The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

aka: A Gyűrűk Ura: A Harmadkor, Der Herr der Ringe: Das dritte Zeitalter, El Señor de los Anillos: La Tercera Edad , Il Signore degli Anelli: La Terza Era , LOTR: 3rd Age, Le Seigneur des Anneaux: Le Tiers Age, O Senhor dos Anéis: A Terceira Era, Pán Prstenů: Třetí Věk, Sagan om den Tredje Tidsåldern: Härskarringen, The Lord of the Rings: Uchitsu Kuni Daisanki, Wladca Pierscieni: Trzecia Era
Moby ID: 19975
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

Unlike the Game Boy Advance version of the game, the console version of The Lord of the Rings:The Third Age introduces entirely new characters which aren't mentioned in the books or movies. The game does relate to the movies by including scenes from all three movies, with new background speech by Ian McKellen (Gandalf).

There are seven playable characters in the game which have been created specifically for it, as well as small appearances by characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Eowyn, Faramir, and Gothmog.

The game covers events in all three movies/books, mostly with references to major events shown through cut scenes, or the scenes from the movies with Ian McKellen's narration.

A classic RPG game, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age has gameplay elements similar to Final Fantasy, where you have a party of characters, each with a different set of skills and attributes, who gain levels, making them stronger as the game progresses. Battles are turn-based, and let the gamer make different decisions on what they want to do to change the outcome of the battle. The game travels through many areas throughout Tolkien's Middle Earth, including The Pelennor Fields and Moria.

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

397 People (391 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 71% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 35 ratings with 4 reviews)

Love it!!!

The Good
One of the best games I have ever played and the reason I regret upgrading to PS3 as it hasn't been brought out for it. It's a nice game the family can play too. Unlike most of the PS3 games for Lord of the Rings the violence is not graphic. Easy to learn to play. Great story line. Good characters.

The Bad
Nothing really

The Bottom Line
Excellent. A must buy game. And one that most definitely needs to be brought out for the PS3!!!!!

PlayStation 2 · by Lisa Buckle (1) · 2014

A shamelessly derivative RPG with a tantalizingly cinematic feel. Fans of the films take note.

The Good
EA Redwood does an excellent job of recreating the look and feel of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy for The Third Age. The environments (including Moria, Rohan, and Osgiliath) are all convincingly rendered, and even include little landmarks you might remember from the films or the book. The music is all taken from Howard Shore's original score for the movies, and is incorporated into the game very well. Characters in your party, as well as the enemies you fight, are also consistent with the look of the culture they represent (Elves wear form-fitting steel, Gondorians don plate mail, etc). As a nice touch, weapons and armor that you find will change the appearance of your character, which helps to keep the game interesting.

The Bad
As an RPG, The Third Age is years behind the curve in terms of game design. The battle system is the same old turn-based stuff you've been playing for decades, which little innovation apart from lots of some-what impressive spell effects. A few of the fights are genuinely interesting, such as a tussle with the Balrog or the Witch King, but those sequences are few and far between, and the rest of the game by comparison is downright monotonous.

Wandering around environments taken straight from the movies is kind of fun for a while, especially when you locate some of the treasure chests which are often well-hidden. However, you'll quickly get a sense that the game is extremely linear, and any branching paths just lead to more chests or an ambush by the enemy. The map system points out pretty clearly where you have to go next, which sadly eliminates most of the challenge of finishing the game.

Finally, there's the issue of character development. The Third Age features an original cast of Middle-Earth adventurers whose quest intertwines with the path of the heroes of the Fellowship. This would be an interesting opportunity to explore a variety of personality dynamics and paint an epic tale of modern fantasy (because, after all, most RPGs are story driven), but EA forgoes all of that and settles for character exposition the likes of "Meet Hadhod. He's a Dwarf." This simple-minded method of story-telling can only mean that the designers either don't know anything about Middle Earth, or don't really care.

The Bottom Line
In truth, there are much worse RPGs on the market than The Third Age. But with flawed character writing, derivative gameplay, unscheduled boredom, and absolutely zero replay value, it's very difficult to recommend this game to anyone but rabid fans of the movies. But after a few hours of gameplay, even the most devoted fans will see through the cinematic window-dressing to the unremarkable RPG that this game truly is.

PlayStation 2 · by The Cliffe (1552) · 2008

If this game was a singer, Simon Cowell would shoot it!

The Good
The only thing I liked about this game was the enormous environments. It is just so incredibly vast.

The Bad
The gameplay was like playing with human Pokemon, e.g. You attack, 56 damage, enemy attacks 170 damage, Berethor dies. You only use the characters from the film/books in major environments, like Gandalf in Moria. And whats more the storyline is just Awful. A complete waste of the talents of many people.

The Bottom Line
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is about a group of travelers following the fellowship of the Ring wherever they go and have been. Sort of the reject ideas mashed into one game.

Xbox · by M.Allen (83) · 2006

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

License

Inclusion of stories and themes from the books could not be put into the game, since EA owned the rights only for the movies, and not the books. Therefore the game could only include ideas not shown in either the books or the movies, or have them tied in some way to the movies. Both of these were done in creating the game.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by M P.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, JRK, Sciere, Xoleras, formercontrib, DreinIX, Spenot, Patrick Bregger, Hipolito Pichardo, rubinho146.

Game added November 13, 2005. Last modified March 27, 2024.