Middle Earth : Shadow of Mordor

[Bells]

Also known as Arkham of Sauron.

This is totally Middle Earth Arkham.

I'm calling it right now because it's not even subtle

HD4RuVTAFIo

Warner called Monolith, showed them the Arkham games and said "Now Aragorn the shit out of this. Here is a bag of money". If you see some of these screen shots that are floating around now, a less informed gamer could think it's some really weird DLC... like a scarecrow DLC for origins or something...

So, instead of Batman Gadgets you'll get Nazgul powers. Your basics: Radar, Pull power, Push Power, Stun Power, Crowd Control power...

It's a open world sandbox game in the middle of Mordor with a Moral Choice system and a new "nemesis" system that is said to be a new thing where an enemy that survives to an encounter to you will adapt and come back for revenge.

That being said, i'm really skeptical on that... because on games like this, enemies survive encounters 99% of the time because the plot said so, in which case the developer has control of the timeline for those effects, and as such any change or growth to the enemy is much more modular and artificial and very much less organic.

Perhaps the AI will adapt to your patterns, but considering that all boss characters have patterns on their own, unless Monolith wants to make all encounters feel like PvP, i don't think this is going to matter.

[mauve]

pull power, push power [...] nemesis... So it's Force Unleashed mixed with Champions Online mixed with Batman: Arkham Something-Or-Other?

[synkr0nized]

A close friend of mine is on the team that put this game together. So you'd better all like it! >:o

[Bells]

Kinda yeah... except that the force unleashed would be the lowest point on that comparisson there. But pretty much...

Also, Monolith is good in creating settings and the have the lead writer from Red Dead Redemption, so it's more likely to not suck!

A close friend of mine is on the team that put this game together. So you'd better all like it! >:o

Synk Seal of Approval?

[Magus]

So this is the long-lost tenth ringwraith who wasn't completely corrupted and is more of an antihero, or...?!

Sounds...zany. Interesting concept I suppose, even if it flies in the face of canon (i.e. those who wear the corrupted rings inevitably become Sauron's thralls, so the idea that a character can wear one long enough to acquire wraith powers but not long enough to fully fall into his power is sketchy at best). But if it serves the purpose of creating a cool game then I'm down with it I guess.

[RickZarber]

...What would the endgame even be? Like, at best, kill a Nazgûl, but then take his place instead? (GRIMDARRRRRRRK) Or would it be more like The Third Age and you could fight Sauron and conveniently distract him just as Frodo happens to be at Mt. Doom?

But yeah, this seems like a most un-Tolkien concept. Like, forget canon, the whole "use the powers of hell to fight the forces of hell" kinda flies in the face of his whole theology.

[Bells]

Funny enough, it was very explicitly said that this would be written in a way as to not break canon at all... so we will have to see how they handle THAT one...

Speaking of Canon, on the screens shown, the character is carrying Andúril, which is Aragorn's sword. The sword that cutted the ring off Sauron's hand, and ended up in the hands of Elrond in Rivendel.

So, if this game is to link The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, i think this gives us a painting of what it's path will be like. And the cameos!

...And yeah, your character will totally sacrifice himself in the end to not become a Ring Wraith...

[Azisien]

Who cares about canon, Tolkien's dead! What really matters is at what level I get my Wriathvision mode where I can find and break hidden walls to collect more Mordor trophies.

[CABAL49]

They love LOTR so they are going to take a shit over lore? Tolkien was pretty in depth. Why not do something in the time of Morgoth?

[Bells]

Probably because the space between the two trilogies has enough room for conflicts and cameos, plus a movie to boost it's sales, to put it on the Sweet Spot of franchise milking that feels oh so good.

I mean, they are already pasting a chunky dosage of Grim-Dark with this setting anyway... i'm not even expecting it to have a gripping story. Right now i'm just looking for "Fantasy Medieval Batman Game" with a special cameo from Agent Smith at some point.

[Magus]

Who cares about canon, Tolkien's dead!

But what dark paths will that lead us down?

http://i44.tinypic.com/117sfbp.jpg

[Bells]

But what dumb paths will that lead us down?

Oh, fixed that typo there yes i did.

[Magus]

Also acceptable.

They love LOTR so they are going to take a shit over lore? Tolkien was pretty in depth. Why not do something in the time of Morgoth?

You could potentially make dozens of games based on the Silmarillion, but you can't have those oh-so-important LOTR cameos that people who saw the movies will get. A cameo by Gil-Galad or Feanor just doesn't get the same press.

[Bells]

Considering how Rome II shat itself on release, one would think that it would be a fantastic concept to make a Middle Earth game over it.

Think Shogun 2 with LoTR coat of paint over it and let players recreate all the major battles of all the Sagas. Done.

[Azisien]

So....The Third Age?

[Bells]

The Gamecube Final Fantasy ripoff?!

[Azisien]

The Gamecube Final Fantasy ripoff?!

No, the cool one.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/third-age-total-war

[Magus]

They have made actual LOTR RTS games, too. Like several.