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Good enough for 30 hours

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

WARNING: I'll be going a bit in-depth partway into talking about "The Third Age's" endgame, so skip this review if you don't want to know about it.

Okay. I liked the game, but it left me wanting just a bit more at the end.

Overall, it's a refreshing change from the usual anime-flavored tactical turn-based fighting game, in that it's NOT anime-flavored. There's no better world to do this in than Middle-Earth. Some of you may feel disappointed that you don't get to play any of the major characters, but I think that this game is a step in a right direction. For me, there's a deeper sense of immersion playing alongside a major character rather than as one. It's a creative, satisfying twist.

Note that I didn't refer to it as an RPG, as per the game itself. Strictly speaking it doesn't do the genre any real justice. A simple comparison to make this point: Considering Neverwinter Nights as a benchmark for the RPG genre in terms of its sheer depth and replayability, The Third Age is like watching the entire trilogy over Peter Jackson's shoulder and helpfully suggesting minor changes along the way. And then saving the whole thing to DVD.

The most immersive aspects of this game are the fully realized Middle-Earth environments and the soundtrack, music and all. One of the pleasures I found in this game was the simple act of standing around just taking in the sights and sounds. (The fields of Rohan especially.)

Now the gameplay: It plays almost exactly like anything out of the Final Fantasy series. (It actually reminds me more of FF VII than any of the more recent ones.) But it feels completely Middle-Earthy, again thanks to the visuals and sounds. Visual status effects (such as Fear, Stun, Spirit Resistances, Aura of The Valar, etc.) are well-made and manage to work well within the world and mythos of Middle-Earth. And I may add that playing dress-up is one of this game's better points; sure there's no point equipping less-beneficial items, but the chance to just put them on and view the whole package in real time is one of The Third Age's little pleasures.

(Although I would note that the films themselves didn't display much in the way of physical manifestations of magic. Devoted Tolkien fans who loved the films would probably find these necessary visuals a seeming departure from the understated quality of magic in the movies.)

The game itself isn't that tough. There were a few points when I thought I had broken the game, only to be surprised by later enemies you'd think were pushovers. (Case in point: Easterling warriors.) But there's a seeming imbalance here: in my opinion the most difficult enemies I faced in the whole game were, not even Sauron himself, but the Mumakil (the elephants on steroid megadoses, for the uninitiated.) The Balrog (even Sauron) in comparison, was a comparative cakewalk. Sure, given that the Balrog should indeed appear early on due to the game's linear nature, but I think that badass could've been a tad more... well, bad.

And Sauron? Yes, you do get to fight him in the endgame (another event twice removed from the books), but it isn't that hard as long as you have the right characters in place and have the right spells and attacks ready to go. It's really just a matter of being patient and wearing him down.

Now my real beef with the game.

Assuming you've done everything the game asked, you should be at 99% completion and have all equipment and all epic scenes right after you finish fighting alongside Aragorn and right before you face off with the last eight Nazgul and then Sauron. The beef: you get level-ups after each of your two rounds with the Nazgul but don't get to save. And you still don't get to save after you finish off Sauron but instead get a final hidden epic scene that vaguely ties together the whole thing. (Kudos to Sir Ian for voicing the whole game, by the way.) And you don't even get to unlock Mordor as a final Evil Mode chapter.

What I would have liked to see: 1) Mordor (specifically Barad-Dur) as an Evil Mode Chapter, 2) a chance to save after everything's said and done, and 3) a game summary screen to display stats, number of saves, items used, fave weapons, whatnot. Just to give players a better sense of completion.

TO WRAP UP: Liked the game, wished Balrog was tougher, should've been a chance to save after defeating Sauron and unlock Mordor for Evil Mode.

Hope it's been helpful. Thanks for taking the time to read my review. :)

Fun game, but grating for the LOTR junkie

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I like the game--really, I do. The characters so far (I'm about 25% through) are entertaining and likeable, and the fight sequences can be a challenge but easy to figure out how to play. The graphics could be better--I swear, the ranger's hair looks like one matted lump and moves like it, and I'm REALLY tired of the face mask on the dwarf.....

The basic storyline is that a Gondorian knight following Boromir north, an elf from Lothlorien, a northern ranger and his dwarf-friend, and later a Gondorian woman raised in Rohan and a Rohirric man all form their own group, following the fellowship through adventures found in the movies, such as Moria, Rohan, Helm's deep, and so on.

However, the game makers must have gotten LOTR confused with Dungeons and Dragons or Everquest, because the feel of the game definitely isn't LOTR! You fight your fair share of goblins, orcs, urikhai, wargs, and other such middle earth creatures, but there is much more magic involved and worse, a whole soap-opera style love triangle story that I find to be irritating myself.

