Middle-earth: Shadow of War Standard Edition - XBOX One

The fighting mechanic is so fun I find myself not following the story, but engaging in the war!

This game is a great LOTR game. It contains copious amounts of content: colllectibles, nemesis, army, rpg, and loot systems along with a captivating story. The issue arises when you reach act 4. In short, it's a grind designed to have you spend money on their market for orcs. It is frustrating at times, but never did it feel intrusive to the point I played the game only for the endorphin rush of chest openings, which happens in some other games **cough** Madden **cough**. If you like the game's content and gameplay, find it addicting to build your army and equip better loot, and explore Middle-Earth, then this game's gonna be great for you, with no real pull to spend any cash. If you're just in it for the story....then be prepared for a grind.

Similar to the first game but much improved. The story feels deeper, the world is huge, the nemesis system is better, there are more characters in the story and the combat is smooth as butter. Highly recommended!

This continuation from Shadow of Mordor is nothing short of excellent. The graphics are out of this world, the gameplay, story line and the freedom of open world exploring makes this game extremely fun. If you haven’t played this title, you’re missing out.

If you loved the first, you'll love this one just they same. They've added more abilities to make traversal of the expansive even more entertaining with double jump, high leaps when climbing, and even the ability to ride dragons! The nemesis system has vastly improved with the ability to learn your combat techniques mid battle and instantly apply them, making you change up your game. Even dying is ok, as it gives you a chance to go after the orc that killed you, and nab some upgraded loot! Speaking of loot, this game has added microtransactions loot box style. While I am definitely not a fan, they haven't done anything to shove it in my face, and they really did do a good job balancing the pace of the game without out them first. Finally, the graphics are great across all systems, and play pretty smooth. I've only noticed some texture glitches here and there where the texture didn't render properly, and it suddenly looks like a piece of work from a Nintendo 64 game, crash landed in front of me. This game is Xbox one x enhanced with hdr support, and I can't wait to try it out once that console launches later this year. This game is worth the full retail price imo.