Shadow of Mordor was, if nothing else, an amusing (and lore ruining) open world action game where you got to play Talion, a Gondorian ranger whose waifu is kill but he gets possessed by Celebrimbor, the Bright Lord, forger of the original rings of power and possibly Saurons homosex lover. It was a good game, aside from being an aforementioned butcher of Tolkien's works and lore. Also a rushed shitty ending with A FUCKING QTE FINAL BOSS REEE
The next game looks like it's going to up the scale a bit though. And also jump into full fanfiction OC donut steel with Celebrimbor and Talion, as hinted in the end of the last game, forging a new ring of power in order to try and challenge Sauron directly.
>“What we've done in Shadows of War is take the [Nemesis system] concept of unique personal stories and transferred them to the environment,” begins Michael de Plater, creative VP at Monolith, during a presentation at GDC 2017. “The way that comes through is with these Nemesis Fortresses. Each region is controlled by one of these fortresses, and each one will represent the variety and personality of the Overlord who is ruling them.”
>Nemesis Fortresses are the crown of each of the game’s regions, which are now both more numerous and larger than Shadow of Mordor’s two zones. You can expect to see much more interesting landscapes too, thanks to a variety of different ecosystems. Playing once more as Talion, you’ll be able to explore from the slopes of Mount Doom, right out to the border between Mordor and neighbouring Gondor. The city of Minas Ithil - Gondor’s most eastern defence - will be visitable, and several hours into the game it will be besieged by the Nazgul and Sauron’s forces. It’s a key historic event in Tolkien lore, leading to the creation of Minas Morgul: the headquarters of the Ringwraiths.
James Hernandez
oh
Nevermind then
Link?
Luis Ramirez
I'm actually glad something like this is coming out. Tolkien's world and lore has been held as something sacred, something untouchable, for far too long. It's about time someone decided to shake it up a little.
Brayden Thompson
>Each region’s fortress is procedurally generated, much like the system’s orc soldiers, and will be unique for every player. A fortress’s structure and defences will depend upon the orc who runs it. Mordor’s population is now split into various tribes, each with their own distinct culture. Among them is the Feral tribe, experts in hunting and taming beasts, and the dark sorcery-dabbling Mystic tribe. The look of the local environment and fortress itself will change depending on which tribe the ruling orc Overlord belongs to.
>Overlords are the new top-tier uruk class, and killing them will allow you to seize their fortress for yourself. When a fortress is in your possession you can upgrade it to increase its size, add garrisons and defences, and enable it to house more Warchiefs.
>Before you get that far, however, you’ll need to besiege whoever the Dark Lord has put in control of the region. “In order to help you take on the Warchiefs you have your own army of followers,” explains de Plater. Where Shadow of Mordor allowed you to brand orcs in order to have spies within the ranks of the enemy, Shadow of War outright allows you to recruit and amass a military. This can be made up of foot soldiers, bodyguards, caragor-mounted cavalry units, and even your own Warchiefs.
Noah Jenkins
yes, with homos, women soldiers and shit. Definitely an improvement
Brandon Collins
>In the first game you could become obsessive over the structure of the enemy ranks, with the system encouraging you to plan your next target in order to upset the orc hierarchy in just the right way. The followers system promises that same level of reactivity but among a collection of uruks that are yours to command and cause devastation with.
>“In Shadow of Mordor the Nemesis system was very focused on creating these visceral, memorable stories of death and revenge,” de Plater says. “Of course it still has that, but now we have followers we can also expand the types of stories that we can tell. So now we can have stories of saviours, of loyalty or betrayal, and stories of friendship.”
>The GDC gameplay demo reveals just how deep these relationships can go. The garrison being assaulted is led by an orc called Stormbringer. “He actually used to be part of our army before we left him to die,” recounts de Plater. “He bled out on the battlefield during a previous mission. But he was revived and saved by the Dark Lord, so not only has he changed sides, but he's also got this burning hatred for us. For him this really is personal.”
>Going up against any of your enemies will require thought and tactical choices. The Fort Conquest mission demoed at GDC saw Talion lead his army against a Nemesis Fortress captained by an orc called The Flame of War. “The warchiefs can actually change the defences that you’ll be facing in the fort,” reveals de Plater. “So because of [The Flame of War’s] abilities with fire, you’re going to be facing flaming catapults, fire archers, and boiling oil. The interactions between the different orcs and the fortresses makes each conquest mission a unique experience.”
>With knowledge of your enemy, you can then tailor your siege army to ensure victory. For example, in this case you’d use armoured caragor cavalry units, who have a strong defence against fire.
Lincoln Thomas
Right round baby, right round.
Ian Cox
>homo's and women soldiers being new in Tolkien
So uh...
you didn't read them books at all, huh?
Ryder Ortiz
ty user OK ABANDON THRE-
Wait
THIS THREAD HAS LESS REPLIES
Aaron Rivera
If you just ignore the shitty fanfic-tier lore butchery this sounds cool as fuck desu
William Gonzalez
>women soldiers Eowyns entire schtick was that she was a subversion of the norm in Middle-Earth. That falls flat if Gondor has women soldiers in droves that could have killed the Witch King
Dylan Cox
>Conquering a Nemesis Fortress rewards you with not only the fort itself, but also a variety of more RPG-centric benefits. Money and XP will help you upgrade Talion’s skills, and new followers will bolster your army. There’s also loot now, and you can customise Talion with new weapons and armour. In the situation shown in the demo, defeating Stormbringer provides Talion with a suit of epic Rohirrim armour that buffs health and provides perks.
