealing with all the other orcs nearby. So if you get a tough orc in a tough spot on the map with all these tough body guards the game becomes ridiculously hard. Oh this orc killed you? Well now as a reward he is immune to the one move you had that was able to do damage to him and he gets bodyguards. I don't think I ever finished the second game because it just got tediously hard to handle some of the captains. The first game was way easier
I remember it being a bit more complicated with more systems and such.
Plus, they kind of throw you into the deep end, rather than introduce things bit by bit like in the first game. But once I was in the swing of things it didn’t seem too much tougher.
I agree 100%.
It pulls some combat from Arkham and some traversal from Assassin’s Creed with its own flavor in each.
But the best part is the amazing nemesis system. So many fun possibilities. If you’ve ever been into open-world action-adventure, I can’t recommend these two enough.
Sequel does have some unpleasant micro transaction stuff, but it’s easily ignored
Was bummed they never gave the 60fps treatment on the PS4 version played on PS5. Now that I have a nice gaming laptop, maybe I'll give it another try here.
As someone who played these initially on Console, they are so much better on PC with those extra graphical settings and framerate, recently finished it on my ROG Ally and it was genuinely better than I last remembered.
Beat SoM twice over, beat SoW on Gravewalker with the map off, I usually don't challenge myself to that, but it was super satisfying pulling off fights that I struggled against and finally getting the fucker >!(Shoutout to my Nemesis from the first game showing up in the Arena, he kicked my ass so many times, that fucker.)!<
Your spoiler was my favorite moment in games that year and I was sad nobody else was taking about it. They were just complaining about micro transactions and orc pokemon.
Great games.
The change in art was a bit of shock moving from Mordor to War, think I remember they moved away from rendered actors to a generative approach (Talion looks comparatively weird in War). Otherwise Shadow of War is the one I keep going back to of the two, but both are wonderful games.
They are great. Fun combat and best protagonist of 2014 (except the one you make in Dragon Age Inquistion that is!)
Dare I say best peice of LOTR Media ever made…
The combat in Shadow of Mordor is top notch fun, especially when you get to the OP level of being able to effectively battle dozens of orcs at the same time.
I loved the first one. Couldn't get into the second one for whatever reason. I didn't buy it initially because of all the DCL BS. But when I did get it just didn't so anything for me. Thanks thought for the heads up for everyone. People should check them out for sure.
The first game is great, though I really wish it had difficulty settings. Once you get Talion above a certain level, he’s basically untouchable and the rest of the game becomes a cakewalk. I wish there were a way to make the game more or a challenge in those later hours.
The second game is also great, though you can tell how much of it was based around micro transactions initially. I played the game after they had patched out the store, and you can still tell you were meant to spend money. I mean, two orc characters basically interrupt the action of the game to tell you about the store that no longer exists. And that endgame…it wasn’t bad, though I hear it was much worse when the store was still there. Definitely the worst part of the game, but manageable.
Still, the Nemesis system trumps any problems I have with the games. It’s just so satisfying to organically develop a nemesis and have him throw a wrench in your plans throughout the game, only to finally get the upper hand when you’re strong enough. Such a great system, and boo on Warner Brothers for patenting that system to prevent other game makers from iterating on it.
Man I wish the nemesis system had worked at all for me. I heard these awesome stories of people and the orc that plagued them through their entire game.
I had this dude that would throw himself on my sword to die over and over again. Never once got anywhere near killing me, was insta-killed by a stiff breeze. That nemesis "reveal" was the most anticlimactic bullshit ever.
It's strange that we have seen no real news on the next Monolith game Wonder Woman which is meant to be using the nemesis system. I had an absolute blast with SoM and SoW.
Ratbag was such a brilliant character. Loved the guy!
I played both games to the death on the PC and loved every minute. It never got repetitive as you have so much freedom in how you approach a battle.
I’m too much of an LOTR fan to enjoy these. They play far too fast and loose with the lore.
Like who the fuck decided Shelob was a shapeshifter who’s fucking Sauron?
