The inseparable immortal couple, Talion and Celebrimbor – a Gondorian ranger and the spirit of an elven lord, quietly moves through the villages of inhospitable Mordor and almost dives into the bushes. An unshaven warrior with a suffering face and a good-natured look Tom Hardy (Tom Hardy) and an ethereal, gloomy man with an aristocratic parting have extremely serious conversations, composed of mechanical, emasculated phrases, and are each occupied with a global thought: Talion wants to save Minas Ithil, Celebrimbor wants to return the freshly forged Ring of Power. And for the sake of their goals, the stubborn duo is ready to turn their bellies upside down and gut all of Mordor.
Orcs are not averse to drinking grog by the fireplace, but this brood, as you can see, is learning to swing clubs. No matter how much you train, Talion will still scatter your herd to pieces!
Detonation of the Orc Nation
Middle-earth: Shadow of War continues the story that Monolith Productions And Warner Bros. started in Shadow of Mordor. Between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien) is uncultivated black soil, and it would be a sin not to grow inventions and fables on it; the main thing is not to blow bubbles against the background of the canon and be sanely connected with it. In the first part the script Monolith Productions just didn’t work out – on the contrary, many fell in love with the gameplay, despite the overt derivativeness and borrowing from the series Assassin’s Creed And Batman: Arkham.
What about the sequel?? Alas, the plot and characters are far-fetched. The developers obviously wanted to amaze the audience with the female embodiment of the vile spider Shelob – they did not succeed. A clone of Galadriel emerged, torn between dramatic poses and gestures. Among the authorities captured by the orcs in the siege of Minas Ithil, a traitor is quickly identified, so the writers pause in vain. At least they managed to clearly explain where the black officer came from in the ranks of the light army of Gondor, who outraged experts on the geography and population of Middle-earth during the demonstration of the first trailer. The elf Eltariel, sent by Galadriel to the dead wastelands to attack the Nazgul, also successfully squeezed into the action.
So the roles of the main stars of the show called Shadow of War for lack of worthy candidates, the orcs dismantled. In the news feed, we often wrote about the various factions inhabiting the domain of Sauron: sadists, champions of stealth, fans of trinkets, and so on. Hung with skulls, covered with tattoos, studded with piercings, grimy and ill-mannered – and how attractive and memorable! By the way, the cheerful Bruz the Chopper is not the main dish: you will regularly meet artistic individuals.
Actually, I digressed a little https://888-bingo-casino.co.uk/ from the plot – Sauron is harassing Minas Ithil in order to take possession of the “all-seeing stone” palantir, and Shelob stole the new Ring of Power, immaculate and not touched by the Dark Lord, from the heroes. You have to form an alliance with the villain and at the same time stand shoulder to shoulder with the garrison who has fallen into a trap.
First act Shadow of War repeats the program Shadow of Mordor, and only in the second Monolith Productions allows you to recruit orcs, subdue riding animals like dragons and, at the forefront of the attack, capture other people’s strongholds. It’s based on a third-person action game with role-playing elements and a healthy open world, throwing you either into the gray depths of Cirith Ungol or into the snowy expanses of Seregost. Talion does not lurk in the corners like a rat (or Frodo and Sam on the outskirts of Orodruin): he is free to fly headlong, as fast as he can – the Uruks and trolls may shy away, but they give chase sluggishly. In the worst case scenario, sit out the anxiety in the ubiquitous bushes. Mordor, it turns out, has good vegetation!
In a fight, the immortal ranger famously performs somersaults behind the backs of monsters, quickly carries out counterattacks, fires from a supernatural bow, throws daggers and gathers his strength in order to cause a bloody downpour on the heads of his enemies (and finish off the fallen carcass with Celebrimbor’s tomahawk). What is happening is reminiscent of a beat ‘em up – with the only difference that Talion trusts steel, not fists. The leveling system is standard – we regularly discover new techniques and abilities, clearly sorted into categories (taming animals, melee attacks, etc.).
