Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is pure ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ fun. As someone who loves The Lord of the Rings and Middle-earth, this game is almost impossible for me not to enjoy. It takes everything that worked in Shadow of Mordor and expands it massively. The fortress system, conquering regions, building your own army of dominated Orcs, promoting captains, manipulating enemies, breaking their minds and turning Sauron’s forces against themselves — that whole system is ridiculously satisfying. Then you have Talion and Celebrimbor, the New Ring, Wraith abilities, brutal executions, huge battles and the feeling that you are slowly becoming an unstoppable force inside Mordor. And of course, the Nemesis System is still one of the best ideas ever put into an action game. Orcs remember you, betray you, come back stronger, get scarred, rise through the ranks and sometimes become characters you remember more than actual story NPCs. I absolutely love the chaos of it all. Walk into a fortress, dominate half the army, make former enemies fight for you, kill the rest and take the whole place for yourself. What’s not to love? For a Middle-earth fan, this game is just cool as hell. Brutal, addictive, chaotic and insanely fun. I love it.