Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is Lord of the Rings turned up to 11. Improving on nearly every idea from the original Shadow of Mordor game, it’s a gargantuan sequel in both size and scope.

What’s a publisher supposed to do then, despite claims that it would receive zero percent of the cash generated from the sale of a Hail-Mary Orc character in Shadow of War? Make him a free add-on.

From what we’ve seen of Shadow of War thus far, it’s an incredible game. Unfortunately, for many there’s a great big blight on the impending action adventure RPG, and that’s the shadow of its mictrotransactions. Unusually for a single player game, Shadow of War will include loot boxes, enabled by microtransactions. abled by microtransactions.

Examined on its own, Shadow of Mordor was about as average as a sandbox could be. Its saving grace was that delightful Nemesis System, a series of mechanics that allowed you to nurse a grudge with a particular set of Orcs until they ran after you with throbbing haterections. For a game that liberally borrowed many ideas from other entries in the sandbox genre, Shadow of War returned the favour by introducing one of the freshest new ideas ever seen on the screen.

Warner Bros. Interactive say that they won't see a single cent from the Forthog Orcslayer DLC that will be sold to benefit the family of the deceased Mike Forgey.

With just over a month left on the calendar before Middle-Earth: Shadow of War hits the ground running, the current marketing push for Monolith’s follow-up to 2014’s Shadow of Mordor has been…odd. Sometimes amping up the usual sequel values of bigger and orkier, sometimes producing comedy gold with trailers highlighting an Orc faction hellbent on having enough bling to attract a dragon over, Shadow of War does have the habit of sending out mixed messages to fans. And then there are the more touching moments, like the reveal of a brand new character within the sequel. Not just another new face, or a reimagining of a literary character but with an X chromosome, Shadow of War’s latest trailer is more personal for Monolith.

In Shadow of War, there’s a faction of Orcs who are more than happy to contribute to the war chest. Orcs who have banded together to form the Marauders and now run around Middle-Earth, ransacking villages of their wealth. They also look complete baller in all that bling, according to the lastest trailer for the sequel to Shadow of More Doors.

I’ve been ambivalent about Shadow of War. I had a very good time with Monolith and Warner Bros’ Shadow of Mordor, but I felt that that was enough. That changed yesterday.