I played 15 hours of the blockbuster new 'Shadow of War' game — here's what it's like

The new "Lord of the Rings" game, "Middle-earth: Shadow of War," is fine.

Not in the '90s sense, but in the literal sense. It's not a terrible game, and it's not a great game. It's fine.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

I've spent around 15 hours murdering orcs and arguing with the ghost inside of the game's main character. What I've found is an aggressively mechanical game with a nonsensical story that's as fun to play as it is rote.

These are the highs and lows of "Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for "Middle-earth Shadow of War," including story and gameplay.

It probably goes without saying, but I'm going to speak explicitly about "Middle-earth Shadow of War" — this is a review, after all. If you don't want anything spoiled, turn back!

"Middle-earth: Shadow of War" is a third-person action game set in the "Lord of the Rings" universe.

To be clear, "Shadow of War" is a game about killing orcs by the wagon-full — thus the grisly creep you see above. The "Lord of the Rings" scenery and setting is merely a backdrop. Though it can feel overbearing at times, "Shadow of War" is not a game strictly for "LOTR" superfans.

There is a ring at the center of things, as is so often the case in Mordor. But does it matter?

If you're looking for a complex tale of adventure and sacrifice set in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy universe, you're barking up the wrong Ent. "Shadow of War" is rife with "LOTR" references and characters, but dialog and story contrivances had me rolling my eyes from the first 10 minutes.

For a game that's so nakedly about the interplay of video game-centric systems, "Shadow of War" is bizarrely overloaded with needless storytelling. Can I get back to sneaking up and killing orcs?

See the rest of the story at Business Insider