Where is this shown?
John Turner
It's older though, And more funny.
James Murphy
>more funny
All I see is some grognard fishing for replies with a trollpost
Your powers have grown weak, while mine WANE as SUMMER draws ever closer, old man
Soon, the shitposting will wash over you like a brown, stinky tide.
Blake Powell
>If you just ignore the shitty fanfic-tier lore butchery this sounds cool as fuck desu Yes, and that's what's the most offensive about this game for me. If it wasn't a LOTR game, I would love it.
Owen Sanchez
Maybe Celebrimbor's ghost caused Azog to survive and resulted in the Peter Jackson timeline?
Jeremiah Gomez
Yeah, how dare they make a new story, because Christopher's big ego barring anyone else to advance the setting right?
Leo Flores
Fair point.
I am a servant of the secret fire!
The stone shall outlast the rain.
Luke Phillips
Gameplay looks generic as shit. Graphics suck because console. The idea of a turf war with enemies and followers is kinda interesting; could have worked with something like Dungeonkeeper or Overlord.
The LotR liscense is such a bad fit it kills any interest I might have had though.
Jaxson Morgan
It's not like these games have any effect on the books.
Wyatt Watson
Doesn't make it any less shit. If they'd taken the two afternoons to come up with their own generic setting and crmmed up the camp, this could have been great.
Anthony Hall
You know I think I wrote something along these lines when I was twelve. Alongside with a story about one of the Nazgul being a benign king of the Moria Orcs. Even started drawing a comic.
Landon Long
Well, it pretty much is a 12 yr olds fanfiction.
Ironically this will finally explore a long standing Veeky Forums what if - if someone besides Sauron ruled the orcs
Jace Peterson
why would u be mad on someones take on a story? lol
sure there are niggers, maybe even gays and sjw orcs, but its never gonna be canon
personally im excited for this game because its one of the best orc portrayals in video games. wish u could play as an orc warlord and go multiplayer like mount and blade
Dominic Thomas
It's not an advancement, it's a fanfiction set around the time Sauron returned to Mordor after leaving Dol Guldor behind. So within 3rd age. Advancing the story would mean 4th age.
James Murphy
>come up with their own generic setting and crammed up the camp, this never would have been approved ftfy
Evan Ortiz
That sounds cool as shit desu. First game was fun, but I'll wait the Ultimate edition for this, whats woth all their shitty DLC that will come no matter what.
Don't understand al the autism about the lore. It's a vidya, who gives a shit if they make it a fan fiction. It's not canon.
Henry Cox
I'm tempted to agree, just because that sort of fuckup is perfect for celebrimbor, 3rd generation master fuckup-smith, maker of baubles that ruin everything.
Nathan Moore
The first part is disputable. The second part I agree with.
Daniel Wilson
hardly , establishing a setting takes time, effort and attention to detail you jump into this one and don't need 1 hour of peaceful happy time followed by a hour and a half of everything your character supposedly loved to get his shit smacked in so they're sure you know who's the evil guy
Jason White
its an action movie game so it was good for what it was
Nathaniel Allen
>That pic
Please, user, it's too early.
Alexander Bailey
>Fanfiction HARDER Third game takes place during Dagor Dagorath.
>The orcs now have soft skin and facial features because you can have them as pets I hate this
Christopher Mitchell
What. Where did you see that? The closest I've seen is that their skin looks more like live tissue and less like rigid plastic or boiled leather.
Justin Fisher
LOTR lore nerds are so funny in such an old school way
This isn't the 70s you decrepit losers
Josiah Gomez
Lol you're right, they basically made your orcs into pretty orcs. Fucking why, just give human followers if you want them to be kind looking, smooth and unscarred.
Jordan Morgan
Am I the only one who is actually happy they went the non-canon route?
I hate tie-in games with no stakes where you know nothing significant will change because they can't stray away from the book/movie/whatever. At least this way I can't tell you where the plot will end up because it has to lead into the movie.
Jeremiah Edwards
But if you're a good storyteller, you don't need an hour of exposition to explain the setting. Good storytellers, specifically ones that have the massive advantage fo a visual medium, can convey a lot to an audience in even one shot. Watch/re-watch some Kurosawa films, there's so rarely any dialogue. Show don't tell.
Josiah King
Judging from the first one, it'll plat very Assassin's Creed, but do a better job of it than any of the recent AC games.
Best way to deal with the shitty lore is basically pretend it's not LotR and enjoy the gameplay. The story was pretty irrelevant in the first one anyway.
Christopher Howard
Whenever I play the first I actually forget it's set in the LotR lore, and only get reminded when they say Mordor or Sauron.
Lincoln Cruz
Press F to pay respects
Hunter Evans
F
Tyler Williams
F He died too early, user, he died too early
Henry Lewis
>"Got Ya."
My dick
Leo Peterson
as bright lord I'll create a super heaven with hot orc bitches for my niggas like Az-laar and the like who die in my name.
Xavier Richardson
Shame l these cut ins will in no way be as fluid in the actual game, this shit was choreographed to hell
Carson Powell
H-He was just burned...
H-H-He'll be back r-right?
Jordan Lewis
I kind of wish there was a multiplayer version with different kinds of factions to conquer or lead. Like with dwarves, various tribes of humans, beastmen, elves etc.
