Experience the “next gen” thrills of this dark and very personal logo.
Warner Bros has semi-announced Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, a third-person action title based on the Lord of the Rings license that claims to be “next gen” but is also coming out on Xbox 360 and PS3, so who knows? It’s being developed by Monolith, of FEAR fame.
There aren’t any screenshots of video or much visual stuff at all to accompany this information, so I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with me summarising the plot for now. You’ll play as dead Ranger Talion, a man who’s a bit narked because he saw his family die and is now possessed by a spirit of vengeance. This gives him “wraith abilities” which will no doubt be reflected in the game somehow. Probably.
Since the game is called Shadow of Mordor you can be quite sure Talion will be taking a trip to that location in order to hunt down those he needs to stab to bits in order to feel better.
“In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, players will explore the dark and very personal theme of vengeance in a world where decisions have a consequence, and” … wait, I’m sorry. I’m sorry Samantha Ryan from Warner Bros. are you actually trying to sell me “man in videogame is mad and wants to kill other men” as a “very personal” theme? That’s just silly.
Outside of buzzword city, there’s some annoyingly vague but nonetheless interesting-sounding detail about unique enemies. Here’s what it says:
Every enemy that players face is a unique individual, differentiated by their personality, strengths and weaknesses. Through the Nemesis System, enemy relationships and characteristics are shaped by player actions and decisions to create personal archenemies that remember and adapt to the player and are distinct to every gameplay session. Gamers are able to craft their own battles, enemies and rewards within the dynamic world that remembers and adapts to their choices, delivering a unique experience to every player.
That sounds pretty good, right? I mean potentially pretty good, at the very least. Hopefully it’s reflected well and not just slight changes to enemy stats. Shadow of Morder doesn’t seem to have a release date yet, but let’s say … oooh … probably 2014.
