As if this season wasn’t packed enough with games to play, the acclaimed ‘Nemesis system’ Lord of the Rings games Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War finally come to Switch 2 later this month.
Set to launch on the console on the 30th September, both Lord of the Rings games boast all previously released DLC. Aspyr seems to have handled the conversions, and both games are available in a new bundle that you can pre-order for 50 percent off. Without the discount, the bundle sells for £62.99 / $70.
In Eurogamer’s Shadow of Mordor review from 2015, Aoife Wilson – like so many other people – praised the game’s procedural Nemesis system, whereby the game’s enemies could level up after encounters with you and rise through their own ranks. This system helped make an otherwise passable open-world action games feel refreshing. Johnny Chiodini reviewed Shadow of War in 2017, but felt that improved gameplay was let down by a dreadful story.
The Nemesis system has remained a standout feature from the series. Aside from a few exceptions, like the Lich system in Warframe and maybe Watch Dogs: Legion’s NPC relationship system, few other games have implemented something similar. Perhaps that’s because Warner Bros owns the patent until 2036.
Aspyr recently remastered ropy old Lord of the Rings game War in the North, suggesting at the time it wouldn’t be the last “classic” LOTR game re-released. Are there even more to come, I wonder? Sadly, as for entirely new games from Monolith, the studio closed in 2025, with an in-development Wonder Woman game cancelled as a result.
