'Guardians of Middle-Earth' console controls detailed

It's all about consoles for the upcoming Guardians of Middle-Earth game.

The control scheme for Guardians of Middle-Earth, the upcoming console-only multiplayer online battle arena title from F.E.A.R. developer Monolith Productions, takes the action away from the typical keyboard set-up and onto a controller's face buttons.

Users can trigger their three abilities and ultimate power using the face buttons, then activate them by pulling the right trigger. Potions can be accessed through the D-pad while recall is mapped to the back button. When a character levels they can choose the next tier in one of their four abilities by hitting the shoulder button which will bring up an overlay screen showing each of the available abilities.

While the title contains no in-game store to purchase weapons and armor mid-game, users can make use of a "relic belt" that allows the player to customize their character using in-game points earned to increase the percentage of damage, defense, and ranged skills. Like in League of Legends and other entries in the genre, each Guardian will also have two additional spells that are not specific to their character, including a heal and speed-up boost.

In "elite battleground" matches, games have no time limit; however, typical battleground matches have a maximum time limit of 20 minutes.

Over 20 playable guardians will be available at launch, which is scheduled for later this year. Guardians of Middle-Earth will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.