![]() ![]() In Shadow Of War, however, there is no such nuance. With its pacifistic little protagonists thrust into increasingly desperate situations, Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit told stories of the unlikeliest of people coming together to save the world. While that may sound all well and good, one of the many things that made Tolkien’s body of work so compelling was how utterly clueless (and seemingly incapable) its Halfling heroes were. Consumed with rage at the death of his family, our hero joins forces with one of Tolkien’s actual creations, Celebrimbor, a long-dead Elf who seeks to prise Middle-earth from Sauron’s iron-clad grip. This action-packed adventure puts players in the shoes of Gondorian protagonist Talion once again, as he continues his quest for revenge. ![]() ![]() Shadow Of War is a fun but disappointingly shallow adventure. While Rocksteady understood the appeal of Batman as a character and seemingly took notes on the intricate web of characters that make peeping into Gotham so compelling, Shadow Of War simply feels like a game that doesn’t understand its source material. Yet, as Warner Brothers attempts to translate another one of its adored IPs into a gaming classic, it seems to have put gameplay first and Tolkien’s beloved lore second. With Rocksteady’s seminal series delivering a Batman story that felt just as engaging as Bruce Wayne’s cinematic capers, it was one of the first games to really offer a story that stood toe to toe with its source material. While the middling narrative wasn’t such a problem in its sleeper-hit predecessor, for this anticipated sequel, we expected developers Monolith Productions to lift something else from the Arkham series – its refreshingly authentic-feeling narrative. While the combat system still feels brilliant (and still unashamedly stolen from RockSteady’s Arkham series), it’s Shadow Of War’s half-hearted dialogue and paper-thin characters that drag this potential game of the year contender back into merely ‘good’ territory. Believe it or not, the woman on the right is giant spider Shelob in sexy human form A Middling Tale Unfortunately, however, all of that carefully constructed Tolkien-esque atmosphere is quickly shattered the second you trigger a cutscene. With wonderfully voice-acted orcs slinging seething insults at you, and your swinging sword sending the game’s orchestral score swelling into a roaring crescendo, it’s difficult not to feel like the Gondorian warrior you were always destined to be.Īs far as accurate digital depictions of Middle-earth go, then, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing a better a job than developer Monolith has with Shadow Of War. When you first step foot in Shadow Of War’s version of Middle-earth, it’s difficult not to be swept up in a wave of Tolkien-soaked nostalgia. ![]()
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