Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

1. Summary

Most reviewers recommend Shadow of Mordor, and they describe a cheap, compact action game that has held up since its 2014 release. The praise rests on two things: Arkham-style freeflow combat with brutal finishers, and the Nemesis system, which turns randomly generated orc captains into rivals who remember you, get promoted when they kill you and come back scarred after you kill them. Players also like being dropped into a dark, movie-flavored Mordor, and some say it runs smoothly on modest PCs and the Steam Deck. Others bought it for a few dollars, often bundled with Shadow of War, and say that price makes it an easy yes.

Repetition wears on players: the same captain hunts, slave rescues and outposts fill two maps, and the second region adds little. Some players who finished the story call the ending a letdown, because the last two bosses go down to a stealth brand and a quick time event. Others fight the controls, mostly the single button that climbs, sprints and dodges, and the waves of orcs and extra captains that pile into a fight. Opinions split on the story, which some find forgettable and others a highlight, on whether the game is too easy or too punishing, and on whether to skip straight to Shadow of War. Some negative reviews still credit the combat or the Nemesis system and say the game is too thin or too repetitive to carry them to the end.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

Freeflow combat and brutal finishersHigh

Combat comes up in 44% of written reviews, mostly as a reason to play. Players describe it as the Batman Arkham system with swords: counters, vaults, a slowed-time bow, chained executions and decapitations that stay satisfying "after the 100th time", as one put it. One review sums up the whole package as "Fight like Batman, stealth kill like an Assassin without a creed, unlock towers like in Far Cry." Several say the fighting deepens as skills unlock, turning early scrambles into one-man-army sweeps. Those who dislike it call it shallow button mashing or a weaker copy of Arkham, and several prefer it with a controller (see the controls frustration below).

The Nemesis system and its orc captainsHigh

The Nemesis system is named in 32% of written reviews, and it is the part players call original. They tell stories about one captain who keeps returning with a metal plate on his head or a new scar, taunts them about the last fight, and climbs the ranks every time he lands a killing blow. One review says "The Nemesis system turns random enemies into personal villains better than most games manage with scripted bosses." Another: "Incredible how they managed to make death punishment fun." Much of the affection goes to the orcs' trash talk, their British-sounding banter and their quirks (fears, weaknesses, immunities). Later in the game, players enjoy branding orcs to infiltrate and overthrow warchiefs. A smaller group finds the system thin once you notice the patterns, or punishing when a few deaths make captains much stronger.

A dark, movie-faithful MordorHigh

The Lord of the Rings setting comes up in 39% of written reviews. Players praise how closely the orcs, armor, music and fortresses match Peter Jackson's films, and some enjoy the artifacts and lore entries scattered around the map. Several say they enjoyed it without knowing much about Tolkien, and a couple say it made them want to watch the films. Fans of the setting single out Gollum's appearances and Celebrimbor's backstory. How faithful the plot is to Tolkien is a separate argument (see the split section).

It holds up and runs on modest hardwareMedium

About 9% of written reviews say the game has aged well, in looks and in play. Some note smooth performance on mid-range or old PCs ("Runs smooth even on older hardware", in one reviewer's list), and Steam Deck owners who mention it mostly report a clean experience ("Works Perfectly on Steam Deck!"), with one input bug noted under bugs below. A minority finds the graphics dated or the first map drab.

Cheap, especially in the bundleMedium

Price and sales come up in 10% of written reviews. Players mention paying a few dollars or getting both Middle-earth games with DLC in a bundle, and call it easily worth that. A smaller group says to buy it only on sale, usually because of repetition.

Stealth, branding and the power curveMedium

Players like being able to clear camps by stealth from the rooftops, by open brawling, or by setting branded orcs and beasts on each other. Riding caragors and graugs, exploding campfires and draining enemies for intel get specific mentions. Some enjoy the arc from vulnerable to near-unstoppable, while others say the late game gets too easy (see difficulty).

Voice acting and side charactersLow

Talion and Celebrimbor's performances, Ratbag the cowardly orc, Torvin the dwarf hunter and Gollum get warm mentions, along with the orc voice actors. Critics of the story still often credit the cast.

Where players are split

The storyHigh

Story comes up in 43% of written reviews, and opinion divides. About 8% of written reviews praise it as engaging or epic, often citing the opening and the Celebrimbor reveals ("The story is simply amazing."). About 6% call it weak, short, rushed at the end or "fan fiction", with one writing that "the main plot is mostly background noise." Other reviewers treat the plot as a frame for the combat and the Nemesis system and don't mind its thinness. Several mention that Talion feels flat and that side characters disappear quickly.

How faithful it is to TolkienMedium

Reviewers who bring up canon take it as given that the game isn't. Most of them shrug and enjoy it as an alternate tale ("Enjoy it for the fan fiction that it is"), and some lore fans praise the artifacts and references as careful. A smaller group of Tolkien readers objects to the Ring-forging story and the wraith powers as lore breaking.

Shadow of Mordor or Shadow of War firstMedium

Shadow of War comes up in 15% of written reviews. Some call this game a proof of concept that the sequel expands, and one negative review says simply "Mediocre, just buy the sequel." Others prefer this one: shorter, more focused, with better-looking orcs, a stronger story and no grind or loot boxes in its design ("At least Shadow of Mordor plays fair, Shadow of War does not."). Several advise playing this one first.

Too easy or too hardMedium

About 5% of written reviews call the game easy, especially once skills stack up and the boss fights end quickly. A similar share find it hard or overwhelming, mostly early on, when strong captains and swarms of orcs wear them down and repeated deaths make captains tougher. Some on both sides ask for a difficulty setting, which the game lacks ("Game is too hard with no way to lower ingame difficulty.").

