Hero image: Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle announce trailer. Image: Aspyr, via YouTube
Aspyr is bringing both Monolith games to Switch 2 as the Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle, dated for 30 September on Nintendo’s own listing. I’d say this is one of the more interesting ports on the calendar – not because the games are new (Shadow of Mordor has been around long enough to have a PS3 and Xbox 360 version, which tells you something) but because the Nemesis System is the whole reason to care, and I think it still holds up as an idea. Nintendo’s page sells it as the “award-winning Nemesis System”, with Orc rivals “who remember every battle, defeat, and encounter”, and captains you can bend to your side and throw into a war “where every choice leaves a mark”.
What you actually get is the fuller versions of both games, which as far as I can tell is the right call ( nobody wants to be chasing season passes on a port years after the fact, ). That means Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition, with the Lord of the Hunt and The Bright Lord story missions and the Guardians of the Flaming Eye warband mission. Then there’s Shadow of War Definitive Edition, which Aspyr says includes all the downloadable content, meaning the Desolation of Mordor and Blade of Galadriel story expansions and the Slaughter Tribe and Outlaw Tribe Nemesis expansions. Each game is also sold on its own, so if you only fancy one of them you’re not locked into the pair.
The honest caveat is the price, or rather that I can’t give you a local one yet. Gematsu reports Aspyr’s pre-order price as US$34.99, which it describes as a limited 50 percent discount off a US$69.99 base price. I haven’t been able to confirm what that works out to on the Australian eShop, so check the store before you assume the discount carries over here. It is single player only, per Nintendo’s listing. It plays in TV, tabletop and handheld modes, which for a pair of open-world games built around hunting down one particular Orc captain might well be the best argument for owning them on this machine.
Source: Nintendo – Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle, Aspyr on YouTube – announce trailer, Gematsu – bundle announcement