Shadow of Mordor should be found on every gamer’s shelf.
Franchise tie-in games often fail to hit the mark, but Shadow of Mordor was so goddamn good that it could have spawned the entire Lord of the Rings mythology all on its own.
The perfect combination of Arkham Asylum-style fighting, Assassin’s Creed-esque free running and Tolkien setting, Shadow of Mordor was simply a hell of a lot of fun. The Nemesis system wasn’t to everyone’s taste and the story was a bit… nothingy, but running around and gutting orcs has never been better.
That could change with the arrival of a sequel: Shadow of War. New details have been released, as well as a new cinematic trailer. Obviously this isn’t gameplay and therefore doesn’t really mean anything, but that doesn’t stop it looking like the baddest of asses.
Excited? You should be, because you’ve only got around six months to wait for it.
When is it out? August 25 in Europe
Which formats is it available on? PS4, Xbox One (including Project Scorpio), Steam, Windows 10
Who’s making it? Monolith Productions, the guys behind Shadow of Mordor
What happens? “Players wield a new Ring of Power and confront the deadliest of enemies, including Sauron and his Nazgul, in a monumental battle for Middle-earth,” according to a press release.
If only they’d called it Shadow of  Wardor.