The DLC campaignsLow

The Lord of the Hunt and The Bright Lord campaigns get mixed notes. Some players love The Bright Lord as the boss fight against Sauron the main story skips ("The Bright Lord is one of the best DLCs I've ever played."). Others call both short reskins of the same maps with weaker abilities ("Main story is a very fun experience but the dlcs are very boring and disappointing").

LengthLow

Some players like that the story wraps up in 12 to 20 hours without bloat. Others call that too short for an open world, or say it is "about 10 hours of game disguising itself as 30" once repetition is taken out.

What frustrates players

Repetitive missions and a samey second mapHigh

Repetition or grind comes up in 17% of written reviews and in 36% of written negative reviews. Players describe the same loop of finding intel, killing a captain and clearing a camp; 24 near-identical slave rescues; and weapon and outcast missions that differ only in bonus conditions. Some say the second region repeats the first in greener colors ("The second region offers very little that you haven't already experienced."). A blunter verdict: "It's the same thing, over, and over, and over, and over." Reviewers who recommend the game raise it too, and some of them say the combat carries it or advise playing in short sessions.

Endless enemies and captains piling into fightsMedium

Some players complain that fights never stay small: orcs keep respawning, alarms call in reinforcements, and two or three more captains wander in, each stopping the action for an introduction. Targets flee during the chaos and missions fail. "I genuinely despise the way this game continuously throws enemies at you at all times," one player wrote. Captains immune to stealth, arrows and stuns add to it for some.

Clunky movement and controlsMedium

About 6% of written reviews complain about controls: Talion climbing a wall when told to run, sticking to cover, or hitting the wrong orc during a finisher. The single button that does too much is the most specific complaint ("One button for climbing, sprinting, dodging and vaulting over enemies."). One keyboard player writes "It's a controller game. Keyboard and mouse is an option only in name," while others manage fine with mouse and keyboard after remapping keys.

An anticlimactic endingMedium

About 5% of written reviews, and 9% of written negative ones, criticize the final act. The Tower is defeated by a stealth brand, and Sauron's Black Hand in a short quick time event, after hours of buildup. "You just can't hype up Sauron as a final boss and have him then die in a set of 5 quicktime events." Some recommend The Bright Lord DLC as the real finale.

PC port gapsLow

A smaller group of PC players lists console-port problems: no field-of-view slider with a camera close enough to cause motion sickness ("Lazy console port means no FOV slider"), mouse sensitivity and smoothing quirks, hold-only sprint and stealth, and prompts that only show Xbox buttons. Some fixed the FOV with community tools.

Crashes, black screens and Steam Deck input switchingLow

About 1% of written reviews report the game failing to launch ("The game doesn't launch correctly giving only sound and a black screen."), crashing on newer systems, or corrupting graphics mid-session. Steam Deck players describe controls flipping to keyboard prompts until a restart ("Some of the controls will randomly stop working"). A few report lost saves.

No retry on failed missionsLow

A few players dislike missions that fail instantly when a stealth rule breaks or a target escapes, and then require abandoning the mission and walking back to its start.

Shut-down online featuresLow

One review notes that "Servers were shut down on Dec. 31, 2020, making Nemesis Forge, Vendetta missions, and leaderboards no longer available," and another regrets that orcs can no longer be carried over to Shadow of War through the Nemesis Forge.

Timed achievement trialsLow

Completionists single out the timed trials (Test of the Wild, Test of the Ring, and The Hunt Is My Mistress in the DLC) as random and miserable ("The Hunt Is My Mistress achievement made me lose my sanity").

3. The player conversation

The tone is warm and casual. Most reviews are a line or two ("good game", orc-killing jokes, Gollum quotes), and the longer ones often follow one shape: the combat and Nemesis system are great, the story is fine, it gets repetitive, and the ending disappoints. Negative reviews make up about one in thirteen. They tend to call the game dated, repetitive, shallow or overrated, and some credit the Nemesis system before listing their problems.

Who raises what follows how far players got. Complaints about the controls, the swarms of enemies and PC settings like the FOV take up a larger share of reviews written after only a few hours. The complaint about the final boss comes mostly from people who played long enough to finish the story, and the achievement trials come up mainly among completionists. Some reviewers are newcomers who picked it up in a bundle with Shadow of War or played it years ago on console and returned on PC or Steam Deck. An occasional aside compares it favorably with later Tolkien adaptations, including the 2023 Gollum game and Amazon's series.

Sentiment held steady across the reviews. Each year from 2023 through 2026 landed between 92% and 93% positive, with no sustained dip. Busier stretches, such as February 2026, were just as positive as quieter ones.

4. What the developers could do

1. Vary the side content and the second region, since repetition is a frequent complaint in negative reviews and players single out the identical slave rescues and a second map that repeats the first.
2. Give the finale a real fight, because players who finished the story call the Tower and Black Hand encounters anticlimactic and some name the quick time event ending as the low point of the game.
3. Split the overloaded climb, sprint and dodge button and tighten finisher targeting, as players describe Talion climbing walls mid-fight and executing the wrong orc.
4. Limit reinforcement waves and let captain introductions be skipped, since players say fights balloon into endless respawns with extra captains whose cutscenes break the flow.
5. Add difficulty options, because players are split between finding it too easy late and too punishing early, and some on both sides ask for a setting the game lacks.
6. Add PC options for field of view, mouse smoothing and toggle sprint or stealth, which keyboard players and those prone to motion sickness list as port gaps.
7. Fix launch crashes and the Steam Deck input switching, as some players cannot start the game or lose controller input until they restart.
8. Add a retry option for failed missions, since players dislike abandoning a failed stealth or chase mission and walking back to start it again.