Two Near-Perfect Lord of the Rings Games Finally Come to Switch 2

Talion's war against Sauron is finally making its way to Nintendo's latest console

There seems to be no shortage of Lord of the Rings stories making their way back to Middle-earth. The Hunt for Gollum is in production, The Rings of Power is continuing to expand Tolkien's world, and Warner Bros. is developing another Lord of the Rings movie with Stephen Colbert and Peter Jackson.

Even classic games are getting another shot, with The Lord of the Rings: War in the North recently returning on modern consoles.

Now, two of the most acclaimed Lord of the Rings games of the previous decade are finally heading to a Nintendo console.

Aspyr announced Tuesday that it's launching the Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle, bringing both Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War to Nintendo Switch 2. The bundle launches on Sept. 30, giving Nintendo players a chance to experience both games in one package.

The bundle includes the Game of the Year Edition of Shadow of Mordor and the Definitive Edition of Shadow of War, meaning it comes with the games' major story expansions, and other downloadable content. Each game will also be available separately. The bundle normally costs $69.99, though pre-orders are currently available for $34.99 as a limited-time 50% discount.

What are the Shadow of Mordor games about?

If you've somehow missed them, Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War are open-world action games set in Tolkien's Middle-earth, but they don't retell the events of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Instead, they tell an original story centered on Mordor, Sauron, and a new protagonist caught up in the war against the Dark Lord.

The first game follows Talion, a ranger of Gondor who is killed alongside his family when Sauron's forces attack the Black Gate. Talion is resurrected through an unusual bond with the mysterious Wraith known as Celebrimbor, the Elven smith who forged the Rings of Power. Together, the pair set out across Mordor, with Talion using Celebrimbor's abilities to take on Sauron's forces.

The sequel picks up from there, with Talion and Celebrimbor attempting to forge a new Ring of Power and build an army capable of challenging Sauron. That eventually leads to the game's massive fortress assaults, where players can recruit orcs, manipulate rivalries, and build their own army inside Mordor.

Neither game is a canonical continuation of Tolkien's novels. Instead, the games take established characters, locations and mythology from Middle-earth and weave them into a new story that sits around the events of Tolkien's books. That gives Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War considerably more freedom to play with the setting than a straightforward adaptation would have.

The biggest reason the Mordor games stood out, however, was the Nemesis System. The games' orcs aren't simply disposable enemies; important foes can survive encounters with Talion, remember previous battles, and rise through the ranks. An orc that kills you might become a recurring rival, while one you defeat can potentially be dominated and recruited into your army.

That system makes each player's version of Mordor a little different, creating a particularly personal adventure in Tolkien's world. Add in the open-world exploration, brutal combat, stealth, supernatural abilities, and massive battles of Shadow of War, and the two games offer a very different way to experience Middle-earth.