New Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Trailer Shows Off More Story

[ffronw]

New Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Trailer Shows Off More Story

Get a deeper look at the story of Middle-Earth: Shadow of War in this new trailer.

Many people were disappointed when the news broke earlier this week that Middle-Earth: Shadow of War had been delayed into October [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170470-Middle-Earth-Shadow-of-War-Delayed-to-October]. While the delay was a bit of a letdown, Warner Bros. is trying to lift your spirits by showing off more about the upcoming game in a brand new story trailer that features new enemies, new allies, and more.


As you can see, Talion and Celebrimbor aren't shy about using the power of their new ring to build up an army to conquer Mordor. Of course, Sauron isn't going to stand by and be taken out, so he's sending out the Nazgul and something like a million orcs to deal with the threat.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 10.

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[wizzy555]

I should like this but the writing snippets here seem far too clich?d.

I said about the last game that is was just a knife's edge away from being awkward.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

 

[Laughing Man]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Yup way to de rail the topic nice work there, the REASON no one is talking about it is because a). no one has read it
or b) it ain't worth reading.

As for the game, to be honest it doesn't matter how lore friendly to the LOTR it is, hell it doesn't even have to be part of the LOTR universe the last game was an utter blast and this one looks just as good if not better and fuck me was that a Balrog at the end?

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Yup way to de rail the topic nice work there, the REASON no one is talking about it is because a). no one has read it
or b) it ain't worth reading.

As for the game, to be honest it doesn't matter how lore friendly to the LOTR it is, hell it doesn't even have to be part of the LOTR universe the last game was an utter blast and this one looks just as good if not better and fuck me was that a Balrog at the end?

Beren and Luthien is set in the Middle Earth universe, and its a very personal romance story that Tolkien based some aspects of his real life events.

He is buried alongside his wife in the same grave and the names Beren and Luthien are etched on their Tombstone.

 

[Hawki]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

No-one talks about books on this site, period. It can't be accused of being shunned per se.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Says the guy who enjoys a dark and gritty Superman.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Says the guy who enjoys a dark and gritty Superman.

Because he has depth and makes me care for him.

And don't think that Beren and Luthien's story is all sunshine and rainbows.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Says the guy who enjoys a dark and gritty Superman.

Because he has depth and makes me care for him.

And don't think that Beren and Luthien's story is all sunshine and rainbows.

The DCEU Superman has no depth. You need to brush up on your Superman comics.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Says the guy who enjoys a dark and gritty Superman.

Because he has depth and makes me care for him.

And don't think that Beren and Luthien's story is all sunshine and rainbows.

The DCEU Superman has no depth. You need to brush up on your Superman comics.

I do. I am tempted to screenshot the books I own in comixology.

And he has more depth than MCU Hulk. I preferred Eric Bana Hulk.

 

[Kenbo Slice]

While everyone is hyping up this heresy to Tolkien lore and canon, no one is talking about the just released new book from Christopher Tolkien, the Tale of Beren and Luthien.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

Says the guy who enjoys a dark and gritty Superman.

Because he has depth and makes me care for him.

And don't think that Beren and Luthien's story is all sunshine and rainbows.

The DCEU Superman has no depth. You need to brush up on your Superman comics.

I do. I am tempted to screenshot the books I own in comixology.

And he has more depth than MCU Hulk. I preferred Eric Bana Hulk.

Okay but you're comparing a supporting character in the MCU to who's supposed to be a main character in the DCEU. Apples and oranges.

 

[pookie101]

*reads thread* hmm for once its not me derailing the thread

well i enjoyed the first game so i guess ill enjoy running around stabbing and brainwashing more orcs

 

[MHR]

Is that Ungoliant herself?! That is really cool! And she can shapeshift into being a hot gothy lady. It's cool and creepy at the same time, 'cuz you know she's actually a gigantic spider that would eat you if she could.

Yeah, it's probably destroying lore in a number of ways, but I just don't care. I've watched and rewatched all of the movies, and even managed to read up 'till halfway through The Two Towers, including The Hobbit, and I just don't mind the lore is getting screwed over supposedly. I say supposedly because I don't see how any elements of the games deviate that badly from LOTR lore. Of course branding is ridiculous, and having Ubisoft? towers and other obvious gameplay-facilitating things wouldn't happen in a book, but besides that, if all the events were all kept a complete secret, It doesn't exactly break the series.

Though of course, Sauron incarnate before he is officially able to take physical form again is stupid.

 

[K.ur]

Is that Ungoliant herself?!

The video is on their own channel and they do streams of the game. They showed the spiders will be active enemies this time.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Is that Ungoliant herself?! That is really cool! And she can shapeshift into being a hot gothy lady. It's cool and creepy at the same time, 'cuz you know she's actually a gigantic spider that would eat you if she could.

Yeah, it's probably destroying lore in a number of ways, but I just don't care. I've watched and rewatched all of the movies, and even managed to read up 'till halfway through The Two Towers, including The Hobbit, and I just don't mind the lore is getting screwed over supposedly. I say supposedly because I don't see how any elements of the games deviate that badly from LOTR lore. Of course branding is ridiculous, and having Ubisoft? towers and other obvious gameplay-facilitating things wouldn't happen in a book, but besides that, if all the events were all kept a complete secret, It doesn't exactly break the series.

