Lord of the Rings was the premier medieval fantasy growing up. It had a wonderful world, Middle Earth, filled with different races having striking characters who all had a moment when they were the most important part of a story. This balances out the creativity and gives adequate attention to all the angles. But the most important aspect of LotR was that its story was not woven out entirely. The 3 movies we got were only the final part of Tolkiens's universe, and the universe was far bigger than just this one story. Then we got the 3 Hobbit movies, which furthered out into Middle Earth and gave us more stories and lore. Yet it was not enough.
It is not often that such an important fantasy universe in pop culture will have its stories flushed out in video games, and yet that is what we have. Unless you have read all of Tolkien's books, it is unlikely you will be aware of all of Middle Earth and how it came to the position we see in LotR. This game pretty much joins the Hobbit movies with LotR to give a more complete narration of the universe, and that is its biggest upside. This game isnt just an adaptation of an old story or borrowing of intellectual property to give something new, which becomes uninteresting after a while (Star Wars games ahem) but adds to the existing thereby enriching the universe it is set up in.
I will not go into the story lest you want to be amazed by the discoveries and moments it throws at you, but its about a Ranger of Gondor who guards the Black Gate of Mordor when it is attacked by the forces of Sauron, his Black Hand, and has his family executed in front of his eyes, and yet is not killed himself. What follows is a tale of revenge fleshed out in the most stylistic of ways when you are "aided" by an Elven spirit who lends you his powers (or himself as he is a part of you) and pushes you forward to facing the Black Hand to stop Sauron from resurrecting and finding answers to personal questions and kill ones demons in the process. Fairly easy narration to follow, and it will keep you interested as you discover more about the world, about Saurons forces and this mysterious new guest in your body.
But that is not to say the narration is without flaws. The game thrusts you into the middle of everything and you might take a while to realize all that is happening around you before you start enjoying yourself. And many fans of the lore and action gaming in general might be disappointed by the ending which is quite abrupt and doesnt really challenge you into unleashing everything you've mastered over the course of the game.
But it is the course of the game, the journey, which is most enjoyable. The free form combat inherited from the Arkham games is a delight with swords and bows and you'll never be barred from taking on a large group of orcs even in the begining of the game. But dont expect to win everytime as running, regrouping or even escaping altogether is a necessary action you must take if you are to survive in the land of Mordor. Your character will become more and more powerful as you progress and eventually taking on a group of orcs will be everything you wanted, be it in head to head combat or stealthily just to show off your powers and exciting new ways to dispose off the creatures in the most eye catching way possible. The graphics, sound design, the animations, the details are all dialed to the 10 and every angle of a fight, of platforming is enjoyable while listening to the chatter of the captains below. There simply arent games which paint such a vivid detailed picture of a land and its people (read creatures) and lets you discover all you want. The gameplay is designed in such a way that it encourages you to take which ever style of play you want and be successful with it, as executions are glorious but sneaky headshots are just as rewarding.
The nemesis system introduced here lets you make your closest ally and go against your biggest nemesis while going through the ranks of orcs and killing captains in the process. Whenever you are killed in battle by an orc, he rises in power and might even become the next captain. The detailing is such wonderous that the orcs will remember past battles and show previous scars when, and if you meet them again.
While the core gameplay is top notch, progressing is satisfactory, character detailing is fantastic, the game suffers from repetitiveness after 20 odd hours and after all the hassle the ending is a big let down. Yet it finishes with the hopes of a great new sequel and will leave you with memories of a game which made you feel in control, always on top of the enemy and always looking good at it.