Guardians of Middle-earth coming to PC/Steam

Guardians of Middle-earth, the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) featuring characters and locations from Lord of the Rings, is coming to PC via Steam, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced.

Guardians of Middle-earth released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last December, developed by Monolith. The PC version is developed by Zombie Studios. It's the same gaming experience as on the consoles, but it makes use of some Steam features — Steamworks matchmaking, Big Picture mode, leaderboards and statistics. While you can still use a controller to play the game, just like the console versions, there are controls for keyboard and mouse.

With the Guardians of Middle-earth PC version, all console DLC will be included. Players will have access to all 36 original Guardians, all earnable through gameplay and in-game currency. There's also three map skins — The Shire, Goblin-town and Mirkwood — and the gameplay mode Survival.

It's worth noting, if you purchased Guardians of Middle-earth for PSN or Xbox Live, you can get a free PC download code for the game, so you won't have to re-buy it.

There are multiple pricing options for the game, too:

• Guardians of Middle-earth – $19.99 – Includes playable Guardians: Gandalf, Galadriel, Hildifons, Mozgog, Bert, Legolas and their alternate skins.
• Guardians of Middle-earth: Mithril Edition – $79.99 – Includes all 36 playable Guardians and their alternate skins, the Mithril Guardians Relic and a buddy key.
• Guardians Packs – $14.99 – Six total bundles each with five Guardians and their alternate skins.
• Smaug's Treasure – $9.99 – Smaug's Greed Relic and in-game gold

So for $19.99 you can play the game with six starting characters, but you'll have to grind in-game currency to unlock other Guardians. Or you have the option to buy those Guardians for real money. Don't forget, you'll also have to spend in-game currency for gems and relics.

Guardians of Middle-earth for PC is releasing on August 29.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com