Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor gets free Power of Shadow DLC

Middle-Earth:Shadow of Mordor

The largely excellent Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor grew a little bit bigger and darker today, with the release of Power of Shadow—a free DLC pack that lets players step into the skin of the Black Hand of Sauron.

The Power of Shadow DLC includes a playable Black Hand skin, as well as three new Epic Runes: "One With Nature," conferring immunity to poison attacks from Uruk Captains or Ghuls; "Ascendant," which doubles the focus time for slow-motion ranged combat; and "Elven Grace," an increased defense that cuts enemy damage in half.

The DLC is available now on Steam to all owners of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and in case you missed it the first time around, it's free. And while WBIE doesn't seem to have released any Black Handed screens, Steam user TrooperCandidate has, and you can lay your eyes upon them right here.

And for those who don't yet have Shadow of Mordor, the good news continues: Over the next couple of days, Bundle Stars is offering the game for 33 percent off its regular price, taking it down to $33. Not bad for a game we called "the best Lord of the Rings-based game to date."

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.