Right...
Original content NOT seen in the book.....
In other words, they take the generic world of orcs and men and throw in their own idea. I watched the trailer with that awful gruff hollywood voice over and when I saw the 'wraith' element I was like WTF? This is NOT the LoTR universe. The game looks entertaining enough but it's ridiculous it's associated with LoTR when in the book(s) the use of magic and 'power' is very limited indeed. LoTR isn't a sorcery universe in the context the game described shows.
I RPG'd the Iron Crown game (dice and paper people) and even that back then had a healthy respect for a distinct lack of overt 'magic'.
I'm sorry, you chaps can trade blows all day whether it looks like AC or not, what's important is it's got fuck all to do with the world that Tolkien created bar cheap lore references. I've not touched the other PC games from the 'genre' but no, just no. It's a plain old swords and sorcery title wearing someone else's shoes.
PS - this wasn't a stab at you Frag, just the game!
I think you fail to see that it's not primarily the small nuances that make a fictional universe, it's the setting, premise, key main characters like Sauron and Gollum, and key story elements like the forging and control of the rings. They knew going down the copy and paste path of following the book and movies was not producing quality games, so they interjected new story content into the universe, and being as it takes place in a time not even covered in either the books or movies, they give themselves creative license to do so without reinventing that which has already transpired in those formats. Again, signs of someone whom really doesn't know what this game is about.
You don't get top notch people like Troy Baker, Alastair Duncan, Liam O'Brien, and Christian Cantamessa, lead writer of RDR, if the game doesn't have enough tie in to what it's related to, as well as enough originality and quality of production. The Monolith team is also working with Peter Jackson and the artists at the Weta Workshop to make sure that the settings, characters and story align with the canon of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. That doesn't mean there won't be some inconsistencies you normally see in made from movie games, but I (and others) happen to feel what makes this game much more compelling than those before it is it DOESN'T strictly follow the LotR story canon, and it doesn't have to, becasue as I said, it takes place between the times of the LotR and The Hobbit stories.
So, by "generic world of Orcs and men", whether you realize it or not, you're slamming Peter Jackson himself, whom they've consulted with extensively on setting details. I know you're not stabbing intentionally at anyone, including myself, but watch more of the vids and you'll see why they chose to use the wraith powers. It's basically because the protagonist, unlike Frodo, has had his beloved taken from him and is susceptible to using such power and is convinced by Celebrimbor that it's the only way to defeat Sauron and his minions. So no, like I said this is not a copy and paste LoTR story, and that's a big part of what's compelling about it. It's set in the LoTR universe between LoTR and The Hobbit, and is sorta the dark side version of both.
If you also recall, what kept people from using dark powers in the LotR, was the ring would take control of them to the point that they didn't know what they were doing, and there was always someone there to stop them from being controlled by it before it got out of hand. Here, it's a wraith, not a ring, and Celebrimbor is not just some dark spirit trying to control Talion, he's fighting for good and remains a separate entity. The two actually have civil discussions, and when Talion is in wraith form, it's said that you are actually controlling Celebrimboir at that point. Now these are indeed huge differences from LotR yes, but it's in the same setting and between the times of LotR and The Hobbit, so it doesn't have to exactly align with either story, and that's the beauty of it. It's also a story that fits the game format better.
@ Frick,
I'm not sure each enemy class will be that strictly scripted in character style. They talk about each play through involving different personal enemy scenarios, and in doing so they'll say things like, "In this instance, these elves are held captive by a slaver". Change that scenario and they likely become antagonists vs whiners. You can see the range of personality changes just from Talion dominating them, so there's no reason they can't use scripting like that aside from possession scenarios as well.
Here's a dev interview by one of the internet's most well known game skeptics. It covers a lot of the points already mentioned here by those, well, skeptical.
