Guardians of Middle-Earth

After spending a fair amount of time in the game, I can safely say that it came across without a hiccup and what we were given was a well executed and fun experience.

Guardians of Middle Earth's early days are a bitch, and can be made bitchier by the fact it has no local matchmaking. Push through this brief difficult period, and you'll be hooked. It's almost loathsome how addictive this can be. You ever laugh at all those World of Warcraft Gollums? That's gonna be you. [February 2013, p78]

League of Legends with a Lord of the Rings skin is... well, as good as you would expect League of Legends with a Lord of the Rings skin to be. Frame-drops and bad connections aside, you won't regret a purchase.

This console-designed MOBA based upon the magnificent creation of JRR Tolkien it´s both satisfying and well recreated. A great introduction for newbies to the MOBA genre.

Guardians of Middle Earth is a solid MOBA and one well worth your time and effort, especially if you've enjoyed similar titles. It doesn't sacrifice or change much in comparison to other MOBA experiences, and at no point do you feel like you're playing something that's watered down.

It's a complete and satisfying game, that proves that it's a a MOBA is possible on consoles. We think both old fans and newcomers to the genre should give it a try.

Despite the wait time to get the games going with real players, if you've never had the pleasure of playing a MOBA, then let Guardians of Middle-earth be your first. It has all the fast-paced insanity that comes with the genre, a wealthy amount of options for loadouts, and a nice dash of Lord of the Rings personalities and species to boot.

Guardians of Middle-Earth is a very pleasant surprise. A well-crafted title that fans of either RTSes or tower defense games will enjoy, the season pass setup ($14.99 by itself, or $29.99 with the full game via retail) ensures that new content will be coming for quite a while to this already jam-packed downloadable title. Those in the mood for a relatively easy to learn RTS-style game or with Hobbit-fever will find a lot to like here.

Great fun and an excellent excuse to recreate your very own Helm's Deep with friends. [March 2013, p.85]

A very comfortable introduction to the genre - it's just the chronic slowdown during games that drags Guardians down. [Issue#227, p.77]

There are only two maps in total: one consisting of one road and one consisting of three. In order to destroy the opposition different classes will have to work together, which gives Guardians of Middle-Earth a surprising amount of depth. [January 2013, p.94]

It's just too bad such a solid game can be made occasionally unplayable by technical issues.

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.

This is a well thought out game with a huge amount of complexity. Unfortunately the steep learning curve means the ladder to the top looks almost impossible to climb when you first begin.

If you are a League of Legends fan there is nothing here you haven't seen before. On the other hand, if you want to see what the fuss is about MOBA games, call some good friends and enjoy the thrilling competition that Guardians of Middle Earth can offer.

While it doesn't dazzle, this game does offer something for everyone. For salty MOBA fans, here's the genre you love in a new, bantamweight shape. For anyone new to the genre, here's an easy chance to see what the fuss is about.

Guardians of Middle-earth just doesn't seem to have the lasting appeal it needs to, and it overcompensates for this by whitewashing itself with a thin coat of Tolkien paint. Don't get me wrong, it does a lot of things right, and it does several things brilliantly. Unfortunately, this is a genre that requires a healthy community, and it's hard to be optimistic about that here.

As a Lord of the Rings property, this is disappointing. [Feb 2013, p.112]