12 Most Hotly-Anticipated Video Games Of Summer 2017 - Ranked

11. Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War

Almost as though Monolith were waiting for other studios to rip off their phenomenal Nemesis system - only to yell, "Fine! We'll do it ourselves!" - Shadow of War is every major part of the original game with the dials cranked past eleven and forged ever-brighter in the fires of Mount Doom.

Now, instead of rearing a small platoon of Orcs to do your bidding, you're commanding entire legions across the battlefield. Castles, keeps, mounts and the foot soldiers within can be claimed and continually brought onto your side as you dominate the remainder of Mordor from outside the original's borders.

At this stage, Monolith couldn't care less about consistency with the overall LOTR lore, as Cerebrimbor (your ghostly elven alter-ego) actually creates an entirely other 'One Ring' (don't think about it too much) for the sake of taking over so many minds at once. It should mean SoW plays like Shadow of Mordor on steroids, which when no other game other than Mafia III has come close to emulating its dynamic turncoat mechanics, is a fine thing indeed.