History YMMV / MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor

* MostAnnoyingSound:
** That "EEEEYEEEEAAAYYY!" shriek that many Uruks do after speaking to / taunting Talion.
** On the UsefulNotes/{{PS4}}, the humming of nearby Elf-shot and the rustling of walking through bushes are particularly pronounced and irritating due to coming out of the controller's speaker. Though the volume of said effects can be adjusted at the main menu.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Received wide spread critical acclaim upon release by both Gamers and Critics. It's considered by most, to be one of, if not the best, video game adaption's of J.R.R Tolkien's work. It's being expressly compared to what the Arkham series did to Batman. (It [[TropesAreNotBad doesn't hurt]] that the combat system is an [[FollowTheLeader almost exact cut-and-paste]] of Arkham's, albeit with [[YourHeadAsplode exploding heads]] and no ThouShaltNotKill mechanics whatsoever).

* FandomBerserkButton: [[SeriousBusiness If you value your nerd cred]], DON'T call this game "The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor." It's ''Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'', thank you very much. For those not in the know, the game actually takes place several decades ''before'' LOTR, and is in fact closer to ''The Hobbit'' as far as the timeline is concerned.

* FandomBerserkButton: Downplayed, [[SeriousBusiness but if you value your nerd cred]], DON'T call this game "The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor." It's ''Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'', thank you very much. For those not in the know, the game actually takes place several decades ''before'' LOTR, and is in fact closer to ''The Hobbit'' as far as the timeline is concerned.

* CounterpartComparison: Many have noted the similarities between Wraith powers and [[Franchise/StarWars The Force]]. Drain/Brand especially resembles force choke.

* AlasPoorScrappy: Several players have reported feeling a sense of loss when they finally decapitated an especially tough Nemesis.

** A quirk with the physics engine occasionally causes Uruks to randomly get catapulted into the skybox for seemingly no reason. It is, as you might expect, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny often hilarious.]] Even better, because the game thinks that they're still walking, they'll look like they're running on air whether they're rising or falling.

* AwesomeMusic: It's agreed that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXpLLGOKag8 the music]] whenever you ride atop a [[HorseOfADifferentColor Caragor]] is oddly pleasant on the ears. It's so awesome that it even comes back in [[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar the sequel]].

** People generally seem to consider [[spoiler:Celebrimbor]] a good guy, but is he really? Let's see... [[spoiler:He wants to use Sauron's own strength against him, like Boromir tried and Galadriel warned against and build an army of orcs, like Saruman. He calls himself the Silver hand, echoing the White Hand. Even the branding of the orcs with the hand print on the face like the film. He enslaves them with mind control, much like Sauron himself. He even echoes Galadriel with "all shall fear me and rejoice". Not only that, he lies to Talion about his true goals and his amnesia. The Ithildin wall is Celebrimbor's declaration of himself as the Bright Lord of Mordor, one of the lines Celebrimbor says at the beginning of the game. Meaning he may know who he is right from the start. Makes you wonder about making that new magic ring. Celibrimor keeps Talion away from others to the point Talion can't remember his family. By the end, Talion and Celibrimor have one goal. The most visual sign of Celibrimor's mind control is that eyes turn light blue.]] Bottom line? [[spoiler:Celebrimbor]] is a Well Intentioned Extremist at best and an outright villain at worst, and this game is ''Spec Ops: The Line'' in fantasy land. You think you're playing a hero.... The ''Bright Lord'' DLC effectively confirms this, when it shows the opening cinematics of the game (When Talion is being executed), the Wraith's lasts words as he watch Talion's face is [[spoiler:''"All shall fear me and rejoice."'']]
*** Flashbacks in ''Shadow of War'' make it ambiguous as whether Annatar tricked Celebrimbor or if Celebrimbor was a ''partner'' in taking over Middle-Earth and was betrayed by Annatar.

* MagnificentBastard: Talion and Celebrimbor can be this. They use a combination of stealth tactics, terrorism, poisoning, subterfuge, sleeper agents, plus outright sorcery to slow Sauron's progress through Mordor to a halt. [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim Of course, they can also just stab things in the face.]]

** On the other hand, the game appears to be set in the Movie continuity, and Ioreth was omitted from them. Perhaps the Ioreth in this game ''is'' the one from the Legendarium, and she's a victim of DeathByAdaptation.

* NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Received wide spread critical acclaim upon release by both Gamers and Critics. It's considered by most, to be one of, if not the best, video game adaption's of J.R.R Tolkien's work. It's being expressly compared to what the Arkham series did to Batman. (It [[TropesAreNotBad doesn't hurt]] that the combat system is an [[FollowTheLeader almost exact cut-and-paste]] of Arkham's, albeit with [[YourHeadAsplode exploding heads]] and no ThouShaltNotKill mechanics whatsoever).

* EvilIsSexy: Shelob's humanoid form is an attractive woman in a backless [[EvilWearsBlack black dress]]. Her prophecies are delivered by leaning in ''very'' close to Talion and whispering in his ear in a manner not unlike a seduction attempt.

* TheScrappy: Idril gets a lot of hate from players for her generic appearance/personality and little to no usefulness in the Gondorian story arc.

* PortingDisaster: The [=PS3=] and 360 versions have a much simplified nemesis system and, especially on the [=PS3=], serious frame rate problems. The last-gen versions are also plagued by long load times. The PS3 version even has a serious bug where sounds will just start skipping non-stop until the system is restarted. [[https://youtu.be/QLFRQNaoguY?t=25m9s It cannot be overstated how bad the sound and visuals are compared to their later-gen equivalents.]]

** Gondor as a whole gets one of these as TheKingdom gets treated as TheEmpire. We find out the Gondorians treat their prisoners as nothing more than slave labor to maintain their defenses, they treat the descendants of said prisoners as vermin, and there's a lot of FantasticRacism towards those not of Numenorean blood. Ironically, this is not that far off from Tolkien's notes but most fans wouldn't realize it.

* AwesomeMusic: It's agreed that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXpLLGOKag8 the music]] whenever you ride atop a [[HorseOfADifferentColor Caragor]] is oddly pleasant on the ears.

** Talion doesn't actually seem to want revenge all that much compared to your typical angst driven hero. He finds the whole concept of murder disquieting and while he's disgusted by the orcs, doesn't take much pleasure in their deaths either. Is he trying to avenge his family or attempting to break the curse to be with them again? Both?

* ClicheStorm: One of the main complaints with the game's plot is that it's a by the numbers gritty revenge story, and not even a very good one.