Middle-earth: Shadow of War, a follow-up to 2014’s Shadow of Mordor, has been officially announced today by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, with Monolith Productions confirmed to be returning to development duties for the sequel. As per the press release, Warner Bros. reveals that dual protagonists from the original game, Talion and Celebrimbor, will return for Shadow of War, which will see them attempt to turn the dark forces of Mordor against Sauron.
Set to introduce “entirely new stories of loyalty, betrayal and revenge,” Shadow of War will also see the return of its predecessor’s lauded Nemesis System, which will be expanded beyond enemy names and behaviour to encompass environments and characters, which will all be shaped by the decisions players make throughout the course of the story.
Check out the official description below for a taste of what horrors Talion will be coming up against during his journey:
In Middle-earth: Shadow of War, 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. The open-world action-adventure game is brought to life through the expansion of the award-winning Nemesis System. The robust personalization from the first game is now applied to the entire world where the environments and characters are all shaped by player actions and decisions, creating a personal world unique to every gameplay experience.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is scheduled to release on August 22 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC and will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title, only the second third-party game, following Capcom’s Resident Evil 7 to be included in the program. Both Sony and Microsoft’s spruced-up consoles – PS4 Pro and Project Scorpio are mentioned too, so expect to see both devices get dedicated support in order to take full advantage of their additional power.
That’s it for now, but check back here on March 8, when Warner Bros. will show the first gameplay for Middle-earth: Shadow of War.