Readers who would come to my blog in the early days (ah those days!) would probably have been wondering what I do with my game reviews these days. Truth is, I usually put them on Steam, and then they promptly end up in the shade of someone who has played 1000 hours. Okay, I just don’t have that sort of time so okay, ignore me please! But here I am king, because it’s MY blog. And it has been this way for…
THREE YEARS!
To mark this historic occasion (if I may say so myself), I thought I’d put one game review up here instead of at Steam. And the game is…. Shadow of War. Yeah, the sequel to Shadow of Mordor that twists the LOTR franchise into an Orc civil war. Well, SoW gives more of orc on orc slaughter, more Celebrimbor chicanery and a replacement for the oh-so-pretty Lithariel, called Eltariel. So does SoW live up to expectations ? Is there more story than last time ? And is Eltariel as hot as Lithariel ? Let’s find out!
Graphics – Monolith has pulled out all stops to make this game look beautiful. Essentially a medieval gothic landscape, the game brings out the nuances of Mordor beautifully. I’d remarked on the greenery in the second half of SoM, but Nûrnen provides actual tropical greenery. Seregost is covered in snow, and Gorgoroth in lava and ashes. Cirith Ungol and Minas Ithil/Morgul have fair weather, similar to what we saw in SoM. Each area is breathtaking for the sheer care with which cliffs have been drawn, orc actions scripted and atmospheric effects created. Whether you’re braving the smog of industrial Ungol or Gorgoroth or taking in the greenery of Nûrnen, the game will never make you feel bored in terms of scenery.
Character visuals have also been upgraded, but not by a lot. What I really did notice is that the orcs’ facial expressions have now been improved a good deal. But these are to be expected of AAA games, and nothing too fancy caught my eye.
Rating – 4/5
Plot – Shadow of Mordor’s plot was among the most forgettable. You pretty much spent the entire game preparing an army to take down Sauron, and then when you did, he didn’t quite stay down. Hence, Shadow of War. In the beginning, you’re forging a new ring, which is promptly taken from you by a spider masquerading as a mature bombshell – Shelob. You then have to try and fail to sae Minal Ithil, after which you can happily go back to orc domination and forging an army.
In a way, the game suffers from the same problem as its predecessor – after the initial hour, the storyline kinda disappears. Sure, open world games aren’t supposed to have linear storylines, but then what’s a game where you feel your sole task is to dominate orcs ? Once Minas Ithil becomes the spooky Minas Morgul, all that remains of the story are tracking down the Nazgûl, ensuring the Balrog stays inside molten lava and saving the remnants of the garrison of Minas Ithil.
All of these make for interesting side missions, but there is just no urgency to it all. Sure, if you are playing SoW without having played SoM, you are probably already high on the “need to get revenge” thing. But then if you are like me and are a SoM veteran, you get this feeling of déjà vu which is just plain annoying.
This is the main reason I left the bulk of non-Gondor missions for the end. I finished these in a marathon run once I was around level 35, which a) made them super easy and b) proved my point that the storyline here is basically filler. To make matters worse, Talion just doesn’t have any chemistry this time around. I remember clearly Lithariel’s none-too-subtle overtures to Talion. He didn’t give in (probably because having sex while having a frowning Celebrimbor inside you isn’t a libido booster), but this time, there is zilch.
For one, Idril is interested mainly in Baranor, and you kinda feel like the guy in the middle. Yet, this line isn’t developed either, at least not where Talion can see it. The other female character, Eltariel, is too femme fatale and eventually, literally dumps Talion’s company and leaves him dying. But I won’t spoil the whole story here, considering how little there is.
Which brings us to the end of the plot, which is a bugger. WB Games is facing much flak for putting the true ending behind a wall of grind involving repetitive fort defence work (more on this below), and it honestly, isn’t all that great. The part before the final ending is more interesting, especially since it is completely non-canon. Still, ACT III and IV could have been stretched out with the player being given multiple options a la Witcher. But no, you end up where you end up, regardless of your play style and what you did in the game.
Which is to say, you end up back in Shelob’s arms. Does she fuck you ? No, because this game was apparently designed in a Benedictine monastery. Does she fuck with you ? No, because this game was made by people who just wanted to finish up and go home to dinner.
