Middle-Earth: Shadow of War [PC, PS4, XBone]

[DjchunKfunK]

Game is due out on the 10th of this month and reviews are already up. Consensus appears to be that it is very much more of the same, a lot more, for better or worse.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017- ... war-review

https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/5/16428 ... war-review
7.5/10

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2017/10/05/m ... war-review
9/10

http://www.gamesradar.com/middle-earth- ... ar-review/
4.5/5

https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/middle ... 0-6416783/
7/10

[Sly Boots]

As someone who tired of the first game well before hitting the second map, I doubt I'll be getting this anytime soon.

[Jez]

Very disappointed to read that. I'd hoped they might have brought some more story to game over icon-chasing. I'll likely still get it but at a sale price. I just don't understand how writers trip up on story in a franchise with so much to draw from.

Shame.

[DjchunKfunK]

Very disappointed to read that. I'd hoped they might have brought some more story to game over icon-chasing. I'll likely still get it but at a sale price. I just don't understand how writers trip up on story in a franchise with so much to draw from.

Shame.

If you aren't hiring the right people and getting them involved in the development process early, it doesn't matter how good your source material is. Unfortunately we are still in a world where big publishers are not concerned about telling a good story and prefer to spend resources elsewhere.

[Mantis]

Like on integrating random chance loot boxes that you have to either grind or pay microtransactions for.

Unlikely to ever buy this.

[Snowy]

I have taken the canary plunge on this, pre-ordering not to get silly goodies but because I could get a chunk of money off via CD Keys. Needless to say I have not wasted money on anything bar the base game. Will report back once it is out and I have had a good bash at it.

[Jez]

Nice one Snowers. I think there's probably a good game here aside from unnecessarily weak and stupid story.

Surely Witcher series has taught these developers (if they need recent evidence) that story and presentation of such are easy wins.

[Snowy]

Yeah I am not particularly bothered by the backstory anyhow, with open world games I tend to make my own as I go.

I enjoyed the original plenty, and by reading those reviews this is a whopper, so for £20 I am happy with my purchase.

[Prey]

Just a heads up that those who are now preloading the game via Steam are letting us all know that the files needed total 97GB in size...



Also review scores thus far...

God is a Geek – 10
Games Radar – 4.5/5
Game Rant – 4.5/5
Twinfinite – 4/5
USgamer – 4/5
COGconnected – 94/100
Shacknews – 9/10
Critical Hit – 9
Spazio Games – 90/100
Hobby Consolas – 90/100
IGN – 9
Shacknews – 9
Wccftech – 8.9
DualShockers – 8.5
Xbox Achievements – 85/100
PC Games N – 8/10
EGM Now – 8
Press Start – 8
PlayStation Universe – 8/10
Push Square – 8/10
CGmag Online – 8
The Sixth Axis – 8/10
Polygon – 7.5
Gamespot – 7
Stevivor – 7
PC Gamer – 73/100
Eurogamer – no score
RPS – no score

[katarn]

97GB in size...

[Jez]

Whut.

That's ridiculous.

[Snowy]

What the unholy fuck?

Edit: Pre-loading - 65.6Gb. Still a whopper, but not a pisstaking whopper.

[Jez]

Give us an early action report mate when you can

[Prey]

My son is playing it as I type on his brand new 1050ti 4GB and surprisingly it's got everything auto set to High and is running at a solid 30fps, it looks damn fun too. He's a huge fan of the original game perhaps even more so than I am and he's telling me it's everything a fan of the original could want in a sequel. Even on High it's only using about 2.3GB of his card according to the in game VRAM usage. Yet to buy it myself but I will once I'm done with AC Origins.

Some more thoughts from him after 2.4 hours playtime...

