Shadow of War Review
A sequel to a wonderful game (top 10 game on my list, currently) that is a complete joy to play, other than the grinding. The story, as ridiculously non canon as it is, can be enjoyed in the same way much of the star wars “legends” universe can be; a great deal. I absolutely love the flashbacks and all the literal things you can discover in this game that have a huge impact on your perspective. It’s really interesting how you can go from thinking you’re the good guy in the first game, to having a little doubts about that in the expansion in the first game, to this game where it becomes very, very apparent, that your destiny is to be something that you don’t want to be (to keep it vague). Anyway, the story is great, in my opinion, and the dialogue and interactions with the orcs is probably the best system I’ve seen where it truly feels like you have an ongoing, ever-changing relationship with not only people your allies with, but and especially with your enemies (which is incredibly unique in a video game). The graphics looked fine, but something did feel slightly off, and then I saw someone compare the first game to this and it seems the character models are a little worse for Talion (who knows?).
But, and this is a big but, as I’m sure many of you have read/played yourself, the true ending of the game, the one with the best ending for the story, is locked behind an insane end game grind. Now, I’ve heard many complain about this already, but I actually enjoyed it at first, and didn’t mind it for most of it. However, towards the end, I was done with it. I made it to stage 10 (I think that’s final) and some stupid orc got a “no chance” on me, and I lost my freaking fortress despite the fact that I was about to win the battle. I then proceeded to try to take it back, and the same stupid thing happened. I was 93% done with that end game grind and I just gave up at that point and went online to see what the final video was and… it was amazing and everything I wanted out of an ending (strongly connected with the lord of the rings ending). But it takes going through (in game decades) a really lengthy and grindy process to get to, which is not what you should have to do in a single player rpg. There is a reason I never beat Xenoblade Chronicles and especially Xenoblade X, rpgs, unless they are mmos, should have no grind in them. This is really my only major issue with the game, and it does negatively impact it. Other than that, a great game, though not terribly unique compared to the first game.
Originality: 13/20
Graphics: 9/10
Art Style: 15/15
Story: 28/30
Music 5/5
Controls 5/5
Is it fun? 13/15
Total – 88
Charm factor: 0
88 / 100
No story/charm based rating – 86 / 100
Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition – 100 + 5 = 105
Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle =111
Shovel Knight – 95 + 10 = 105
Zelda Breath of the Wild - 104
Paper Mario – 90 +10 = 100
Shadow of Mordor = 95 + 5 = 100
Warhammer: Total War = 98
Zelda Skyward Sword-98
Hyrule Warriors – 93 + 5 = 98
Overwatch – 90 + 5 = 95
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 93
Zelda Minish Cap – 92
Portal 2 – 87 + 5 = 92
Portal – 87 + 5 = 92
Assassin’s Creed 4 Wii U – 86 +5 = 91
Zelda Windwaker HD – 86 + 5 = 91
Bayonetta 2 = 91 NR
Bayonetta (Wii U) – 91 NR
Zelda Oracle of Ages – 91
Metroid Fusion – 91
Mario and Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story – 86 + 5 = 91
Zelda Twilight Princess – 90
Luigi’s Mansion Dark Moon - 90
Guildwars 2 – 89
Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 89
Animal Crossing New Leaf – 84 + 5 = 89
Shadow of War - 88
Pokemon X – 88
Zelda: A Link to the Past – 78 + 10 = 88
Kid Icarus Uprising – 88
Darksiders 2 - 88
Fire Emblem Awakening – 88
Civilization 6 – 77 + 10 = 87
Mass Effect - 84
Super Mario Maker = 84*
Dishonored - 84
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark - 84
Paper Mario Sticker Star – 83
Rome 2: Total War - 83
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds-83
Mario and Luigi Paper Jam - 82
Super Mario 3d land – 72 + 10 = 82
Diablo 3 – 72 + 10 = 82
Batman Arkham Knight - 81
Batman: Arkham Origins – 81
Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga – 80
Trine – 80
Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze* - 68 + 10 = 78
Mass Effect 3 - 77
Mass Effect 2 – 76
Mr. Shifty - 74
Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – 74
Black Ops 2 - 74
Rome: Total War-74
Yoshie’s Wooly World – 73*
Just Cause - 71
Paper Monster Uncut (Wii U) - 70
Red Alert 3 – 70
Snake pass - 66
New Super Mario Bros. U – 66
New Super Mario Bros.Wii – 57 *
Assassins Creed 3 – 57 NR
Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition – 53*
Mighty Gunvolt Burst - 47
Puzzles and Dragons Z: Mario Edition - 46
Kirby Squeak Squad – 43
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3d – 42
Yoshi’s New Island - 27
Project X Zone - 18
* Means it was more fun than the score indicates. Scores judge the overall quality of the game (how fun it is only counts for 15% in my reviews)
NR means Not Recommended based on inappropriateness.
^Charm is rewarded to games that have an undefinable quality to them that makes them amazing and have high replayability value.
