The day may come when the awesomeness of games fail…but it is not this day!

Ever since I saw Fellowship of the Ring in theaters around 2001;, I was hooked on this epic saga. This larger than life series transported me into an amazing world of fantasy and adventure (one that I still enjoy to this day). Up ‘till then, I didn’t think a film series could captivate my imagination as much as my first love; naturally I’m referring to Star Wars. Boy was I wrong! Since then, many licensed games based on this content have been produced. Some have been good, others not so much. To say it is a Hobbit’s chest of ups and downs would be a Helms Deep sized understatement.

However, one upcoming release entitled Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor looks to finally bring us a truly great Lord of the Rings game.

For more than a decade, countless game developers have brought tales from Middle Earth to life in gaming form. Some followed the path laid out by the books and film series, while others deviated (creating entirely new characters and locales of their own). Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor will dabble in a bit of both. Watching the reveal trailer (as well as the recently released weapons breakdown we’ll talk about in a moment), you get a sense that much of this game will hold a nice familiarity for fans. You can certainly tell this is a story that would very much feel at home in a Peter Jackson adaptation, while also bringing us a unique and rich experience never before seen. The setting takes us back in time to the barren wasteland of Mordor. Before Sauron’s return, the kingdom of men were charged with guarding the Black Gates. However, the night that his army returned to reclaim their homeland also marked the moment where these Rangers were brutally slaughtered. Enter your character Talion, who is one of those poor souls who meets an untimely end. Add seeing both his wife and son murdered in front of him, and that would spell a pretty bad day in anyone’s book.