5 Ways Shadow of War Improves Upon Its Predecessor

It really is bigger and better.
shadow of war

Open World Activities

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While the Nemesis system is great and makes the world engaging, the activities outside of that system are a mixed bag. The biggest problem with Shadow of Mordor was that outside of the Nemesis system the open-world just felt a bit empty with very little to do. There were a few collectibles scattered around, but most of the side content and missions tied into the Nemesis system or provided different weapon and combat challenges to undertake. For the most part, it was typical open-world fare, with the Nemesis system acting as the true driving force.

Shadow of War, unfortunately, doesn’t entirely fix this problem. There is more to do this time around with plenty of collectibles, side missions, Shelob memories, and more. Some of these are interesting, Gondor Relics provide tiny bits of lore or history, and side missions often interact with the Nemesis system. There’s also a host of quests that have you playing as Celebrimbor, fulfilling certain requirements in the past.  However, Shadow of War suffers from what many open-world games do after a while. Things start to feel like busywork after a while.

There’s a heck of a lot of running around just to pick up a tiny item here and there, see a few seconds of a memory, or uncover one word of a poem that needs five more. The side content in Shadow of War is definitely an improvement over Shadow of Mordor, it just seems like there’s far too much to do that isn’t rewarding enough. Luckily, there is another addition that makes the side content more digestable…


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Author
Hayes Madsen
A connoisseur of all things RPG related, and always looking for the artistic expression in gaming. His love of Gundam is only matched by his love of Pizza. Playing Games Since: 1991 Favorite Genres: RPGs, JRPGs, Strategy,