Middle-earth: Shadow of Video Game Series

The place of action of all installments of the series is Middle-earth - a fantastic land created by J.R.R. Tolkien and popularized by the screen adaptations directed by Peter Jackson. The free inhabitants of Middle-earth - primarily humans, elves and dwarves - have been plagued by ancient forces of evil for many centuries. Their personification is the dark ruler Sauron, commanding armies of brutal and ruthless orcs. From the point of view of chronology, the game universe takes place somewhere between the events of the The Hobbit a The Lord of the Rings, as Sauron returns to the dark land of Mordor to rebuild his vile army and invade Middle-earth again.

The main character of the series is Talion, a scout for the army of Gondor, the kingdom of men; the hero's job is to guard the entrance to Mordor. Both Talion and his family become victims of Sauron's servants. Captured and murdered as part of a dark ritual, Talion is bound to the mysterious specter of an elf who also suffered great wrongs at the hands of the dark ruler centuries ago. Thanks to the power of the specter, Talion is able to return to the world of the living, where Sauron and his servants begin preparations for another invasion of Middle-earth. Burning with lust for revenge for the wrongs suffered, the scout of Gondor and the spirit of the ancient elf set out together to Mordor to dispense justice.

In both parts of the main series, we observe our hero from a third-person perspective, and the bulk of the gameplay is spent fighting numerous enemies. Talion uses his sword brilliantly, blocking attacks and delivering deadly series of blows, and thanks to the power of his immaterial companion, he can at any time pull the bow, which the specter used when he was alive, out of the air and pierce several orcs with ethereal arrows. Over time, the player can upgrade his weapon with runes obtained from defeated enemies and gain new special skills.

The hallmark of the series is the Nemesis system, thanks to which our adventure becomes truly unique, and our successes and failures have a real impact on the game world. Sauron's army is composed not only of regular soldiers, but also commanders of various levels, each of whom has a randomly generated name and strengths and weaknesses. Before fighting such a champion, it is good to get to know his character, for example, by interrogating defeated privates. It is worth mentioning that a lower ranked orc can be promoted in place of a defeated commander, for example, as a reward for killing a player. Both privates and commanders can be converted to our side to help us in the fight against Sauron. By carefully selecting targets for elimination, we can even ensure that our agents are promoted to higher positions in the army of darkness. In the second part of the main series (Shadow of War) these mechanics have been raised to a higher level: there we can create whole armies out of scouted orcs, capture fortresses, occupy entire regions of Mordor, and assign governors to controlled areas. The game has thus gained strategic qualities.

Version Shadow of War released for mobile devices is a game even more reminiscent of RTS titles. In it we collect famous characters from the universe of the Lord of the Rings and command them in real-time battles, observing battles from a bird's-eye perspective. During the clash we are limited to a small squad of elite warriors, each with unique skills.