Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the highly anticipated sequel to 2014's Shadow of Mordor, has been delayed. Originally announced in February of this year, Shadow of War looks to build on the original's success and give fans an even larger game world to enjoy.
Developer Monolith Productions announced June 1 via community posts that the game, originally slated for release in August of this year, will now be released October 10 in the United States. Release dates for various territories will be announced as they are decided, including territories such as Australia and Japan.
Hype fading like a shadow?
The news comes as a surprise to many fans of the game and its Tolkien-inspired setting, though this may not be so surprising considering the fact that the game was just announced in February. In fact, the original release date in August was a pleasant surprise, as it meant the wait time for the game was less than a year long.
This is notable since most games take at least one year (and often more) to be released after their announcement, and the quick turn-around worked in Monolith's favor to create lots of hype and momentum. A delay like this can often kill any hype a game has built, though it remains to be seen if Shadow of War itself will suffer from the delay.
Thankfully, a two-month delay is not terribly long, and fans of the series will be able to weather the extra wait time before the game is released.
Delays often serve to improve a game's performance, gameplay, graphics, and detail; if a delay serves to benefit the end product, then delay. The highly anticipated systems and gameplay will only be that much better because of it. There is no reason to lose hope or faith in Shadow of War because of the delay.
A Tolkien world
Shadow of War looks to improve on the original's ideas while also introducing some of its own. One of the biggest improvements from Mordor to War is the larger open world. While Shadow of Mordor was limited to the area in Lord of the Rings lore known as Mordor, Shadow of War has expanded this area to include most of the continent of Middle-earth.
Entire cities can be explored, sieged, and taken over by the protagonist Talion.
The story in Shadow of War aims to escalate the conflict presented in Shadow of Mordor as well. Talion forges his own Ring of Power and takes on the evil power Sauron. The game is said to tie directly into the Lord of the Rings series and fill in the gap of lore between Tolkien's Hobbit and LOTR books.
The sequel also seeks to escalate the Nemesis System, an original game system found in Shadow of Mordor that added a relational dynamic between Talion and his foes. Each of these features will benefit from the game's delay, as pointed out in the community post announcement.