There are no complaints about the warhead, but you can’t call it original either. In peaceful moments, the ranger grazes in the meadows and avenues – he opens “towers” so that the map sparkles with icons of different colors, and turns on “X-ray”, which highlights enemies.
The kings of the ball, the orcs, do not stand in pillars – they squabble over who will be more successful on the career ladder. They take part in duels, catch and execute their comrades-in-arms (how else can they deceive a more successful robber??) and, of course, attack Talion, because this is fraught with a significant increase in rank. The monster is capable of jumping out of an ambush, stomping at the clanking of swords, and tediously and relentlessly chasing you – if Talion’s dreamy face catches your eye. So, rather than searching for artifacts of previous eras, fragments of Celebrimbor’s past, elven calligraphy and other temptations of the open world, it is better to prefer collecting information about enemy captains – regarding their strengths and vulnerabilities.
A tightly grasped phobia can immediately decide the outcome of a fight – even if the opponent is an order of magnitude higher in level than you. Although more often, of course, something standard falls out of the category of “shoot with a bow”, “raid up nests of poisonous flies” and “explode barrels”. In a word, don’t think that it’s easy to take an unwashed creature at a swoop – either find out its fears, or you’ll have to root out for a long time, slowly cutting off the health scale.
The graphics are decent, especially in terms of jewelry animations. True, sometimes sloppy textures of earth or stones catch your eye, and screenshots from the heat of battle turn out blurry.
The Nemesis system tries to please the user – through the stream of humiliation, the captains remind Talion of previous meetings. The showdown is structured in such a way that the orc has a chance to run away – and again appear on the horizon with a bestial grin. The ring of power allows you to subjugate them – the forces of Gondor are running out, so cannon fodder with a smell will do. When storming fortresses, recruited captains lead siege troops and provide all possible assistance in capturing “control points” guarded by leaders – even more powerful creatures. It is possible to undermine their position even before the battle – it is enough to send a double agent behind enemy lines. In general, siege battles leave a positive impression (like any activity in this game that is not related to “secretly kill five archers” and “unnoticed follow the enemy”), they give you a sense of the scale of the production: again, the commander’s ambitions are not limited by the fact of taking a castle – it must, in addition, be wisely strengthened, otherwise Sauron will retake it. On the other hand, there is a suspicion that such entertainment may become boring for the Nth time.
As for microtransactions in a game with a full price tag, I should reassure you. The situation reminded me of another release Warner Bros. — Injustice 2, where I haven’t touched them. IN Shadow of War they offer to buy chests with extremely valuable “loot”, allies and “leveling up” accelerators for real money. Talion collects equipment (blades, daggers, bows, armor, cloaks, rings), shaking it out of enemies, and you can get both rare and legendary things, and a flexible system for strengthening them (by fulfilling special conditions and collecting gems that affect health and damage) is a useful thing. Microtransactions are aimed at those who are short on time; the rest, like me, will slowly rummage through weapons and armor, gradually improving the set, plus occasionally visit the “store” – for ordinary chests sold for mirians. There are no problems with silver – it is generously awarded for victories.
Those who scolded Shadow of Mordor for copying the ideas of competitors, will remain unconvinced even now. Those who liked the first part, I’m sure, will enjoy walking around Mordor a second time.
Pros: the developers intelligently “upgraded” the Nemesis system; orcs do their job properly – they amuse users; there will be enough content for a long time – almost until a threequel; good graphics; clever gameplay that forces you to keep in mind a ton of nuances (the menu, on the contrary, should have been made less complex).
Cons: a drawn-out first act; battles are chaotic, which is why sometimes the blow is not taken by the one to whom it was addressed; I’m surprised by some of the shortcomings (why Talion appears in the story cutscenes in the default equipment?); at least four captains can appear out of nowhere – this is a subtle hint, they say, it’s a good idea to look into the “store” for golden chests, yes?