Want to do some orc slaying on the go? You’ll get your chance next month when Electronic Arts’ The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth launches on May 10, bringing a free role-playing game to your pocket.
The trailer for Heroes of Middle-earth shows players gathering parties of their favorite characters to fight their way through dual campaigns as either brave heroes or the demonic forces of the Dark Lord Sauron. The game was teased last May and will finally be released a year later. It can be played on iOS and Android phones, from the humble ones iPhone SE to the first degree Asus ROG 6 Pro gaming phone.
The story seems to be about finding one of the legendary Rings of Power and getting visions of famous adventures from the past. It prepares players to follow some of the plot points of the books and movies with teams of popular characters and soldiers from both sides of the fight. There are also PvP (player versus player) and other game modes.
Combat is turn-based, consisting of groups of five characters, and players will be able to build their own roster of heroes with skills and upgrades as they level up. This naturally leads to monetization, which apparently will drop random items for an in-app fee.
Heroes of Middle-earth has a more stylized, cartoonish version of JRR Tolkien’s heroes and world than fans of Peter Jackson’s LOTR trilogy or the Shadow of War series. But it’s in line with EA’s latest mobile studio, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. It’s a slightly more subtle art style and brings to mind Vivendi and Sierra’s 2003 game based on The Hobbit, which earnestly avoided embracing the bleaker realistic look of the films.
Players can register to pre-register for the game here.