Anyone thinking of picking up Middle Earth: Shadow of War?

i'm picking up a copy tomorrow.

it took me a while to really warm to shadow of mordor. the barren, flat brown landscape wasn't the epic backdrop to a lotr game i was hoping for. story was meh, plus all the uruks had annoying cockney accents which made it sound like a movie-length episode of eastenders. it just didn't feel very lord of the ringsy. plus that year had been an awful year for gaming so i think i was suffering from a bit of gaming malaise when i got round to trying it late that year.

but after a while i shook those pessimistic first impressions off and began to really appreciate the game for what it is - a great melee combat game. it felt leagues ahead of the assassin's creed games in terms of fluidity and responsiveness and more controlled and precise than the borderline qte combat of the arkham games.

the upgrade system was well paced and unconvoluted, the stealth was simple but effective and the nemesis system was a really cool inclusion, one that would've been even cooler if it wouldn't magically re-autopopulate when you got close to killing all the captains.

yes the game undoubtedly became repetitive in places and yes towards the end you were so powerful you could cut through swarms of uruks with ease (but tbh i don't mind god-like powers at that stage in a game, if you've earned them). also the end fight sequence was an abomination.

but, despite all the game's faults, i'm still keen to dip my toe back into mordor's murky brown waters for another round of uruk bashing. anyone thinking similar or have any thoughts they want to share on either of the mordor games?

Already have it preloaded on X1. I played through Mordor three times I believe (twice X1, once PS4). It was just a fun game to screw around in. The sequel looks like more of the same, just significantly more enjoyable. We shall see come midnight tonight!

I'll decide after the reviews from casual gamers came in. But it looks promising.

£44.99 in the UK, said i'd never drop that amount on a game and I stick to that.

Loot boxes as well, basically giving them a free pass.

I'm avoiding all games with a horrible LootBoxes implementation. The only way I can see myself getting it is if there's a glitch / save edit / whatever to get those LootBoxes for free.

Microtransaction on a 60$ title... 90$ for a full game experience...

I think I'll replay the original once again.

I will wait until there are reviews from honest people like Jim Sterling. Not the corrupted IGN and Gamespot. I want to know how bad the loot boxes.

Yup, but not straight away - maybe there will be an 'ultimate' edition at some point that could be worth picking up in a sale...

i got it for £39.99 on amazon prime. i rarely pay full price for a game but f*ck it i'm bored.

from reading around it seems the lootbox fears may have been blown a bit out of proportion by one or two sites. the gist seems to be there's an abundance of epic / legendary gear / orcs in game but you can save time by buying it if you want. i can live with that

NO, it looks totally uninteresting with you having to take ground and order units about and all sorts of nonsense. It is mere shadow of the first game. Only recommended for people who like action oriented strategy games. In other words, masochists.

I'll probably pick it up down the road used. I enjoyed the first but not 60 bucks worth of enjoyment.

no, Shadow of Mordor was fairly boring to me and I dont want to support their shitty microtransaction practices

you sound like an expert in nonsense

We need a cheat device like the gamegeni to crack open these microtransactions.

Exactly what are these micotransactions? Skins? Played the first one and loved it

I'd like to. Just seems like the improved Shadow of Mordor. Minus the BS lootbox trash.

I'm actually waiting on ACG on YouTube and see what he has to say. I've always enjoyed watching his videos and getting a 2nd opinion off him. While I did enjoy the first game; I'm on the fence with this one.

No I hate these type of games

I saw a youtube video claiming the ending was locked behind lootboxes where you have to really grind, or purchase.

Imma wait til it's patched up and less than 20. I'll look forward to it though! Looks like a great game, other than the shady business practices.

Nah. I tried the first and couldn't seem to get into it. Quit after an hour or so.

honestly im not due to mircotransactions in the game they are usally a unbalanced to favor its use i think ill wait till maybe game of the year edition or until it goes down in price

And it would seem the endgame is grind-city, pretty much requiring you to buy your way out of it to see the endings. I think I'll do like the first one and pick it up for 10 bucks in two years.

shit, well it seems like there's a pretty bleak view on the game from the majority of gamespotters.

ah well i've taken the plunge, it's installed but not started it yet. hopefully because it's a 60hr or so campaign, by the time i get near the end the pay or grind thing will have been patched out due to unpopular demand. or even better, it's been overblown by some outlets and isn't as bad as reports would suggest.

really? sure i remember you sayin you liked the assassin's creed / arkham games?

I did like AC but I've lost interest in those type of games but in all honestly AC Origins looks mighty sweet but i'll wait until after the reviews to decide if I'm going to pick it up bro, how are you anyway.. are you buying the Xbox X I've pre ordered the scorpio edition so really excited to pick it up and not long to wait just a few more weeks.

I was pretty excited about it, still really want to play it... but I'm done buying games new that have season passes, paid loot box systems, day one dlc or any other similar bullshit. I'll consider buying them used or on steam sale when they are $10 or less. It's becoming too much.

Yeah, that's kinda where I'm at. Even though I got the standard version of Shadow of Mordor for $25 when it first came out, I eventually bought the GOTY version for 10bucks a year later.

i'm not in any major rush to pick one up yet dude, i have an xbox one and ps4 with plenty of games in the backlog to be getting on with. make sure you let us know what it's like when your pre-order comes through

This is how Angry Joe and Jim Sterling feel about the loot boxes.

@GameboyTroy: "shadow of mo'dough." nice.

i've not started playing it yet. don't think i've heard anything positive about it this past week which has kind of cast a shadow (ba dum tsh) over it for me. that'll teach me to impulse pre-order games on a whim

ok well after several hours of playing so far it's all pretty unremarkable stuff. the game world is bigger and more vertical than in the previous game but it's lacking anything that stands out as a real significant improvement over mordor.

there's a lack of fluidity and pacing to the early part of the game. it all feels a little rushed and forced. i couldn't really tell you much about the plot or what i'm actually supposed to be doing and why. there's a lot of jumping from short, linear gameplay section to vague cut scene or memory sequence where everyone's talking with washed out reverb on their voice and it's difficult to piece together the significance of these with what i'm doing in-game and the wider story.

my advice just would be to do your homework before you shell out full price on it. other than a handful of heavily scripted sequences it feels more mordor 1.5 than a proper sequel right now but there's still plenty of time for that to change i guess

I buy it after the price drop

I played quite a few hours of the original through a free weekend and it was good but not a must buy. That doesnt really get me excited for a sequel and all the loot box crap and put me off completely.