Well, completed Middle-Earth: shadows of Mordor, and i had a ton of fun, slaying Orcs, branding and controlling them, and manipulating Mordor's hierarchy. Huh, no wonder Sauron loves power.

Anyway, the game takes place between the Hobbit and LOTR and you play as Talion, last Ranger along the wall of the Black Gate of Mordor. Doesn't take long to have your entire family murdered and you yourself killed by the Black Captains, fearsome agents of Sauron's power. They are The Hammer, the Tower, and the Black Hand of Sauron. Instead of dying, Talion is banished from death, and possessed by a mysterious Wraith who helps Talion with his quest to destroy the Captains.

Now the game is a fairly open world third person action game, and holy crap is there tons to do. The game has you collect herbs, which many fans will recognize form the series as plants in-game. There are Outcasts living in Mordor, slaved to Sauron and the Uruk army he commands. Free them and you can gain missions to rescue and eventually inspire them to fight back. But there's more! There are also legend missions for your sword, bow and dagger, each can be done after unlocking a ability such as chain kills or combat finishers. The more you do the more blinged out they'll be, completing all of them nets you bragging rights and an awesome new look to the weapons. You can also collect artifacts that detail side stories about characters in the game, and even glyphs that detail the wraith's power.

the biggest draw, and my personal mechanic, is the Nemesis System. Basically to demoralize Sauron's forces, you gotta manipulate the violent way they act, basically murder, kill, and replace the captains and war-chiefs. Each captain has their own strengths and weaknesses, such as being insta-killed by stealth kills or a charged bow shot. But they also have their own defenses, such as being immune to stealth or ranged, or even able to kill beasts. And if you die to a captain, not only do they remember killing you, but they grow stronger from your death too.

There are rune you collect from killing the Uruks, and depending on their Power level and the way they died, they can be used to boost one weapon. Some of the rarest and most powerful are the Epic runes, which you can acquire later in the game.

Now, that's not to say the game isn't without flaws, if you power through the campaign you probably can get it done fast, though be prepared to become enraged at a captain who keeps killing you...believe me, you will. And the final boss itself is lacking, though the two DLCs, Lord of the Hunt and The Bright Lord, offer some interesting gameplay to it, especially after completing the game itself. There is the Game of the Year edition out now, so i highly recommend you get that version to experience the full game.

If you're a Lord of the Rings fan looking for a good game in the series, i say get this one, it's fun, addicting, and you're going to love manipulating the Uruks to killing one another and brand them into your own army against Sauron. Heh, yeah I've gotten into this game waaaaay too much XD