Guardians of Middle-Earth

After spending time with Guardians of Middle-earth I can see why MOBAs on PC have a dedicated following, while at the same time I'm surprised that it took so long for a serious, full-fledged MOBA to appear on consoles. The game is a blast to play and it makes such great use of the The Lord of the Rings license that it's inspired me to want to watch the movies again for the nth time.

I am really impressed with GOME, AI issues notwithstanding. As a gateway to MOBAs, this game hooked me in a way I did not expect. It's got that immediate gratification spirit to it, where I finish a match and immediately want to jump into another.

Easily as deep and addicting a MOBA as you'd find on the PC, Guardians of Middle-Earth should appeal to newcomers and veterans of the genre alike. Add in the Lord of the Rings flair and this should be money well spent for most gamers.

After playing Guardians of Middle-Earth every day for the past week, I'm happy to say that the title is a successful attempt to bring the MOBA experience to the console.

With a slick interface and solid MOBA game mechanics, Guardians of Middle Earth gives a healthy dose of Lord of the Rings gameplay while being a very good title for everyone alike.

Guardians of Middle-Earth is a good attempt to bring MOBA game mechanics to the console. It has tactical depth, it's balanced and is a great cooperative experience.

Guardians of Middle-Earth is an entertaining tactical action RPG, which borrows its basic gameplay from the tried and tested DotA. [Feb 2013]

Monolith has done great work in crafting a control scheme that feels completely without compromise and entirely suited to console, and has designed an accessible, familiar and extremely deep MOBA with the just as much panache as the games it imitates.

Guardians of Middle-Earth is a good surprise to be the first MOBA game for consoles. The new control system via gamepad works perfectly and the charisma of the Lord of the Rings setting do the rest. The only two maps are a frustrating limitation but although this tactical gameplay and balance are the real bonuses of Monolith production.

An extremely successful attempt to reproduce Dota style action strategy on consoles, with a game that's considerably more accessible than its inspirations.

For the $15 asking price, you'd be hard-pressed to find another multiplayer experience on a console with this much meat on its bones.

The game's not perfect, and if the genre doesn't already appeal to you, this probably won't be the entry to convince you otherwise. But it is a neat experiment in translating a very PC-centric experience over to the console space, and a fun throwdown featuring some of fantasy's finest.

By all rights, doing a proper MOBA on console shouldn't be possible – but not only have Monolith managed to make it work, in some aspects Guardians of Middle-Earth actually feels and plays better than the PC games its inspired by.

A hardcore experience in just about every sense of the word. If you're looking for a simple hack-and-slash brawler, you'll need to look elsewhere. Strategy is paramount here, and while the skill - or lack thereof - of your teammates can indeed doom you to failure, the rewarding feeling of waging a successful war is well worth it.

With just one map for each lane approach (split between two play styles), Guardians' limited scope left us itching for just a bit more variety. But the game rewards obsessive, repeated play with extensive tactical depth, making such a streamlined approach remarkably effective.

It's easy to see how Monolith has made Middle-earth as accessible as it can be for first-time MOBA players without skimping too much on all the trimmings of what makes the genre so much fun on PC. The developers have also created a game that manages to capture the magic of the LotR universe without alienating those unfamiliar to the series. Truly a crowd-pleaser, Middle-earth is a great example of what a console MOBA should feel like and easily sets the bar for more games to come.

Not only the first real MOBA game for consoles, but also one of the better ones in this sub-genre. There’s not many flaws I can point out in GoMe. If anything, I doubt its longevity – there are only 22 guardians to choose from and capabilities of building a community are much smaller than on PC. [CD-Action 02/2013, p.42]

Between the simplified controls, easy to understand Guardian Belt system, and the optional timer for matches, it's also one of the best ways to get into the genre.

It's a good first step for MOBA's genre on consoles but it lacks depth during matches.

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.