Warner Bros. Interactive recently released some new gameplay trailers for the upcoming Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, a new action role-playing video game set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings. The latest gameplay trailers showcase some of the game’s combat and supernatural abilities for the main protagonist Talion. Using his Wraith abilities, Talion will have the ability to take control of Sauron’s Orcs. Talion’s family was butchered after Sauron returned to Mordor, and this sets the former ranger on a quest for revenge.
Developed by Monolith Productions, who previously did good work on the Condemned and F.E.A.R. video games, the game boasts an open-world environment and what’s labeled as the “Nemesis System.” The features of the Nemesis System cause enemy relationships to be influenced by the player’s actions. According to Warner Bros. Interactive, this means that every play session will be unique. Enemies will remember Talion and adapt to his techniques.
This already appears to be among the more ambitious game titles released based on The Lord of the Rings franchise. The storyline looks deep, dark, and very involved. It’s set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring and showcases Sauron’s return to power in Mordor. It’s a period of LOTR lore that is ripe for storytelling. The game boasts a tremendous voice cast with the likes of Troy Baker as Talion and Nolan North as Black Hand. I’m very intrigued with the reasoning behind a Wraith imbuing Talion with power to gain revenge on Sauron.
While there have been some decent video games based on The Lord of the Rings in the past, few have arguably been truly great or genre-transcending. The movie-based video game versions of The Two Towers and The Return of the King were actually quite good and well-reviewed. But it looks like Warner Bros. Interactive is aiming for a much higher level with this game. The game looks like a mix of Assassin’s Creed and the Batman: Arkham franchise.
The combat, which allows you to dismember and behead Orcs, looks like a lot of fun. The Nemesis System sounds very interesting, and it could potentially provide a great source of replay value for the game. However, this will depend on how truly unique the system will make separate gameplay sessions. The game will have an additional Test of Power Challenge Mode to earn additional power-ups. The setting, which appears to be in and around Sauron’s stronghold of Mordor, looks awesome. The idea of having areas of Middle-earth to explore as your sandbox is exciting. I hope there are sequences where you can explore the Black Gate or traverse Mount Doom.
As a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings series, the game looks exciting to me. But I’m still cautiously optimistic about the direction of this title. While I enjoyed Batman: Arkham Origins, the game was clearly flawed and buggy. The game likely needed more time to receive greater polish. However, giving Warner Bros. Interactive the benefit of the doubt, the company has published some solid, exciting titles in recent years, such as the reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise, Injustice: Gods Among Us; Batman: Arkham Asylum; Batman: Arkham City; and the LEGO Batman series. The company partnered with good developers to make those games. However, for an ambitious project such as this, the final look will be important. So, that means not rushing out a title that’s incomplete and full of bugs. Just for example, take a look at 2013’s Star Trek: The Video Game from Bandai Namco Games and Paramount Interactive. Despite a lot of boasting from the developers about how much care and time was taken to deliver a quality movie-based, licensed title, the game turned out to be a disappointment. It was breaking down and extremely bugged out. For Warner Bros. Interactive, Arkham Origins had its fair share of problems at launch. Hopefully, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor will not suffer a similar fate.
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