16 Most Disappointing Video Games Of 2017

5. Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Hey, guess what? Another game with a loot grind. How about that?

Even the single player-focused Shadow of Mordor fell victim to predatory microtransactions this year, bolting them onto the game as you attempt to fell a number of fortresses by amassing armies of mind-controlled orcs. Hands up for guessing how blind boxes fit into this scenario...

Yup, they give you random orcs. Because of course they do. Tall ones, short ones, ones with bows n' arrows - you know the drill. Pay more to get a better army faster, and conquer the next fortress in "style".

In Shadow of War's defence it still plays pretty damn well; combat was punchy and brutal, allowing for experimentation yet streamlined enough to really go to town on a group of enemies at once.

However, due to the game having this drawn out loot grind, the campaign was boiled down to "overtake settlement, rank up, do it again" - something that over the course of 30+ hours, wore very thin, very fast.

Props to fleshing out the Nemesis system in some phenomenal ways, but the sadly reality of Shadow of War comes down to publisher meddling ruining the overall feel of progression.