When comparing Horizon Zero Dawn vs Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the Slant community recommends Horizon Zero Dawn for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Horizon Zero Dawn is ranked 56th while Middle-earth: Shadow of War is ranked 93rd. The most important reason people chose Horizon Zero Dawn is:
At first glance the world seems simple. Tribes-folk living in beautiful landscapes of snow, sand, and lush green, trying to get by through hunting and gathering. Then you get introduced to the other inhabitants – the machines. It suddenly makes you wonder about their origin, their appearance and their purpose. What lead to their creation and why did civilization regress to pockets of tribal settlements. You'll be interested in exploring the world and finding out for yourself.
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Pros
Pro Intriguing world
At first glance the world seems simple. Tribes-folk living in beautiful landscapes of snow, sand, and lush green, trying to get by through hunting and gathering. Then you get introduced to the other inhabitants – the machines. It suddenly makes you wonder about their origin, their appearance and their purpose. What lead to their creation and why did civilization regress to pockets of tribal settlements. You'll be interested in exploring the world and finding out for yourself.
Pro Each upgrade and skill feels meaningful
Most games nowadays are plagued by needlessly high level caps, useless skills and meaningless upgrades. In Horizon Zero Dawn Each upgrade and new skill unlock actually helps you become a more efficient hunter.
There's Silent Strike, which lets you perform silent takedowns on enemies, both robotic and human. Enemies that would've taken a lot of effort to beat previously, can now be taken out in one hit. However, on its own it's mediocre at best, so you have to get other abilities to make it more effective. One such ability is Low Profile, which makes you less visible when you're crouching. This lets you to sneak up on enemies much easier, allowing you to use Silent Strike more often.
There's also the upgrades, which can be either a boost to your damage, rate of fire, an increase to your carrying capacity or a unique technology such as the cloaking field. The damage and rate of fire upgrades are very straightforward, allowing you to defeat machines in a shorter amount of time. The carrying capacity upgrade helps you go on longer hunts without having to make a return trip. The cloaking field makes it a lot safer to travel and a lot easier to get the jump on enemies.
Pro Exciting hunting gameplay
The main focus of the game is hunting robotic creatures also known as "machines". They are similar to real animals in both appearance and behavior, so a lot of them move in packs. You have to be careful in how you approach them, because provoking one of them will also provoke the others.
You can hide in tall grass and attract them one by one with whistling. This way you can take them out silently with your spear, minimizing the danger.
Or you can get into a direct confrontation, which is a lot more intense when there are multiple enemies. You'll have to learn their patterns, so you know when to dodge or attack with your weapon (usually a bow or slingshot). When you finally manage to defeat them, it truly feels like an achievement.
Pro Great story
Story based around robots and A.I. is something rare in the sea of fantasy open world games.
Pro Character connections make for a compelling experience
Shadow of War uses the Nemesis system to create a more immersive and alive-feeling world. Thanks to it, orc leaders have names, ranks, titles, tribes they belong to, and most importantly, connections to other orc leaders.
For example, an orc leader might be at war with another orc leader. This conflict won't end until one of them dies. There are also orcs that are considered blood brothers, having unwavering loyalty to each other. Because of this, don't be too surprised if you ever get betrayed by one of your followers that's trying to do right by his blood brother.
Additionally, the leaders you fight will also develop connections with you. Orcs that you've killed or spared, may come back with scars, recalling your previous encounter and vowing to exact vengeance. Orcs that you've escaped from will mock you for being a chicken, and so forth. The gradual creation of this web of connections is very enjoyable and sometimes even more compelling than the game's main story.
Pro Addictive gear collection fuels your thirst for orc blood
As you kill orc leaders, they'll drop random quality gear items, ranging from common rarity every-orc weapons/armor to legendary rarity artifacts with unique names. Each item serves to improve your character, providing various stat increases and damage bonuses. You can also upgrade gear with gems or via challenges that usually involve killing orcs, bolstering your strength even further. On top of that, there are set bonuses for legendary items, giving you special abilities such as your hits applying explosive poison on regular enemies. It's very exciting seeing what gear piece an orc leader will drop once you lob his head off, causing you to constantly seek out new victims.
Pro Satisfying combat
Shadow of War gives one of the better feeling combat systems in recent times, allowing you to be either stealthy or go for direct confrontations.
If you choose to be stealthy, you can skewer unsuspecting orcs from behind with your dagger, drop onto them from a building while impaling them with your sword, or just pierce them from afar with your bow.
If you choose a direct confrontation, it's a really quick-paced and brutal showdown against your enemies with your chosen melee weapon. You weave combos against enemies, dodging, parrying, and countering enemy attacks, which ends in a devastating finishing move, resulting in a mutilated or decapitated orc.
Whichever method you choose, the combat flows really well and you always feel like a force to be reckoned with.
Pro You can lead an orc army and expand your own dominion
As part of the Nemesis system, you can recruit orc leaders after you've bested them in combat. Each one has his own unique strengths and weaknesses, so making the best possible army for conquering enemy territories might take a while.
For example, an orc leader can be completely immune to ranged attacks, but can take increased damage from explosions. You should take such an orc leader on assaults against fortresses filled with archers but be wary of the slightest hints of any bombs.
Once you've finished building a sizeable force, you can assault a fortresses. If you succeed in the assault, you'll take over a territory, allowing you to install your own orc leader as the ruler. With enough effort you'll gradually take over Mordor and its surrounding lands.
Shadow of War makes you feel like a recruiter, general, and a ruler, which is very empowering and a lot of fun.
Cons
Con The game is difficult
Horizon Zero Dawn is incredibly challenging. Even players that are good at the game still have difficulties facing some enemies.
Con Can get repetitive
The overall gameplay formula doesn't change much over the course of the game. You fight orcs, take over strongholds, upgrade your character, and collect blips on the world map. After a while it can start feeling like a grind, especially during long play sessions. This is made worse in the final stretch of the game where you have to fight through 20 consecutive stronghold battles without any story segments or exposition.
Con Unskippable cutscenes disrupt the flow of the gameplay
Every time an orc leader enters the screen, there is an unskippable cutscene where he rambles a bit, focusing the camera on him and halting combat until the cutscene ends. This usually happens as you're fighting another enemy, potentially disrupting your rhythm, which can be really frustrating, especially if mess up your combo or take an unnecessary hit after the cutscene.