Similar to the way Batman: Arkham City built on the foundation of Arkham Asylum, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is bigger and more ambitious in scope than Shadow of Mordor, with great results. The way it expands the Nemesis system with far greater variety and fortress sieges makes even better use of the stand-out generated characters, and its battles with memorable uruk captains remain challenging all the way through the campaign and into the clever asynchronous multiplayer beyond.

Shadow of War may not be perfect. Its camera can still get lost, Talion’s free-running can often be a hindrance rather than a help, and the UI can sometimes bug out for no apparent reason in menus and the main game. But these are little issues in a very large game, and even with the Loot Boxes as optional purchases (they truly are optional), I can’t help but recommend this game to any and all fans of open world adventures. With or without the DLC there are dozens of hours of playtime to be had, and it’s mostly of the highest quality.

It's better, bigger and more sophisticated than the predecessor almost everywhere - except for the controls and business model.

Providing thrilling gameplay, a flowing combat system, pleasing Tolkien landscape, challenging charismatic bosses, deeper story and a bigger end game mechanic to keep the player entertained for many many hours, today Middle Earth Shadow of War is one of the best games available in the third-person RPG-action genre.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is definitely an improvement over the previous title, and it would have been much better without the loot boxes. While it can be argued that it makes life a little bit easier for people that don’t have time to invest in the game, it ultimately detracts from the goal and that it to be fun. On the other hand, the loot boxes won’t stop me from replaying this game at least one more time, and to go through all of the expansions. I’m inevitably drawn to it, and I have to say that at least for me, the presence of loot boxes is not enough to stop me from enjoying it, probably much more than it should.

Massive in scope and improving on its predecessor, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a triumph in every way that matters. While certain aspects are underdeveloped, or simplified to embrace player choice, the Nemesis 2.0 system, combat improvements, and genuinely engaging combat system keep things fresh for the 40 hour adventure. If only they hadn’t followed the movies and extended the ending well past its welcome.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War has everything that made Shadow of War great with improvements. It's a great sequel with tons of new content and great mechanics.

I wish Shadow of War was as confident in itself as I am in it. Had Monolith proudly led with the Nemesis Fortress system and introduced players to it quickly, they would unquestionably be on the shortlist for making the Game of the Year. Thankfully, the system acts as the Mithril-strong foundations for the game, so while the additional elements may be generic and unwelcome, there is very little digging required to find the shining silver. That surface of ash and smoke may have prevented Shadow of War from attaining its rightful score, but it certainly does not prevent it from being one of the most joyous games you can play this year.

Shadow of War won’t win any prizes for originality, well, not after the first game swept them all. But it’s a bigger and (mostly) better sequel to a series that still feels unique, and for fans of Middle-Earth we’re not likely to get more movies so you can’t really ask for better than this.

I’m enjoying Middle-earth: Shadow of War for the most part, even as it claims more than 5% of my available hard drive space. Monolith did for the most part choose the safe route by taking what Shadow of Mordor gave us and simply giving us more, some pieces blatantly lifted from other games, but the multiplayer component adds some fresh newness. I’d like to see the boss pursuit gameplay get a tune up, but we can’t have everything.

Nemesis is a one-hit wonder of a mechanic. Everything else in Middle-earth is mediocre at best, but Nemesis makes it all worthwhile, since every playthrough is truly unique – a feature none of its triple-A competitors can offer. [Issue#225, p.38]

The nemesis system shines in this unwieldy, bloated, and occasionally magnificent fantasy epic.

Despite its “loose” treatment of established Tolkien Lore, Shadow of War manages to showcase once more why the Nemesis System is one of the greatest gaming innovations in recent memory. However, a title that manages to take the cancer that is microtransactions in a Single-Player game and metastasize it to the next level cannot, in all good conscience, be awarded a higher score than this.

Shadow of War offers probably one of the most interesting open world systems. Very deep and intelligent, it's a true living world around us and the nemesis system is still brilliant. Sadly we still have some issues from the first game, like muddled combats and crazy difficulty at certain moments. Also, a fan of Tolkien can find plenty of mistakes in the game.

A lot of people were upset to find out that Shadow of War has loot boxes, and they are kind of annoying. Unfortunately, loot boxes is the least of its problems.

A huge game that, despite of the quality of the fight and the delight of the Orb, offers paradoxically very small. It's not a failure, but we were expecting more. [Issue#279]

At times entertaining, but for the most part Shadow of War is an exercise in frustration and exploitation. [Issue#268, p.62]