I loved the movies even with the changes made, and I felt that the changes there were in keeping with the Tolkien mythos; this game, however, has many departures that just plain irritate me.

However, if you aren't a LOTR junkie like me and just want a game that is fun to play and easy to learn, this is definitely it! I've never played an RPG before, but I picked this up in minutes and learned the control-sequence quite easy. Its map is a pain at times, however, as it rotates with you and you can never see an overview of it, making it easy to get lost and driving you nuts trying to figure out where to go. But even with that, the game play is fairly fast-paced without being short. As I said, I've made it 25% through the game, but the constant battles make the game go quickly--and I haven't tired of it yet; in fact, I hate quitting it for the night!

Overall, the storyline really needs work, the graphics need work, but the gameplay itself is fun and can keep you entertained for hours.

Good Turn-Based Fantasy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm reticent to recommend EA products, but I have to admit that "LOTR:The Third Age" is definitely worth getting. I agree that it strongly resembles "Final Fantasy 10", thankfully without the irritating mini-games and plotless sidequests. The game was definitely rushed to market, typical of EA, as you will notice from the main character's running animation and other minor details. However, overall the game is beautiful. Character appearance changes with new equipment, which is a good touch.
This is the best two-player-simultaneous fantasy since the Baldur's Gate console series! If you have a spouse or significant other (or just a gaming buddy) this game really shines. The story is linear, but evil mode helps compensate for this. The comment about these games not being real rpgs is a good point. However, if you're into console fantasy, you ought to check this out. You will also find this a breath of fresh air if you are tired of the childish aesthetics and irritating minigames found in many Japanese console fantasy games these days.
Hope you enjoy it!

Return of the King is better

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

There isn't that much to say about this game. It's a pretty big rip off from Final Fantasy X except none of the characters have any special function beyond weapon type. In FFX one character (note the correct spelling of 'character') specialized against armored monsters, another against flying monsters, etc. The rate of random encounters is extremely annoying. You level up just about once per battle. You gain armor and have to re-equip your characters just about every two battles. I understand that there isn't much to use from the movies beyond orcs and trolls, but there just isn't enough enemy variety and practically no boss battles.

The story is nonexistant. Basically it's all a bunch of movie clips played out of order that the programmers are trying to shoehorn into places where they don't belong. The dialogue is sickening. It's like they took the script for the LOTR movies and randomly cut and pasted phrases all over the place. If you have any common sense at all you will be completely disgusted by some facets of the game. Like how many times you face the Nazgul and how easily they are beaten. Yeah, in the movie they're almost unstoppable, but you and your merry band will routinely pummel them. Joining up with Aragorn, etc, could be slightly plausible at Helm's Deep but helping out Eowyn at the end??? The whole point in the movie, and book, was that she defeated him singlehandedly! And then the final battle..... Even if you're a pretty casual fan of either the book and/or the movie you will fall out of your chair when you see the absolute height of lameness which is the final battle. The ending is almost just as bad.

The graphics are pretty good. It's fun to see changes when you equip armor. I wish other RPGs would do this, even though helmets tend to obscure the characters faces too much. Not a big deal since the characters are basically just robots that spit out random lines from the movie verbatim.

If you want to try this game, just rent it. If you're going to play any LOTR game get the hack n slash Return of the King.

Great game (Not a waste of money)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: June 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is excellent. Very hard at tmes, but excellent. The graphics are beautiful and very similar to the movies and how Tolkien describes in the lotr books. I am a huge lotr fan I think that this game is awesome! At first, I thought it would be very boring and a waste of money, but it wasn't. It is hard once you get to higher levels but you just have to keep trying. I personally think I spent good money on a good game! 5 stars Very fun

One of the Best RPG Games Ever!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: December 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is an awsome game for the PlayStation2! It offers some of the best graphics and sound I have ever experienced in a game. The gameplay is very unique and the turn-based combat system is very fun! The Third Age is one of the best games of 2004!

Well What Did You Expect?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: November 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Lord of the Rings: Third Age is not a hack-n-slash game like Two Towers and Return of the King. It is an RPG game with unique gameplay, turn-based combat, and great graphics along with some good sound and music (score). EA did not intend to make Third Age a very fun and easy game like Two Towers and Return of the King, which, don't get me wrong, are two wonderful games. They made this game more for the RPG gamer and for those who are new to the RPG gaming world. So don't expect Third Age to be a game like EA's other two Lord of the Rings game titles. If you don't like RPG games then get Two Towers and Return of the King instead.
In my opinion this is an awsome game and I highly addicted to it. That is because I really love Lord of the Rings.

