Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™

Only get this game on sale! The combat and the Nemesis system carry this entire game, and honestly, they do a great job of it. But if you're looking for a deep story, memorable NPCs, or an immersive soundtrack, you're going to be disappointed. That’s why I only recommend buying it on sale (definitely grab the Shadow Bundle). It’s a relatively short game, I managed 100% achievements in 29 hours. To be fair, I did download a save file for one specific achievement ("The Hunt is My Mistress") cause i don't want to waste time grinding for the perfect run.

Fun

Jogavel no Linux na versão do proton 10.0-4

I think that, considering this game's price, it's very easy to recommend to at least buy it and give it a go (especially if you get the bundle with Shadow Of War, which, whilst I haven't played that yet/will get to it next, I presume it's a much better version of this game). The story and characters are all really bad, and all of the villains, Sauron included, suck (except for Sauron's design), but perhaps it isn't helped that I don't like LOTR one bit. Nevertheless, the gameplay is pretty good! It's basically the Arkham free-flow combat with some tweaks and new moves, and it's quite enjoyable. However, the nemesis system (at least in this game/I haven't played War) sucks and is overrated. You don't really get to build stories or do anything with it unless you somehow die, but you're really overpowered in this game so that's going to be rare (and even then, it changes nothing and all of the enemies just have forced weaknesses you have to take advantage of in some cases else you can't even damage them, which is just unfun and forced). Additionally, it is the most tedious thing as to how every single time you meet a new captain, war chief, etc., that dumb cutscene introducing them plays. Perhaps for the first few it's fine, but it gets really annoying afterwards, especially if you're going for all of the achievements. Lastly, then, in relation to the achievements, the final "Mistress" one sucks; it's very RNG dependant and, as mentioned, annoying as hell because every second orc screams his introduction. Nevertheless, this is an average-mediocre game that I'd suggest playing when it's on sale at 90% off with War also.

The open world is ugly and the missions are repetitive. The Nemesis system is overhyped and ultimately doesn't have a lot of mechanical or gameplay implications. Mechanics are [strike]stolen from[/strike] inspired by the Arkham Asylum and Assassin Creed games, which is an inspired combination, but they are executed worse; Talion often hits guys you don't want him to hit and climbs walls you don't want him to climb. The voice acting is incredible but is wasted on the bland dialogue and poorly-realized characters. The concept of a ranger being soul-melded with an elven wraith is super neat but isn't explored to it's full potential; these guys will go hours in-game without talking to each other, let alone bouncing off each other or shaping each other. The kill animations are very satisfying but as mentioned above the combat itself doesn't flow well. Maybe this was impressive for its time but in 2026 it's a slog and I won't be finishing it.

dont recommend

Was really enjoying this game. Been a huge fan of LOTR for many years and kept forgetting this existed, bought it in the summer sale and was really enjoying it... Unfortunately my save keeps reverting to 18%. I spent probably 7 hours playing the other day to find all of that was erased and every attempt to fix it has gone to ♥♥♥♥. Wish I could recommend.

Repetitive

Combate divertido, jogo fácil com evolução rápida. Para quem gosta de Senhor dos Aneis é excelente!

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