Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Preview - E3 2014

There was a number of games released based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy when the films were still dominating theatres and home video. Most were OK, however there was little in terms of new gameplay ideas to attract gamers that were not fans of the lore. With Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Warner Bros and Monolith Productions are clearly aiming to bring in fans who are looking for a great game, regardless of their familiarity with Tolkien's work. We saw the game at E3, and believe that the developers are well on their way to achieving that goal.

The developers at Monolith Productions are best known for F.E.A.R. and its sequel, with their most recent Middle-earth related work coming in the form of MOBA Guardians of Middle-earth. So Shadow of Mordor is their first attempt at third person action, and at E3 we got to see the main character in action, as well as a demonstration of the nemesis system. The team has collaborated with Middle-earth Enterprises, Peter Jackson and the artists at Weta Workshop to ensure that the settings, characters and story align within canon. In the game, players assume the role of Talion, a ranger whose family is killed by Sauron and his army as they returned to Mordor. Talion was killed too, but is resurrected by a Spirit of Vengeance and discovers he has Wraith abilities, letting him possess and control various monsters and enemies.

Our demo took place about halfway through the game, and the goal was to defeat or subject to our will all Orc war chiefs in the large area of the game world. With the nemesis system, we were presented with the selection of about 6 war chiefs that were in the area. We could see their immediate stats, strengths and weaknesses, as well as their approximate location, and the solution to how to get close to them. Some required to be lured out into the open, some needed to simply be found and challenged to a battle, and so forth. We also saw all their guards and officers, a complete command structure laid out in front of us. To demonstrate that the targets can be approached in any number of ways, the audience actually got to pick which war chief we will target, and how. So we decided to hunt down one of his two bodyguards to use as a puppet - we could have also chosen to simply infiltrate his stronghold, or lure him out by killing an Orc he cares about.

With the target marked on the map, we began to make our way towards the area. The main character is controlled from a typical third person action camera, with a variety of melee, ranged, and special attacks. We watched as Talion masterfully dispatched a small group of Orcs, moving as he would in a typical third person action game with a focus on dodging, and then possess a nearby beast which he could ride and get to our target faster. Upon arrival, we used Vision ID (somewhat similar to the Assassin's Creed mechanic) to identify and confront the bodyguard and defeat him in combat. The audience once again got a choice to possess him, kill him, threaten him, or let him go. We decided to possess and make him do our bidding and betray his war chief. We could have also chosen to send him to betray the other bodyguard.

We released the bodyguard, and followed him to a small gathering where the war chief was actually giving a motivational speech to his chain of command, outside of the stronghold luckily for us. We watched as the guard who we defeated betrayed the war chief, but he was intercepted before doing much damage. An open battle broke out between Talion and the betrayer versus the other Orcs. Eventually the betrayer fell, and thus would be unusable later. Following a challenging battle, we were able to defeat the war chief. As before, the audience got a choice of what to do with this enemy, and the choice was to kill him. Following this, the nemesis system screen was updated to reflect the fallen Orcs, and we also saw that the other bodyguard was now elected to be the new war chief.

This type of political intrigue within a dynamic world is a very interesting concept. While not amazingly impressive from a design perspective, this is a fresh idea that hasn't been done before, and one that we can't wait to try for ourselves with the myriad of options that are seemingly available. The fact that this is a Middle-earth game will bring in a huge audience, but from what we saw at E3, this is a game to watch for even as non-fans. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is expected this October on PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, and PS4.