Monolith has something for everyone here, and just like Gollum with his ‘precious’, you’ll be hooked after a little taste of the power you can possess in Shadow of War.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War is bigger and better than its predecessor in almost every conceivable way. If you don't mind the repetition found in most open world games, there's a robust strategy layer here that combines with a great combat system to offer hours and hours of Orc slaying, army building fun.

Monolith Productions has an absolute sensational game in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and while there will be some detractors, the story, and game as a whole, is a masterpiece of craftsmanship that would make J.R.R. Tolkien proud. It has quality development that takes everything fans know and love from the first game, and improves and expands on it making Shadow of War a game that could easily hold contention for "Game of the Year". It is a must have purchase for anyone that enjoys quality gameplay mechanics, beautiful visuals, stellar sound, and a story that holds its own in a lore that is highly protected by its fans all across the globe. In the world of The Lord of the Rings, Monolith Productions has become the one developer to rule them all.

A textbook example of how to make a great sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War takes the first game's template and expands upon it in a meaningful and interesting way. The result is a follow-up that's not only a lot bigger, but it's also a lot better. It talks the talk, and yes, it also Orcs the Orc.

Its storylines run the gamut from deftly handled through to daft, and ludicrous liberties are taken with Tolkien’s characters and lore...All the same, none of this matters because Shadow of War doubles down on everything that was already brilliant in Shadow of Mordor for a good 30-40 hours of stupidly absorbing stealth, action and warfare.

It's a shame the story is so strangely paced, but you hardly need it. Fortress Assaults are great set pieces, and there's a lot of fun to be had with the upgraded Nemesis System alone.

This core action and the complex systems that underpin it are fun enough to play around with that it's a real shame that so many issues exist around the edges of this package, because those issues eventually started to diminish my enjoyment of the game's good parts.