Shadow Of War is much bigger than its predecessor, offering more orcs, more gear, more to conquer, and your very own orc army.

A sprawling, action-filled epic adventure with a compelling story and a living, breathing world that creates real consequences for your actions and failures. Its post-game Shadow Wars content is understandably polarizing but that shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying the core experience.

Getting caught in its tangle of new systems and features can be frustrating, but there's still a great open world game here.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is great for veterans and tough for newcomers, but a joy to play for either party once you get a hang of the mechanics. It gets tedious at times, and there are missed opportunities here and there, but the Nemesis System that was a beacon of success in the first game has come back bigger and better than ever. It's definitely a return to Middle-earth that is worth the play, and an homage to Tolkien's works that everyone can appreciate.