Middle Earth: Shadow of War is one of the most highly anticipated sequels of the year. And there’s a good reason why. The original mixed with the stealth action of the Assassin’s Creed series with the combat system of the Batman Arkham titles and slapped a healthy heap of Tolkien lore and RPG progressions. But now it has to live up to the expectations of its predecessor.

From my hands-on time at PAX it would appear that Shadow of War is retaining the core feature that fans of the first game will be familiar with. But it takes those aspects and amplifies and improves upon them in ways that make things feel fresh and new. You’ll be able to climb faster, jump higher and take out enemies with a whole new arsenal of moves. 

New siege levels will pit your army of Orcs against some wicked enemy generals and their subordinates as you battle for militaristic dominance. You’ll stab, flip and counter-attack your way through the forts taking over checkpoints as you make your way to your final encounter. That’s just one example of the side quests that await you in the realms of Middle-earth.

You’ll also get to experience epic moments in the lore of the world as you make your way through the story mode. You’ll do cool things like beat the crap out of a Balrog with the help of a powerful wizard who can create giants out of the earth around them. But you don’t need to take my word for it. Check out my exclusive gameplay footage (above) and start getting ready for Shadow of War to drop next month on October 10th for PS4, XB1 and PC.