First look at Guardians of Middle-earth gameplay

Shortly before E3, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced Guardians of Middle-earth, a new MOBA title being developed exclusively for consoles. While I had my reservations at first, they were quickly to put rest with my hands-on gameplay experience at E3.

Guardians of Middle-earth pits the iconic characters from Lord of the Rings in a clash between good and evil. Players will be able to choose from over 20 guardians including Gandalf, Sauron, Gollum, Legolas, and many more.

Up until now, all the general public has really seen is cinematic footage of the game. Today, that changes as the first official gameplay trailer for Guardians of Middle-earth has been released. The video features some of the legendary characters entering the battle front while showing off some of their lore-based skills and abilities.

Like other popular MOBA games, League of Legends and Dota, Guardians of Middle-earth pits two teams of five against each other as they battle to conquer the other team's fortress. It will offer in-game voice communication as well as comprehensive online stat and leader board systems to track victories, defeats, and much more.

Guardians of Middle-earth is set to release this fall on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In addition, we recently had the opportunity to get in on a call with Ruth Tomandl, producer on the dev team, and Scott Compton, lead designer, as they shared more details about Guardians of Middle-earth.