https://www.gamespot.com/articles/shadow-of-war-director-explains-why-making-everyon/1100-6453820/

While there were good Lord of the Rings video games before it, none were as impactful as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The Monolith Productions-developed game proved to be extremely innovative, introducing a new story set in Mordor and the Nemesis system that allowed you to forge stories with individual, procedurally generated enemies.

With its sequel, Monolith has aspired to create something even bigger and better--succeeding in some ways, but not in others, as you can read about in our Shadow of War review. Ahead of its October 10 release on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, we sat down with Monolith's VP of creative, Michael de Plater, to discuss the studio's approach to the game, the influence of Batman: Arkham Asylum and sports games, and much more. Also be sure to check out our video feature detailing the challenges of making a Lord of the Rings game, why the monstrous spider Shelob appears as a human, and what motivates decisions to deviate from the Lord of the Rings canon.