''Guardians of Middle-earth'' is a

multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of Gamer, players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single Player character, character with distinctive abilit ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by

Monolith Productions Monolith Productions, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Kirkland, Washington. The company was a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games from August 2004 until its shutdown in 2025. It formerly published third-party games in the 199 ...

and published by

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Games (formerly Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California. The publisher was founded as a division of Warner Bros. on January 14, 2004, as well as the WB Games brand. ...

. The setting of the game is

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...

, derived from ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' series, with various tie-ins to the

film series A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. It is a type of series fiction. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples ...

of the same name, as well as ''The Hobbit'' film series. ''Guardians of Middle-earth'' was released for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

consoles on December 4, 2012, via the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

and

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

respectively. A retail package is also released, which includes a download voucher for the game as well as a "Season Pass" for future downloadable content. It is no longer available on the PlayStation Network, and the game's servers are no longer operational. The game was later released for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on August 29, 2013.

Gameplay

''Guardians of Middle-earth'' incorporates the standard elements of a typical multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, with a strong emphasis upon team coordination. Up to ten players may split into two teams of five and from a pool of thirty-six guardians from ''The Lord of the Rings'' franchise, including

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the Istari order, and the leader of the Company of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" fr ...

Sauron Sauron () is the title character and the main antagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor. He has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth, using the power of the One Ring, which he ...

and

Radagast Radagast the Brown is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium, legendarium. A Wizard (Middle-earth), wizard and associate of Gandalf, he appears briefly in ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Silmarillion ...

, and coordinate to win matches by destroying the opposing team's base. Unlike most other MOBA titles, ''Guardians of Middle-earth'' emphasizes home console, rather than desktop, gameplay, in order to gain a "cinematic" experience.

Reception

''Guardians of Middle-earth'' received mixed reviews. It scored a 7.5/10 from ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

''. Many users have problems with the games interfacing on PC, as well as numerous glitches in connectivity. As of April 2019, Steam has removed ''Guardians of Middle Earth'' from their store page.

References

External links

* 2012 video games Fantasy video games Monolith Productions games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online battle arena games Multiplayer online games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Network games Video games scored by Inon Zur Video games scored by Laura Karpman Video games developed in the United States Video games using Havok Warner Bros. video games Windows games Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Middle-earth (film franchise) video games {{online-game-stub