When comparing Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris vs Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the Slant community recommends Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris for most people. In the question“What are the best action-adventure games for PS4?” Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is ranked 30th while Middle-earth: Shadow of War is ranked 32nd. The most important reason people chose Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is:
Sometimes the boss battles incorporate elements of the puzzles from the level you just played, and build on them a bit. This makes the boss battles more strategic. Instead of just pumping lead into them and mashing buttons, you have to strategically alter the environment to take them down. For example, there is a snake boss that requires you to arrange mirrors and shoot lasers to expose the weak areas of the boss. Your friend may be arranging the mirrors while you're shooting the lasers. Discovering the trick to defeating each boss is highly rewarding as each encounter incorporates a clever, satisfying mix of action, teamwork, and puzzles.
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Pros
Pro Boss fights incorporate puzzles
Sometimes the boss battles incorporate elements of the puzzles from the level you just played, and build on them a bit. This makes the boss battles more strategic. Instead of just pumping lead into them and mashing buttons, you have to strategically alter the environment to take them down. For example, there is a snake boss that requires you to arrange mirrors and shoot lasers to expose the weak areas of the boss. Your friend may be arranging the mirrors while you're shooting the lasers. Discovering the trick to defeating each boss is highly rewarding as each encounter incorporates a clever, satisfying mix of action, teamwork, and puzzles.
Pro Good balance between action and puzzle solving
You'll do your fair share of running and gunning through hordes of scarabs and skeletons, but the action is offset nicely by numerous environmental puzzles. There's just enough action so that you stay on your toes, but it's never overbearing to the point you'll ever feel overwhelmed by enemies. The puzzles are spaced liberally to give a break from the action and let your brain do the heavy lifting for a while. Every so often, you'll put your weapons down and instead pull levers, throw down rope lines, shoot lasers at mirrors, and change the flow of waterways in an attempt to continue down your path.
Pro Various loot adds a bit of an RPG element
While this is not a loot-based dungeon crawler, there's still a variety of different weapons to discover and blast your foes with, as well as gems and treasure chests scattered around the levels. The gems are used to open treasure chests that contain rings and amulets. This loot provides combat bonuses such as extra fire damage, a leech effect to steal health from enemies, or provide a bigger blast radius for your bombs.
Finding these gems and treasure chests will require some exploration into hard to reach areas, oftentimes by utilizing the help of your friends, but looting a new ring or amulet to increase your combat capabilities makes it a worthy endeavor and gives the game a light RPG element.
Pro Co-op play encourages strong teamwork and coordination
In order to overcome obstacles in your path, get at loot in hard to reach places, or use teamwork to solve a variety of puzzles, the game encourages a deep level of coordination and communication between players that isn't required in most other isometric dungeon crawlers. This makes it a great co-op game to play with friends.
Boost a friend to the top of a column for hard to reach loot, pull a switch so they can access a locked gate in another area, or even lay down a rope line to help your friends cross a perilous chasm. Almost everything in co-op play will require multiple people working together to advance throughout the level.
Additionally, the puzzles scale based on the number of players, oftentimes adding new mechanics such as switches, levers, and walls that aren't present in solo play. Nobody will ever feel left out as there's always a way for players to contribute to solving puzzles whether you're playing with 2 or 4 friends.
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 story is generic and simple
If you're looking for a deep and intricate story, you won't find it here. The plot revolves around Lara and friends finding all the pieces of Osiris and putting him back together to stop the evil god Set from enslaving all humanity. There's not much depth or character development.
Con Online co-op with strangers can be frustrating
Most of the intricate and complex puzzles require intense cooperation and communication between players. Achieving that level of coordination playing online with strangers is difficult and frustrating in some situations.
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.