'Middle-earth: Shadow of War' Gameplay: New 'Lord Of The Rings' Game Footage Showcased

Developer Monolith has released a16-minute gameplay demo of the new Lord of the Rings game, Middle-earth: Shadow of War. The demo shows off a more robust version of the Nemesis System that was first introduced in its predecessor, Shadow of Mordor. The Shadow of War gameplay footage also shows off mechanics of large-scale warfare and some of the game’s story elements.

One of the best things about 2014’s Shadow of Mordor was the Nemesis System, a scheme that promotes an orc based on how many times it has been able to kill the player. As a player progresses through the game, that particular Orc will eventually turn into a sub-boss and become a constant threat, thus becoming a Nemesis of the player of his own making.

For this year’s Shadow of War, the Nemesis System not only focuses on enemies, but also on allies and fortresses. The demo opens with Talion attacking the fortress of Seregost to overthrow Ur-Hakon the Dragon Lord.

As Talion approaches the fortress, he is greeted by Thrak Storm-Bringer. As dialogue is exchanged, it’s revealed that Thrak was once an ally of Talion who died in a previous battle. Thrak was apparently resurrected by Sauron and has also been granted with some dark magic.

Thrak is a product of the Nemesis System based on how a person plays the game. Gamers might be faced by some other Orc depending on how they accomplish their missions.

Later in the demo, Thrak seemingly has the upper hand as he chokes the life out of Talion. This is where the new Nemesis System kicks in, as pointed out by Kotaku. The archer orc Mozu Deadeye fires an arrow right between Thrak’s eyes. Because of the friendship that Talion has developed with Mozu, the orc helped Talion when he needed it most.

The Nemesis System now functions based on the player’s relationship with his allies and not just with enemies. Producers at Monolith say they’ve recorded “thousands and thousands” of dialogue exchanges and created almost equal the amount of characters to match, according to ArsTechnica.

There’s also what Monolith is calling Nemesis Fortresses. Basically, the same basic concept is applied to enemy fortresses and its overlords. Ur-Hakon the overlord of the fortress of Seregost for example is a unique enemy based on a user’s gameplay, while the fortress itself will also have qualities that are unique for each player.

Once a player is able to seize a Nemesis Fortress, they will be able to upgrade it, add garrisons and defenses and have more Warchiefs stationed, according to PCGamesN.

Probably the coolest thing about the Shadow of War gameplay is that it finally confirms one heavily speculated feature: riding and controlling a Drake. Talion is shown dominating a Drake and players will be able to take full control of the beast.

The demo shows that players will be able to easily turn the tide during battle by riding the Drake while raining down fire on enemy orcs. We also get to see that players will be able to sacrifice the Drake by crashing it onto gigantic enemies.

The 16-minute demo for Middle-earth: Shadow of War shows that a lot of the best things about Shadow of Mordor is still in the sequel, but with some fantastic improvements. Overall, the game shows a lot of promise and it will undoubtedly get The Lord of the Rings fans pumped to get it on day one.

When Does Shadow of War Come Out?

Middle-earth Shadow of War will be released on Aug. 22 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the PC.