The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

Written by Jeremy Siegel  on October 04, 2004

Final Glimpse: One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind themЕboy, now I'm more afraid of marriage.

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The good folks at EA have shown us that you can have your ring and wear it too. Or something like that. For those of you that haven't been paying attention, EA has thus far released two console games patterned after the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, each to much acclaim. They looked good, they had the actors' voices, and they were fun. However, when you break it down, they were just hack-and-slash games. I have no problem with that but a large portion of the LOTR fan-base also count themselves among the RPG fan-base and there were those who complained that the LOTR experience could only be truly represented with an RPG. Well, Boromir, sound your horn, because now EA's making "The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age", a role-playing game set in the Tolkien universe. (By the way, a little known fact: the original title of this game was going to be LOTR RPG: Revenge of the Acronyms.)

The game will be a turn-based RPG. By now my dislike of the turn-based system of fighting is well-documented. I'll sum it up briefly by saying I feel it breaks down the 4th wall, and interferes with the gamer's ability to fully immerse him or herself into the video game world. Now that that's out of the way, I won't mention it again. Well, I won't rant about it, anyway. On to the game!

The first neat thing about The Third Age is that the adventure you will take is separate from the main storyline surrounding LOTR, yet also intersects it. It's a free-roaming game where you go at your own pace, and do what you want to do, when you want to do it. Want to fight alongside Aragorn? Go for it! You want to chill at the Prancing Pony Inn? WellЕI don't know if you'll be able to do thatЕbut if you can, cool! The point is, EA is trying to make you feel as much a part of Middle Earth as possible by not restricting you to only a scripted gameplay experience. Not only will the game be free-roaming, it's also taking a page from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, letting you choose whether you're fighting on the side of good or submitting to Sauron's will and fighting for dominance of all of Middle Earth! You cannot resist the Eye! Mu ha ha ha!

Ahem. Sorry Сbout that.

Anyhoo, the game will take you to familiar sights, such as the Fields of Pellenor, Minas Tirith and the formidable Mines of Moria. You will also journey to locations not previously documented on film, one being the White Mountains Plains.

Your hero (or villain) will undergo upgrades in the following areas, depending on your tastes: melee combat, ranged weaponry, defense, and magic. Undoubtedly, your choice in character will also affect what areas are more upgradeable. EA has released the following preview list of 4 of the 6 playable characters: Berethor - Gondorian, Idrial - Elf, Elegost - Ranger, and Hadhod - Dwarf. More famous characters will join your party when participating in story missions, i.e. Gandalf will fight as a member of your party against the fiery Balrog. Apparently, there are also lots of hidden and secret goodies, such as armor, weapons and even the ability to play as other characters, such as a Nazgul riding a fell beast! Sweet!