Guardians of Middle Earth is Tolkien’s Defence of the Ancients

The Defence of the Ancients genre isn't well represented on consoles and, I think it's fair to say, there's a good reason for that. Without the myriad of shortcuts and the ability to quickly, comfortably and accurately explore the world, you're instantly at a handicap. With efforts like Awesomenauts, however, there's still hope for the genre and that's what makes the newly announced Guardians of Middle Earth even juicier.

Developed by Monolith Productions, the team behind Gotham City Imposters and, previously, Fear and Condemned, are taking on a different sort of game. Tackling another Warner Brothers property, the next Lord of the Rings/Middle Earth game will have two teams of heroes battling to destroy one another.

Guardians of Middle Earth will come out digitally on consoles at some point this year. In an interview with Joystiq (where you can also find out a bit more about the game) the developers said they were looking to streamline and perfect the experience on consoles.