Customer Reviews
Not What Is Expected 
2008-01-20
I was a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy masterpiece LORD OF THE RINGS years before the movies were even announced and over a decade before the series was considered cool and in vogue. I really enjoyed the movies and the video games based upon the film series have been very enjoyable to play. When I heard about THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE THIRD AGE, I thought this would be the ultimate LORD OF THE RINGS video game. I had thought that the game was going to allow players to play their own character from the Middle Earth universe that had adventures spanning the time frame of the trilogy. I also thought that the characters would have different adventures than the characters from the movies, but would occasionally meet some of them.
The general plot follows Berethor, former Captain of the Citadel Guard of Gondor. Berethor was a close friend of Boromir. Apparently sometime after Boromir left for Rivendell and didn't return, Berethor was ordered to seek him out. As the game progresses, gamers soon learn that this isn't the case. Along Berethor's journey he is joined by several other adventures: a female elf named Idrial, a Dunedain and friend of Aragorn, the dwarf Hadhod whose ancestors ruled Moria, a village-woman of the Plains of Rohan named Morwen, and Eaoden of the Riddermark. Berethor and his companions seem to only be a few steps behind the Fellowship of the Ring. The journey through Moria to the plains of Rohan to Edoras. From there it's off the Helm's Deep, next to Osgiliath, then to Midas Tirith and the Pelennor Fields, and ultimately a final confrontation in Mordor.
The game follows a traditional turned-based role-playing format of rounds where each character attacks. The visuals are very nice and the overall movement of the screen characters is easy to manipulate with very few quirks. The mini-movies that are unlocked as you progress the game that are narrated by Gandalf also do a good job of connecting the adventures of LORD OF THE RINGS: THE THIRD AGE to the film series. Also, it's kind of fun getting to play main characters from the series in certain places, such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Eowen, and Faramir. After beating each level you can reload the game in Evil Mode and play evil characters from the game including giant cave trolls, the Balrog, Grima Wormtongue, the Nazgul, the Witch King, and even Sauron.
There are some minor problems with the game. For instance, even though all characters get experience, characters who are actually engaged in combat receive about twice as much experience as those who aren't. This can be kind of annoying because a character like Morwen, who fights with a couple of axes and doesn't have much fighting stamina, really aren't very fun to fight with.
Minor annoyances aside, the biggest issue I had with the game was the plot. Except that there are no hobbits, the characters that you play have a strong resemblance to the main characters from the books and movies. Not only that, but Berethor's party seems to be following in the footsteps of the Fellowship as the traverse Middle Earth. There's also the issue that the general plot of the game doesn't make much sense with the story from the films. This isn't such an issue earlier in the game, but it becomes more and more blatant as you progress. For instance it isn't a stretch that Berethor's party might have come to Moria and had to finish the business of killing off the Watcher of the Deep. However, they would not have been with Gandalf fighting against the Balrog, nor would they have fought Grima Wormtongue, the Witch King, or Sauron. You don't even have to be a purist to be somewhat upset by that--after all since this is an "Official Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy" product you would think it would fit with the rest of the canon. However, even worse is how the actual plot of the game unfolds. It starts off interesting enough and even though it turns into a three-way love story, it's enough to keep one interested. That is until the last two levels of the game. The game quickly skips the plot of the story and at the end offers no resolution whatsoever. It feels like the gamemakers rushed to finish the product to get it on the market. I'm not sure why as THE THIRD AGE didn't appear until a year after RETURN OF THE KING was in movie theatres. Therefore, once a player finishes the game there really is no replay value except trying to complete the game in co-op mode.
Overall, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE THIRD AGE has an interesting premise, but doesn't really live up. It's an okay game to play once, but offers nothing new to the canon and has no replay value. Die hard fans will be disappointed, but younger fans of the movies might enjoy playing the game.
Not Your Average Game 
2008-01-05
This game deserves more credit than people are giving it. It is a very addictive game and fun all the way through with very few exceptions. You get to play as six different characters and you basically follow the fellowship around. Your party also has an elf and dwarf in it so you get to play as three different races. In certain parts of the game you get to team up with various characters from the movie whether it is Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, or Eowyn, and fight bosses from the movies. The battles in Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith are especially fun, and evil mode, a mini-game used to get new weapons and armor is a blast.
