Bob Roberts, the lead designer for the role-playing game "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor," explains why the game doesn't carry the title "Lord of the Rings," Eurogamer reported.
Obviously, the story of the latest fantasy game from Monolith Productions and Behavior Interactive takes place within the universe set by author J.R.R Tolkien.
According to Roberts, the developers intentionally steered away from using Tolkien's title because they want to create a story of their own while still operating inside the same mythology.
In other words, they don't want to create a game that will closely reflect what people already saw in the film adaptations of "Lords of the Rings."
"One of the things, our goals from the beginning was not to make a movie game - not to just rehash the same events over again," Roberts explained. "So just trying to make the best game we can, and make it clear that this is its own thing, it's its own story, it's its own experience."
"We're not just rehashing a movie," he added.
"Shadow of Mordor" takes place between the events set by Tolkien in "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" books. Since the game is not based on any existing book or film adaptation, it will offer gamers a story that can stand on its own, according to Hardcore Gamer.
"So giving it a name that's clearly its own thing, I think helps kind of separate it," Roberst said. "If this is your entry point into 'Lord of the Rings' - if you've never seen the movies or never read the books - this will make sense; you'll be able to start here."
"And then, hopefully, all the other stories you see beyond that once you dig into the rest of the world will be enriched by that," he added.
As to what gamers can expect for the future of "Shadow of Mordor," there are no confirmations yet regarding a possible sequel but Roberts noted that the studios behind the game are interested in creating downloadable contents, Game Spot reported.
"Beyond what we're doing for this game, we've got to stay focused - eye on the ball right now on this one," he said.
