Tales from Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Middle-Earth:Shadow of War

Developer: Monolith Productions

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Price: ₹3,499 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Talion and the wraith celebrity residing in him, Celebrimbor, sounded understandably overconfident about springing a particularly stupid Uruk's trap. So we sauntered directly into the trap and out jumps Bubol the Diseased, with his disgusting pus glands rupturing as he taunted me. With the worst timing ever, Krunk, an orc sporting metal bandages, decided to stop by for some revenge. To top it off an Uruk named Ogg showed up with his Captain pals, hurt because they haven’t been hunted. Seriously! So it's five Captains along with their henchmen against just one of me. None of this is scripted, it just happened. It’s just another day in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War.

What's it about?

Shadow of War force fits itself into the Lord of the Rings canon by telling the untold story of a War of the Rings way before the main epic took place. At the centre of this new story is Talion, a ranger who is sort of possessed by the spirit of Celebrimbor. An elf lord and one of the greatest smiths the world has ever seen. Responsible for crafting the rings of power that led to the events of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Continuing where the last game, Shadow of Mordor, left off, Talion and Celebrimbor create a new ring of power, to counter Sauron’s One Ring. Our heroes set out to dominate Sauron's army, turning it against the dark lord. While this tale may be a new one, there are characters from the original trilogy that make an appearance. Like Gollum, the pathetic creature that is forever on his quest for "his precious"; and Shelob, the large spider that almost made Sam and Frodo its dinner, is revealed here as a goth lady who looks evil to everyone but Talion. Also making a welcome appearance are the Nazgul, better known as Ringwraiths.

As a whole, the story of Shadow of War roughly juggles J R R Tolkien’s lore to string together a series of objectives and excuses to keep you glued. It does its job though, thanks to several high-quality cutscenes and superb voice acting, it’s just the excuse you need to go about your merry orc-killing spree. It’s something which Shadow of War gets right.

How does it play?

At its heart, Shadow of War is a third-person Action RPG very much in the vein of Assassins Creed. That's where the similarities end. The fighting system is the same one that's in most Warner Bros. games, like Mad Max and the Batman Arkham series. There’s a sort of rhythm to it: Talion will jump from enemy to enemy slicing through sinew and cutting off limbs. You can chop, freeze, decapitate, corrode and burn enemies depending on your weapon loadout.

That's not all, there are several ways of playing Shadow of War. You can opt for stealth to quietly take down enemies or poison their food during a feast. You can also go in loud and destructive. Traversing the cities and ruins of Middle-Earth is a lot easier this time around, as Talion can use his wraith powers to double jump over walls and sprint and climb at a faster pace. Letting you get around fast and run away faster. Shadow of War consists of several sandboxes, allowing you to roam free.

The best part of the game is the Nemesis system: it’s back, bigger than ever. This system consists of an orc power structure with captains and war chiefs. You have to slice your way up the Mordor ladder. Yet there's so much more to it. These orc captains have distinct personalities, voiced to perfection. As they encounter you, they taunt snippets of their funny or tragic back stories, all wanting a piece of you. With good reason, because if they do kill you, they move up the chain of command. If you're killed by an orc, he becomes a leader.

The Nemesis system will keep you up at night, with the smug faces of the orcs that have defeated you taunting you to get back at them. After you dispatch one, you want to track and kill just one more captain. Each orc has their own distinct traits and personalities. These backstories make them fearful of being burned or angered when being injured. You can worm out this information and use it to exploit the weaknesses, sometimes to score one hit kills. The nemesis system is unpredictable because of that. You kill off one orc, his brother will suddenly come seeking revenge. Sometimes killed off orcs are fixed up with metal parts and they track you down, surprising you when you least expect it. You never know what's around the next corner until it smashes you on the face with an ugly club.

As the game progresses you will be able to dominate orc captains. This opens up the strategic aspect of the game. As you slowly build your army, you will need to get your Captains to infiltrate as war chief's bodyguards. Once your pawns are in place, you can unleash an all out assault on the fortress. This siege mode is fun and frantic as yours and the war chief's armies clash, filling you with glee as your insurgents turn on your opponent.

If there is one downside to Shadow of War, it’s the micro transactions and the annoying loot boxes. While you can get along fine without buying a thing, the loot boxes do open up loot a lot faster. You can however ignore them completely and get by, which is the best way to experience Shadow of War.

Shadow of War looks incredible, with fluid animations and well designed characters. The best are the superbly designed and voiced orcs, especially the trigger happy Bruz, who becomes your first dominated subject and acts as your guide. Each of these orcs has its unique taunt lines and dialogue that never seem to break character. The environments are a lot more varied than the first game, with lush green forests and most notably Minas Ithil, a city under siege.

Should you get it?

Whether you are a fan of Lord of the Rings or not, you cannot afford to miss out on Middle Earth: Shadow of War. That nemesis system will keep you up to the wee hours of dawn with it's depth. Not to mention it's a fantastic action game to boot. Highly recommended.