Following a leak from Target over the weekend, Warner Bros. and developer Monolith Productions have confirmed that Middle-earth: Shadow of War is releasing on August 22 in North America and August 25 in Europe for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The sequel to Shadow of Mordor, and set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Shadow of War is an open-world action-adventure game featuring an original story with the return of Talion and Celebrimbor. Wielding a new Ring of Power, the two must go behind enemy lines to turn all of Mordor against Sauron, confronting enemies like Sauron and his Nazgul along the way.
In Shadow of War, Monolith has expanded the Nemesis System:
The innovative Nemesis System created unique personal stories through procedurally-generated enemies who remember every encounter and are differentiated by their personality, strengths and weaknesses. Middle-earth: Shadow of War expands this innovation with the introduction of Followers who bring about entirely new stories of loyalty, betrayal and revenge. The Nemesis System is also expanded to create a unique personal world through Nemesis Fortresses, which allows players to utilize different strategies to conquer dynamic strongholds and create personalized worlds with their unique Orc army.
The environments and characters in Shadow of War are shaped by your action and decisions, and Warner Bros promises “a richer, more personal, and expansive world full of epic heroes and villains, iconic locations, original enemy types, even more personalities, and a new cast of characters with untold stories.”
Monolith’s Michael de Plater said:
Following the amazing reception to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, we massively expanded every dimension of the game, including the world, the story, the RPG systems, the core gameplay and of course the personal player stories of the Nemesis System. As lifelong fans of Middle-earth, we are so grateful to have the privilege to bring to life the most incredible fantasy world ever created in a new way, for a new generation. With Middle-earth: Shadow of War, we can’t wait to see the amazing stories players are going to create and share.
The gameplay reveal for Shadow of War will happen on March 8.