The music is good, what else would you expect from The Lord Of The Rings?
Graphics are good, but obviously not perfect.
The story, well it's just kind of weird in some places. As you progress to the end there will be certain plot twists that to you may not make any sense. At the very end the plot just goes crazy and you'll have no idea what's going on.
The skill trees are good, you can gain new skills by using old ones that are in the same category. The only flaw in this plan is that you will likely be stuck to either weapon skills or magic/leadership. The learning curve is pretty much non-existent, it's just a turned-based rpg.
For those of you who dislike games where there are no cities or shops this game is NOT for you, you are almost constantly in the wilderness.
My overall ratings:
Sound-10/10
Gameplay-8/10
Graphics-7.5/10
Fun-9.5/10
Learning Curve-At most 30 mins.
Replay value- 7/10
So the average of all these aspects is 8.25, which is my rating for the game. By the way, this game will be even better for you if you are a LOTR fan.
Well that concludes my review. I hoped you liked it and that it has helped you decide if you want this game. If you do buy this game it is a choice you won't regret.
Awesome Game! 2007-07-18
I finally bought this game the other day and it's a blast! My wife and I are playing co-op together and so far it's well worth the money and the time.
The graphics are done really well and the music is outstanding. There are a lot of cutscenes from the movies that tie the movie to the game. Sometimes IMO there are too many cutscenes but it's still alot of fun to play.
You control a band of heroes...starting out as only one...and you are basically on the trail of the original LOTR heroes covering all three films. You have a ranger, an elf, a dwarf, and so on. I think you can have a max of 6 in your party but only 3 actively battling. If you want to use a standby during battle to replace one of your characters, just hit L1 to switch them out.
My only small beef with this game is that there is no monetary system at all. It needs to have an option to sell what you don't need and to actually buy new equipment instead of just acquiring all of them. Some shops would have been nice. But don't let that deter you from getting this game.
My opinion, if you are a LOTR fan, buy it! =)
incredible!!, but frustrating..... 
2007-05-21
some of the levels u need certian powers... kind of a pain the fanny to keep going bk and forth. ive played all of the games ( the ones for ps2 anyway) and i say this one should get a damn sequel!! ( for ps2) the graphics are incredible!!
A Triple if Not Quite a Home Run 2006-10-21
LOTR: The Third Age by EA is a good RPG style adventure game set during the events of the LOTR films. Tolkien fanatics will not care for it but gamers should keep in mind that EA has the rights to make video games of the movies and not the books (which probably means there is a bunch of legal hair splitting going on). The connection to the movies remanins one of the strongest parts of the game. The soundtrack from the films lingers in the background and cinematic shots provide a good deal of the world you will adventure in. Even better Gandalf, with the actual voice of Ian McKellen, occasionaly talks to the main character as clips from the movie are played.
The second string fellowship that is gathered wanders through all the normal haunts of Middle Earth from Moria to Helm's Deep. That is one of the chief problems with the game as there is little reason to linger behind anywhere since everything you need is pretty much shown upfront, including the not so subtle treasure chests just hanging out on the side of the road. The combat system is solid, not trying to be overly complex.
Be warned going into the game this is not "Final Fantasy" or one of its clones. There are no towns full of people with inane dialogue and there are no merchants just hanging out in the middle of a dungeon. The heroes are stoic veterans, not a bunch of talkative kids in their late teens or early 20s. To play as a party of adults may take some adjustment for some gamers and there will be some letdown in terms of character development and romance. Fan girls and kids wanting to make music videos on youtube may want to stay away.
For the rest of us, EA has cooked up a good adventure through Middle Earth which is fun and always holds the interest.
Lord of the Rings Meets Final Fantasy 2008-05-28
Pros:
+Some good graphics
+Fantastic Music
+Simple to pick up and play
+Allows for multiplayer
Cons:
-Unbalanced leveling system
-Incredibly short
-Not enough side areas
-Generic characters devoid of any personality
-Tedious ability system
-In short, the game doesn't feel like it belongs in the RPG genre. The entire game itself is very generic, only putting in the most basic of basic RPG principles. Yet there are no towns, or NPCs to talk to. The game feels like it should've been an action/adventure game... not an RPG.
