An exception to the games based on the movies, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age tells a totally different story with brand new characters. This linear story takes place parallel to the events in the book and movies, making it an interesting change from the epic as we know it, but that’s also a feature that might disappoint some LOTR fans.
In this turn-based RPG, we follow the tale of Berethor, a Gondorian warrior in search of Boromir, who is saved from the Nazgul by the elven lady Idrial. Idrial decides to join him (in fact, she insists), but never explains why.
Along the way you will meet characters who will seem very familiar and yet different. Elegost, the human ranger and resident archer; Hadhod, the dwarf with a temper, trusting little more than his axe; Morwen, maid of Rohan whose family has suffered a tragic fate to the hands of warg riders; and Eaoden, Rohirrim knight saved from nearly certain death.
Much like Final Fantasy, the combat system allows you to see who’s turn comes next (up to a maximum of six), and to choose between free or AP-costing attacks (Action Points are your “magic”), Spirit Powers (spells), the use of items, skip, retreat and Perfect Mode. And you can swap characters in and out of the fights, which is an easy way to level everyone up and to use certain skills from certain characters when needed the most.
Perfect Mode is reached when the meter on the bottom right fills up (you’ll see a ring appear inside when this happens). Once the meter is full, one of your characters (yes, just one, because the meter is for the party and not just a single character) can open the Perfect Mode menu and choose a special attack. Do try the ones featuring the Ents and the Eagle King, they look pretty cool.
You can customize your character by attributing points to whichever stats you prefer and create your own “Fellowship”. You can go even further and equip special Elfstones that allow you to learn Light or Shadow magic and even craft items.
Remember that you only learn your skills and spirit powers by using them, so use them often.
But so much could have been done regarding the look of the game. Although the backgrounds, maps and even equipment are fairly detailed, the facial textures for some of the characters are rather poor. I was expecting the elves to be more beautiful and delicate than they actually look, and for everyone else to have more expression. I mean, the orcs and Uruk-hai look more detailed (and very faithful to the movie, I must add) than the main characters of the game.
Maybe this would have been easily fixed if the game supported high-definition for the Xbox version, which it doesn’t.
The animations also needed a little extra something: speed! They are nicely done, but it’s like every time someone attacks or casts something, they’re in slow motion. Even when they’re hasted they move slowly. And you can’t skip the end of battle animations either (the little victory “dance” for the one who killed the last foe standing) which became quite annoying. Come on Eaoden, stop spinning the spear already and move it!
Aside from the original script purposedly written for the game for Gandalf (gracefully performed by Sir Ian McKellen), the voice acting could have used some improvement, but none was as horrible as Idrial’s. Yes, elves are very conscious creatures, but they’re not deprived of emotion.
There she was in Osgiliath being carried away by one of the Nazgul flying on his Fell Beast, and the pitch of her voice doesn’t even change.
Nazgul (in whispering voice): I have you, witch!
Idrial (in a “pass the salt” tone): Not for long.
And then she slices the Fell Beast’s leg… what’s with that? But I digress.
A positive aspect is the music, which includes pieces from the original movie soundtracks. But again, more could have been done regarding sound effects. Since there were no options to customize it, I found myself turning the volume up when it came to a cut scene and back down for the fights since orc grunts and party battle cries will override even the background music. I also found some of the “dying” sounds to be a little later than they should have been, for example, certain orcs would die and disappear, and then I’d hear the grunts.
For added bonus, there’s the Evil Mode. This means that after you complete a chapter, you save your game, go to the main menu, choose Evil Mode and then load you game. Now you’ll be playing a series of fights against the good guys. So if you ever wanted to kick the crap out of Legolas because you think he’s a snobby little elf, you can! If you’d like to be the Balrog and serve a roasted Gandalf, you can too! And if you ever wanted to beat Gimli with his own hammer, this is as close as you will get. I found it pretty funny that I actually killed him with one of the Uruk-hai suicidal bomb carriers.
A very pointless co-op mode was also inserted in the game. I thought this was a really nice feature, and was already imagining two players, each with a party of three fighting side-by-side. What a disappointment, it’s nothing but a “pass the controller, it’s my turn” mode.
The best moments of the Third Age are in the battles where the party encounters members of the Fellowship and actually gets to help them and fight by their side. We meet Gandalf in the Mines of Moria, struggling with the Balrog. We protect the walls of Helm’s Deep with Legolas.We fight alongside with Gimli, after the wall is breached. We help Aragorn defend the main gate from waves of Uruk-hai and Trolls. Then Faramir helps us in Osgiliath and we even cross paths with Eowyn in the Battle of Pellenor.
All this was with carefully placed movie cut-scenes, over 100 to unlock through game progression. Yes, it does become a bit slow if you’re planning to watch them all, but they’re wonderfully narrated by Gandalf and definitely worth watching.
This “Tolkien meets Final Fantasy” title could have had so much more to be remembered for, but EA presented us instead with an average game with the potential to become a masterpiece if only certain issues were addressed in more detail. Little things like Sauron’s name misspelled in the subtitles or Gandalf the Grey carrying the White Staff just shouldn’t have happened.
The quality of the game doesn’t justify the retail price, but it is at least worth the rental for the originality of the story.