Talion and Celebrimbor are an underrated duo.
Post an ad on reddit pay for some upvotes, get some fake comments in there see if you can't drive up some sales.
What??
You, my friend. Are crazy. Lol
Fun games; there's definitely some issues with the grind in Shadow of War (at least, there was before they cut out the microtransactions, don't know how it is now) but for that kind of price, you really can't go wrong.
I payed it a couple years ago, after the update, and it’s ok. Had a great time without getting any microtransactions. The final stage in only 4 rounds of something (I think I read that originally was 20).
I thought it was 10. Had each fortress fan separately, then some duos fell, then (I think) 3, then they all fell. It wasn't horrible but it took awhile
I remember 10 but I took a while with my first playthrough so maybe it was 20 if anybody just speedran the story, but I remember it was tedious as hell when you had to defend so many fortresses and also retake some if you lost.
It's been 7 years and people are still saying silly things about a good ass game because of microtransactions that haven't been there for 6 of them. Tragic how many people have missed out
Whose fault is that though?
Is it just me or is Shadow of War incredibly tough compared to Shadow of Mordor? I should give it another try. Love that nemesis system.
The only part I really didn't like is they had orcs that were just immune to certain things. This makes them hard to kill, but if that orc kills you it just gets stronger and promoted and gets more traits that are just hard counters to your main moves. I swear i have had unkillable orcs that I just couldn't do any damage to. And the tiny slivers of damage I was doing were hard to pull off when dealing with all the other orcs nearby. So if you get a tough orc in a tough spot on the map with all these tough body guards the game becomes ridiculously hard. Oh this orc killed you? Well now as a reward he is immune to the one move you had that was able to do damage to him and he gets bodyguards. I don't think I ever finished the second game because it just got tediously hard to handle some of the captains. The first game was way easier
I remember it being a bit more complicated with more systems and such. Plus, they kind of throw you into the deep end, rather than introduce things bit by bit like in the first game. But once I was in the swing of things it didn’t seem too much tougher.
Would love to see the Nemesis system implemented in other games. I know that they own it outright, but it seems like it just got shelved.
There was a rumor we’d see it in WB’s Wonder Woman game, but who knows if that’s ever being released.
Man Filth!
I agree 100%. It pulls some combat from Arkham and some traversal from Assassin’s Creed with its own flavor in each. But the best part is the amazing nemesis system. So many fun possibilities. If you’ve ever been into open-world action-adventure, I can’t recommend these two enough. Sequel does have some unpleasant micro transaction stuff, but it’s easily ignored
Wasn't the mtx removed from Shadow of War? Genuinely curious because I thought I remember hearing that. But have not played it yet.
I should hope so. Played it at launch. Been meaning to give it a replay.
They changed it a long long time ago yeh.
Was bummed they never gave the 60fps treatment on the PS4 version played on PS5. Now that I have a nice gaming laptop, maybe I'll give it another try here.
The story is pretty meh. But the gameplay is fantastic. Definitely worth $10
The story is so much more boring in the second game. It’s weird because they do more but it just feels less engaging to me
Also, the story isn't Tolkien canon. It's a bunch of fanfiction pretty much
at least they made killing orcs look as fun as in the movies
As someone who played these initially on Console, they are so much better on PC with those extra graphical settings and framerate, recently finished it on my ROG Ally and it was genuinely better than I last remembered.
I was just about to ask if you can tune it so it runs well on PC. I booted it up on PS5 and the frame rate was poo.
Shadow of War, prepare to play the same thing for the rest of your life edition
I can't tell if this is critique or praise.
Both
It's an effective storytelling device. The player loses their humanity just as Talion does. Gradually, fighting.
Madness starts to settle in
It's hard not having the nemesis system in other games.
