Monolith has just released pre-alpha footage for their new Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor title. This story is between the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings timeline. The trailer showcases the look of the game, gameplay showing similarities of Assassins Creed/Infamous parkour movement to combat looking like the Batman Arkham/Assassins Creed series.

You can view the gameplay video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5WL1Ybw9OQ

For a quick recap, players will take the role of Talion; a ranger of Gondor who is tasked to monitor the Black Gate of Mordor, which led to the death of his family and his own untimely end. Near the last bit of life, he stakes a deal with a Spirit of Vengeance to become a half-human/ half-wraith to enact revenge and carry out his duty further.

What I feel is most intriguing is the Nemesis system which creates dynamically generated enemies, specifically in the demo Orcs that have personalities, like how some will show cowardice in battle or fight to the death. When threatening those specific characters with Talion’s wraith powers, their personalities adapt based off previous engagements with them.

With this system archenemies and generals are dynamically generated based off your decisions and actions in-game.  You may utilize them to do some biddings or murder right away to upgrade your wraith powers or ranger prowess after getting them one on one.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is set for a release sometime later this year.