Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor on PS3 & 360 has been delayed

Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has just announced that the last-generation versions of the upcoming third-person action/adventure game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor have been delayed. Now, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 renditions will arrive on November 18th in North America and November 21st in Europe. On the flip side, the PC version has been moved from an October 2nd launch date to September 30th, which coincides with the North American release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions. Europeans will get Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor on current-gen. on October 3rd.

“Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor delivers a dynamic game environment where the player orchestrates their personal plan of vengeance as they bend Mordor to their will,” reads the official press release. “The game begins on the night of Sauron’s return to Mordor, as his Black Captains brutally execute the Rangers of the Black Gate. Players become Talion, a ranger who loses his family and everything he holds dear, only to be returned from death by a mysterious Spirit of vengeance. Based on the player’s actions with the in-game Nemesis System, every enemy encountered is distinct and can evolve to become a personal archenemy through the course of the game.  As Talion’s personal vendetta unfolds, players uncover the mystery of the Spirit that compels him, discover the origin of the Rings of Power and confront the ultimate nemesis.”

Even though the game’s story involves the Rings of Power, the overall plot is separate from the Lord of the Rings canon. That said, the Monolith Productions team is working with Middle-earth Enterprises, Peter Jackson, and the artists at the Weta Workshop to make sure that the settings, characters, and story align with the canon of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. In August 2013, an artist leaked that Monolith Productions was working on a new triple-A title, separate from Guardians of Middle-earth. On 12th November, 2013, it was announced that said mysterious game was Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The game is being written by Christian Cantamessa, who was a lead-writer and lead-designer on Rockstar San Diego’s Red Dead Redemption.