RPG fun in Middle Earth, similar to Final Fantasy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: April 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

"Lord of the Rings: The Third Age" is the first Role Playing Game (RPG) set in Middle Earth for the Playstation 2. Previous LOTR games have been adventure games with a focus on hacking the bad guys with your sword. "LOTR: The Third Age" is a turn based RPG where your characters take turns attacking and being attacked. This game follows the storyline of the novel, but in a slightly different way. Rather than controlling the primary characters of the novel (Frodo, Aragorn, Legolas, etc), we start the game in control of a Gondorian named Berethor. I don't remember a Berethor from the books, but perhaps he was mentioned in an appendix. Perhaps not. Either way the quest begins with Berethor having been given a mission from Gandalf to aid in the battle for Middle Earth. As Berethor continues he meets up with other warriors: the elf Idrial, Hadhod the dwarf, a ranger named Elegost, and two others. Together this group follows just a few steps away from the Fellowship, so it is as if we are shadowing the storyline of the novels. From time to time we even find ourselves caught up in events from the novels. We help Gandalf fight the Balrog, Eowyn fight the Nazgul, and assist in the defense of Helm's Deep. While being a part of these events doesn't quite jive with the books or movies, at least it gives a sense of purpose and importance to the story while not just telling the same story of the novels over and over again.

The combat system is clearly based on that of "Final Fantasy X". It is turn based and includes a listing of which character (or enemy) will attack in which order. When the party grows to more than three characters we are able to switch the character who's turn it is in or out of the battle to give another character a shot at the fight. This also works just like "Final Fantasy X". Combat is fairly quick and not exceptionally difficult. Characters gain enough experience points after each battle (if used in every battle) that they gain an experience level every couple of fights early in the game and still rather frequently much later in the game. When a character gains a level his (or her) health points and action points (points used to perform magic or special attack skills) are completely refilled. Using these skills frequently is a must because it is only through use that a character will learn new skills that will prove vital throughout the game (oh, how I wish I learned Elegost's Arrows of Sleep earlier).

This is a very linear game without much opportunity to truly wander off and explore Middle Earth. In certain places of the World Map for a chapter you can explore that area as long as there is a path, but otherwise the rest of the world is off limits. On the other hand, this game gives the opportunity to explore Helm's Deep, and play in the mines of Moria and defend Osgiliath. We get to fight Grima Wormtongue and slap him around a bit. As I haven't played (and don't plan on playing) the other LOTR games actually starring the main cast, this game is my lone opportunity to experience Middle Earth.

There are 109 sequences from the movie trilogy narrated by Ian McKellan (Gandalf) giving some history of LOTR as well as giving instruction to Berethor and talking about the characters in this game. It is well done and while the sequences are out of chronology, it is nice to see.

There is also a setting called "Evil Mode". After beating a chapter in the game a chapter of "Evil Mode" is unlocked. In this mode you can fight as the enemies against the heroes. Unfortunately we don't get to play through the game or explore as the bad guys, but each chapter of "Evil Mode" is a series of three or four fights. The first fight may be a bunch of goblins against the heroes, then a troll battle, and then a boss battle. Throughout the various chapters in "Evil Mode" we get to play as the Balrog, the Witch King, Grima Wormtongue, and even Sauron himself. Winning one of the Evil chapters earns bonus items which can then be used back in the main portion of the game. This part is worth playing both for the items as well as the joy of using the Balrog and other main enemies.

"Lord of the Rings: The Third Age" is a really well made game. It was a lot of fun for me to play, though I can see someone expecting an immersive RPG experience being disappointed. The main characters of this game do not really have personalities to speak of, though at least they are quite different in combat. Fans of Lord of the Rings should be in for a treat, though. This is a beautiful looking game and if the player is open to an RPG style slower paced combat, this is a game that could be a lot of fun. It took me around 22 hours to beat the game with 100% of the tasks.

-Joe Sherry

If Only I Didn't Have to Go to Work

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: November 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm a Tolkien fanatic, loved the movies, enjoyed playing EA's Two Towers and ROTK, but... this game is the best thing since the movies themselves. I've never played any RPG's before, so I'm totally in awe. At my age (39) I thought I'd never be hooked on a "video game" again, but this one has me staying up too late and wishing I didn't have to come to work (but I am). My 12-yr old son likes it, but I think he preferred the Two Towers and ROTK, but me, I like slow and thoughtful games. It's awful close to going through Middle Earth myself... [...]

great!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: December 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I love the lord of the rings movies and love all of the lord of the rings games. third age is the best game by far. the graphics, sound, and especially the gameplay are all simply great! you should by this fun rpg video game for the ps2!

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