Guardians of Middle-earth
Also known as: Gardiens de la Terre du Milieu
A shadow grows over Middle-earth as the greatest armies of the Third Age prepare for the coming battle. Take up arms in the clash over Middle-earth as the most powerful heroes and villains from the greatest fantasy epic of all time. Guardians of Middle-earth delivers an authentic multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game set in Middle-earth! Play with friends to bring up to 10 players together in strategic five versus five competitive multiplayer battle arenas in this epic setting. Call upon legendary heroes and villains from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as you form memorable alliances in this truly groundbreaking MOBA experience! Guardians of Middle-earth was one of the many games afflicted by the GameSpy server shutdown.
Developer
Overview
Summary
A shadow grows over Middle-earth as the greatest armies of the Third Age prepare for the coming battle. Take up arms in the clash over Middle-earth as the most powerful heroes and villains from the greatest fantasy epic of all time. Guardians of Middle-earth delivers an authentic multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game set in Middle-earth! Play with friends to bring up to 10 players together in strategic five versus five competitive multiplayer battle arenas in this epic setting. Call upon legendary heroes and villains from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as you form memorable alliances in this truly groundbreaking MOBA experience! Guardians of Middle-earth was one of the many games afflicted by the GameSpy server shutdown.
Description
About This Game
If DotA was set in John R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe, it would have been Guardians of Middle-Earth. This multiplayer-oriented game unites players in teams of up to five to battle against each other on an arena, or to fight an AI-controlled team of the same size.
The game offers more than 30 playable characters, mostly from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, including Bilbo, Sauron, Legolas, Gandalf, and Gollum. Their design is based on Peter Jackson's movie series. There are also several characters that don't appear directly in movies or books, such as Arathorn, father of Aragorn. All characters are divided into "good" and "evil" factions to preserve a semblance of continuity behind the battles, so that Kili wouldn't have to fight Thorin, for example. Treacherous Saruman can join either side.
The goal of each team is to destroy the enemy base that is protected not only by the opposing players but also by defense towers. Gameplay in Guardians of Middle-Earth has a distinct "RTS" feel to it. Both teams’ bases regularly spawn “minions” who join players in the fight, making the game more about clashes of armies than duels between individual champions. The RPG element is minimal, and there are no in-game items or upgrades.
