That Time Shadow of War's Nemesis System Took It Way Too Far

By Brendan Graeber

I am being hunted by an enemy that refuses to die.

This statement is a bit ironic, considering that in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, I play as Talion, aka the Gravewalker, whose whole thing is that he keeps coming back from the dead. It’s also true that the enemy orcs and trolls you kill in Shadow of War also have a nasty habit of cheating death to oppose you again, but this time… it’s personal.

I didn’t just kill this particular enemy — I completely deleted him. I made the decision recently to replay Shadow of War, and wanted a brand new save file. This meant not only erasing my old my save file, but also erasing my fated enemy’s story, his powers, and all of our interactions, and yet it appears that one does not simply erase revenge. Somehow, though, this particular nemesis has transcended game files and folders, clawing his way back from the icy pits of digital hell, to haunt my new playthrough of Shadow of War — and I am terrified.

How do I know that this enemy captain is truly the same one from my previous save file, and not just some lucky reincarnation born from the randomized depths of the Nemesis System? It’s because this particular Olog-Hai troll isn’t some rank-and-file Uruk – he’s a pivotal story character.

Warning: Some Story Spoilers Below

Two years ago, I beat Shadow of War while writing the guide alongside my playthrough. Almost halfway into Shadow of War’s story, you finally get the ability to start dominating enemy Orcs, starting with a comedic brute of a troll named Brûz the Chopper. Brûz serves as your right-hand, teaching you the ins and outs of taking over enemy strongholds and commanding Orc armies.

However, it’s not long before Brûz becomes tired of being your number two, and betrays you so that he can lord over a keep and control the region himself. By the end of the missions that pertain to his story, you’re able to put him in his place by Shaming him – giving him a five-finger brand on his face that essentially turns him into a gibbering wreck — a fate worse than death.

In my playthrough, I shamed him into submission and left him alive as a message to others. Despite this, he still ambushed me several times (all while screaming incoherently), and instead of becoming weaker from shame, he became a “Maniac” and grew to the maximum level of 40. I think I may have even accidentally killed him when he showed up in my keep un-announced, and then he returned sporting some really nasty facial scars. As far as I could tell, he was still wandering Mordor by the time I finally rolled credits.

That was in 2017. Recently, I decided to reinstall Shadow of War, and stream the game for a few friends while trying to 100% it and get some achievements I’d missed. Instead of picking up where I left off in post-game, I felt a fresh start would be a better experience, so I hit New Game and was promptly notified that deleting my save file would remove everything except for unopened loot boxes. It seemed like a pretty fair and straightforward deal.

Starting the game once more from the beginning — this time on a higher “Nemesis” difficulty — I began aimlessly running around the starting area of Minas Ithil, and getting intel on the various level 5 orc captains assaulting the city. Eventually I started to make my way across a large bridge towards one of the main missions.

Suddenly, Talion stopped in his tracks, and telltale horns that signaled an approaching enemy captain was heard. It was a bit early to be getting ambushed by Orc captains this early in the game, so this was odd. The camera slowly panned around Talion to reveal this foe: Brûz.

There are several problems with this:

Brûz is a story character who does not appear until much later in the game. He should not appear at the very start of Act 1. Hell, Olog-Hai Trolls don’t even appear at all here until later in the story. As a story character, he only appears when your mission is to dominate him, during a pivotal story point in the mid-game region of Nurnen. Instead, I’ve just been ambushed by this character in what’s basically the tutorial zone, and I’m not currently in any story missions, let alone his.. The version of Brûz the Chopper currently staring me down on this bridge is level 40 — the same level I last saw him at two years ago at the end of the game. In my new game, Talion is currently level 2. The highest level orc I’ve seen so far in this playthrough is level 8.

To reiterate: Brûz should absolutely not be here, and yet he is. In some bizarre twist reminiscent of Tron, The Matrix, or Wreck-It Ralph, Brûz the Chopper not only found a way to escape from getting deleted along with all of the other orcs in his save file, but is now actively pursuing me in my new game like Mr. X from Resident Evil 2.

It’s worth noting that captains in Shadow of War have a variety of behaviors: some wander the map, get into fights with other captains, guard garrisons, or can only be accessed during missions. Certain captains, like assassins or enemies you’ve clashed blades with previously, may actively try to hunt you down in a region, but usually stick to the region they originated in. Brûz appears to have adopted this behavior with glee. He’s become a glitched AI fueled by the distant memory of rage and humiliation, and it scares the crap out of me.

To make things even more disturbing, Brûz appears to be unable to properly introduce himself in his glitched state. Most captains reveal themselves with fanfare, taunts, and strut about like a professional wrestler seeking to whip crowds into a frenzy. Brûz clearly tried to introduce himself accordingly, but the only thing I got out of him were loud snarling growls that didn’t even sync up with his animations. It’s almost as if the act of jumping to a new save file left him a more crazed husk of a Troll than I’d originally left him, entirely focused on getting his revenge.

Obviously, my reaction to this was to run away as fast as I could until he gave up the chase.

Bruz has even forced himself into the dead center of the Army page for Minas Ithil, and I can’t even track him because he’s a story character and I’m told to “Play Quests to interact with this character”. If that’s the case, how the hell did he show up out of nowhere to attack me?! The map also shows his quest is now apparently outside the boundaries of the Minas Ithil map, further leading me to believe this medieval Turbo is now editing the very code of Shadow of War to pursue his vendetta against me.

What happens when I arrive in Nurnen to dominate Brûz? Will he be waiting for me, already level 40 and eager to rip me to shreds? Will he refuse to let me progress the game, and leave Talion’s story stuck in purgatory? I honestly don’t know where this will go from here. He may still try to hunt me down across the regions of Mordor, or perhaps he’s now returned to the story mission where he belongs. I get the feeling his story won’t play out the same way anymore.

Despite my trepidation, I continued my quest, eventually reaching the fated meeting with Bruz — the official one in the story. Thankfully, Bruz seemed to be back to his cheerful cocky self, comfortably at level 14, and easily dominated into joining my army.

But something didn’t feel right. I still had a lingering feeling of unease, so I went to go check the map of Mordor and zoomed back in to see what was left of the orc army at the starting area of the game. A towering figure still stood in the middle of the army – Shadow Bruz.

There are two of them, now, and I am afraid.

Brendan Graeber is a Guides Editor at IGN and no longer trusts AI in video games. You can follow him on Twitter and see if he ever manages to stop Bruz at @Ragga_Fragga.