More Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is on its way, in the form of The Bright Lord, a DLC campaign due out later this year. It turns back the clock to the height of cheeky chappy and fancy armour-lover, Sauron, so we won’t be running around, slaughtering orcs as Talion this time.
Not to worry, his stoic, elf buddy, Celebrimbor takes the central role, and he’s all fleshy and alive this time around.
The creator of the Rings of Power is taking the fight to his one-time employer, Sauron, and conveniently he’s in possession of the One Ring, which is – as jewellery goes – pretty handy. While, as a wraith, Celebrimbor passed on a great deal of power to Talion, power he can access in The Bright Lord through his ring, he’s a different type of fighter. It won’t be like playing Talion all over again, Michael de Plater, Monolith’s design director, told Polygon.
“Celebrimbor is more powerful, more agile, but also more fragile — more of a glass cannon,” he said. “The enemies are also much more numerous and powerful. It’s definitely a challenge. In terms of specific skills and playstyle, it’s balanced so that you really need to use your domination skills, the One Ring and your improved archery skills to succeed.”
He’ll be facing tougher foes, too. The orc level cap has been extended to 25, compared to 20 in the core game, which means more skills and more counters. Plater mentions one that will no doubt cause all manner of problems: some orcs will be able to turn Celebrimbor’s followers against him. Nobody likes the taste of their own medicine.
The Bright Lord will be a 10-mission campaign set in Udun, one of the regions Talion cut a swathe through. It will be a different Udun, though, set a long time before the ranger first set foot there.
It’s due out “soon”.