I have been hearing a lot of good things about Middle-Earth recently (thanks to both to the well-written review and Quick Look here on this site as well as elsewhere), and I am a bit weary.

You see, I picked up Watch Dogs shortly after launch because I was itching to play a GTA type game (as I had already 100% completed GTA V, outside of its insidious multiplayer), and... the Open World was horrible. It just felt like collecting for the sake of collecting with no real rhyme or reason to it. Everything sorta felt bland and I would rather not have the same issue here.

Does Middle-Earth have more diversity in its world, collectibles, and overall just plain gameplay? Would you consider it a better open world game than Watch Dogs?

Absolutely. Watch Dogs has one type of side mission, the multiplayer, and collectibles. Mordor has basically what could be the entire game in the Nemesis System as a side-thing. It basically makes a living, breathing world where you can affect everything that happens within the area it entails.

@captplaceholder: You should watch the Quick Look! Or read the review! Both have the answers you seek.

Let's be honest. The collectibles aren't very interesting.

You can save human slaves, which open up rebellion missions. These are all set in the same area and involve doing the same thing ( going to three poles and untying the slaves. ). This apparently turns slave groups into intel spots as well, but doesn't seem very fun/interesting.

You can collect artifacts ( 25ish of them? ) which all have a bit of story attached to them. If you like LOTR/Mordor these will be neat, but there aren't many of them.

You can collect Signs, which draw a picture on the side of a wall in Elvish. I have no idea what this does yet so I'm collecting them all. So far they seem neat.

You can do Combat Challenges ( stealth kill 10 Uruks without setting off an Alarm, outarcher the archers! ), which are great fun since the combat is so neat, but not really a "collectible". Completing all for a weapon unlocks a Rune that makes that weapon super powerful.

There are also Hunting/Survival challenges which ask you to kill 1/3/5/10 of a specific species, or collect 1/3/5 of a specific flower. I have no idea what this gets me, but I've been running around gathering stuff now for awhile because it's fun.

Those are the only things I'd really consider to be "collectibles" in the sense of most game collectibles. None of them really strike me as very interesting, I'd say Watch Dogs had more side content there when it came to collecting stuff.

On the other hand you have Nemesis stuff

You can do Nemesis missions to try and get more Runes. Hunts, Feasts, Ambushes, Assassinations, etc. These change the power levels of various Captains, and allows you to maneuver them around a bit to your liking. These will go on forever, as with the passage of time new Uruks/Captains/Warchiefs get seeded into the world, so it's a constant thing. Honestly nearing the end of the game as I am, I'll probably go back to Udun ( the first zone ) and replay it with Branding after I've finished the final boss stuff because it's so fun. But that's because you don't get Branding until the second zone, and I'm having a lot of fun with the back and forth of trying to get my Orcs into positions of power.

I mean, they both are open world video games.

Watch Dogs is fine, looks like Shadow of Mordor is legitimately great, granted one has a ton of open world trappings and the other just does its own thing entirely.

The side stuff in Mordor has purpose. Everything you do either gets you power or Mirian (for ability or attribute upgrades, respectively). So, if you don't do side stuff or find the artifacts, you will not get as many attribute upgrades, and many of them are costly which makes all the Mirian points you can get very useful. The power stuff unlocks new tiers of abilities. So, if you don't do much of the Nemesis stuff, then you won't get much Power and thus won't be able to use your upgrade points after like 6-7 upgrades.

So, the short answer is that if you don't do side stuff in Mordor then you will have a weaker character and a little bit tougher of a time getting through fights.

It's definitely the best open-world I've played in a long while and I play a lot of them (but not Watchdogs).

The only concern I would have about recommending this game is that you better be a fan of Arkham Asylum combat because no matter what you do, or how you play, you're gonna do A LOT of it.

@professoress: is there anybody who isnt a fan of the Arkham combat?

I dunno, certainly not me :) but if there is, they should be wary.