First footage of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Is there anything Talion can’t do?

My initial reaction after hearing about Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and seeing this eight minutes or so of footage was that it’s a shame Monolith didn’t come with an original setting. Even if you aren’t a diehard Tolkien fan, you’ll quickly see what I mean.

Putting those source-material concerns aside, as an open-world action game, I like the look of this. I’m skeptical about the procedurally-generated enemies holding up long-term as those systems can be tricky to get right, but the combat looks like decent fun and ability to see the leadership structure of the orcs is a novel mechanic. In other words, I need more to go on.