Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor - 10 Reasons It's Your First Essential Next-Gen Title

8. A Powerful And Meaningful Story

Now for this one it's going to depend a little on your penchant for Tolkien's original masterworks and the fantasy genre in general, as if you're not one for listening to pronunciations of characters and towns the likes of which sound like someone being fixed with false teeth - Shadow's overall tonality will most likely fall flat. For the rest of us though, if you know your Galadriels from your Silmarillions - you guys will have a total blast. Not to mention that as at any given time you're playing as original character Talion twinned with the spirit of an immensely important Elf from Tolkien's as-yet un-adapted book, when that point in the story comes, digging into their past is rewarding in itself. Thanks to the incredibly grim portrayal of the Orcs throughout the game and the incredibly frank way the game opens and sets you on your way, plus intense battles where felling bosses actually takes a bit of effort combines to make the narrative on offer very involving and surprisingly intense at times.