MASSIVE DELIGHTS

When I first read about the massive 100GB download size for the PC version of Middle-earth: Shadow of War, I didn't really believe it. How could that be as some of the largest games I've seen hover around the 50GB mark. Well, either way, I set off to download the game and HA! It's only 64GB of download mania. Feeling like the media had over blown the size and exagerrated quite a bit, I felt like a geek liberated. I launched the game and quickly realized I was missing two bits of content: Ultra quality textures and 4K cinematic movies. I quickly kicked off the download (after having to reset Steam) and guess what? Another 34 GB of downloads started. Holy mother of Pearl, that is a huge freaking game!

HUMBLED YET VINDICATED

After completing 100GB of download (!), I immediately thought to myself, "This better be friggin' worth it!" Instead fears of poorly ported assets and horribly optimized game haunted me as I relaunched the game. So, was that 100GB worth it? I must say, especially if you have the rig for it, a resounding YES! The movies are absolutely stunning in quality, the textures and graphical assets are gorgeous but better yet, the game is FUN.

Yes, the above screenshots are examples of the high quality textures in game. As I mentioned, almost every moment is glorious in game with blazing lighting effects, subtle torchlight flickering, and water dripping slowly into the shadows. It's truly a sight to behold. Even the cinematics, as shown below, are a treat. So far, I'm having a blast playing and, drooling at this marvelous piece of gaming.

Rarely is a sequel this much better of an improvement in story, gameplay, and graphics but so far, Shadow of War is better on all fronts and I can't wait to see even more of the twisted but beautiful take on Middle-earth...