10 Years Later, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Is Still The Perfect Blueprint For The Franchise

The Lord of the Rings franchise has a surprisingly lengthy history in the world of video games. The very first game set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle-earth was 1982’s The Hobbit, released for PCs like the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64. Lord of the Rings games continued to be released consistently for the next decade, and the launch of the Peter Jackson-directed trilogy increased demand exponentially. And after three decades of Lord of the Rings releases, fans were finally treated to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, the one LOTR game to rule them all.

Hitting store shelves on September 30, 2014, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor turns 10 years old today. But despite its age, Shadow of Mordor arguably looks better than ever, with its story, gameplay, and presentation setting a gold standard for the Lord of the Rings franchise that more recent games just haven’t been able to achieve.

10 Years On, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Is Still The Gold Standard for Lord of the Rings Games

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Delivered An Original, But Authentic Lord of the Rings Story

One of the greatest strengths of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is that it tells its own story while remaining faithful to the source material, all while including plenty of exciting moments of well-earned fan service. Driving the narrative forward is Troy Baker’s Talion, a captain of Gondor who gets brutally killed by Sauron’s Uruk army and ends up merging with a long-dead Elven wraith who suffers from memory loss.

Together, Talion and this mysterious wraith seek revenge on Sauron and his army, discovering more about the Elf’s past life along the way. It’s a relatively simple premise, but it’s one that gives developer Monolith a great deal of creative freedom, giving it plenty of room to deliver its own emotional beats and dramatic moments.

But Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is still a Lord of the Rings game, and it wears the franchise’s lore proudly on its sleeves. Shadow of Mordor is set in the 60 years between The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring, allowing for some substantial cameos from characters like Gollum. It’s also eventually revealed that the mysterious wraith is Celebrimbor, the greatest Elven blacksmith of the Second Age, and the one who was tricked by Sauron into forging the Rings of Power. These major moments of fan service are interwoven expertly into the game’s original narrative, making it all feel grounded and well-earned.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Brought Something New to The Table

But Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor didn’t just rely on its brand recognition and fan service to gain traction. Shadow of Mordor borrowed Batman: Arkham‘s beloved freeflow combat system and gave it an even bloodier, fantastical twist, giving the game some incredibly strong gameplay foundations. But even then, Shadow of Mordor wasn’t happy resting on its laurels.

One of the most defining parts of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor‘s legacy is its famous Nemesis system, whereby players would encounter Orcs in the open world and see them gradually climb the ranks of Sauron’s army, becoming more powerful over time and delivering new lines of dialogue that changed dynamically depending on the player’s actions and past encounters with them.

Shadow of Mordor‘s Nemesis system is still widely regarded as one of the most innovative features in modern gaming, but with it locked behind a Warner Bros. patent, fans haven’t seen it in seven years. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor really was the complete package, delivering innovative new gameplay features, an original story, and plenty of fan service, and that blueprint needs to be used far more often with new Lord of the Rings games.