Target leak Shadow of Mordor sequel, titled Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Shadow of War

Someone’s getting thrown into the fires of Mount Doom for this one. An item posting on the website for American discount store Target has revealed that Warner Brothers and Monolith are indeed working on a Shadow of Mordor sequel, and that it is coming in August of this year. Titled Middle-earth: Shadow of War, this sequel has Talion and Celebrimbor amassing an army to take over Mordor and forge their own Ring of Power.

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According to the item description on Target’s website, Shadow of War has players “going behind enemy lines to forge your army, conquer Fortresses and dominate Mordor from within”, with Talion creating an army of Orc captains to control his captured territories. As you can imagine from the widespread fanfare surrounding the mechanic, the Nemesis System does indeed return to create “unique personal stories between each enemy and follower.”

As Shadow of War has Talion essentially trying to overthrow Sauron as ruler of Mordor, this installment will have Sauron summoning his Ringwraiths to deal with the pesky Ranger and his Wraith sidekick. The Target leak has also shown that Shadow of Mordor will be getting a special ‘Gold Edition’, complete with four expansion packs and a special “Gold War Chest”.

The four expansions are split up in Story and Nemesis Expansions. The item description of the Gold Edition explains that the Nemesis Expansions adds “a unique Orc tribe” to the lands of Mordor, which includes “new enemies, followers, missions, abilities, weapons, Fortresses, wilderness updates and a new Mythic gear set”. The Story Expansions “introduce a new campaign, playable characters and abilities, side missions, enemies, allies and more.”

The Gold Edition comes with the Slaughter and Outlaw Tribe Nemesis Expansions, along with the Blade of Galadriel and Desolation of Mordor Story Expansions. Monolith are clearly not messing around with content for Shadow of War, with this sequel looking to expand on almost every aspect of the original Shadow of Mordor.

While the store postings only show off the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Shadow of War, the original was simultaneously released on PC along with home console, so one can take it as read that Talion and Celebrimbor will also be returning to slay some Orcs on the PC. As for a release date, the store posting states that Shadow of War is set to launch on August 22. The base version will retail for the usual $60 price tag, while the Gold Edition will go for $100. It’s safe to expect a reveal from Monolith and Warner Brothers in the coming days, to officially spill the beans on this long awaited sequel.

Thanks, Wario64.