Orcs are not treated well in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War.
I was starting to like my orc rivals. Their endearing threats and colourful language before we faced off made our fights seem almost friendly, like we would end our bloody battle and drink mugs of mead with each other afterwards.
The option to enslave, rather than befriend, my rivals put
me off Middle Earth: Shadow of War, the sequel to Shadow of Mordor, one of 2014's best games.
Shadow of War might be the first time I've seen orcs cast in such a cool light, which makes waging an unending genocide on their entire kind while humiliating and enslaving them that much more awful.
I can't help but think about the families that Skak the Pickler and Dush the Obsessed left behind.
Yes, the orcs might have started it, they might hate us "pinkskins" too, but Shadow of War's reduction of them to a level unworthy of life is confronting when they are so central to the game.