Though of course, Sauron incarnate before he is officially able to take physical form again is stupid.

See, the problem that I have with these games isn't so much that it's...taking liberties with the lore (they've based them in a time period where they can get away with stuff because there's not a lot of official lore there), it's that it's kind of stomping all over the entire point Tolkien was making with Lord of the Rings. Power cannot be challenged by power, blood cannot be answered for with blood, and you cannot beat evil with evil. "You cannot wield it, none of us can." "Do not tempt me, Frodo! I would use this Ring from a desire to do good, but through me, it would do great evil."
Years ago, Shamus wrote an article on this site about this very thing. Talion is basically Boromir's fantasy with none of the consequences. And, at least for me, that is why the game makes me uneasy about it. It's saying that Tolkien is wrong in his own work.
Now, if this game ends with Talion falling, becoming the very thing he claims to stand against (and it's hinted that this will happen in this trailer), then I shall forgive and applaud there efforts. It even seems that Celebrimbor there is starting to slip too.

All this is a shame, because I fully admit that this game looks amazing, and I will probably play it eventually. It's just hard to get excited about it like others have, not because of what it's doing with the lore (there are some enemies here that should rightly kick Talion's ass three ways to Sunday, but I'm betting that won't happen because gameplay), but because of how it's treating the message behind the entire story of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

And Sauron can take physical form. That whole thing is only from the movies (one of those lore things you mentioned), he just chooses to stay in Mordor until he is ready to come out.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

Ok, It's about a ring - I got that much from the trailer...

what I got from teh other trailers is a a rather simplisitc gameplay,
not much SoM like.

 

[esserin]

snip

See, the problem that I have with these games isn't so much that it's...taking liberties with the lore (they've based them in a time period where they can get away with stuff because there's not a lot of official lore there), it's that it's kind of stomping all over the entire point Tolkien was making with Lord of the Rings. Power cannot be challenged by power, blood cannot be answered for with blood, and you cannot beat evil with evil. "You cannot wield it, none of us can." "Do not tempt me, Frodo! I would use this Ring from a desire to do good, but through me, it would do great evil."
Years ago, Shamus wrote an article on this site about this very thing. Talion is basically Boromir's fantasy with none of the consequences. And, at least for me, that is why the game makes me uneasy about it. It's saying that Tolkien is wrong in his own work.
Now, if this game ends with Talion falling, becoming the very thing he claims to stand against (and it's hinted that this will happen in this trailer), then I shall forgive and applaud there efforts. It even seems that Celebrimbor there is starting to slip too.

I recently played Shadow of Mordor and I honestly gotta disagree with Shamus. Talion does get corrupted through the course of Shadow of Mordor. A good example of that is branding.
When Talion first brands orcs he tells Celebrimbor that he isn't comfortable with this. That this might be a line too far. Celebimbor, of course, tells him that it's necessary. That the only way to fight Sauron is to use his own tools against him. Whenever an orc gets branded (Brainwashed) Celebimbor says something about freeing them from the darkness.
The interesting thing is that, by the end of the game, Talion fully agrees with Celebimbor and now he is the one that talks about "freeing" the orcs from Sauron whenever an orc is branded.

There are other hints like this, like how Celebrimbor calls himself the bright lord and the hand mark left on branded orcs is reminiscent of the saruman's orcs who also have a hand mark on their face.

I feel that when they made the bright lord DLC, which tells Celebimbor's first fight with Sauron when he tried to challenge him with the ring, they made it a lot more explicit that Celebimbor is evil because most of the hints flew over people's heads during the main game. Orcs are calling you evil and begging Sauron to save them from your control. Galadriel warns Celebrimbor that the ring could easily corrupt him. Celebrimbor starts making speeches to the orcs telling them to build towers in his name. The knowledge that Celebrimbor had been lying to Talion about everything from the beginning.Hell, at one point Celebimbor says "All shall fear me and rejoice." which is a parallel to Galadriel's speech to Frodo about what would happen if she used the one ring.
I honestly don't understand how people like Shamus couldn't notice the hints.

tl;dr: Celebimbor is actually evil and he slowly corrupts Talion to his way of thinking during the first game.

 

[DaCosta]

tl;dr: Celebimbor is actually evil and he slowly corrupts Talion to his way of thinking during the first game.

I'm glad you brought this up, it doesn't get recognized enough.

Also, the moment I saw they were forging a new ring in this game I figured the game was building up to have Celebrimbor become the big bad of the series. I imagine this game will end with Talion coming to his senses and probably destroying it, and if they can separate the two, they set up a fight between the two for the third game. Although I suppose it can also end up as a tragedy, with Talion succumbing completely.

Considering they are still chained to the lore, this is the only way I can envision a satisfying finale from this series. The only other way would be to acknowledge itself to not being canon once and for all and taking down Sauron, even if it is just to take his place, but I don't think they'd have the guts for it.

 

[wizzy555]

New video:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIG_pxrJqSE[/youtube]

"Dark Lord, Bright Lord, same thing really."

The orcs understand