Players can travel across locations in the game through parkour, riding monsters, or accessing Forge Towers, which serve as fast travel points. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a third-person open world action-adventure video game, where the player controls a ranger by the name of Talion who seeks revenge on the forces of Sauron after his family, consisting of his wife and son, are killed by those that lead them. In this gameplay screenshot, Talion is using Celebrimbor's wraith-like abilities to defeat an enemy boss. A sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, was released in October 2017. The game was supported by downloadable content upon release. Shadow of Mordor marked the biggest launch for a game based upon Tolkien's universe, and would go on to win several awards from video gaming publications, including Game of the Year. Some criticism was aimed at the game's story and boss battles. Most praise was directed at its combat, open-world design, and the Nemesis System. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor received generally favorable reviews upon release. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in September 2014 and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2014. Monolith focused on the development of the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions, while the development of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions was outsourced to Behaviour Interactive. Christian Cantamessa served as the game's lead writer, while Dan Abnett was recruited to write dialogues for the orcs featured in the game. They also received assistance from Weta Workshop, who advised on the special effects.

In order to create an accurate environment and be consistent with Tolkien's books, the developers consulted many people from Warner Brothers, as well as Peter Jackson, director of the film trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The game introduces the Nemesis System, which allows the artificial intelligence of non-playable characters to remember their prior actions against the game's protagonist and react accordingly. Players can engage in melee combat, and use wraith abilities to fight and manipulate enemies. The player controls Talion, a Gondorian Ranger who bonds with the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor, as the two set out to avenge the deaths of their loved ones.

Tolkien, the game takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings film trilogies. An original story based on the legendarium created by J. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is a 2014 action-adventure video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros.

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