So as I said, the game takes place between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies and as you play it, it can be regarded as canon to the Middle-Earth story as it were. Our focus is on a ranger captain called Talion (voiced and motion captured by a guy who has played a conduit, a man on the verge of survival, Batman and at least 2 members of his rouge gallery and many other roles, Troy Baker) who is part of a Gondor garrison stationed at the Black Gate. They get attacked by Sauron's Uruk forces (those creatures by the way, may heavily resemble Orcs but are not Orcs in any way) which are led by 3 Black Numenorean captains, the Hammer and Tower of Sauron and their leader, The Black Hand of Sauron (the third of which is voiced by a guy who has played a treasure hunter, 3 villains of Batman, the most popular Marvel character ever, the present day protagonist of the Assassin's Creed games and many other roles, Nolan North) who capture Talion and his family and has them ritually sacrificed in the hopes of summoning the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor (voiced by Alistair Duncan). But in doing so, Celebrimbor decides to merge with Talion, saving him from death and together they set out to find who Celebrimbor is (as he is suffering from amnesia) and to have revenge on those who killed Talion's family, while coming across some familiar lands and faces along the way. Now a lot of people have said you play as one character in the game who has wraith-like abilities, but in truth, you are playing as 2 characters merged into one. It plays out like an open world game where you can explore all (or at the very least, a good chunk) of Mordor (which is a shame as I was hoping to explore at least a good chunk of Middle-Earth, but I'll let that pass) and you have all sorts of stuff to do in it like finding artifacts, forging weapons and then using them against Uruk forces and numerous other things. But the biggest factor about this game, is the Uruks themselves as they have various ranks among them, some being captains and others being just average Uruks who after they defeat you, they themselves will become captains and rising up to become Warcheifs, getting more and more powerful each time they kill you. But if you kill them, that then leaves a position open for another Uruk to take its place as a captain or warchief. Alternatively, you can also brand those Uruks (which is another way of saying, possessing/hypnotising) and have them do your every bidding. Additionally, the gameplay elements in this game are very reminiscent of the elements in the Batman: Arkham and Assassin's Creed games in regards to stealth, combat and just general free run. And the graphics on the PS4 are great and very realistic.
I have to admit, this is one open world game that is quite intense and manages to make a near perfect Batman: Arkham and Assassin's Creed Hybrid with Middle-Earth being the central thing in the game and I like it a lot. It will take some time to get used to and you will spend most of it upgrading weapons and stats if you have a chance against the Uruks, but I do find that the story, the setting, the gameplay and the characters all to be great. Even though it is similar to other open world games but that's OK. Worth getting if you're a hardcore fan of Middle-Earth stuff. 9/10
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