I had a blast playing Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. I’m not even a die-hard Lord of the Rings fan (I love The Lord of the Rings movies, was disappointed by The Hobbit trilogy, and don’t really care much for Tolkien’s novels), but I was absolutely immersed in the gameplay and getting to explore Mordor and Nurn. But what made the game stand apart was its “Nemesis” system, where essentially every single orc you encounter could be well on his way to being an overlord if he kills you. It added a lot of personality to the world and made Shadow of Mordor a unique gaming experience.

A couple weeks ago, we got the first trailer for the sequel, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and now Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released an extended gameplay trailer that shows how developer Monolith Productions has built upon the Nemesis system. This time around instead of being a lone ranger accomplishing a series missions and trying to position single orcs to become usurpers, you’re leading an entire army, which really opens up the gameplay in terms of what you’re able to do and how you’re able to progress in the story. The goal here seems to be that they don’t want any two experiences to be the same, which means giving the player various options on how they’ll conquer various territories. It’s certainly ambitious, and I hope that they’re able to pull it off.

Check out the Middle-Earth: Shadow of War gameplay trailer below. The game hits Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows on August 22nd.

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