Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was lauded far and wide for its entertainingly violent gameplay, which put players in control of vengeful ranger/wraith hybrid Talion as he slaughtered orcs and monsters alike in pursuit of justice for his murdered family. Yet the most popular feature of Shadow of Mordor wasn't the combat or the characters - it was the Nemesis system.
When Talion died fighting against an orc, his opponent would be promoted to a higher rank and obtain all the weapons and upgrades that entailed. Others would survive assassination attempts only to reappear later, freshly scarred and with a thirst for revenge. In the spirit of this system, Monolith Productions recently confirmed that missions would follow a similar mechanic in the upcoming Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
Instead of restarting from an earlier auto-save, players who die during an attempted mission will suffer the consequences. Their armies will disperse and lose strength, while the enemy will only grow stronger with new recruits and defenses. The same is true for smaller encounters; similarly to Shadow of Mordor, orcs that successfully survive fighting Talion will only become more powerful. What's more is that they'll remember the player's attack and have unique dialogue options referencing it in their next encounter.
Exactly how far this goes is not yet known, though it's probably safe to say that unique, story-significant missions will not be gone for good should the player fail. For more information about this system and Middle-earth: Shadow of War in general, check out the studio's Twitter account, or visit the studio's website for access to community forums, developer blogs, and more.
