Guardians of Middle-earth (PC) (2013)

-- ESSENTIALLY DEAD* --

*20191206: The game was removed from the Steam Store in April 2019 (Wikipedia.org) and according to steam.db the game averages about 8 players per day which for a MOBA is abysmal.

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20140206:
Today I decided to try and play Guardians of Middle-earth. Unfortunately, it was a terrible experience.

Gameplay Log:
I queued for both a Coop vs AI and a 5v5. Instead of waiting for the queues to be full, which would take forever, the game filled the remaining spots with AI. As such, I played the coop vs AI with one other real player and the 5v5 started to load with just two people. Unfortunately, my game crashed before the 5v5 went to champion select.

Steam: 98 minutes

[20170325 Edit]

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Thoughts:
Neutral:
~ Doesn't implement equipment

Cons:
- Game feels unresponsive.
- Using a command places all commands on cooldown.
- Lack of players
- Lacks important features found in League of Legends such as requiring spells to use mana

Major Con:
- Purchase game instead of free-to-play model

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Summary:
This LOTR-inspired MOBA was great for playing as characters in the LOTR world. Otherwise, it was a poor copy of more popular MOBAs such as League of Legends and DotA. Thankfully, I got the game as part of a Humble Bundle, so it's lack of value isn't a big deal to me. I would, however, be upset if I had paid for it on it's own.

[20170325 Edit]

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20170325:
Today I tried to check the game out for a second time as an update.

I queued for a Coop vs AI match, and eventually the game queued me up by myself (with four bots against five bots). I choose to play as Gandalf. For a long time, the game was even until eventually I died and the game bugged out (I did not respawn).

In the end, all the comments I previously made still hold with the exception of the cooldown placed on all commands. From today's play, and perhaps it was the same then, the main skills (QWER) do not place each other on cooldown.

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Guardians of Middle-earth (PC) (2013)

Relevant Links:
Guardians of Middle-earth (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Guardians of Middle-earth (Steam Store Page)
Guardians of Middle-earth (Wikipedia.org)