The star of the Xbox press conference was undoubtedly Bruz – the dry, sarcastic Orc Warlord who protagonist Talion recruits into his growing Orc army. Shadow of War was showed off on Xbox One X. We got to see a little of the combat, which looks similar to its predecessors excellent fighting system.

More intriguing was the fort assault. Part of the newly expanded Nemesis system sees Talion able to recruit a growing army of Orcs. In Shadow of War he can put them to work assaulting and taking over Sauron’s forts spread across Mordor. The clip we saw showed Talion working out battle plans (as well as being ambushed by another Orc warlord on the way to the fort).

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War launches on October 10, 2017 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.