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Guardians of Middle-Earth |OT| One Sauron to Feed Them All (Console DOTA game)
- Thread starter Card Boy
- Start date
darkressurection
Banned
Excited to get some console only friends in on some MOBA action later today. Tried out the PS3 demo and was pretty impressed at how much Monolith was able to keep intact from a game like LoL, while still streamlining things for console play and just an overall faster experience.
I played couple of matches and I'm actually really enjoying it. They implemented gamepad controls into a MOBA just about as good as I could ever imagine and dare I say, I might actually enjoy playing this with a gamepad more than I like playing for example DOTA 2 with keyboard+mouse. This coming from a PC gamer who plays maybe 3-4 console games a year. My own DOTA/MOBA experience before this one is few games every now and then, tried most of the games out there but never really got into the whole genre. I probably played Demigod more than I've played DOTA 2 so far, so I'm definitely not a hardcore player in the genre.
Not sure if I have time to actually play this more or perhaps wait for a while before buying but it's definitely a good game from what I saw.
Not sure if I have time to actually play this more or perhaps wait for a while before buying but it's definitely a good game from what I saw.
This sounds like a negative. It's one of the worst things about League of Legends which at least had the excuse that it was free to play. But this game costs $15 and has elements already locked away behind a pay wall? This is like Day 1 DLC with the very little positive of being achievable through grinding.
(Not to mention the balancing headache of cutting out a number of your guardians from a large portion of your players.)
Trial working fine for me on Xbox, same as on PS3 for me last night. Maybe try re-downloading the file, it might have been corrupted earlier?
... It;s purchasable by in-game credits. You have basic versions of each class available to start, and more "advanced" versions show up from unlocks.
I see nothing wrong with this. Everyone will have EVERYBODY unlocked in enough time, and it gives the game some sense of progression, which wouldn't exist if everything was just splashed out from the get-go.
I'd be more annoyed if they made you play, say, only warriors, then only tacticians, then only range units, but it's not that restrictive at all. It's more like "Try everything out, and by the time you do, you'll have the funds to buy more specialized characters in the classes you like most".
Broken down to the basics, it's like unlocking new moves after leveling up. EXP just happens to be gold, and the moves happen to come with fancy character skins and voices.
Game has 22 guardians in the base game. The Season pass has 8 others that come with it, that'll be added into the game as they're released. You won't get those 8 without the pass.
Or you have actual progression of a player as in DOTA.
I can't fathom out the gems at all, I like the quirks in this game but its gona take me a while.
One thing I Hate tho this other people being able to be your character while your in play with them.
Oh onto 8+ mins now, gona give up soon. and as for Elite Battlegrounds don't even try
One thing I Hate tho this other people being able to be your character while your in play with them.
Oh onto 8+ mins now, gona give up soon. and as for Elite Battlegrounds don't even try
Seems to have some of that too. Just more ways to add incentive to play a game, in a world with people with short attention spans...
Had to earn characters in Awesomenauts and Super MNC, and can say it never detracted from the games, for me. If anything, I liked seeing how the playerbase reacted to "free pro rotation" style mechanics, and it helped me spend a bit more time with pros I might have not considered as much, which it seems to do for many players.
For me it's the exact opposite of an incentive. But I guess the most popular DotA-clone is a game that doesn't care about balance either, so why not emulate that.
Earning characters in DotA-likes as the one you named above immediately turns me off a game.
I see nothing unbalanced about making players play through a progressive set of deeper characters, but I'm not a big DotA-head, more of a pure console gamer, so I'll only be able to comment on balance from my play within the game.
The only thing I see happening from these characters being locked, in this game, is that each player, even when playing online, will be given a chance to learn at a developer-set pace. Single Player games do this ALL THE TIME, and while it sucks for anyone who'se used to these things (I hate starting at square 1 in a sequel, for instance), it's perfectly fine for attracting a new crowd, and making a genre full of hardcore pros, more accessable to neophytes.
