Grave Gamer News & Views — middle-earth: shadow of mordor

Gaze Upon These Shadow of Mordor Screens

Hobbits, men, elves, ornery tree persons; behold Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. If you missed it, Shadow of Mordor is an action-adventure game tucked between the going-on’s of The Little Man Finds a Ring and The Little Man’s Nephew Destroys That Ring Trilogy.

The story follows a ranger named Talion that comes back from the dead to goof Sauron up for murderlizing his family. Not per the norm, Talion brought Wraith-like abilites back from the grave with him. Some of these powers can be evidenced up above (one of his powers is Orc face-melting, seemingly… Hopefully).

Newly announced, of course, means it’s nowhere near release, but watch for more info as this one treks its way toward current and next-gen consoles in the new year.

Lord of the Rings Saga Gets Itself a Video Game Prequel

Thanks to its Game Informer cover debut the world is now privy to a new installment in the Tolkein birthed universe of orcs, hobbits, and pipe-weed toking wizards.

Introducing Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, a third-person action-adventure title tucked between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, developed by Monolith (F.E.A.R. and, more fittingly, Guardians of Middle-earth).

Journeying to both current and next-gen consoles, Shadow of Mordor sees you control Talion, a ranger newly recovering from a bout of being dead as hell. Upon resurrection, Talion learns he’s returned to the mortal coil with more than a few Wraith-y abilities, which come well in handy on his quest to the very heart of Mordor.

One key gameplay feature Monolith is confidently bringing to the table is the “Nemesis System.” Promoting every enemy you encounter up from “screaming practice dummy,” foes are given proper names and personalities. Say you tangle with an orc, who we’ll call “Yancy.” If Yancy survives your engagement, he’ll run off and continue to live, grow, and hone his skills just as you would with Talion until, inevitably, you cross swords with Yancy again.

Except, in this second duel, you’ll find Yancy is much stronger and even remembers your moves from your last dance, letting him counter and anticipate what you’ve got cooking. Every enemy in the game has this capacity to learn. The gameplay potential is mildly horrifying and bitchingly cool at once.

Coming to the PC, PS3, PS4, 360, and Xbox One, a full blown information lowdown can be found in Game Informer’s December issue.