We might know that eventually Sauron rises to power and it's Lord of the Rings time, but Shadow of War fills in that middle period in an intriguing way, showing off Mordor as we've never seen it before.

Orcs are still out for blood, but like the old paraphrased adage goes: Not all Orcs. Some Orcs will actually be of aid to you in Shadow of War, an intriguing new gameplay feature this time for a sequel that created fantastic love-to-hate relationships with the green-skins in the Nemesis System. Said system has been expanded, but as design director Michael de Plater revealed, there’s a bigger emphasis on creating stories with enemies and allies this time around.

The Nemesis System was a gameplay mechanic that added value to the grunts that you were murdering in Shadow of Morder, crafting stories and tales of Orc chieftains who actually had a decent reason to want you dead. Its a defining idea, that’s making a return later this year in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War.

Shadow of Mordor held your nemesis in one contained battlefield. Shadow of War is breaking that idea in massive ways.

It’s not often that a game readies itself for the PC market by giving potential consumers a checklist of the hardware needed to run it several months ahead of schedule. But there’s clearly some confidence attached to the sequel to Shadow of More Doors, as Middle-Earth: Shadow of War has that very list ready for anyone who wants to get their rig up to speed before it launches.

If you happen to live in the US of A, Gamestop will be selling the $300 Mithril Edition of Shadow of War, that includes the following bang for your buck. Why, it's simply precioussssssss...

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is the sequel to the rather brilliant Shadow of Mordor. And it's coming out a lot sooner than you probably expected it to.

A sequel to Shadow of Mordor has been leaked thanks to a retailer slip up. Will Warner Bros. announce Shadow of War a little earlier?