That's what I thought when I heard of a LOTR based game coming out, but to be fair to it, not only are the Middle-Earthy bits of it pretty light (only really showing Gollum and the creation of the rings of power) but the game is also amazing. This will be quite tough for me obviously as I clearly much prefer to criticise and pick holes in things rather than praise them, but I'm gonna go for it anyway.
It's kind of a cross between Assassin's Creed and the Arkham series but with more gore. It has great but simple combat mechanics and some good stealth too. There's plenty of (actually fun) side quests all of which can help make the main story easier not just by helping you gain more xp and hence more abilities but also taking out captains.
So, what's a captain? Basically, each Uruk (more bad ass than regular orks apparently) unit is lead by a captain which is in a chain of command upwards right up to the war chiefs. Wipe out or control more captains and the war chiefs will be easier to take down as they will have less protection. It's not as complex as I may have made it sound but it's certainly something new. This adds a nice extra element to the game and more to do on the side than just regular side missions, which are fun anyway. There's 4 types of side mission, 1 relating to all your weapons, sword (melee), dagger (stealth) and crossbow (ranged) as well as slave freeing missions which are more of a choice of doing it your own way. What's more, I finished them all! I can't remember the last game I played where I finished all the side missions. There are also hunting and herb collecting side missions (which I didn't finish, after all, where the hell do your find a dire Caragor?) that help you boost your stats.
As far as the main missions go there tends to be many ways to complete them without forcing you down any one path, which is always nice. For instance, attacking a base? Why not sneak around, take them all out one by one? Or you could let free some Caragors, brutalise some enemies and drop some flies then mop up the left overs. You could stand afar and take them out with the bow. Try going all swords blazing and chop those mothers to oblivion. Try branding (mind controlling) all the archers an let them loose to do most, if not all of the work for you. These are just some options (my preferred methods) but there are more to pick from. It's a game with a lot of choice and everything to do with it is fun and you get a nice sense of accomplishment when a mission goes exactly how you wanted it to. I love it when a plan comes together.
Of course, as you level up, the powers become great for chopping through the hordes or sneaking around or whatever. The melee combat becomes easier and cooler, though it was always pretty satisfying anyway, countering, slicing and chopping through, but when you're executing, blasting away, and taking over minds every few strikes it becomes a blast. They also help with the stealth, with abilities such as the afformentioned branding and going invisible making you even better than before.
Now, time for my favourite bit, the negatives! Sometimes, stealth can be a bit dodgy. Most of the time as long as you're holding the crouch button you can walk right past an enemy without being spotted. Yet, using a shadow strike kill (sort of a teleport forward kill) always gets you spotted despite enemies not looking your way. There's also the question of Gollum (who always annoyed me in the films anyway) and what he is actually doing in the game as it's hinted that he'll be a large part of the game, but he isn't. The biggest tragedy of all though is the final 2 bosses which are so easy it's farcical. Additionally, the big twist at the end is kind of strange and Torvin (you) gets upset about something that I'm pretty sure no one that really exists would. These are not major issues though (well, the final boss thing kind of leaves a bitter taste in your mouth at the end but try and remember the good times, yeah?) and the game is still fantastic.
It almost seems pointless now to say how good the game looks, maybe I should just point out when a game looks bad from now on. So, if you have ever liked the Assassin's creed series and/or the Arkham series (seems like everyone does the latter) plus loads of gore then, as a famous man once said; 'this is for you'.It may seem harsh comparing this to two other games rather than letting it stand alone, but it takes the best elements from both, adds some of it's own stuff and blends them together to make a stand out game. This is the one to beat so far this 'games season' 9/10.
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