This is a fantastic game, which I most certainly enjoyed.

Wowsers. I came into this game without any expectations whatsoever. Boy, I was blown away. Hot off Dragon Age: Inquisition which in itself is an Action RPG, I found Shadow of Mordor's combat (which is important in any ARPG) to be most satisfying. I must admit I found it a bit difficult at the start – I died a lot at the beginning due to lack of experience (going for a whole bunch of orcs like a superhero) but over time as I added more skills, I became more adept at handling orcs, warchiefs and all (yes I still died, but quite a bit less!). It's a game that does stealth MUCH more smoothly and seamless than Assassin's Creed, combat movements MUCH more fluid than Dragon Age: Inquisition and introduces a fun “Nemesis” system.

The Nemesis system introduces you to the idea of enemy progression e.g. Each time an orc or uruk kills you, he gains 1 rank up. There are Warchiefs who are stronger versions of orcs/uruks, surrounded by some bodyguards which require a bit more careful planning. Later in the game when you can brand uruks and turn them into your side, the Nemesis system becomes more fun where you can brand bodyguards and get them to betray Warchiefs (with you helping them), essentially creating traitors within Sauron's orc army ranks.

As I said before, combat is super fluid and reminds me of the Batman series of games.

There's heaps of variety in the game, including the ability to ride Caragors (the fierce dog monsters) and Graugs (the huge golem like monster). You also have a mix of sword, bow-and-arrow and stealth dagger skills you employ throughout the game to rid of your enemies. Stealth executions and branding are actually fun and very smooth. Later on you can purchase higher end skill sets which makes you a stronger killing machine for a limited time. There are the main quests and never ending side-quests to enable you to grind a bit to increase your skill sets.

If there's one thing I'd improve, I'd like the sometimes “sticky” situations where you're stuck climbing on a wall and can't jump down quick enough. But generally you can survive without having to do this.

Story-wise, it's pretty straight forward, and has ties to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings lore (as re-imagined by Peter Jackson). Familiar characters like the ring, Sauron, Saruman, Gollum either make an appearance in person or in the text.

After playing this, games like Assassin's Creed will need to improve their combat! I'm certainly looking forward to the sequel, Middle Earth: Shadow of War. It's truly a worthy game.

Case came damaged. Other than that, everything was as expected.