head to head

Middle-earth: Shadow of War cover artvsThe Evil Within 2 cover art

Middle-earth: Shadow of WarvsThe Evil Within 2

Middle-earth: Shadow of War leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); The Evil Within 2 leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION5 /10READS1 /10VARIANCE4 /10OPTIMIZATION7 /10
Middle-earth: Shadow of WarThe Evil Within 2

Axis by axis

Execution5 vs 6

The Evil Within 2 leans harder on execution: Open-zone combat demands solid aim and positioning

Reads1 vs 1

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance4 vs 3

Middle-earth: Shadow of War leans harder on variance: Random orc traits, betrayals, and fortress compositions

Optimization7 vs 7

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

full breakdown

The Evil Within 2