Weird story: I saw the first Middle-Earth Batman game, Shadow of More Doors, up for sale on the Xbox Live store a couple of weeks ago. R50 for the game and all of its DLC? I took a gamble on that, despite the fact that I’ve managed to sit through 23 hours of the lightest cut of the extended edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Which got about as far as second supper on the quest to Mordor I think.
ANYWAY! Got the game and I kind of…hated it at first. The combat felt awkward, the Orcs were bastards and Mordor was greyer than the entirety of the graphical leanings of 2009 in video games. Oddly enough, the game finally started opening up around two hours in. I’d shifted playstyles to become a sneakier bastard, practiced the timing for sword combos on lone Orcs and finally managed to nail the finer arts once I’d invested a decent amount of experience in my Ranger skills.
It was brilliant, and now I’ve clocked an easy 30 hours in the first game. So yeah, I kinda do want its sequel later this year. I now also have mixed feelings, because Shadow of War has spiders. Big ones. Attractive ones. Tolkien is probably spinning so furiously in his grave, that he’s about to drill his way into the mines of Moria when his spirit sees how Shelob has been tweaked for Shadow of War:
If you’re thinking that the voice of Shelob sounds familiar, then here’s a tidbit for you: That’s Pollyanna McIntosh voicing the character, an actress who had a stint on The Walking Dead and was also in the horror film The Woman. She’ll be joining Troy Baker as Talion, while comedian Kumail Nanijiani will voice an Orc who’ll most likely meet a similar fate to Ratbag.
Ah Ratbag, your hideous hunchbacked face will be missed. If you are into Lord of the Rings lore, which explains why Kervyn is currently dressing for the job he wants in his replica Sauron armour, then the trailer above has a few other Tolkien references. Besides the light-eater mother of all spiders in the form of Shelob, there’s also a cameo of the Nazgul and their Witch-King
It’s out in October. Along with EVERY other game under the sun. One game to rule them all, one game to find them, one game to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
Last Updated: July 24, 2017
Admiral Chief
July 24, 2017 at 09:17
Nice. Currently playing SoM, and quite liking it
Daniel Hallinan
July 24, 2017 at 11:35
Eh, this is just weird.
I mean, it’s entirely likely they think it’s a great idea, but its difficult for me to see it as much more than a way to weasel a femme fatal and / or “hot but gross” character into the game.
That said, Shadow of Mordor has always been “a bit weird” when it comes to gelling with the canon.