I don't recall having heard anything about Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor before today. Suddenly, this walkthrough video came out and just blew my mind and made this game from relative unknown to "I want this right this second!"


The game is an open-world action RPG set in the Lord of the Rings universe. You assume the role of Talion, a ranger with Wraith powers. The big draw here is the "Nemesis System" which lets the player interact with various characters and adjusts how those characters behave, as highlighted in the video.

As far as the timeline goes, it takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, though the story is separate and will not be considered cannon. However, Warner Bros. says that elements of the story will align at some points.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is slated for release later in 2014 for the PS3, PS4, 360, Xbone, and PC.