I've been talking with a friend who recently beat Shadow of War, and he was not impressed. Among his complaints was the fact that the game bends over backwards to try and tie back into the books/films, including
. Aside from tonal/thematic issues I have with that, it completely wastes what I believe would have been an awesome opportunity to go crazy with the LotR universe. I mean, if you were going to try and justify Sexy Shelob, Crazy-Advanced Machinery and Weaponry, Zombie Ghost Magic, and a "Good" One Ring, just go all out and make it a complete bastardization and have fun with it.
Basically make The Lord of the Rings version of The Force Unleashed's DLC, where you kill Obi-Wan in his physical AND Force Ghost form, make Luke your evil apprentice, and your main character looks like this:
Here's a rough outline of what I'm talking about:
-Celebrimbor/Talion defeat Sauron and take his place as ruler of Mordor and set their sights on conquering the rest of Middle Earth as "The Bright Lord". Cue more Shadow of War gameplay, but instead of Orcs, Uruk-hai, and so forth you're fighting Gondorians, Rohan, Dunedain, Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Hobbits, etc.
-You take Osgiliath and Minas Tirith, fighting Boromir and/or Faramir, eventually turning Denethor to your will
-You turn your attention to Rohan. Imagine stronghold infiltration missions but have them be at Helms Deep with Theoden and Eowyn, and Orthanc where you can fight Saruman and the Ents.
-You inflitrate Lothlorien/Rivendell and assassinate/fight Elrond and Galadriel. Imagine a two-part boss where you take on the "scary" Galadriel form she takes in the Hobbit movies!
-Of course you have to have a boss fight against Gandalf. Imagine a "You Shall Not Pass!" moment in Moria, but instead of the Balrog, it's you! Maybe have a rematch with Gandalf the White at a later point?
-The finale would be a reversed-POV Scouring of the Shire, riding through town on your Graug snatching up Hobbits. There are a few options for who you could have be the final boss: Aragorn all kinged-up with Anduril, or Gandalf the White, but personally I would want Tom Bombadill to be your final opponent, rhymes and all, as a nice way to ruin absolutely every aspect of the soruce material.
-The final story cutscene would be a dark, despoiled, and unified Middle Earth gearing up with a fleet setting off from the Grey Havens set on conquering Valinor, our final shot a dark inversion of that one shot from Return of the King.
I've definitely put way too much thought into this, but it's better to drop all pretenses than to pretend like you're somehow being faithful. (*COUGHhttp://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=248407919#post248407919COUGH*)
Anyway, maybe they'll do it in a DLC.
having Talion become one of the Ring Wraiths in LotR, Celebrimbor merge with Sauron to become the Giant Evil Eye, and have all your efforts to stop Sauron add up to buying the good guys some extra time
Basically make The Lord of the Rings version of The Force Unleashed's DLC, where you kill Obi-Wan in his physical AND Force Ghost form, make Luke your evil apprentice, and your main character looks like this:

Here's a rough outline of what I'm talking about:
-Celebrimbor/Talion defeat Sauron and take his place as ruler of Mordor and set their sights on conquering the rest of Middle Earth as "The Bright Lord". Cue more Shadow of War gameplay, but instead of Orcs, Uruk-hai, and so forth you're fighting Gondorians, Rohan, Dunedain, Elves, Dwarves, Ents, Hobbits, etc.
-You take Osgiliath and Minas Tirith, fighting Boromir and/or Faramir, eventually turning Denethor to your will
-You turn your attention to Rohan. Imagine stronghold infiltration missions but have them be at Helms Deep with Theoden and Eowyn, and Orthanc where you can fight Saruman and the Ents.
-You inflitrate Lothlorien/Rivendell and assassinate/fight Elrond and Galadriel. Imagine a two-part boss where you take on the "scary" Galadriel form she takes in the Hobbit movies!
-Of course you have to have a boss fight against Gandalf. Imagine a "You Shall Not Pass!" moment in Moria, but instead of the Balrog, it's you! Maybe have a rematch with Gandalf the White at a later point?
-The finale would be a reversed-POV Scouring of the Shire, riding through town on your Graug snatching up Hobbits. There are a few options for who you could have be the final boss: Aragorn all kinged-up with Anduril, or Gandalf the White, but personally I would want Tom Bombadill to be your final opponent, rhymes and all, as a nice way to ruin absolutely every aspect of the soruce material.
-The final story cutscene would be a dark, despoiled, and unified Middle Earth gearing up with a fleet setting off from the Grey Havens set on conquering Valinor, our final shot a dark inversion of that one shot from Return of the King.

I've definitely put way too much thought into this, but it's better to drop all pretenses than to pretend like you're somehow being faithful. (*COUGHhttp://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=248407919#post248407919COUGH*)
Anyway, maybe they'll do it in a DLC.