Pure console gamer wise, I like games that don't just show EVERYTHING within the first 10 min of playing. If the "grind" portion forms what'll be a FRACTION of my total play time with a game, then I'm happy.
For example, got everything unlocked within 1 day (a few hours) of playing Awesomenauts. I was glad when EVERY player didn't insta-rush to playing some of the more advanced characters, and I'm kinda sad when it seems like many people just rushed through learning the gameplay, to just play a certain character, because it really shows up in their lack of play depth.
It's like learning to play a Shoto / well-rounded character in a fighter, before zooming off to a "glass cannon" style character. Considering this is the 2nd or 3rd MOBA-style game on consoles, it's not suprising they went this way. It IS surprising, to me, that they've done all this though in-game-unlocks rather than actual cash, and I'm pretty happy about that, personally. 22 available within the game seems pretty good, and I'd rather unlock a character for 2 hours of play, than have to pay 2~5 dollars to unlock another character, y'know?
All that said, I can appreciate that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if it's a game you like, hopefully, it can be delt with.
I can see where Benny is coming from SAB in fact its what puts me off about GoME the most. I'm against the LoL business model, so much so i sold my LoL account on Ebay. The Season pass has me greatly concerned.
Having said that i don't imagine it would take 1 month to earn a Guardian in GoME haha.
Having said that i don't imagine it would take 1 month to earn a Guardian in GoME haha.
Went through the tutorial yesterday and man, that tutorial is buggy. Voices over Voices and so forth.
Also really weird to play because of the differences from DOTA - It's left to right instead of Bottom Left to Top Right, and the Map is in the top right of the screen.
I couldn't understand the potion / belt system -- do you have to unlock stuff so you can put things into your belt at all? There's no shops, are there?
Also really weird to play because of the differences from DOTA - It's left to right instead of Bottom Left to Top Right, and the Map is in the top right of the screen.
I couldn't understand the potion / belt system -- do you have to unlock stuff so you can put things into your belt at all? There's no shops, are there?
ScreenSplitter
Member
Why did they use the movie designs for Legolas and Gandalf and then make Sauron look like some Kingdom of Amalur POS?
First thing i noticed aswell.
- Voice over voice? This only happened when I zoomed through the tut on 360. When I played it nomrally on PS3, don't remember hearing any issues.
- Don't know about DOTA, but yeah, I could see that throwing one off.
- potions/belts I'm not too deep into yet... but I think belts offer an overall effect, that's activated by equiping jewels. And then those jewels also give their own seperate effects.
- there is an in-game shop, you can buy belts and gems through the menus, same as buying guardians.
- You also earn stuff through winning and playing. Not sure if potions are consumed upon use, or if they stay forever; haven't gotten into it yet.
EDIT:
Ok, so each potion is one use, cost 100+ gold. Ok.
They don't take long to unlock, you get about 1000 gold per match and Guardians are about 5000 each.
Sounds good to me. I noticed some are 3000 and 1000 gold. (edit made a mistake, they are 5K each)
TheChewyWaffles
Member
So this is good or crap?
Good. I posted some reviews aswell above or at the bottom of the OP.
Just some negatives i will point out.
* Lag & matchmaking issues
* Tutorial voice overs are bugged (at least on the 360 version)
* Season pass
* Abit too many HUD elements
* Having to unlock heroes
Core gameplay is ace though and works really well.
You don't buy anything in the game, it's all out of game. Gold is for buying Guardians and in-match ability boosters outside of the match. That's my biggest complaint with the game because it means that everything within the map is fairly static on the player side other than skill progression. In Dota, responding to your situation with the items you choose to buy adds a ton of strategic depth. In this game, you can't change once your in the map and also as far as I've seen you don't even know what the other team has hero-wise until you've picked so you can't counterpick.
It's a well-enough made game but it lacks the depth of other ARTS games considerably. For me that's bad, for others it might be attractive since those other ARTS also take a long time to play at a decent level.
antiquegamer
Member
I am pretty sure that will be paid DLC. I think this game should have launch cheaply like 800 MS points then use the same model as LOL both free to play and paid for quicker access. The game was really fun at PAX but with huge balance issue so I hope that is all sort out, at 1200 points with roster locked I am less incline to give this a try....however.
