Quick Look: Middle-earth: Shadow of War

MAN SWINE!!

Palantiri, how do they work?

I still want to paly the hell out of this, even with the flaws. Hopefully Assassin's Creed has an early embargo to help me decide which middling, but still fun to play open world game is worth getting this year

It's time for Wardor.

I kind of get what Brad was getting about how the lore of this feels loose on UPF. Almost feels like you can throw another famous fantasy franchise name that has orcs in it and it fits the game better.

It's a real shame. I love the first game and this was on the top of my most wanted for this year. Then i saw the shenanigans going on with the loot boxes and ftp mobile tactics being pushed. It dropped straight off the list, all the way down to a maybe on a steam sale 18 months from now. Vote with your wallet folks, don't support this nickel and diming.

Well said.

Brad gushing over the bit of the game where you put your controller down and do nothing... lol

I'm not a big Tolkien fan by any means and I get that the trilogy is, as Brad says, about small people being able to make a difference. But isn't this universe also filled with all sorts of powerful demi-gods that can do this kind of crazy nonsense?

The Ainur and the Maia and those types? I admit I had to look up the names.

Also the idea that Talon here is a character on that power scale yet nothing he does is going to make a dent in the greater scheme of things, the books happen ragardless so Sauron is hardly defeated here, does tie into that core theme of power vs the powerless. Samwise does what Talon fails to do right?

Anyways I feel bad for this game. It's going to get the Evolve treatment. A good game, probably better then Evolve as well but Evolve was a fine game, that will never have a chance because an overzealous and greedy marketing and "post release revenue strategy" has poisoned the well of public perception.

I've heard Brad talk about this game a couple times now and despite his declarations of "It's not that bad" all he seems to get in return is complaints about how gross it appears.

WB kind of shot themselves in the foot with this one methinks.

Ok guys, I know quicklooks arent ever actually quick haha, I've been coming here for some time now.

That said, this quicklook is longer than I expected :')

PS: Man, fuck that Michael Transactions.

I'm with Brad here. This is way less Lord of the Rings than the last game which was totally fine in that regard or the movies.

Shadow of Mordor was fine with that, but I feel they're taking way too open with what the books provided.

The game itself looks really fun by the way, kinda how Steamworld Dig 2 is compared to Steamworld Dig 1. Love the way you're creating a counter army and they seem to improve the Nemesis system quite a lot even just by looking at the video.

Not getting the game regardless, at least not now. Even if this game has lootboxes I don't think they're mandantory, still they're completly unwarranted and unjustified.

EDIT: Just reached the part about the Loot Boxes, its way worse than I thought, ugh. Imagine putting the time and resources from this kind of stuff into the actual game instead.

Man swine!

I actually like seeing the menus in quick looks.

There's zero excuse for loot crate mictrotransactions in $60 games.

@skipfranken: I'm of the mind that voting with your wallet in this case can also mean buying the game but not giving them any extra cash for the micro transactions. From everything I've seen and heard so far it seems like they're not essential to playing the game and easy to ignore. If it actually turned out that you very nearly NEEDED to spend extra money to be able to finish the game or get the most out of it then yes, I would agree with a potential boycott. That's just me though, and in this particular instance.

Watching the first half of this quick look had me all excited and thinking about just dropping in on day 1 despite some misgivings and the story being complete crap. The mess of systems just look like fun to screw around with. Leveling, loot, orc management, nemesis nonsense, and fun combat/movement.

Then they hit the market and I'm out again. I have no trust whatsoever that a company implementing a system like this will do it in a way that is fun and balanced. And that's leaving aside them constantly trying to sell you something on every screen or not-so-subtly reminding you that anything you think is a little too difficult can be overcome if you fork over money.

I will be voting with my wallet by not spending more money other than buying the game.

Wb wont see a dime from me, even if I did like the first game. They can bugger right off with their invasive lootboxes that belong in FREE 2 PLAY games. Also the true ending behind lootbox purchases ohh ffs WB get bent.

@skipfranken: totally agree! Skipping this nonsense.

Listen I just wanna go fight a bunch of orcs again, I'm excited.

Flog as Best New Character

Video games would probably cost $100 now if micro-transactions hadn't become a thing, so maybe all of you should stop complaining about completely optional "nickel and diming". It's a minor miracle they don't cost more anyways, with how expensive games have become to make.

Hah, they found Kumail Nanjiani's orc.

