10 Times Video Game Sequels EMBARRASSED Movies
1. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor > The Hobbit Trilogy
Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy turned a 200-page children’s book into a nine-hour CGI arms race. Shadow of Mordor just gave us a guy with a sword and a grudge - and somehow delivered a better Tolkien experience.
Set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Shadow of Mordor was never supposed to be groundbreaking. And then it dropped the Nemesis System - a dynamic, evolving hierarchy of Orcs who remembered your every failure, insulted you mid-fight, and came back from the dead uglier and angrier each time.
It wasn’t just clever — it was pure, interactive storytelling. Your personal rivalries felt earned. Your victories, bloody. And the combat? Basically Arkham with a broadsword.
Meanwhile, The Hobbit movies drowned in excess. Over-reliant on green screen, overloaded with filler characters, and constantly straining to feel “epic,” they forgot the charm and wonder of Tolkien’s world. By the third film, even Ian McKellen looked like he wanted to go home.
Shadow of Mordor understood that Middle-earth didn’t need to be bigger - it needed to be more personal. One ranger, one wraith, and an entire army of Orcs with your name on their lips. That’s how you do it.