The fact that, after all is said and done, the game will have 30 Heroes available with $30 of cash spent... really seems pretty good.
Even 15 dollars for 22 heroes is a pretty solid value, that seems like more than I'd have expected when announced.
Then all the potions and belts and stuff is all earned through just playing the game...
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
Ok, I bought it for the 360. Let's see if I can actually figure out how to play one of these types of games without giving up after 5 matches.
And then the yelling. Lots of yelling
Figure it's the best time to jump in seeing as everyone is kind of starting out. I'm sure there will be a lot of vets that will just wreck me, but I hope there will also be a lot of people like me who are just dipping their toe into this.
And then the yelling. Lots of yelling
Figure it's the best time to jump in seeing as everyone is kind of starting out. I'm sure there will be a lot of vets that will just wreck me, but I hope there will also be a lot of people like me who are just dipping their toe into this.
Heart Attack
Member
Tried this game at Comic-Con. It's great fun, but i would rather play DOTA 2 or LoL for free than pay $15 for this. They should price it at $10 if they want to create a community and keep the game alive.
Yeah wtf? I was expecting movie Haldir too instead its some generic fanart.
Boromir better be Sean Bean and Faramir and if they ever release Eomer it needs to be Karl Urban's persona.
BrokenSymmetry
Member
Well-designed for consoles, but I haven't been able to get into any battleground match at all, even letting the wait timer run to 30:00. Something is wrong here.
TwiztidElf
Gold Member
This is my thoughts exactly.
I really, really want to like this. LotR license. Gamepad controller MOBA. Definitely seems competent from the trial. In at launch, so there for the *discovery* factor and the development of the meta game. I like the sideon view aswell. At 800 points it would have been a no-brainer. Maybe even if they'd gone full LoL style and made it totally F2P but pay to unlock the characters quicker?
At 1200 points, with pay more to get the rest? errrrr, hmmm, I'll go play LoL/DOTA for free and get in a match really fast.
NemesisPrime
Banned
ScreenSplitter
Member
This included Gollum wailing on Gandalf. It's as far from Tolkien as possible.
Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
Yeah, I really can't see this game attracting much of a community. The simple fact that it costs money where other, more established MOBAs don't is reason enough to think this. But the season pass thing, too? Yeah, no.
The controls are wonderful, and the game is just overall very, very good, but when it comes down to free vs $15 (or $30 with the Season Pass, which I imagine most people who get into the game will want to have), free will win the majority of the time.
The controls are wonderful, and the game is just overall very, very good, but when it comes down to free vs $15 (or $30 with the Season Pass, which I imagine most people who get into the game will want to have), free will win the majority of the time.
You might not see that. But the fact is that it is unbalanced. One player having less options than other players purely because they played it less is unbalanced. I don't lose in Chess against a Grandmaster because he unlocked the Queen. I lose because of the superior play.
You also brought up fighting games where counter-picking is a real thing at tournaments. It always happens in asymmetrical multiplayer games.
And that singleplayer do that kind of progression is besides the point. In singleplayer you're fighting against AI and there are lots of places where the AI cheats, which some people are also unhappy about. Encounter design and such are all very interesting topics but not interesting when talking about a multiplayer game IMO.
I also disagree that there are only two ways to go about it or you've seen everything after 10 minutes.
Clearly there isn't just "progress bar"-grind with ingame unlocks or paying 5 dollars to unlock a hero.
The DotA-model is that every hero (100+) is available for everyone at all times (unless it's already picked). So you will not see everything in 10 minutes in either DotA or DOTA 2.
A big problem I had with this game before launch (as I do have with many games) is the playerbase fragmentation because there is no cross-platform play. Now seeing the way they have a season pass and how the game features non-cosmetical unlocks I'm not interested any more. For shame.