Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Gameplay Trailer Breakdown

After being announced just last week, Monolith released a lengthy gameplay trailer that shows Talion's army conquer an enemy fortress. We break down the trailer, including the improvements to the Nemesis System, traversing the environment, and combat mechanics.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Gameplay Trailer Breakdown
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is the sequel to the critically-acclaimed Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor from 2014. Shadow of War's predecessor was praised for its fluid combat, dynamic world, and most notably, the Nemesis System.

While the original incarnation of the Nemesis System was all about taking out opposing forces, a gameplay trailer (seen below) released today from Monolith shows that it has been expanded to create allies as well. Talion's new Ring of Power gives him the ability to "convince" Uruks to join him, and he will need strength in numbers in order to take out Sauron. Since players have freedom in choice with the Nemesis System, it is advertised that every player will have their own unique story throughout the game.

Aside from the Nemesis System, we saw updated mechanics. The environment is more populated with buildings than Shadow of Mordorand vertical movement seems to be more like in inFAMOUS or Dishonored, where players would zip up buildings instead of attaching to every notch in the wall. Mounts help speed up the process of going from point to point, and they can even climb walls as well.

Combat is more fluid than ever, with an arsenal of abilities allowing the player to zip along the battlefield. Your allies are actually useful, and can even finish off a mini-boss or help you in your fight against the head of the fortress. If pitting the enemies' weapons against themselves is your preferred strategy, Talion can even control a dragon and force it to shoot fireballs.

Once the fortress is conquered, the player promotes their chosen army member to become the new Overlord, boosting the strength of your army and giving you certain benefits depending on who you choose.

With several months until the game's August 22nd release, there should be plenty more gameplay to come, and it's already shaping up to be great. Middle-Earth: Shadow of War will release on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

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