Lord of the Rings The Third Age is what you would get if you mixed The Lord of the Ring with Final Fantasy (in particular, Final Fantasy X). The end result is a game that feels less like Lord of the Rings and more like a game trying to cash in on a popular genre. Lord of the Rings hardly feels like it should be an RPG to begin with. If the developers wanted to develop an RPG for Lord of the Rings, they probably shouldn't have done it within the trilogy and perhaps had it in the same world but as a side story.
You are Berethor who is out to find Boromir. Your quest takes you through the Lord of the Rings trilogy. You are, throughout much of it, just one step behind them. In short, it's the Lord of the Rings trilogy, only not played out by the cast featured in the films. This isn't the only problem with the story. Most of it is narrated by Gandolf. In fact, so much of the story is told by Gandolf instead of your characters that you begin to wonder what your characters are even doing. The characters do very little to drive the story forward. They're also very generic. You don't care about the characters who join you because they're so generic and devoid of any personality.
The gameplay doesn't do much to save it either. Much of the games battle system feels almost exactly like Final Fantasy X. You roam around until you are thrust into a random encounter. While in battle, there's a gauge on the side that shows you the turn order. Again, it works almost exactly as Final Fantasy X does. Your characters all have an obvious class and a set of unique abilities. Characters can learn more abilities the more they use them. The game also has a gauge beside your characters names. When it fills up you can initiate perfect mode and pull off an incredibly powerful attack. The end result is a system that eventually becomes tedious rather than unique. There isn't much customization outside of equipping characters with different items either. At the very least the game puts an emphasis on using different characters for different situations. But another thing that borrows from Final Fantasy X, is that you can swap characters out of battle on their turn and bring in someone to substitute. The game's level up system is a little unbalanced, though. You'll level up quite a bit, and very fast. What makes it unbalanced, however, is that your characters who partake in the battle gain more experience based on how many actions they take, and who they finish off. A character who does nothing in a battle loses out on a lot of experience while characters who partake can gain two or three times the amount a character who sits out gains. You'll have characters fall behind before you know it.
As a bonus the game is also multiplayer so you and a friend can play. Unfortunately, the only thing your partner can do is act in battle. Outside of that he can't roam around the land with you or interact with anything.
Interacting doesn't really mean much anyway. You won't be visiting any towns. All your items, equipment and such are granted to you through finding them in chests or hoping that an enemy drops them in battle. The entire game is one giant dungeon. It tries to throw in some quirks. For example as you roam you'll run through certain snippets of the dungeons where the eye of Sauron is in the corner. When it fully forms you get into a battle whether you're moving or not. It seems weird, but you won't be complaining about battles for too long. While the random encounter rate is through the roof, there are save points scattered almost everywhere. Save points aren't few and far between by any means and they always restore you to full health.
In terms of production values, The Third Age isn't so bad. The voice acting (particularly from Gandolf) is brilliant, and even your characters don't sound bad when they speak. The graphics are also nice. Not the best to grace the Playstation 2 but good nonetheless. It's not a bad game to look at. You get a little tired of some of the animations for when enemies attack, or for certain abilities, but it's a small price to pay. The only other bothersome thing about the graphics is that there just isn't enough originality put into the game. No creatures they decided to make up. Everything you battle was in the films, but that leaves for little variety in the enemies you'll face. On the other hand, you do get clips directly from the films, which is nice.
The music, however, is easily the best part of the game. It's all ripped directly from the films and it all sounds very good.
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age isn't a great game, but for what you get it isn't bad. The biggest problem with the game is that it's an RPG when it clearly isn't suited to be one. You play as generic characters not even featured in the films on a quest that's better suited for a different genre.
The experience doesn't last long either. In the long run, it'll take you less than 20 hours to complete the game, and there aren't very many things to do off the beaten path either. It's very straightforward.
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age comes off as more of a game that wants to cash in on a popular genre. It doesn't feel like it should've been an RPG in the first place. It isn't a bad game. It just feels out of place by being in the RPG genre.
Hm...FFX anyone? 
