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Over the past decade, the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre has exploded in popularity. Spawned by theDefense of the Ancientsmodification forWarCraft III, the genre has since blossomed to include such modern favorites as the legally distinctDota 2andLeague of Legends. The latter game has become a phenomenon in its own right, as professional gamers now earn surprisingly massive purses for competing in large-scale internationalLeague of Legendstournaments. Given all of this, should it come as any surprise that WBIE’s latest attempt to exploit its grip on theLord of the Ringsvideo game rights comes in the form of a Tolkien-themed MOBA?
Of course not, especially sinceThe Hobbitis due to hit theaters on December 14. Even thoughGuardians of Middle-earthis a digital release that requires no true box art, WBIE’s art department made sure to include a mention of the upcoming film on the game’s Xbox Live and PlayStation Network listings. In short, this game is blatantly designed to capitalize on the hugeLord of the Ringsfanbase in the lead up toThe Hobbit. Normally that sort of promotional tie-in would spell disaster for the resulting game, but since WBIE tapped Monolith Productions to develop the game, we’re willing to extendGuardians of Middle-earththe benefit of the doubt. Monolith is normally quite competent and the company did give us the brilliantNo One Lives Forever, so maybe the creativity of the developer might just save this game from being a shallow movie cash-in. We can only hope.
A Solid Foundation
The most difficult part of developing a game likeGuardians of Middle Earthis undoubtedly translating its genre to modern consoles. The multiplayer online battle arena genre was spawned on the PC and its numerous keyboard inputs and relatively complex control schemes have so far prevented it from making any real in roads into the realm of console gaming. Traditional wisdom dictates that there simply aren’t enough buttons on console controllers to properly play a MOBA title, so most developers have created their MOBA titles specifically for computer gamers.
That said, it isn’t impossible to create a MOBA title for consoles, andGuardians of Middle-earthis proof of that. Monolith has built a control scheme that, while not terribly clever, does cover every function you’d normally find in a typical MOBA game — which is very helpful, given thatGuardians of Middle-earthis the very definition of the typical MOBA game.
As with every other MOBA title in existence, gameplay inGuardians of Middle-earthcenters around assaulting enemy installations using both your chosen hero and the resources found scattered around each of the game’sLord of the Rings-themed maps. A head-on assault is as simple as rushing toward the closest group of enemies, but intelligent players will bide their time. Random monsters can be found throughout each arena, and killing these beasts is one of the best ways to earn the crucial experience points that will allow you to improve your hero’s most potent abilities. Further, your own base will periodically release groups of single-minded soldiers that will selflessly rush toward the enemy base and attack en masse. If you can time your own assault on your opponent with these occasional waves of troops, you can greatly improve your ability to cause real damage to your foe.
All of this should seem familiar to anyone who has ever played a MOBA game in the past, as it’s almost the most generic distillation of the MOBA formula we’ve seen to date. That “almost” is a pretty important qualifier asGuardians of Middle-earthescapes being described as “utterly generic” due primarily to theLord of the Ringslicense WBIE has attached to it. Most of the game’s unlockable heroes is a fan-favorite character from Tolkien’s books, andLord of the Ringsdevotees will be delighted to see Gandalf, Gollum, Legolas and the rest of Middle-earth’s legendary heroes.
It’s quite obvious too that WBIE realizes the strength of this license. Monolith did its best to infuse every aspect of the game with Tolkienian ambiance, so you’ll often hear your hero spout one of his or her most famous quotes. Likewise, all the enemies and locations are drawn from Tolkien’s work (though to fit the MOBA arena mold, those locations rarely look as they did in either the books or Peter Jackson’s films). Even hero abilities are sourced directly from Tolkien, though aside from in-game descriptions these special attacks are surprisingly similar to one another. Whether that’s the result of lazy animators or the constraints of adhering to strict cooldown and attack timers isn’t apparent, though we doubt the reason will matter much to fans who wish to see each attack rendered as gloriously as possible.
Nothing Special
Before we get toGuardians of Middle-earth’skey flaw, let’s get one thing straight: This is a very competent MOBA game. By strictly adhering to the basic tenets of the genre, Monolith has created a title that could hypothetically provide hours of competitive, multiplayer gaming to prospective players. The game’s skills are well designed, its heroes are varied yet well-balanced against one another, and each of the game’s arenas offers its own unique challenges. That said, the key problem withGuardians of Middle-earthis that outside of theLord of the Ringslicense, it just doesn’t serve any particular purpose.
While we are impressed with how well Monolith was able to translate traditional MOBA controls to a console, we doubt anyone will argue that the control scheme Monolith designed is actually easier to use than its keyboard-based inspiration. There are simply too many buttons in this sort of game to keep track of for the standard Xbox 360 controller to properly keep up. It’s certainly possible to play this game and get good at it, but the missing buttons drastically increase the learning curve you’ll have to slog through to even be competent online.
That wouldn’t be an issue ifGuardians of Middle-earthhad an effectively infinite player pool willing to dedicate itself en masse to learning the game’s ins and outs (and thus providing a strong competitive community for a game that, for all intents and purposes, should be viewed as an online-only title), but here is the second area in whichGuardians of Middle-earthbucks common MOBA trends: It isn’t free. The aforementionedLeague of Legends, a game that attracts hundreds of thousands of players on a daily basis, is available as a free to play title. By contrast,Guardians of Middle-earthwill set you back $15. That price difference alone will go a long way toward negating this game’s success. Fewer players will be willing to try a $15 game than they would a free one, and thus the potential player base forGuardians of Middle-earthis necessarily limited. While we’re impressed that Monolith was so successful at creatingGuardians of Middle-earthdespite these hurdles, after spending time with the game we’re left wondering why exactly it needs to exist.
Conclusion
Guardians of Middle Earthis a perfectly serviceable, console-based multiplayer online battle arena title, and that’s the highest praise we’re able to pay it. It will certainly attractLord of the Ringsfans curious to watch their favorite heroes battle to the death in one of our most popular modern gaming genres, but outside of those devotees whose obsession can justify spending $15 for a relatively shallow clone of gameplay you can find in a number of free to play PC titles, we can’t imagine who might enjoy this game.
Maybe it’s not possible to create a console-based MOBA game. Maybe WBIE and Monolith were banking too hard on the potential profits to be had from aLord of the Ringstie-in game. Maybe Sauron cursed this concept from the start. Whatever the reason,Guardians of Middle-earth, though a serviceable title, exists in a no man’s land of the gaming market in which it serves no real purpose. From a technical and conceptual stand point we mostly like the game, but beyond that we just can’t recommendGuardians of Middle-earthto anyone.
Score: 6/10
(Guardians of Middle Earth was reviewed using a downloadable XBLA copy of the game provided by EA.)
