Guardians of Middle Earth is a Tolkien-themed multi-player online battle arena. Like other MOBAs, teams of players will each choose a fighter from a long roster of characters, each with their own unique abilities and best roles in battles, and then face off against other teams in a defined arena. The playable Middle Earth characters announced so far include some of the most famous like Gandalf, Sauron, Galadriel, and Golum. There are some notables missing from the list so far, but I can’t imagine that they would leave Aragorn and Frodo out of the line-up. The only thing that’s really surprising about this game is that it has no plans to release for Windows. This MOBA experience is only for console owners.
The Icrontic Spotlight this week is magnified through the scope of Far Cry 3. Far Cry and Far Cry 2 were so substantially different from one another it was hard to know, at first, what to expect from the third game in the franchise. Far Cry 3 will be a modern-set first-person RPG much like Far Cry 2, but the setting will be a mysterious, fictional tropical island much like in the first game. The player takes on the role of an ordinary guy on vacation with friends in the Pacific tropics, when a dangerous pirate—that’s the guy in all the promotional images—takes over the island, capturing the protagonists friends along with other hostages. As the character explores the island and progresses through the plot, he’ll also progress through skill trees which include lots of modern and near-future weaponry and gadgets, as well as physical abilities and gear crafting. The plot is non-linear, as is the development of the player’s skill-set. Challenges will have open objectives to allow solutions which may be stealth, destructive, or simply clever all to work as well as the player can pull it off, just like Far Cry 2—personally, I’ll focus on sneaking and sniping cause that’s how I roll—and the player will be dropped into an explorable space approximately 10 times the size of the second game. Far Cry 2 was arguably one of the best open-world adventures out there, and perhaps the only one to make a modern setting interesting. The greatest weakness of that game was a certain thematic arrogance, and some odd writing choices, which started to become pretty predictable by the end. Even if those flaws are repeated, however, Far Cry 3 could be one of the most compelling games of the season. Put it on your holiday gift list.
Following is a full list of this week’s announced North American releases:
Windows
- Far Cry 3
- FORGE
- The Book of Unwritten Tales: Critter Chronicles
- Rosh Online: The Return of Karos
WiiU
- Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2013
- Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
- Rapala Pro Bass Fishing
- Rise of the Guardians
3DS
- Brain Age: Concentration Training
Xbox 360
- Far Cry 3
- Guardians of Middle-Earth
- Power Rangers Super Samurai
PS3
- Far Cry 3
- Guardians of Middle-Earth
Vita
- DJ Max Technika Tune
- Uncharted: Fight for Fortune
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