The free-flowing combat system is the highlight of this game, the battles are always loads of fun, and the consequences of winning or losing them even more so. The Nemesis system is unique in that victorious enemies will remember you, and consequentially various warlords and captains will move up and down the ranks. The Uruks are varied and have different strengths and weaknesses. Combat is insanely responsive with various ways to confront situations, be it with sword, blade or bow. As the game progresses, you will unlock more powerful skills and obtain runes from defeated enemies that can give big advantages in fights. The open world looks great and Talion is an interesting protagonist. Some of the other introduced characters are entertaining and move the story along. The story however, was one of the lowpoints, not necessarily bad just more along the lines of being mediocre. I did find it dragged on towards the end and there were repetitive missions and challenges. Overall though, this game certainly holds up to this day and has lots of replayability from the combat alone.

Incredible journey, nothing I have to add that others have already said, though i wish the spawn system can let us chill for a bit. Sometimes I felt like playing dynasty warriors when fresh enemy spawn the same minute I killed the last one.

I enjoyed playing Shadow of Mordor and the plot was amazing, but I feel the game is somewhat overrated slightly. The missions tended to be repetitive, and aside from the protagonist and antagonist, the characters felt dull and forgettable. Personally, I didn’t like the atmosphere much as well. I think I kept my expectation a bit high from this game
:) However, it's definitely worth trying, and you'll have a good time nonetheless.

If you like the Tolkien world, if you like fluid Batman style combat, open world quests, stat increasing hero, using stealth to take down opponents, then you will probably like this classic game. Replaying now on my second run through, it has been a few years. It is still fun.

Great game! Bit frustrating at first, but really is fun once you learn the system.

You play as Talion, a ranger who gets offed within the first five minutes, only to come back to life with the help of a mysterious ghost—who happens to be Celebrimbor, the elf who forged the One Ring. But don’t worry too much about the plot. It’s really just an excuse to go full-on medieval Jason Bourne across Mordor.

The combat is fluid, a satisfying mix of Assassin’s Creed-style parkour and the rhythmic, counter-heavy fighting of the Batman: Arkham series. Only here, instead of dealing with thugs in alleyways, you’re taking on armies of orcs. The animations are slick, especially when you’re pulling off a stealth kill or decapitating some poor, unfortunate orc. Plus, the sheer variety in the orc designs means you’re never really tired of stabbing the same ugly mug twice.

The Nemesis System is the game’s shining star. Basically, every orc captain you encounter can get promoted if they survive your encounters, which means your failure to finish them off results in bigger problems later. The orc captains have distinct personalities and weaknesses. What makes the game hilarious is the constant smack talk from these orcs. There’s nothing quite like defeating an orc captain, watching him crawl away crying, only for him to show up later, bandaged, angry, and determined to shout, “Remember me?”

Mordor, in this game is a desolate wasteland filled with gloomy mountains, ominous towers, and enough ash to make your allergies flare up in real life. But despite all that, it’s kind of beautiful—if you’re into rugged, battle-scarred landscapes.

If you’ve ever wanted to spend hours in a toxic relationship with an army of orcs, this is the game for you.

Better

Awesome if you like this type of game. Put some hours into it and get a feel for it and you will be hooked until the end. I know I should elaborate, this is supposed to be a review, but for now... Just play it, its awesome, even now in 2024.

This is not a bad game, and I did somewhat enjoy playing it. However I can't recommend it, as this game just takes some of the earlier Assassin's Creed games and Batman Arkham games, and mashes them together with a very little originality in the game mechanics.
That would be a great mix, if the gameplay wasn't incredibly repetitive, uneven, very easy and grindy. The story is fine, however you'll forget most of it since most of the game is just side quests and killing orcs.
The nemesis system is okay, but it gets very old very fast, and it was incredibly overhyped before the release of the game.

I played the game about 12 hours in 2014, then abandoned it for 10 years and started a new save. Now it took me about 26 hours to get 100% in the Story Mode, and if you spend more than that in it, you'll probably get bored.

If you're a LotR fan (not a purist though) and love Batman: Arkham games and the earlier AC games, you'll most likely get a kick out of this. I doubt it'll blow your mind though.

The cut scenes in this game are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long. It's so boring to interrupt play with 1 billion 5 second cut scenes every time something happens. Infuriatingly slow to do anything.

It literally makes your time playing the game 50% cut scenes, and 50% gameplay. Other than that, its actually a good game.