"Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" is not showing any signs of letting up, as yet again, it released its most groundbreaking trailer, this time giving the viewers a choice on who to save and who to slay.
Developer Monolith Productions and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment set the stage for another one of its live-action trailers for the upcoming sequel to "Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor." In the new live-action trailer, the hero of the game, Talion, led his converted Orc army against an enemy Orc fortress. A live-action Talion and his elven ghost alter-ego Celebrimbor were also seen showing off their powers.
The end of the trailer gives the players a moral dilemma of either saving one of Talion's Orc captains or slaying the enemy Orc captain, complete with YouTube annotations that lead to other videos showing the result of the viewer's choice.
This trailer also showcased the new "Nemesis system" for the sequel, which has improved upon its predecessor significantly. Several gaming websites praised the trailer's creativity and immersion, as well as how it seamlessly ties-in with the Nemesis system.
The Verge claimed that the live action trailers for "Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" are becoming nearly as good as the real "Lord of the Rings" ("LOTR") trilogy. This was perhaps due to the trailer's veteran green-screen director Neil Huxley, who previously worked as an effects artist on big-screen projects like "Watchmen" and "Avatar."
Huxley stated that his goal for the live action trailers is to make them look just as good as, if not better, than Peter Jackson's epic "LOTR" trilogy. Despite Huxley's affinity for computer-generated imagery (CGI), only the trolls, the dragon, and the large creatures in the trailer were rendered digitally; the rest of the trailer was reportedly shot on-site at a ruin in Odessa.
"Middle-Earth: Shadow of War" is set for an Oct. 11 release date for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The PC version will also be available for pre-purchase on Steam with Standard, Silver, and Gold Editions.
