Shadow of Mordor hits October 7, pre-order now to get "exclusive leaderboards"

It's impossible to avoid the reductive pitch to Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor . It's Assassin's Creed set in The Lord of The Rings. Hopefully it's a lot more than that—Monolith and Warner Bros. are certainly trying to present it that way—but even if it's not, that's still a damn good pitch. Today, the companies announced we'll be able to find out for ourselves when the game's released on October 7. They also revealed what extra stuff you'll get if you pre-order the game.

There is, predictably, an exclusive skin: The Dark Ranger, which embodies protagonist Talion's “darker side.” He looked dark to begin with, but okay. More interesting is the Test of Power Challenge Mode, in which you'll face Sauron's Captains to earn powerful runes. Curiously, The Test of Power will also give you access to an exclusive leaderboards, in which you'll compete with other players. I don't see why you'd want to lock leaderboards behind a pre-order bonus, but these pre-order bonuses also have a tendency of being offered as DLC after release, so maybe you could buy your way in later.

If you missed our story about the first gameplay footage from Shadow of Mordor , it's definitely worth watching. Even as a Tolkien fan, I'm less interested in the game's fiction, which focuses on Sauron's return to Mordor between The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings, than I am in introducing monsters, magic, and other fantasy elements to the Assassin's Creed formula.

To be clear, Assassin's Creed and Ubisoft have nothing to do with Shadow of Mordor, but they're aware of the similarities. One former developer even accused Shadow of Mordor of lifting combat and air assassination from Assassin's Creed .

Latest in Fighting
The four Ninja Turtles, back to back, slam their shells into Brainiac
Great moments in PC gaming: Injustice 2's over-the-top super moves
2XKO promo image - Ahri
2XKO fans despair for a 2025 release as Riot pushes back a planned 'larger-scale global playtest' in favor of a 'much smaller one'
The Joker in MultiVersus
MultiVersus is somehow using its dying breath to go full looney tunes and put out what may be one of its best patches, and now fans want it to be saved
Virtua Fighter 5 key art
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. isn't just a PC port of a 19-year-old game: it's the reason a diehard fighting game community can 'finally reach out and play with each other across the world'
Tasmanian Devil
Multiversus director addresses fans angered by its upcoming closure: 'You're entitled to what you say and think, but when there are threats to harm it's crossing the line'
The Joker as he appears in a trailer for fighting game Multiversus
The true victims of Multiversus closing are the people who bought that $100 Founder's Pack
Latest in News
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Possibility Space concept art.
Possibility Space owners sue NetEase for $900 million over allegations it spread 'false and defamatory rumors' of fraud at the studio that ultimately forced it to close