Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Take the fight to Sauron in Middle- earth: Shadow of War.

The orcs are the real stars of Shadow of War. Decorated with skulls, piercings, and plates of battered armor, these toothy brutes sneer, jeer, and brag like rowdy drunks. And before you fight them they delight in detailing all the ways they’re going to kill you, gut you like a fish and present your head to Sauron. It’s almost endearing how much they obviously love being orcs and serving their Dark Lord, which is more than can be said for the game’s dreary human characters—and that includes hero Talion, an undead Gondorian ranger with all the joie-de-vivre of a traffic cone. The lauded nemesis system, first introduced in Shadow of Mordor, is back and expanded. So if an orc captain or warchief kills you, they’ll gleefully taunt you about it next time they see you. And if you defeat them, but they manage to escape, they’ll remember and reassure you that this time you won’t be so lucky. Forging bitter feuds with these expressive enemies is the heart of the game, and easily the best thing in it. They’re the only characters who seem to be having any fun in this cursed world, and the vast array of positive and negative traits they have make them infinitely interesting to fight.

The game’s fun, crunchy combat is in the Arkham mould, with timing-based counters and an ever-increasing pool of moves and powers that increase its complexity. But before you wade into combat it’s worth interrogating weak-minded orcs to discover intel about their superiors: Things they’re scared of, weapons they’re weak against, and so on. There’s something gratifying about making a scarred, snarling orc called Lûga Skull-Cracker flee in terror because one of his underlings revealed he has a secret fear of Morgai Flies. Waging psychological war on orcs is often more fun than fighting them directly.

But it’s not all about rivalries: You can make a few friends, too. Thanks to the power of the ring crafted by surly Elven wraith Celebrimbor in the first game, it’s possible to weaken orcs, bend them to your will, and recruit them as allies. Az-Grels Mountain-Eater, a hulking great lump of ugly muscle wielding a six-foot club, was my personal bodyguard for a while. Summoning him in battle and watching him charge in with his enormous club swinging was hugely satisfying. You can also call upon a handful of Gondorian soldiers to fight by your side, but they’re ultimately little more than squishy orc fodder.

I love the new tribes system, which dramatically increases the variety of the orcs you encounter— both visually and in how they behave in battle. Orcs belonging to the stealthy Dark Tribe are fond of ambushes and trickery. Machine Tribe orcs are clad in thick metal armor. And the Mystic Tribe uses dark magic and cursed weapons. There are more, but I’ll let you discover them for yourself. The important thing is that, because of this added variety, almost every orc you meet feels like a distinct, original character, which makes the friendships and rivalries you form with them seem more personal.

In Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum briefly stop at Minas Morgul, home of the Witch-king of Angmar and the Nazgûl. In Shadow of War you get to visit this place before they claimed it as their fortress, back when it was the city of Minas Ithil in Gondor. The game ties into Peter Jackson’s films like this often, and in some clever ways, but equally has no qualms about hammering its own ideas into the lore. Talion forms an uneasy alliance with the giant spider Shelob, who appears to him as a beautiful woman; a pouting goth Galadriel who slinks about in black silk speaking in riddles, but never once gets hopelessly stuck in a bathtub.

It’s a shame about the story, where the writers have focused squarely on the mystical, doomy side of Lord of the Rings. People solemnly discussing Sauron’s growing power, lamenting the war ahead. But where’s the warmth? The heart? People love this series because it mixes its grand fantasy with humor and humanity— Legolas and Gimli’s unlikely friendship, anything involving the hobbits. In comparison, Shadow of War is almost entirely self-serious and in love with its own sense of grandeur. Its only really funny character, an Aussie orc called Brûz

Waging psychological war on orcs is more fun than fighting them