And the closer you get, the more it becomes clear that none of this stuff ultimately matters.
I was fine with the first one – which I’m sure made it easier for Monolith to sleep – but this one seems to be butting up against the events of the Fellowship of the Ring even closer. Jeff C: I think the timeline is another sticking point for me. To be fair, even though I didn’t love the ending, the last game did end on a sort of cliffhanger, so they’re kind of obligated to follow up. As it is, I’m sure there’s a sense they’ve established a popular character with Talion, and they don’t want to abandon him. For instance, I’d love to see them tackle something like the The Tale of Beren and Luthien, which is this great adventure that unfolds in The Silmarillion, and bring their unique brand of action to some of the great stories further back in the timeline. Part of me almost wishes they were using the same system, but jumping to a different point in the Middle-earth storyline. I do think there’s potential for new locations and experiences for their story, but I share your concern about pre-war Mordor being a pretty bleak place to return to. I’m eager to see what the developers can do with several more years under their belts to hammer out the systems and improve the experience. But the game felt like it ran out of steam about halfway through, and that the last third was rushed. Matt M: I think Monolith is a really talented studio, and Shadow of Mordor had a lot of fascinating innovation, not to mention a stellar combat system. When a Balrog is boring, that’s a problem. What do you think? Is there a chance we’ll see anything fundamentally new here? Because looking at that trailer, it seemed like a remix of characters, creatures, and moments I’ve seen before. Do I want to walk around a volcanic wasteland again? Not really. Am I excited to see a refined version of the Nemesis system? Sure. I’m at a point where I feel like I’ve explored every corner of Middle-earth and met everyone I could possibly want to meet. But at the same time, the last few Hobbit films sucked a lot of the enthusiasm I had for that world right out of me. I enjoyed Shadow of Mordor, and I’ve had a lot of great times with the various Lord of the Rings games and movies over the past decade or so. We don’t know a whole lot about Shadow of War, but with an official sequel finally announced, it seemed like an appropriate time for some conjecture. I also wrote our cover story on Shadow of Mordor and our review, so I’m pretty clued in about this series. I am a fan of world-building in all its incarnations, and there are few worlds as intricately constructed as Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Jeff C: Hey, Miller! You’re a big ol’ Lord of the Rings nerd, right?
Check out our conversation to see why we’re excited, as well as some of the hurdles Monolith is going to have to overcome with this new game. Like a lot of players, Matt Miller and I enjoyed the first game, and we’re optimistic about the sequel – with some slight reservations. The game, Shadow of War, begins right after the events of the first game, following Talion as he continues his revenge-fueled plan to stop Sauron and his gathering forces. Interactive Entertainment and Monolith Productions formally announced a sequel to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
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