Guardians of Middle-earth - Xbox 360

A Mixed Bag For Console MOBA

Adam Biessener — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:21:00 GMT

Every aspect of this Lord of the Rings-flavored MOBA is clearly modeled on Riot’s juggernaut League of Legends, but sometimes I’m in the mood for Guardians’ simpler and more streamlined experience. Frequent network problems are a tragedy for this exclusively multiplayer game, though, and often obviate the many smart and successful things that Monolith Productions has accomplished in the design.

Guardians of Middle-earth follows the established MOBA paradigm: Waves of creatures spawn at two opposing bases and smash into each other along three lanes, while five players on each side use a single hero unit apiece to turn the tide of battle. The single-lane variant is a faster, more intense experience that lacks the strategic depth of the traditional three-lane map, and quickly grows stale in comparison. Players grow exponentially in power as they level up, making the lost time waiting to respawn after a death a massive penalty. Eventually, one side overpowers the other enough to march into the enemy base and destroy the citadel, winning the game.

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A handful of differences keep this from being a total League of Legends clone, like the removal of gold (and the associated item shopping), and the out-of-lane shrines that grant buffs to the teams that control them. They all add up to a streamlined experience that works on a basic level and removes some of the more esoteric aspects of traditional MOBA play at the cost of making comebacks massively more difficult to achieve.

I appreciate how easy it is to pick up the strategy, since you don’t have to worry about gimping your team by not knowing the hundreds of items and how their various stats and specials interact with your chosen champion’s power set like you would in LoL or Dota 2. The learning curve still exists, but we’re talking about a dozen hours of playtime instead of a dozen days to get your feet under you. The early- and mid-game jousting for control over lanes and neutral monster camps is my favorite phase of any MOBA, and that’s the aspect that Guardians executes best of all.

The downside is that reversing the trend of a match going in the other team’s favor is extremely difficult. Carries (hero builds that combine stats and powers in such a way that they explode in power to “carry” a team in the late game at the cost of relative early ineffectiveness) are a huge part of MOBAs, yet the concept is almost entirely absent in Guardians. You can’t hope for a dramatic turnaround when your archer teammate goes from mediocre to awesome by completing a crucial item, for example. The position of the shrines and buff-granting neutral monsters in the middle of the map means that once a team has enough of a lead to start pushing beyond the halfway point they basically have permanent control of those helpful buffs. In my experience, the team ahead at the five-minute mark goes on to win the match the vast majority of the time – it just takes another 10 to 20 minutes to slowly grind down the opposition.

I like the rest of the game enough that the difficulty of reversing a match’s flow isn’t a huge problem, though. Pulling off awesome tricks like blinking behind enemies and using a knockback skill to launch them under your tower to die horribly is just as gratifying in Guardians as in LoL or Dota. Personal skill, teamwork, and communication are all equally important, and the side that combines those aspects best is always the team that wins. Map awareness is crucial, as it should be; I’ve lost count of the kills I’ve scored thanks to sneaking through the jungle to pop up behind enemies that have pushed another lane too far. The moment-to-moment gameplay is truly excellent – until you start lagging or get dropped out of the match.

Evaluating network performance is always difficult thanks to the dozens of variables in play, but Guardians of Middle-earth is consistently poor enough in this regard that it must be noted. Ability timing gets seriously weird as matches progress, to the point that landing a melee-range root ability ends up with an enemy taking three steps away before their movement is arrested. Input lag results in too many deaths that occur seconds after hitting the button for a healing ability only to have it never trigger. Worst of all, I’ve disconnected from one out of every 15 matches or so – and with no way to rejoin after a network burp drops me out, you can lose 20 minutes of progress or more. Getting booted in the middle of an epic killstreak is one of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced in years.

Guardians of Middle-earth is an excellent game hobbled by bad network performance. I am continually drawn back to the exceptional gameplay, only to be repulsed by a disconnection or unbearably long matchmaking queue. I can see myself playing this for months on end if and when Monolith solves the lag and connectivity problems.

MOBA Strategy With Guardians Of Middle-earth

Matthew Kato — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:32:38 GMT

If you're looking for some advice in advance of Guardians of Middle-earth's December 4 release on XBLA and PSN, then take a look at this new tutorial video for the game.

This particular video talks about guardian classes (striker, defender, warrior, tactician, and enchanter) and respawning after death.

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For more on the game, take a look at this previous video highlighting characters Ori and Agandaur.

Introducing Ori And Agandaur

Jeff Cork — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:12:38 GMT

Monolith and Warner Bros. Interactive have released a new video for Guardians of Middle-earth that reveals two new characters. Ori and Agandaur may not have much in common, but players can see how each brings their own unique (and deadly) skills to the battlefield.

Ori is a dwarven scribe who delivers pain using his arcane abilities. You may not think that a bookworm would be particularly effective, but as you can see in the video embedded below, he's not exactly into beach reads. Agandaur wields lightning bolts and is physically more imposing that Ori. That big sword of his isn't just for show.

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Take a look at another video here, which shows off Eowyn and Mozgog. And for an in-depth game on how the MOBA game plays, take a look at our video walkthrough with producer Bob Roberts.

First Look At Single-Lane Combat

Bryan Vore — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:09:00 GMT

Get your first look at the single-lane map in Monolith's upcoming MOBA-style console game, Guardians of Middle-earth, right here. Producer Bob Roberts explains the action as GI's Adam Biessener tries to hold his own against the dev team in chaotic Dota-alike action.

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Developed as an homage to the popular "all-random, all-mid" variant currently sweeping through the League of Legends community, Guardians' single-lane map is all team fights, all the time.

The lack of last-hitting – and money itself – in Guardians of Middle-earth is weird from a MOBA player's standpoint, but the action feels great on a controller and the bedrock strategy of controlling lanes, tower diving, ganking, and more shines through brilliantly.

Guardians of Middle-earth comes out later this year on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

CG Trailer Sets The Tone

Jeff Cork — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Warner Bros. and Monolith have released the debut trailer for Guardians of Middle-earth, a day after it was revealed. The CG trailer is a nice bit of fanservice, even though it won't be reflective of the actual game. At all.

In the clip, Gandalf and company square off against Sauron and his pals on a bridge. It's all very exciting stuff, especially if you miss Orlando Bloom.

Guardians of Middle-earth is a five-on-five action strategy game in the style of DotA or League of Legends. It's coming this fall on XBLA and the PSN. Stay tuned for more coverage next week as E3 kicks off.

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