Middle-Earth: Shadow of War doesn’t end after a customary three act structure. Instead, the game continues on for another long and grueling post-game. You’ll find more than a few reviews bashing this final section of the game — but it’s designed to be completely optional, a bonus for dedicated players looking to stretch their legs and enjoy the gameplay for a bunch more hours. There’s also a big bonus at the end if you can endure the whole thing — the “True” Ending for Talion the Ranger.
Post-game content with “secret” endings aren’t totally uncommon in games, but it is a surprise to see this in a normally truncated game like Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. Some of the best post-game content I can recall appears in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and that stuff wasn’t particularly inspired. Red Dead Redemption featured its own short post-game sequence, but Act 4 of Shadow of War, is a lengthy defense mission, forcing Talion to protect his territory against a new invading army, and it isn’t easy.
More Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor guides on Gameranx:
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – What Are Gems? | Game Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – How To Unlock Mounts | Game Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – All Ithildin Door Puzzle Solutions | Game Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – All Web of Fate Tokens Cirith Ungol | Collectibles Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – How To Get Every Legendary Set | Collectibles Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – All Web of Fate Tokens Minas Ithil | Collectibles Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – 10 Beginner Tips & Tricks | Game Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Farming Legendary Gear | Collectibles Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – How To Farm Mirian | XP Guide
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Every Edition Available | Game Guide
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of War – Unlock These Early Skills For A Better In-Game Experience
- Shadow of War: Sign-Up To WBPlay For +3% XP Boost (And Why That’s Completely Optional)
How To Get The True Ending | Act 4 Guide
To unlock the additional, kind-of-optional True Ending to Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, you’ll need to complete the following tasks.
- Finish Act 4 – Shadow Wars: Complete all the Siege Quests with your leveled-up Orc armies. It may take some grinding to win — the siege battles are repetitive, and they aren’t easy.
- Once all fortresses are defended and you reach Stage 10, the True Ending cutscene will play.
Once Act 4 “Shadow Wars” is complete, the cutscene will play. Here it is, in its entirety if you’re interested and don’t care about spoilers.
[Watch the True Ending cutscene on Youtuber HarryNinetyFour’s channel here.]
And that’s all it takes. Nothing truly secret, but if you’re getting sick of the repetitive nature of the final act, remember that there is a reward at the end of the slog.