Rating – 2/5
Characters – Given that Talion is technically undead, he hasn’t changed much. He seems a bit more handsome, but that’s it. Maybe Mount Doom’s ashes work like beauty clay, who knows! After all, Sauron sans armour is pretty handsome too! Anyway, Celebrimbor, the wraith half, has given up much of his life force to forge the new ring and this has turned him into a Fallout-esque ghoul. His voice is also somewhat older, and overall you really feel that Talion has become younger and Celebrimbor younger! Apart from that, there is very little character development. There is a nascent tussle regarding the morality of helping Gondor – and then the orcs – between the two, but it is hardly fully played out. Talion wants to help his former comrades defend Ithil, while Celebrimbor only wants the Palantîr, which is what you’d expect if you played the first game. Things seem to be going down the SoM path, when…
Enter Eltariel, the Sword (or similar) of Galadriel. Once Celebrimbor has failed to persuade the rather anorexic elf to hand over the sword, she becomes a marker for the presence of Nazgûl. Taking on her missions basically involves fighting the Nazgûl, shadowy creatures who can flit from one place to another in the blink of an eye (and in the process, glitch more than once). Eltariel would have made a worthy companion, especially with her dislike for the new ring and belief that the Bright Lord would be as bad as the Dark one. But the game just brings her in to fight the ring wraiths, without bothering to develop any chemistry between Talion and Eltariel. Imagine if some chemistry had developed and Talion would be all “Et tu Eltu ?” when she walks off with Celembrimbor. That’d have left me teary eyed. Instead, you just wonder how much they’ll milk Eltariel (sorry for the analogy), in the DLC.
Then there’s Shelob. She’s placed as a mysterious and probably dangerous presence who can see the future. She manages to mesmerize Talion but fails to show him Celebrimbor’s true intentions. Shelob should have received far more screen-time, maybe even as a NPC companion to Talion. Especially since her memories reveal a complex history with the Dark Lord. Instead, she seems to simply come in, take the ring, give visions, return the ring, and help Talion in the end. Maybe they’ll get some spider milk (I MUST stop using this…..aaarggghhh) in the DLC, but overall, another underutilized character.
Now for the Gondorians. The prime among them is Idril, a rather pretty girl who seems to be dangerously underage for orc-hunting. Her daddy-dearest gives up the Palantîr to ensure her safety, though the game fails to explain just how she would be protected. Anyhow, she returns and proves to be a loyal fighter who is determined to stay in Mordor. This takes me back to the SoM where remainders of the Rangers were hiding in a cave and refused to leave until others had been freed.
Then there’s Baranor, who has a thing for Idril and wants her out of harm’s way. However, he himself is determined to fight for Gondor in Mordor, and often joins Talion in fighting orcs. An amiable guy overall, who definitely deserved more missions.
An honourable mention for Càrnan, the wood spirit. Most of the rhymed stuff she says in the game is unintelligible without subtitles, but basically she wants you to ensure Tal Goroth, the balrog of Gorgoroth, isn’t raised by an orc necromancer named Zog. You and Càrnan team up, with the latter taking up a number of animal forms, to kill the balrog and then Zog. This is one of the toughest storylines, and if you are into killing all orcs before finishing the objectives, almost impossible. That said, the rewards include flying dragons so yeah, maybe not so bad after all.
Lastly, the orcs. In general, they provide an excellent introduction to British accents. More particularly, Ratbag makes a return and is the only orc loyal to you throughout. Another character is Brûz, who is an Olog-hai. These creatures, basically crosses between orcs and trolls, tend to be larger and far stronger, but also somewhat stupid. I’ve never gotten over Brûz hiding in a bush, with 90% of his body being easily visible. Anyhow, Brûz’s story is far more complex. To keep things short, he introduces you to the basic domination and fort control techniques in the hope that you’d make him overlord, just like you made Ratbag war chief in SoM. You don’t, and he eventually betrays you when you fend off an attack on Nûrnen. This sparks a rather interesting storyline where you must find, defeat and shame Brûz to make an example of him to other orcs looking to shake off your allegiance.
