In Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum briefly stop at Minas Morgul, home of the Witch-king of Angmar and the Nazgûl. Waging psychological war on orcs like this is often more fun than fighting them. There’s something gratifying about making a scarred, snarling orc called Lûga Skull-Cracker flee in terror because one of his underlings revealed he has a secret fear of morgai flies. But before you wade into combat it’s worth interrogating weak-minded orcs to discover intel about their superiors: things they’re scared of, weapons they’re weak against, and so on. The game’s fun, crunchy combat is in the Arkham mould, with timing-based counters and an ever-increasing pool of moves and powers that increase its complexity. They’re the only characters who seem to be having any fun in this cursed world, and the vast array of positive and negative traits they have make them infinitely interesting and entertaining to fight. Forging bitter feuds with these expressive, unique enemies is the heart of the game, and easily the best thing in it. And if you defeat them, but they manage to escape, they’ll remember and reassure you that this time you won’t be so lucky. So if an orc captain or warchief kills you, they’ll gleefully taunt you about it next time they see you. The lauded nemesis system, first introduced in Shadow of Mordor, is back and expanded.
