Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor was a wonderful surprise when it first came out in September of 2014. Initially thought of as an Assassin’s Creed clone, upon release the game was championed for its tight controls and combat, decent story, and it’s innovative Nemesis System.
The hotly anticipated sequel, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War looks to build upon this foundation by adding unique stories and interpersonal dynamics to that Nemesis System via it’s ‘Orc Tales’ trailer. See Below:
Initially, The Nemesis System created rivals for your player. As you beat various war chiefs and bad guys, they would come back stronger and modified depending on how you took them out. So if you burnt an orc, he’d come back deep fried, quite upset, and ready to ruin you.
Shadow of War is adding features beyond just the upgraded nemesis system, including a full day/night cycle, and larger scale conflicts that will help the game earn the ‘war’ in its title.
Alas, Shadow of War recently came under fire for including micro transactions in the single-player game – as many players and writers felt paying 60 dollars for the title, then being constantly encouraged to spend more money on boosts and the like, is a bad way to ruin a lot of good hype.
Hopefully this trailer will go a long way to salving the wounds caused by the micro transaction announcement. According to the press release associated with the trailer: “Whether spared, scarred, recruited or marked, every encounter will be remembered and help fuel the dynamics of society and conflict within Mordor, all brought to life through the innovative Nemesis System.”
Shadow of War drops October 10th on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.