Except my story didn’t end there. Brûz becomes deranged when he is shamed (as is quite common), but he ambushed me again outside – surprise surprise – the fort of Cirith Ungol. A fort that I already held and whose walls were teeming with my men. Suffice it to say that I was quite merciful when I recruited him again into my army and so ensured he didn’t continue getting pummelled by my pet graug, about a half a dozen of my orcs and of course, me!
This aside, there are a number of other orcs who turn up at various times. Each has his own personality and traits, but apart from an introduction speech, there’s little to their character.
Rating – 2.5/5
Gameplay – Of course, what shines in SoM must shine in SoW, and how! The Nemesis system has now been upgraded to provide a wider array of combat strengths and weaknesses. Interestingly, the level caps have been removed and this makes it slightly easier to fight level 25-35 orcs. Beyond level 35, things do get rather challenging, but that’s the point where the game asks you to spend cash to buy loot boxes. So that’s all rather expected.
The game basically requires you to do the same jump, block and slash routine you did the first time. Irritatingly, the HUD part that provided the mana (called focus) gauge has now been replaced by something called Elven Rage (which becomes Raise Dead towards the end). While Elven Rage is useful, it’s not strictly necessary to provide it so much space. The focus gauge is now a bar on the right of the minimap, while another thing called might (which wasn’t measurable in the last game) shows up on the top left. Add to it arrow counters and you have a truly confusing and complicated HUD.
Coming to the Nemesis system, it has been upgraded. Enemies can now not only challenge you directly, but ambush you. Depending on the level of the ambusher, you can find yourself with a sweet new orc captain recruit, or running for your life while being chased by a super-powerful one. Annoyingly, the game only lets you recruit enemies of your own level or lower, so trying out higher level areas (Gorgoroth for instance) before you have hit that level is rather pointless. Sure, you could shame them, which reduces their level. But then you’d fight them again. Fancy fighting the same orc multiple times ? You only have to wait until one or more orcs betray you and then come after you. Or you kill a recruit’s blood brother, which will guarantee a betrayal.
Apart from this new mechanic, the game retains the old captain vs captain system. I found these rather entertaining, though, because the swordplay isn’t so hard, I didn’t always have to send captains against captains. Instead, I could take on most directly without even inquiring about their weaknesses once I was about level 20 and up.
The really really new thing though, is the fortress. There are five fortresses in the game, of which you can capture and defend up to four. The fifth is a bit more complex, given that it can be captured only at the end of Act III and capturing it pretty much ends the actual story and begins the grind towards the true ending. For the remainder though, the strategy is simple. Target the bodyguards of the war chiefs and take them out, recruiting them or plain killing them, to weaken the warchief. Take out the warchiefs (it is almost impossible to recruit them because they’re usually 2-5 levels higher than you) and then take out the Overlord (who is around 10 levels higher). This was one mechanic I truly loved, since I could prepare my forces slowly and then attack in a huge orgy of orc killing. I didn’t always succeed, and in fact, died twice taking Seregost. But the end rewards were breathtaking.
Lastly, Talion’s abilities have been expanded. While some, such as the ability to summon a graug, are really helpful in combat, others like drake flying, aren’t. That said, the game smoothens a lot of things that were actual issues with SoM, while retaining what’s good, such as shadow strike. All in all, gameplay is a blast, though it should be savoured like aged wine – bit by bit, lest it get too boring.
Rating – 4.5/5
Conclusion – The storyline is tepid, the characters are under-utilised and the game makes you grind for the true ending. But, BUT, the gameplay is awesome. The graphics are pretty good, and bring out the novelty of Mordor beautifully. Most of all, the game remains deliciously unpredictable, making one domination simple and the next very, very tough. You never know which combination of problems you’ll be up against, and this keeps the game fresh, until at least the end of Act III. If you’ve played SoM, this game should be an incremental improvement that will bring back good memories and help you forge new ones. On the other hand, if you haven’t played the first one, prepare to deal in some very personal and non-friendly issues with orcs, even if the end result is something of a letdown.
Overall Rating – 3.5/5
Recommended – Yes!