With Middle-earth: Shadow of War launching tomorrow, we’re giving you an early look at the game with our live stream. We will be avoiding story missions and mostly just playing around with the Nemesis system so that you can get a good idea of how the game plays and how you can create your own special stories with the orcs you encounter. Feel free to join us in the chat and let us know what you’d like to see on the stream.
Watch live video from PlayStation_LifeStyle on www.twitch.tv
Our review for Middle-earth: Shadow of War is now live, giving the latest game in the series very high marks for its use of an AI system that has yet to be adopted by any other games. I also talked about how microtransactions never permeate gameplay.
The ability to purchase these loot boxes may be controversial, but the system never felt balanced in a way that encouraged me to. I always had a good supply of gear otherwise. With so much else resonating player freedom in Shadow of War, it makes sense that players willing to spend money are free to do so in order to save some time that would otherwise be spent grinding out the same rewards. I personally felt like earning an orc or piece of gear in battle was much more rewarding than paying for the same content, but I also can’t call the microtransactions in Shadow of War a negative that in any way impacted the experience that I had.
An expanded Nemesis System creates fascinatingly interesting player stories, and the amount of freedom afforded to the player is staggering for a game of this scope. Microtransactions never get in the way of the game itself, so any objection to them is based purely on personal principles. Lore purists may find fault with Middle-earth: Shadow of War, but those willing to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the game Monolith built around Tolkien’s world will find the best Lord of the Rings game to date. With the immortal words of Samwise Gamgee at my lips, I smile and walk into Mordor, returning to the Gondorian boots of the Gravewalker: “Well, I’m back.”
Are you excited to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War tomorrow? Hop into the chat and let us know what you think!
