Sauron would have been stronger if he played college ball.

I guess it's kind of hard to try and have a meaningful fight against an enemy that both really shouldn't have a physical body, and you also shouldn't be able to come close to beating if you want to keep the threat going for the actual main story.

Granted, the Shadow of Mordor games were pretty much just glorified fanfics in terms of writing anyway. Though, I've not beaten either so I'm not sure how well they even handle Sauron.