15 Most Anticipated Video Games Of 2017 - Ranked

7. Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War

As you can guess from the new (pretty naff) title, Shadow of War is going to be all about building increasingly large armies, before pitting them against the orcish hordes.

You could get a taste for this after taking control of a number of orcs in Shadow of Mordor, interrupting 'Faction War' battles or calling your own companions to aid in a duel, but Shadow of War will introduce much larger, more complex 'Fortresses' that need to be conquered across the map. These sound almost entirely like Far Cry-style Outposts, albeit with greater reinforcements, most likely meaning you'll need greater numbers to stand a chance at taking them over.

Monolith are also expanding the dynamic 'Nemesis system' to be SoW's standout feature, the scope of the game being predicated on ranking up your own army, expanding it, recruiting more orcs and raiding more Fortresses to dominate the entire open-world map.

What was once a component of a larger third-person action/stealth game could turn into the main focus of the sequel, and that is one mighty tantalising prospect indeed.