2008-04-27
I played this game a couple of years ago and i must say that its an ffx remake that never really caught my attention.
From what i expeirenced, the characters are crappy in some form, and will perish easily in fights, even if they are at really damn high levels.
The leveling system is very shady at best, since its not really based on how high your character's level is, but what they have learned on their way towards the end. Which means you'll be spend hours just trying to pump them up, even though it may not do any good.
Its too linear and the only direction you got is going forward...into the heat of battle every couple of steps, which tends to slow you down more than the average FF game.
Boss fights tend to get annoying as well, since it will take a couple of party deaths to figure out what the hell you are doing wrong. Sometimes you will not be able to figure it out at all and call a quits, or to use some form of cheating device.
And finally, it doesnt make sense to have it set-up for 2 players when you only can see the lead player walking around while the other waits for a battle to start.
All in all this game is below average and should be passed by those that are looking to get there moneys worth (noted to those that are FF and FPS fans).
Strictly for Lord of the Rings fans or those who must at least try every RPG out there. 2008-04-13
Well I got this game for Christmas, and even though I wasn't exactly excited to play I felt I should give it a try. The visuals are nice for a PS2 game, but the frame rate can be weird at times. The combat is the traditional turn based system, but without much of the graphic flair for spells and such that other RPGs have. The storyline doesn't exactly come as a surprise, seeing as how popular the book series and movies are. The entire time I kept thinking it myself that it feels like they took Final Fantasy X, took out all the heart and quality that Square put in it, and then re-skinned it with a Lord of the Rings theme. Right now all of the Lord of the Rings fans are probably getting ready to give my review a thumbs down, but please remember that it is merely my opinion, and please at least rent it first, because the game isn't for everyone. If you you're into Lord of the Rings, or just plain anything tat fits in the RPG genre, you may enjoy this. I found it to be pretty stale and uninspired.
LOTR for FF X fans! 2008-03-25
If you enjoyed the linear game play of FF X, then you will love LOTR: The Third Age.
This is about the "other" hero's untold in LOTR world, it is a fun and interesting game.
A must have for all D&D or LOTR fans!
Numerous Issues 2008-02-16
An attempt to cross the Lord of the Rings with a Final Fantasy-style RPG, the Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is in most ways stuck in the shadow of many other greater things.
The main characters are not the main characters of the Lord of the Rings, but rather similar characters that share many connections with them. Berethor is the captain of the Gondor Citadel Guard, and is looking for Boromir. Idrial is an elf woman serving Galadriel. Elegost is one of Aragorn's fellow rangers. And so on for the other three characters; all are made in the shape of other, similar characters. Their activities and encounters all follow the Fellowship, even at one point finding the campsite used by them when in the mountains (in the first film). The objectives are usually tantalizingly close to the fellowship - "Oh, that's our campsite, yeah, so come find us in the Mines of Moria! Oh, wait, we moved on." Gandalf narrates the scenes "speaking" to Berethor, usually encouraging him to try and catch up with the group. Many of the game's boss fights are against non-canon enemies, enemies the Fellowship dealt with (supposedly), or enemies that it wouldn't make sense to have killed. As a whole, the story appears more like a fanfiction than a professional work.
The gameplay is reminiscent of most RPGs. Characters have HP and MP (or, rather, AP), and various class-specific skills. They can fight, use skills, use magic, or use items. Items tend to be LOTR-specific things like Lembas bread or Kingsfoil. Most of the attacks in the beginning are simply "hit harder" or "hit harder against certain things", but this later evolves into magical abilities as well. For the most part, the system is uninspired and not particularly exciting. The characters run around on the world map and have old-style random encounters that pop out of nowhere. The majority of the battles are fairly boring and have nothing to set them apart.
The graphics are fairly terrible. The textures are blocky, the characters seem mis-proportioned, the animations are odd and unnatural, and everything seems to be blurry for some reason. The voice acting is decent, but not spectacular; the characters seem chosen, again, for their resemblance to established characters.
As a whole, this game has nothing going for it. It seems amateur in many ways, and isn't particularly fun, either. Even for fans of LOTR, this isn't that rewarding because of the many inaccuracies and oddities present.
4/10.