- Loot boxes are incredibly easy to get as the in game currency builds up very fast across all activities. He obtained 2 silver boxes containing two epics at some point in the space of his first two hours.
- Combat remains much the same as the first although he mentions enemies are much harder than those found in the first game. Scraps in general require much more thought and forward planning.
- Wall climbing is now much faster than before thankfully.
- The sense of scale is much better and the two areas he has found himself in so far were vastly different.
- How the devs have incorporated randomly generated enemies into the main story is handled very well.
- One enemy he was told to kill off at the start of the game came back four times after he had killed him off.
- The new gear system is a nice addition and you get a much better sense of true player customisation this time around.
- As he pre-ordered the game he wasn't best happy with the pre-order characters he was given as they are not the ones you see on the pre-order poster instead they are simply randomly generated. He liked the sword he was given however.
- The newly designed hub areas are much better than in the original game and as already mentioned the areas are all much more alive and expansive than before.

[Snowy]

OK I have stepped out for an early battle report just for Jez.

First off, it is good. Gets you the same as the last one, and runs with most elements maxed at 3440x1440 on my 2.5 year old rig (that granted was a £2k rig so still no slouch), silky smooth, no pop-in or texture pop.

Second, a tale as I know you enjoy these.

The first named orc I went up against killed me. He is now my nemesis and peers out at me from the menu screen. The Edwin will die. He hasn't yet though.

I played a couple of missions, and did some hunting. At one point, I was battling two named orcs and their henchmen, and one of the henchmen got a kill on me because I was too quick on the cheating death - this time rather than hitting the relevant key or mouse button before the circle vanishes, the circle shrinks and you have to hit the button once it goes past a certain point. Enter Krûkh the Drunk as a new boss. He had quite a few weaknesses, and as hunting him down immediately as a new nemesis would net me an epic item, I did just that. Tracked down his feast, then took advantage of his weakness to ranged attacks to pincushion him with arrows, killing him without unsheathing my sword.

I carried on, and can confirm Dave's report that some of the bosses are real fuckers to fight, lots of new tricks. I killed some more, played some side quests, and was hunting down another orc flagged as an epic named who is mortally susceptible to attacks from stealth (and thus is going to get a quick death from above). I was making my way over a rooftop, stealthily approaching an archer to murder, when my view swings behind me and fuck me it is Krûkh the Drunk again, with a message that he has cheated death. He taunts my inability to kill him. Let battle commence, this time I will cut him good!

I quickly dispatch the archer, a couple of blows and a hefty boot sends him plummeting off the roof. I turn my attention to Krûkh and start whaling away with my sword. Before long I get the 'blue glow of love', like the blue screen of death but in reverse, and know I am set for an execution move. I let rip, only to have Krûkh punch me half-way across the roof - he is immune to execution moves! He then pings out a couple of wrist mounted crossbows and sends me rolling left and right to avoid the barrage of fire from them. I vault over his head, and slam a couple of hard blows into his back. He whirls to face me again, and after blocking a couple of my shots lets loose a kind of grenade, so I leap back to avoid damage. I decide to play the same move again, vaulting over him and hitting him in the back, then do so again. He enrages, with a message saying 'Enraged by acrobatics' - he is learning my approach and countering! Never mind his rage, mine is now stoked up too - the battle continues and I couldn't say how long this has played out - a minute, 5 minutes, no idea. I beat him back again and again and eventually land that killing blow. The screen pans to him, on his knees, and he coughs and splutters with lungs filled with blood, before laughing and launching himself back into the fight - he has cheated death again but this time right in front of my eyes! He is back to half health, and is a tank orc so can take some punishment.

I have the red mist now though, and his being on the rooftop with me means it is mano a mano, just him and me. The fight goes on and again I beat him. Again the screen pans to him, on his knees, and is he getting back up? He starts to speak and a white circle appears over his head, shrinking, with a left-mouse icon within.

*Click*

The screen pans out, to show Talion/me slap the living shit out of him, before hacking off one of his arms and one of his legs. Come back from that Krûkh you fuckstain! Oh, and an epic bow? You shouldn't have.

So there you go, that has literally just happened exactly as written, with the game minimised and waiting for me go to back and stealth-assassinate that epic named orc. It was these moments that made the first title for me, and have made me instantly love this one. Gameplay is like stepping into a comfy old pair of shoes, although with a lot more stuff added in, and that nemesis system is just the hounds rounds.