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Middle-earth: Shadow of War reveals Shelob as you've never seen her

Nazgulp.

I never expected one day to, um, rather fancy Shelob. Not as in fancy her spidery chances against two hapless hobbits in her lair - which doesn't work out so well for her, as it turns out - but as in I wouldn't mind holding one of her two hands. You see, in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Shelob... appears human.

Shadow of War's Shelob was revealed in a Comic-Con trailer, and judging by the footage it appears she plays a key role in the game. But your ghostly other half, Celebrimbor, doesn't trust her. Orcward.

Cover image for YouTube videoOfficial Shadow of War Shelob Reveal Trailer

The story of Shadow of War follows Talion and Celebrimbor as they use one of the Rings of Power to amass an army to defeat Sauron, who's shown up again and is behaving all evil. Celebrimbor, in The Lord of the Rings lore, works - unknowingly - with Sauron to forge the three Rings of Power dished out to the elves.

But the story doesn't really matter. It's what's underneath, the Nemesis System, that really counts, and in Shadow of War it has been expanded to include Nemesis Fortresses - bases that level up. We've cobbled together everything we know about Middle-earth: Shadow of War in one handy article.

Cover image for YouTube videoThe 6 Stages of a Shadow of War Fortress Assault - Shadow of War PC gameplay

Shadow of War comes out 10th October on PC, PlayStation 4 (and Pro) and Xbox One (and X).