Talion already causes fear among the Orcs of Mordor, erected in a civilization with its tribes, fights and fortresses. The time has passed since we were surprised with the Middle Earth of Warner Bros Games. We tell you how the sequel of one of the most unexpected successes of the current generation behaves.
Tolkien counted, on the rings of power, that nine of the conflicting magic jewels went to men, those simple mortals condemned to die . The films about Middle Earth that finally put a human face on these characters told us, in the whispering voice o
f Galadriel, that these same men crave above all … power. Both things caused a stir in the mind of Talion , protagonist of the great video game that was Middle Earth: Shades of Mordor, who was thoroughly employed in rebelling against their m
ortality while embracing with epic rage the pursuit of power, as long of an adventure that ended up transforming him into a kind of immortal superheroof Middle Earth.
Shades of Mordor was hailed by many as one of the starting guns of the current generation . Like everyone more or less, it is undeniable that we needed experiences that were clearly separated from the games of the previous generation, and here we had t
hem. The Nemesis system that we now find ourselves expanded with a myriad of new possibilities was complemented by an add
ictive system of combat and stealth , the true soul of the party, from which it was difficult to get tired. It was an important game, and we know well that sequels are not an option for titles of their size, so we are already facing the s
econd installment of what will possibly be a new saga in the long term, set ina personal reinterpretation of JRR Tolkien’s universe.
Shadows of War begins with a Talion already recognized, feared by the orcs as one of the most powerful beings in Middle-earth. His merger with Celebrimbor, the very ring-maker, as well as the ambiguous motivations of his spectral co
mpanion, is one of the central themes of a plot of which we will only say that it will attract many skeptics. Remember that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are little less than religion for many people, so retouching their plots and
characters will always find accusations of sacrilege somewhere. Aware of this, from WB Games confirm with this second installment their intention to establish a kind of alternative mythology in a Middle Earth that becomes irresisti
ble to those who enter it, either with an open mind or from ignorance of the original material. For many efforts that are made when linking to the official canon of Middle Earth, in this War Shadows there are already characters and events, such as Talionitself or the fantastic reinterpretation of Ella-Laraña , which stand out too much to pretend integrate without further into the existing mythology. With this game we are already decidedly facing a new Middle Earth, but we think that the c
omplicated company has been carried out with much success in several aspects: on the one hand, it manages to work with solvency in a medium that was little more than a projectwhen Tolkien wrote “The Fellowship of the Ring”. On the other, si
nce the previous adventure, has managed to explain with some dignity some of the holes that were left pending in the immense fresco of intertwined mythologies that is the work of Tolkien. And those who know the subject thoroughly know that they are not few.
But let’s not forget that this is a videogame, so all of the above is in the background before the sensations that this new M
iddle Earth can give us at the controls, now that it faces the really difficult: to live up to very high expectations. high . Shadows of War is again an action game (let’s always be very clear that this and not something else prevails) with touches and sections of stealth, set in an immense mapping in the tradition of the open world before Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The sc
ale increase that is expected in a sequel does not affect exclusively the size of the stage, so there are some times overwhelming in terms of the number of points to visit throughout the different areas of Mordor. From the excessive growth of everything that arises to us, many implications arise throughout the game, but also the first novelties that veterans will n
otice. You have to travel through a much larger environment, so from the first stages of the adventure we will quickly obtain powe
rs that will empower us to move faster than before in the different regions.Among them stands out a mechanic that contributes
much more than the usual increases in speed or climbing: a double jump in the air very well implemented that allows us to direct ourselves with precision at almost any moment, besides providing very interesting
variables in combat already advanced in the adventure. The jump in the middle of the air is hilarious and we will abuse its use, although thanks to this mechanics one of the imperfections of the whole framework of the game is more visible .
Touch a little pull on the ears for control in general, which this new gesture makes more obvious. Everything works very well
in most situations, but here and there we will come across the typical trick of the open worlds, in the form of not allowing us to go up where we want or stay stuck where we thought we could climb or jump. It is rare and does not significantly influence the
experience, but it is there and it joins an accumulation of buttons that will take us hours to internalize. We are facing a video game with depth of inventories and menus, so the control has its substance and some aspects could have been better polished or explained in its RPG part.
