“Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” was created by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment. It is an open world action-adventure video game that adapted the story of “The Lord of the Rings.” The developers made their own original adaptation that tells the story of a resurrected Ranger who is also possessed by a powerful and vengeful Wraith.

A story of vengeance, building an army of orcs, and ruling Mordor

The story of this game is quite powerful due to the vengeful drive of Talion and his ghostly partner, Celebrimbor.

Together, they find different methods in order to build an army to defeat the ones who have wronged them and become the ruler of Mordor. While it does not have too much emotional investment for the main protagonist (at the start anyways), his journey until the end is quite enjoyable due to the numerous encounters he has with the denizens of the wasteland.

Upgraded graphics for PS4 version, but not that detailed

This particular video game has particular details with the armor, the environment, and the characters in it, but the one thing I found that looked a bit dull was the character’s facial details. While this was first launched on the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 4 version would have upgraded some of its details especially with the faces, but it does look a bit the same.

The rest of the designs, however, are great with the upgrades.

Dialogues between Orcs are awesome

Another awesome part of “Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” is the dialogue of the many characters, particularly the Orcs. The main characters and the supporting cast are all great with their fancy talk, but the Orcs bickering with each other and insulting their commanders behind their backs are the best dialogues to hear.

Some of the dialogues are a bit recycled, but they are all still fun to listen nonetheless.

The music makes players and fans of the franchise remember the first trilogy of films that made it quite popular. It sets up the mood for battle and it also evokes the lore of the story.

Revenge system is the best thing that happened

The meat of the gameplay in this game is the revenge system that makes players regret if they die in the hands of an Orc. Once they get killed, that particular Orc soldier will be promoted to a captain and will gain better stats and skills. If a captain kills the Ranger, they get an upgrade and more skills that will make them more difficult to kill.

The gameplay for fighting is quite good as well. Players can deflect attacks with a timed button press and make a counter attack or flee if they want to survive. They can also upgrade the skills of Talion and make him stronger so that it will be easier to defeat other Orc captains.

Game is rather short, but players can take their time

To be honest, the main story is quite short and can be done in a few days if they do not take notice of the numerous side quests that players can do. If they do sidequests, it will take them a lot of time to finish the game, but it will be worth it with more upgrades and skills to equip. With this factor, it has a high replay value and quite fun to play after finishing the main story.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor” is one of the best games to play if you are a fan of the franchise and you love timing counter attacks and stealth assassinations. With just a few flaws to the game, I would give it a score of 7 out of 10 points.

Check out "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor" Launch Trailer here.