It’s hard not to feel sympathy for Talion, the protagonist of Middle-earth: Shadow of War. After all, he and his family are brutally murdered by bloodthirsty orcs at the beginning of the previous game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (and as to why the sequel is not titled Shadow of Mordor 2, you can read the specifics here). But Talion came back as a vengeful spectre or wraith, ready to take the fight to evil bastard Sauron and his orcs, in what undoubtedly was one of the top games of 2014.
The stakes will be higher in this sequel though, in which you will try to take over Mordor by leading armies against the orc fortresses scattered all over the land, while also dealing with elite orc enemies too. Actually, this game features an expanded Nemesis system, meaning that taking on powerful, high-ranking orcs will be way more interesting in this Mordor sequel.
Of course, this also continues the first game’s story, and the trailer below suggests that Middle-earth: Shadow of War’s plot will be as epic as that of Shadow of Mordor.
We also see that characters like Celebrimbor, Talion’s pal and fellow wraith will be making a return in Shadow of War, while Talion will also be dealing with super-powerful baddies here, and also with the Dark Lord Sauron himself. But although game dev Monolith Productions deserves a pat on the back for coming up with an original story set in the Lord of the Rings universe, it’s clear the team has taken a few liberties here, and this differs quite a bit from Tolkien’s original story (there are two Rings of Power instead of one here, for instance).
But still, if Shadow of War’s story is every bit as good as that of its predecessor Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and the game manages to live up to the hype, then all will be forgiven… Sadly, though, we will have to wait a bit longer to get our hands on this latest Middle-earth game, as its release date was recently pushed back. Although thankfully Monolith’s game will be shown off at this year’s E3, meaning we’ll get to know more details about this epic action-adventure game soon enough.
Note: Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be released on October 10, 2017. Available on PS4, Xbox One and PC.