Mark the date, folks, for it looks as though Monolith’s anticipated RPG, Middle-earth: Shadows of Modor, will go up against Alien: Isolation for gaming supremacy. Speaking with Game Informer, the company confirmed that the Tolkien-inspired adventure will indeed launch across Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC on October 7th.
Not only that, Warner Bros. also outlined a plethora pre-order bonuses for the title, which include a ‘Test of Power’ challenge mode, access to online leaderboards and a Dark Ranger character skin to boot. What’s more, the latter add-on will allow players to opt for a more sinister make-up for Talion, the game’s protagonist.
Following the brutal murder of his family, our hero must channel his Wraith-like abilities to pursue the perpetrator and, ultimately, his own revenge. From the footage released, it seems as though Middle-earth: Shadows of Modor has learned from its gaming contemporaries, too. By blending an Arkham-styled fighting system with the locomotion associated with Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series, Monolith’s project certainly borrows from other, well-known game mechanics.
What distinguishes Middle-earth: Shadow of Modor from these properties, though, is the game’s Nemesis System, a much-trumpeted feature that introduces procedurally-generated enemies; so, whether it’s bludgeoning Uruks or slicing and dicing your way through Sauron’s minions, no two play-throughs will be the same.
Mind you, it’s understood that this intriguing system, along with other visual aspects, will be somewhat tapered on last-gen consoles due to technical constraints. Nonetheless, in terms of the ever-expanding timeline of Middle Earth, Monolith’s Shadows of Modor will slot in between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings trilogy when it launches on October 7th.
