SpaceSimCentral

I recently got my son Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which i have had in my steam library for a few years now (since 2015) and my son was like hey Dad you really need to play this game it is so much fun. So 2-3wks ago I started playing and I haven't played anything else in my free time. It really is a great game and I recommend getting the GOTY edition which has all the DLC. This is a very well done game, story is good and combat is so much fun. My son used the keyboard and mouse but I use a controller (recommend the controller btw). I know many times we discuss here immersion ..... Well Shadow of Mordor definitely has it. Example that got me smiling and gitty was when a Orc Captain was engaged with a Warg (catagore) and I was like oh this is a great time to take him out and get some exp and weapon mod.... Well when I engaged him he spoke and said 'Finally a challenge... I much rather fight you Ranger instead of this Catagore'.... my mouth dropped. Because a few moments earlier as I was on a hill observing the area the Captain was just wandering the lands and a Catagore just happened upon him. So the NPC captain was aware of his engagement. There is plenty of dialog you hear the Orcs discussing of your exploits or other Orc Warlord or Captain exploits. I have thoroughly enjoyed this game and I am taking my time doing every quest. Now that I have unlocked 'branding' you can now control orcs, captains or warlords and they will fight with you (and you can mass execute them hahaha).I cannot wait to play Shadow of War which is the sequel that came out a few years ago which i also have.... I only regret not playing it sooner. And it goes to show I need more time to play games if I am now playing a 5yro game  

Had a go at this a couple of years ago on the 360 but could never get into it, but from what you describe it sounds like it might be worth while picking it up again. 

It does take a little bit of gameplay before you become really good at fighting and unlock the good skills. In the beginning it could get hard if you die to much and your orc captains level and get harder and harder to kill. Just remember to get intel on your orc leaders so you know what their strengths and weaknesses are.... it helps greatly.Usually when you die you will see the power struggle with the orcs get updated. Or if you wait too much time and not resolve a conflict between two orc captains it will resolve for you and you will see the hierarchy of the orcs get modified. You find these artifacts that give you story fragments of yourself/spirit and of other characters. The appendix area does have a lot of information in it as you adventure and uncover things for the first time, so I would recommend reading them a little. The game never pushes you through the story, I have been taking my time completing all of the side quests/challenges.My liking of the game could be slanted because I am a huge LOTR fan But after playing this, I cannot wait to try the sequel especially after seeing how the nemesis engine was improved and you can even pull in orcs on your side or the choices you made in shadow of mordor are brought into shadow of war to keep your story going, very nice touch.