Glu controls Orc hordes' progress with Lord of the Rings: Middle-earth Defense

While the bulk of Glu Mobile's output is now focused on freemium games, that doesn't mean it's stopped releasing paid iPhone games.

One such is The Lord of the Rings: Middle-earth Defense, which has already been released in Java form.

Now however it's also available on the App Store for iPhone.

As the titles suggests it's a tower defense title set in Tolkien's fantasy world.

You have to protect everything that's right and good from Sauron's unblinking eye by positioning your hero characters in tower form - Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, and Arwen.

Ally units include Elven archers, Gondorian soldiers and the Riders of Rohan, plus characters such as Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin and Boromir.

As you fight you get to upgrade your heroes so they specialise in one of four categories: speed, attack, range and skill.

The game has two modes. In the Story mode, you play through 18 levels set in seven environments with story elements based on all three films in the trilogy. The Challenge mode has you facing down endless waves of attackers until you've run out of battle hit points.

It also supports Apple's Game Center in terms of achievements and leaderboards.

The Lord of the Rings: Middle-earth Defense is out now, priced $6.99, €5.49 or £3.99.