You don’t have to play many video games to find expendable enemies. Cannon fodder, they’re called, and they exist to delay you, distract you, and absorb your damage. Through the eyes of a brand new supernatural character, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor explores what happens when, instead, the pawn gets promoted.

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Talion, the player’s character, is one of the Rangers of Gondor tasked with guarding Mordor’s Black Gate. Between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Sauron and his Black Captains return and kill everyone there. Talion is kept from the afterlife by a mysterious spirit and becomes a half-human, half-wraith being. At any time, Talion can swap into the wraith world, which is the same realm Frodo and Bilbo enter whenever they don the One Ring. Such a being is new to Tolkien’s lore, and seems custom-tailored to be a video game protagonist.Mordor is a large and open world with Arkham-style combat, but my demo with developer Monolith focused almost exclusively on Shadow of Mordor’s “nemesis system.” During your adventures, some enemies may survive encounters with you, some may flee before you can slay them, and some will probably kill you. In any case, the survivor can rise through the ranks of Mordor’s armies, recruit followers, and hold one heck of a grudge against you.Nemeses get new names, titles, and even physical appearances. An enemy thrown into a roaring fire might have half of its face scarred the next time you meet. It’s a cool idea that builds the history between you and your foes. During the demo (a version of it shown in the video above), Talion is hunting down Ratbag, a somewhat cowardly warrior turned slaver since their previous encounter. As Ratbag prepares to kill a handful of human slaves, Talion intervenes.Both battles and navigation take advantage of Talion’s two halves. Slicing and climbing are done as a human, but as a wraith you can fire a bow, distract enemies with sounds, or teleport instantly to an enemy. Teleporting is a great way to take down, say, an archer atop a building, where you can then plan your assassination from a vantage point. Combat looks reminiscent of both Dishonored and the Batman Arkham games, and like with these two examples, traversing the environment and planning your attacks is preferable to sprinting in like an idiot.Once the brawl began, Talion took down several orcs with his sword, counter attacks, and acrobatic maneuvers that gave him better positioning. Braver enemies might have stayed and fought, but Ratbag the coward fled. As he ran, Talion teleported to enemies and caught up with Ratbag until he was able to enter wraith mode and put an arrow through Ratbag’s leg, pinning him in place. Once a target flees, the fight’s intensity is instantly cranked up. If Ratbag were to escape, he’d probably be even stronger and have more followers the next time you meet. There’s actually a reason to want your enemy dead other than “because the game said I do.”Talion is only one person, yet with his wraith abilities, he’s able to dominate his enemies and spread his influence across Mordor’s various lands. When he catches up with the helpless Ratbag, he grabs his head, turns all ethereal and scary, and takes control of the orc’s mind. From there you can send your new ally on a recon mission, pry information from him, send him back to his people to talk of your prowess and spread fear, or command him to assassinate his master – a higher ranking orc in Mordor’s army.What’s neat is that the different options correspond with different play styles. You could just kill the captive or send him on his way and not have to deal with him any longer. If you’re more comprehensive and forward thinking, you call tell Ratbag to kill his superior, and you can be there when he tries in order to finish the job if he fails. In the case of my demo, that’s the option I picked.Later, Talion stood outside a fortress with rain pouring down all around him. Torches flickered against steep stone walls. Up above, a parade of orcs marched across a bridge, ready to meet our target, a towering orc named Orthog. It was here that Shadow of Mordor’s technical prowess stood out. Talion’s cloak, the rain-slicked walls, the lumbering enemies – it all looks terrific. The sound brings the world together though. As the orcs gathered, they began to grunt and chant, and I knew they’d tear Talion to pieces if they got the chance.After sneaking into the building, Talion stood high above the crowd. He dominated an orc archer, and between that ranged fighter, Ratbag, and Ratbag’s many followers in the crowd, it looked like the chances of killing Orthog were high. He gave the signal, and Ratbag stabbed his master in the back, removing about half of his health. Talion entered wraith mode, jumped into battle with a huge area attack, and fought Orthog to the death.Winning the fight isn’t always about positioning. As I was shown later, gathering intelligence can offer a huge advantage. Some targets are specifically afraid of fire, trolls, or betrayal. Others are immune to ranged attacks or have several bodyguards. It’s a strong incentive to get involved with the nemesis system, do your research, and save yourself from entering a battle tactically blind. Also, because you can take on these targets whenever you want – including between story missions – they shouldn’t bog you down.Even in Shadows' early state, the visuals, human/wraith combat, and yes, the nemesis system all look like they could be the trappings of the great Lord of the Rings game we’ve been waiting for. It's fair to wonder about Talion’s origins and whether the story will be a satisfactory link between two tales, but from the small slice I saw, there’s already a lot to be excited about.

Brian is an associate editor at IGN. He used to be (okay, he still is) pretty scared of the Uruk-Hai. You can follow him @albinoalbert on Twitter.