It’s becoming clear that Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be a very different game than its predecessor in certain ways. On top of announcing that the open-world adventure will feature microtransactions this weekend, it’s now been confirmed that ranked online play will be present. Multiplayer revolves around a new mission type called “Social Conquest,” that has players invading the fortresses of other players. These can be played in both friendly matches, and ranked ones (which will have players risking followers).
Here’s how Eurogamer describes the competitive multiplayer mode in Middle-earth: Shadow of War:
There are two different ways to take on a fortress in Social Conquest: Friendly conquests allow players to mount an assault without risk to their followers. In ranked mode, players will earn a better assault rating with each successful conquest, with that rating dropping in the event of a failed attempt. Vitally, ranked mode is also different in that the attacking player’s followers are at risk – if a captain dies during an assault, it’s dead for real. Think of it like dying in the matrix, only for orcs. For more on Middle-earth: Shadow of War, check out PlayStation LifeStyle’s E3 2017 preview. Here’s a snipper of what PlayStation LifeStyle Senior Editor Chandler Wood had to say about the game:
Despite my loss, I had a lot of fun with Shadow of War. Part of the engaging gameplay is in dealing with fai...