@uninvincible: I have zero sympathy for the publishers. This video from Supper BunnyHop talks about Activision but it applies to all the major publishers. https://youtu.be/SFKnv1YzI3k?t=7m18s

Man what a bummer this seems to be. I really liked the first game and especially the nemesis system. This game seems to have expended that stuff in the right direction.

But the Loot Boxes seem out of place and if you take into account that they crammed in micro-transactions just makes it downright shitty. Also not a fan of a bunch of smaller areas (even if they are more varied).

I just get the feeling that this game had a good design and then a bunch of suits swept in and fucked it up by adding shit to broaden the mass appeal, like Loot Boxes and some "celeb" voices. The whole thing with this being a LOTR game for no reason at all also add to that feeling.

@uninvincible: total nonsense duder.

@uninvincible: Don't forget that alot of journalists predicted that games would go up in price again over the years and then it didn't.

I guess we got the alternative plan.

Maybe "all" of us shouldn't stop complaining. If i find something wrong i will complain. No random internet stranger gets to dictate that.

Really wish you could play as an orc tho.

@mmarsu: Calm down man.

Just a reminder, in the MS world, this is a play anywhere title, so you will get access to the Windows Store version on the PC and XBOX version under one purchase. Which, despite the gripes of the Windows Store, is pretty cool for a non-first party game.

Agreed. Loved the first one, but I am voting with my wallet on this one. Loot boxes, online mechanics and poor story. Too many great games in October as it is.

@mmarsu: holy shit man. "makes me sick" really?

The Tolkien's texts are basically as far from D&D nonsense as you can get with regards to use of magic. Those that do possess magic for the good side are very much restrained in their use of it (ex. Gandalf, Galadriel; you can count the number of good "magic" users on one hand). Gandalf is basically an angelic envoy from the pantheon of the creator's servants in the undying lands, and is charged to help mortals in the fight against Sauron, but is heavily restricted from using his powers except when absolutely needed.

The "magic" bad guys basically just use their power to influence others and tempt the minds of mortals, and that's pretty much it.

There are other smaller examples of magic (swords that glow blue, doors that open with a password), but they are basically treated as high-level craftsmanship from dwarves and elves.

Tolkiens world is also a world where magic is fading, and the ancient age of balrogs & dragons & elves & rings is coming to an end, making way for the dominion of men.

@mmarsu: Seems like a little bit of an extreme response

I never got around to playing the first game. Would you say it's a must-play before starting this one or can I just jump into Shadow of War?

With all the menus and the orc types and classes and shit, this is beginning to feel a lot like the bad parts of Brutal Legend.

Hard to tell, since this one isn't quite out yet, but just from my experience with the first game, I'm guessing you could skip straight to Wardor. The first was fun, but this looks for all the world like just that, plus more. The story in Mordor was a big pile of nothing. Watch a 2 minute YouTube video and youll be caught up

I always agreed with giantbomb opinions... even though I disliked the first game I agree that there were no other games that year... but this is inexcusable boring, bland looking grindfest littered with lootboxes, dlc and so on. Why does this deserves better treatment or hype only because it's AAA, is beyond me.

@brittinius: I'm saying this as someone who doesn't care about lord of the rings but I can't remember a single thing about the story besides 'go beat the big bad guy'. The story in that game for me was seeing how the nemesis system affected the world.

@cornfed40@metalsocks: Cool, thank you very much.

you know what this action game was missing? menus!!!!

That Kumail Nanjiani voice acting, woof. Completely out of place given what all the other orcs sound like.

The next game better allow me to be an orc or a troll, because that would make the game so much more satisfying if you were just one of those dudes crawling up the ranks.

I give zero fucks about dude mcgeneric and his fabled elf ghost.

Dude, Warhammer 40K with the Nemesis system!

As someone who really liked the first game, I'm not feeling this at all. Its menus on menus on menus, followed by a short, often easy fight, and then you're back to sorting through menus.

I quite like LotR. I won't let the lore faze me; it's just a side thing and it's not like the original books and the movies don't exist because of it. The game looks fun to play even if it could have had any fantasy stuff subbed in for LotR's place.

Got the base game but won't interface with the microtransactions (never have in any game save spending $5 on Overwatch out of curiosity). Hope that's voting with my wallet enough.

I'm sold on the Pokemon aspect of this, that alone will keep me entertained for a while.