Monolith Production's (yes, the folks behind the amazing Claw) recently announced a new game, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, set in Lord of the Rings universe's titular Middle-earth, just received a batch of screenshots and they look...really ogrey.

It's believed that the game will be an open-worlder of the established structure where players get to choose their quests/missions in any order with optional side-quests and activities peppering the map for variation's sake. While definitely purdy, at least one of the screens seem to suggest that protag Talion will encounter other factions battling it out on vast stretches of land, something that always revs my engine in any game, there's something sadistically enjoyable about seeing others duke it out and knowing that as a player you can influence the tide of the battle...f***, I'm getting all excited again.