Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Gameplay Overhaul Update
Shadow of War sees a colossal wave of great changes through an update from Monolith Productions.
One of the most controversial issues in gaming industry last year was in-game loot boxes or better known as micro-transaction. This greed-play has made EA Dice pay a dire price when they tried to slide it in a fully priced game and following a huge backlash, were forced to halt back. Another such example of a good game that suffered by this plague is action role-playing game Middle-Earth: Shadow of War from developer Monolith Productions and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.
RELATED: Monster Hunter: World Comes to Final Fantasy XIV
Other than belonging to massive fan-following movie franchises based on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the game had great potential to stand out in crowd of other AAA titles but trying to force the players use real-money for in-game purchases was what caused it to be a shipwreck. As a successor to Shadow of Mordor, expectation were naturally high from Shadow of War until it turned out to be a sort of scam in disguise of a critically praised title.
RELATED: Code Vein Delayed to 2019
However, after deciding to entirely remove micro-transactions from the game, Warner Bros. have finally announced it back in April 2018 and Monolith has released an update today, which officially removes real-money marketplace. They have also added a few gears, skins, significant change in gameplay and a few more stuff to improve in overall. Hopefully, the Shadow of War community will be appreciative of their effort to try and make things right.
RELATED: Player Beats Fallout: New Vegas on Max Difficulty, Non-Lethal Run
Since the market is completely removed and the shadow of micro-transactions is no longer there, it's a free reign for all and no more War Chests to enlist high-level Orc followers to empower your army, thus giving you unfair advantages. Players used to recruit Orcs from Online Vendettas or Ranked Conquests previously, which are all stored in Garrison now. They can still be trained via in-game currency Mirian for the sake of customizing and upgrading them as you see fit.
RELATED: Bethesda Director Responds to Skyrim Port Jokes
The end-campaign is renamed as "Epilogue" and it received heavy polish for smooth-running, including newly added narration from Dark Talion and Shelob, the Witch-king. Epilogue victories come along with the masks of the Nazgûl as a reward, which has the power to resurrect the dead and other abilities like cursing enemies or summoning powerful monsters. Also, even after the final credits roll, you can still continue defending your own fortresses or keep upgrading in an endless mode.
RELATED: Darksiders 3 Collector’s Edition Announced
New available skins allow you to play as Baranor, Celebrimbor or Dark Eltariel. Greater XP rewards helps you reach to a level cap of 80 in no time. Acclaimed "Nemesis System" has gone through some improvements as you are most likely to encounter more Legendary Orcs and some of them may present you with occasional gifts. In case you are feeling bothered by their overly keen approach towards you or they try to steal your kills, just turn off the savior feature from the menu.
RELATED: Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Gameplay Trailer
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is released on October 2017 from Monolith Productions for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was about time that the creators of this fine game eventually saw through their mistake and even though late, took actions to correct it. It was very fortunate for them that they did not missed sales target by a vast number or lose market share over this like Dice did over their misstep with Star Wars Battlefront II last year. Although loot boxes are not going away soon, we are happy that at least some are moving to right directions.
One of the most controversial issues in gaming industry last year was in-game loot boxes or better known as micro-transaction. This greed-play has made EA Dice pay a dire price when they tried to slide it in a fully priced game and following a huge backlash, were forced to halt back. Another such example of a good game that suffered by this plague is action role-playing game Middle-Earth: Shadow of War from developer Monolith Productions and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.
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| Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Gameplay Overhaul Update |
RELATED: Monster Hunter: World Comes to Final Fantasy XIV
Other than belonging to massive fan-following movie franchises based on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the game had great potential to stand out in crowd of other AAA titles but trying to force the players use real-money for in-game purchases was what caused it to be a shipwreck. As a successor to Shadow of Mordor, expectation were naturally high from Shadow of War until it turned out to be a sort of scam in disguise of a critically praised title.
RELATED: Code Vein Delayed to 2019
However, after deciding to entirely remove micro-transactions from the game, Warner Bros. have finally announced it back in April 2018 and Monolith has released an update today, which officially removes real-money marketplace. They have also added a few gears, skins, significant change in gameplay and a few more stuff to improve in overall. Hopefully, the Shadow of War community will be appreciative of their effort to try and make things right.
 |
| Shadow of War Micro-Transactions Removed |
RELATED: Player Beats Fallout: New Vegas on Max Difficulty, Non-Lethal Run
Since the market is completely removed and the shadow of micro-transactions is no longer there, it's a free reign for all and no more War Chests to enlist high-level Orc followers to empower your army, thus giving you unfair advantages. Players used to recruit Orcs from Online Vendettas or Ranked Conquests previously, which are all stored in Garrison now. They can still be trained via in-game currency Mirian for the sake of customizing and upgrading them as you see fit.
RELATED: Bethesda Director Responds to Skyrim Port Jokes
The end-campaign is renamed as "Epilogue" and it received heavy polish for smooth-running, including newly added narration from Dark Talion and Shelob, the Witch-king. Epilogue victories come along with the masks of the Nazgûl as a reward, which has the power to resurrect the dead and other abilities like cursing enemies or summoning powerful monsters. Also, even after the final credits roll, you can still continue defending your own fortresses or keep upgrading in an endless mode.
 |
| New Celebrimbor Skin |
RELATED: Darksiders 3 Collector’s Edition Announced
New available skins allow you to play as Baranor, Celebrimbor or Dark Eltariel. Greater XP rewards helps you reach to a level cap of 80 in no time. Acclaimed "Nemesis System" has gone through some improvements as you are most likely to encounter more Legendary Orcs and some of them may present you with occasional gifts. In case you are feeling bothered by their overly keen approach towards you or they try to steal your kills, just turn off the savior feature from the menu.
RELATED: Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Gameplay Trailer
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is released on October 2017 from Monolith Productions for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was about time that the creators of this fine game eventually saw through their mistake and even though late, took actions to correct it. It was very fortunate for them that they did not missed sales target by a vast number or lose market share over this like Dice did over their misstep with Star Wars Battlefront II last year. Although loot boxes are not going away soon, we are happy that at least some are moving to right directions.
