The perfect example of a cash-grab sequal taking two steps forward and five steps back. No thanks. I'd rather play the first game. The controls are horrible. You can toggle sneak but not run. What's the purpose of ever walking in this game if you're not already sneaking? And the entire skills system is about as flexible as a canal filled with cement. Many of the game gimmicks are heavy-handed, forced, and generally anti=player. A good player-punishment simulator, this.
A nicer broad stroke than in the first game of what it might be like to schlep through Mordor like a fantasy superhuman-ninja with a cranky ancient elf for an alter ego. However this game is meant to off-balance you at times no matter how good you get at their clunky “commit-to-another-wall-roll-I-never-wanted-to-do-for-the-throusandsth-time” controls and tends to try and force (or strongly bring about) at least some player deaths in order to help promote their NEMSIS and “last chance” system – which never really evolves or devolves aside from how many of the orcs you control in any given city. A wise player of games once said: “Level up and the world levels up with you.” Well that is essentially true here by which picking skills (lol) and ticking off many upgrades (and dare I say even learning the controls) does not do much to make you feel like you are in fact a superhero who ever gained any real ground and traction inside enemy territory. That said, the basic combat is easy to master and you will have fun spanking and demoting most of the captains once you figure out all the basic ways you can do that – that is, until the next time you are suddenly giving your health meter a very concerned look because the game logs want to put you down for another player death. Once you accept this system it might not be so bad but the game would have some much welcome depth if there were more extremes experienced regarding both dominating areas and being overwhelmed by them (like when we are still new to them and must tread more carefully and so on). But no matter how much orc rear you are kicking the orc war-machine never stops outputting its endless supplies of troops and reinforcements. If Shadow of War is a beach you try and shape at all then the waves wash back over everything quickly indeed and reset your work often. It’s essentially a home arcade game and not at all a rich malleable fantasy world where you can feel in control after reasonable learning curve has been surmounted. Aside from the washy unreliable controls and niche anti-player game-play design it can still be a fun sandbox for wrecking the orc-kin. Just don’t go taking this title or its non-affect on your strategic mind seriously at all and you’ll do just fine. And for huge sale only. About 5-10$ for everything but online seems about right.
I only just beat the first level of 5 waves with a nice boss at the end on normal, and man-oh-man was that fun! If you’re like me and just want a fun stick shooter that looks great, is easy to learn but also has some interesting strategy to it along with tactical upgrades and the like then definitely get this. I got this for free and was shocked at how good it is, because it was sitting in my library still not installed for a while. And I had to put down all my more serious games for a while now so this is perfect for me to just casually pop back into whenever for short bursts when I need a break from work. I would probably even say this game is worth the current full price. Feels almost like I just randomly stumbled on a really cool arcade game with unlimited continues (ala auto-save points) built in. And the normal difficulty feels just about right so far. The story cut-scenes and voice-overs are also quite nicely done and entertaining. Perfect all around!
Complicated and messy right from the very start. Might have some nice depth to it in terms of the clan interactions after tons of hours developing your character and allies, but 1. I don’t like the graphics, 2. I’m not looking for a high learning curve game right now, 3. the fact that you can’t move pop-up windows like your inventory screen in a mouse game, and 4. the total lack of a proper tutorial. Yes, there are help windows, but I’m talking some nice linear simple starting quests to help you get acquainted with how things work and what is expected of you, and maybe learn how to start developing your character a little better. Tons of seemingly random help windows seems… lazy. And this game in general is already like being air-dropped into a war zone, thrown a weapon, but you never joined the military or even have any military training. Yeesh. Feels like a cross between classic Diablo and Ultima games while trying to keep the old school feel within their own style for the game (which, I’m sorry to say, I just don’t like). If you’re looking for a real challenge, like the art direction, and have the time to spend then go for it. I’m not saying it’s a bad game, I’m just saying it’s probably a good game that will require a lot of time and effort to start mastering and enjoying. Again, some optional newbie-friendly quests to help take much of the starting edge off would have gone a long way for me.
I was very skeptical of getting any version of this series anywhere much less any package deal with the phrase "bad port" in any of the reviews. This port feels pretty decent, maybe not perfect, but I think I'm happy with it so far. Nostolgia and 90s difficulty 'feelz' are through the roof on this one. I hate it but but but I love it too! Beautiful and difficult but rewarding game! Side-scrollers are not even my thing but I always had a special feeling for this series. Fanservice aside, I think this port is pretty fair.