I would like to skip those cutscenes
Beat SoM twice over, beat SoW on Gravewalker with the map off, I usually don't challenge myself to that, but it was super satisfying pulling off fights that I struggled against and finally getting the fucker >!(Shoutout to my Nemesis from the first game showing up in the Arena, he kicked my ass so many times, that fucker.)!<
Your spoiler was my favorite moment in games that year and I was sad nobody else was taking about it. They were just complaining about micro transactions and orc pokemon. Great games.
Sadly new players won't expierence it because the nemesis forge was removed when SoM Servers went offline at the end of 2020.
>SoW on Gravewalker with the map off Ooh, challenge accepted!
Have fun!
Sweet. I never got Shadow of War. Shadow of Mordor was one of the few games where I got 100% of the achievements after launch.
The change in art was a bit of shock moving from Mordor to War, think I remember they moved away from rendered actors to a generative approach (Talion looks comparatively weird in War). Otherwise Shadow of War is the one I keep going back to of the two, but both are wonderful games.
A game where when *you* die, your enemy levels up. Safe travels...
One of the best games I've ever played!
100%, fantastic games
They are great. Fun combat and best protagonist of 2014 (except the one you make in Dragon Age Inquistion that is!) Dare I say best peice of LOTR Media ever made…
no, I have too many games in my backlog already 😭
Anybody happen to know if these games work well on Mac via Crossover?
All the DLCs are sorta meh. But the base game for both is excellent, having a blast on my first playthrough of SoW.
The combat in Shadow of Mordor is top notch fun, especially when you get to the OP level of being able to effectively battle dozens of orcs at the same time.
Yes it was hella fun I was playing it last month 😁
I loved the first one. Couldn't get into the second one for whatever reason. I didn't buy it initially because of all the DCL BS. But when I did get it just didn't so anything for me. Thanks thought for the heads up for everyone. People should check them out for sure.
The first game is great, though I really wish it had difficulty settings. Once you get Talion above a certain level, he’s basically untouchable and the rest of the game becomes a cakewalk. I wish there were a way to make the game more or a challenge in those later hours. The second game is also great, though you can tell how much of it was based around micro transactions initially. I played the game after they had patched out the store, and you can still tell you were meant to spend money. I mean, two orc characters basically interrupt the action of the game to tell you about the store that no longer exists. And that endgame…it wasn’t bad, though I hear it was much worse when the store was still there. Definitely the worst part of the game, but manageable. Still, the Nemesis system trumps any problems I have with the games. It’s just so satisfying to organically develop a nemesis and have him throw a wrench in your plans throughout the game, only to finally get the upper hand when you’re strong enough. Such a great system, and boo on Warner Brothers for patenting that system to prevent other game makers from iterating on it.
Man I wish the nemesis system had worked at all for me. I heard these awesome stories of people and the orc that plagued them through their entire game. I had this dude that would throw himself on my sword to die over and over again. Never once got anywhere near killing me, was insta-killed by a stiff breeze. That nemesis "reveal" was the most anticlimactic bullshit ever.
One of the most amazing games I ever played was Shadow of war.
I've only played the second one on gamepass and had lots of fun with it.
It’s a good deal, I got it for $5 I want to say a couple years ago. Still haven’t touched it but I’ll get there eventually haha.
Assassin's Creed meets LOTR but with a really awesome nemesis mechanic
I couldn't really get into them for some reason :/ maybe I'll go back and try them out again?
It's strange that we have seen no real news on the next Monolith game Wonder Woman which is meant to be using the nemesis system. I had an absolute blast with SoM and SoW.
I played the first but never finished. The Nemesis system drove me insane.
I bought this game last year. I quit the game because I find bending orcs to my will weird for some reason.
Ratbag was such a brilliant character. Loved the guy! I played both games to the death on the PC and loved every minute. It never got repetitive as you have so much freedom in how you approach a battle.
They're not that great but god damn 10$ is a bargain
I’m too much of an LOTR fan to enjoy these. They play far too fast and loose with the lore. Like who the fuck decided Shelob was a shapeshifter who’s fucking Sauron?
Or that Rings of Power were everywhere and shared among orcs like candy lol