Is Shadow of War Worth Buying in 2022? An Expert‘s In-Depth Review

As a long-time Lord of the Rings fan and veteran gamer, I can confidently say that Shadow of War is absolutely worth buying in 2022. With its expansive open world, thrilling combat and ability to build a personal orc army, Shadow of War delivers a one-of-a-kind Tolkien epic. While it has some repetitive missions and monetization issues, recent changes like loot box removal and discounted pricing make the overall package incredibly compelling. If you‘re a LOTR fan hungry for more adventures in Middle-Earth, Shadow of War will fully satisfy that craving.

Diving Deep into Shadow of War

Let‘s fully break down why Shadow of War is such a worthy purchase with a deep dive into its strengths, weaknesses and various gameplay elements.

Visceral Combat That Makes You Feel Powerful

The melee combat system in Shadow of War is exceptionally polished. Whether you slash away with swords or crush skulls with hammers, the responsiveness and weight behind every attack feels immensely satisfying. Chaining blows together to dispatch a group of orcs in stylish fashion makes you feel like a whirlwind of death. Unlocking new skills and upgrades adds more variety to the ways you can take down foes. Executing orcs via spectacular finishing moves that let you, say, pull their head clean off their shoulders never gets old. Shadow of War has some of the most visceral and engaging melee combat in any action game.

The Nemesis System – A Stroke of Genius

This innovative system introduced in Shadow of Mordor established living, breathing enemies with personalities and roles in the world. As you play, rivalries form organically with unique named enemies who taunt you and remember your past encounters. If you run away from an orc, they may eventually become a powerful warchief fueled by vengeance. You feel connected to the world and there‘s no experience like it. This system makes Shadow of War incredibly replayable as the organic stories with enemies play out differently each campaign.

Recruit Your Own Orc Army for Conquest

A major innovation in Shadow of War is the ability to build your own orc army. You can dominate enemies after defeating them to make them follow you loyally. Commanding your customized band of orc brothers-in-arms adds a great strategic layer absent in many action games. You level up and equip your orcs then assault Sauron‘s fortresses with them at your side. These large-scale battles capture the epic sense of conquest in Lord of the Rings where armies clash over the fate of Middle-earth. It‘s immensely rewarding and addictive fun.

Vast Open World Full of Intriguing Content

Shadow of War realizes the diverse lands of Mordor at scale. The open world comprises of different large regions like the green jungle ambience of Lithlad, fiery hellscape of Gorgoroth with volcanoes and sulfur pits, and the noxious poison pools of Nurnen. Each area has a unique visual flavor and layout. You‘ll uncover enemy fortresses, camps to raid, side quests that reward gear, collectibles that expand the lore, hidden secrets and more. Just riding around taking in the sights is a treat for Tolkien fans. There‘s so much content packed into Mordor that exploring every corner will take dozens of hours.

Microtransactions and Loot Box Controversy

Shadow of War attracted lots of criticism at launch for its inclusion of real-money loot boxes and premium currency. This system allowed you to buy chests for Orc gear and boosts to speed up progress. Many felt this monetary incentive pushed people to buy them to bypass the endgame grind of defending your captured fortresses. This soured the experience. While the publishers removed loot boxes in 2018, it points to an industry trend of adding microtransactions to full-priced games which should be called out.

Streamlined RPG Systems Give You Options

The RPG mechanics in Shadow of War are just deep enough without getting overbearing. Your character levels up by gaining XP from missions which unlocks skill points. You can spend these to gain new combat abilities and buffs tailored to playstyles like greater AOE damage or stealth. Finding and upgrading gear with better stats also improves damage output and resistances. Mixing and matching gear sets with bonuses that synergize with your skills opens up build variety. Overall the systems offer a good degree of customization without micromanaging too many numbers and stats.

Tons of Post-Launch Support

Warner Bros. and Monolith did a great job supporting Shadow of War after launch with free and paid content updates. Major free updates added new Orc tribes to diversify enemies and conquest targets, endgame challenges like the Gondor region, player vs player fort battles, and more. Story expansions let you play as other Tolkien characters with new abilities against new enemies and regions. This robust support extended the life of the game tremendously while adding quality content, a huge value-add for players.

How Shadow of War Improves on its Predecessor

As the follow-up to 2014‘s Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War iterates on the formula in some key ways:

• The nemesis system is expanded with more variability in enemy types, behaviors and roles
• Open world regions are larger and more diverse with their own geography and themes
• Fortress sieges and army recruitment add deeper strategy gameplay
• Greater number of abilities, gear and RPG systems
• Graphical enhancements that bring the world to life
• Additional modes like Social Conquest and Online Vendetta missions

Shadow of War is the bigger, bolder evolution that takes Shadow of Mordor‘s concept further. While arguably less focused, Shadow of War gives players more of everything they loved before on a grander scale.

Just How Much Content Is There?

Let‘s break down the volume of content available in Shadow of War to showcase just how huge this game is:

Main Story Campaign: 25-30 hours

Side Quests: 50+ additional missions

Collectibles: Over 100 artifacts and locations to discover

Online Vendetta and Conquest: Unlimited Orc hunting and player fortress battles

DLC Story Expansions: 10+ hours of narrative content

Post-Game Endless Mode: Unlimited Orc army battles

Completing everything: 80+ hours for 100% completion

As you can see, Shadow of War offers no shortage of things to do. You can spend dozens of hours just exploring Mordor and powering up your character and army. The online modes and DLC expansions add even more value. For your money, Shadow of War provides endless Tolkien adventures.

Still Great in 2022 with Discounted Pricing

Considering Shadow of War initially released in 2017, how does it hold up over 5 years later in 2022? Extremely well.

The visuals still look great even in 2022 thanks to detailed textures, smooth animations, and stylish effects. Mordor‘s landscapes engulf you with scope and personality. Performance is solid with 60FPS on PC and modern consoles preventing any sluggishness. The orchestral soundtrack remains powerful too.

Most importantly, the addictive core gameplay loop of dominating orcs, upgrading your skills and army, then laying siege to Sauron‘s forces retains all its appeal. Killing orcs in varied ways and forging memorable nemesis rivalries never gets old.

Thanks to deep discounts, you can often find the Definitive Edition of Shadow of War packed with all DLC for only $10-15. This is an absolute steal for the sheer amount content. Shadow of War remains great value even in 2022 for new players.

To summarize clearly, Shadow of War is absolutely deserving of your time and money in 2022 for a few key reasons:

• The combat, nemesis system and army building gameplay is immensely fun and addicting
• It realizes a vast chunk of Middle-Earth ripe for exploration as a true Tolkien epic
• Tons of content that can keep you entertained for 80+ hours
• Meaningful improvements over Shadow of Mordor
• Great continued support from developers post-launch
• Discounted pricing makes it very affordable

For Lord of the Rings fans eager to jump back into Middle-earth, Shadow of War is a dream come true. The ability to create your own stories by building Orc rivalries and conquering Mordor with your army is exceptional. Even with some repetitive missions, Shadow of War does so many things right that the total package is incredibly rewarding.

I hope my deep dive has helped showcase why Shadow of War still shines bright in 2022. If you love action RPGs and the world of Tolkien, do yourself a favor and add Shadow of War to your collection. You won‘t regret journeying back into the heart of Mordor.