'Middle-earth: Shadow of War' News: Creative Lead Previews 'Massively Expanded' World; DLC to Honor Late EP
"Middle-earth: Shadow of War," the upcoming sequel to "Shadow of Mordor," is set to arrive later this year. The game made an appearance at the recent Gamescom 2017, where Monolith Productions' creative vice president Michael de Plater talked about the gameplay.
De Plater sat down with IGN and showed some gameplay footage from the highly anticipated title. He revealed that the team behind "Shadow of War" made sure to work hard on the game in order to live up to its predecessor, as well as meet fans' expectations. De Plater, who is also the game's creative lead, also teased the antagonists of the game.
"We've also put a lot more emphasis on our boss fights and villains, so you're gonna be facing off against these iconic enemies – Sauron himself, the Witch King, the Nazgul," de Plater said, revealing that a gigantic creature will also be wreaking havoc. "There's gonna be a Balrog unleashed within Mordor."
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Monolith Productions also paid more attention to the nemesis system, which now relates more cohesively with the game's story. De Plater revealed that the story "ties together much more" with the nemesis system in "Shadow of War" as opposed to "Shadow of Mordor," where the two features were separate.
Players can also amass followers within the game. These followers will then serve as their army. De Plater explained that the studio had listened to player reaction and feedback from the first game in order to improve and add to "Shadow of War."
Fans can also look forward to a much larger world filled with new environments—some of which were showcased at Gamescom. De Plater revealed that they had "massively expanded" the world of the game.
"If we looked at the story or the world or the side missions or the nemesis system, basically every component of the game has gotten three to five times bigger," he previewed.
With so much to be excited about, it does not come as a surprise that the game has a lot of hype surrounding it. Fans can pre-order the game now. According to the game's website, it is currently available in the Standard, Silver and Gold Editions. The Mithril Edition has already sold out.
On a more somber note, the game's executive producer Mike "Forthog" Forgey lost his battle against cancer while "Shadow of War" was in development. In an announcement posted on Steam, the game will memorialize Forgey through the character Forthog Orcslayer. Forgey's family will receive part of the DLC's sales.
"Middle-earth: Shadow of War" will be released on Oct. 10 on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
