The continuing saga that bridges the events that happened between “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” will arrive this October 10 on Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. According to game developer Monolith Productions, “Middle-earth: Shadow of War” brings a deeper, more violent and darker story of this expanded realm.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter's Patrick Shanley at the recent Donkey Con Artists podcast, Michael de Plater of Monolith Productions spoke about how they intended to bring a bigger “Middle-earth” sequel to the 2014 “Shadow of Mordor.” The game developer’s VP for creative also spoke about the new multiplayer mode.
Sequel offers bigger realm
According to de Plater, the sequel is more than three times the size of its predecessor, “Shadow of Mordor.” But how big is the “Shadow of War” compared to “Shadow of Mordor?”
In an earlier interview with Game Informer (October 2017 magazine), de Plater gave a realistic description of how big “Middle-earth: Shadow of War” really is, “It’s hard to put a number on it because it’s so much bigger in multiple dimensions, but every region is significantly bigger than either of the regions we had in the first game.”
The head of Monolith’s creative team revealed that “Shadow of War” offers a much diverse, more detailed environment and topography like caves, mountains, pits, and fortresses among others.
Accordingly, the change will also affect the Nemesis System, which means new features, characters, tribes and items among others will be added.
New tribes, new mode
One noticeable change is having a wider variety of locales, “If in my game it's controlled by the Feral Tribe, it will be much different than if in your game it is controlled by the Terror Tribe,” de Plater revealed.
Players will also get the ability to recruit followers using the ring of power. But beware, they may serve well in battle but do not betray them; they make an ultimate enemy.
De Plater also teased the addition of new Orc tribes in “Middle-earth: Shadow of War.” each with distinct and unique habits, cultures and personalities.
“One of our key features is almost an infinite variety of Orcs and enemies you can create,” de Plater teased.
Plus, new battles comparable to Helm’s Deep or the Siege of Minas Tirith were added to the game. It will also be filled with “loot boxes” – collectible items which can also be purchased from the game shop, de Plater said.
The “Middle-earth: Shadow of War” will also introduce a new multiplayer “Social Conquest” mode where players can attempt to conquer and invade other players’ fortress. There are two settings available: Friendly and Ranked. In Friendly, players won’t lose any of your followers; however, in Ranked, there is a chance of losing Orc allies, permanently.
