First look at Shadow of Mordor

One does not simply walk into Mordor. One usually has to hack lots of minions into tiny pieces, if the new footage of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is anything to go by.

Set in the period between the conclusion of J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, Shadow of Mordor casts players as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor whose job it is to guard Mordor’s Black Gate (think of it like junction 16 of the M25).

Having been killed by Sauron and his dark wraiths, Talion is strangely kept from death by a spirit which causes him to become half human, half wraith. This allows him to enter the wriggly black and white wraith world that Frodo and Bilbo see whenever they wear the one ring, and gives the player an arsenal of badass supernatural powers.

Check out the following video for a feast of Tolkien treats:

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is due for release later this year on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

(Images: Warner Bros. Games)