5-Nov-2004 ter striking licensing gold with The Two Towers (Issue 14, 8.0) and Return of the King (Issue 23, 8.5), EA is going for an assault on the charts with an RPG based around the events of the movie trilogy. Previous games allowed you to play as members of the Fellowship, but The Third Age takes a slightly different path to the orc-infested wastelands of Mordor.
Although you don't get to play as the famed Fellowship members, they do pop up in very important battles (The Balrog, Helm's Deep, Pelennor Fields) to lend an axe, staff or bow to your party. Instead, you play the role of Gondor warrior Berethor, who sets out to locate Boromir. Along the way, elves, rangers, dwarves, Rohan warriors and many more will join your quest. Gandalf actor Sir Ian McKellen has provided an excellent narrative that keeps you updated on where in the story you are. But if you're familiar with the movies or the books, you'll have heard it all before.
The Third Age is essentially an adventure within an adventure. While Frodo and co are off dealing with matters of the ring, Berethor is chasing the Fellowship through Middle-earth, mopping up what the Fellowship leaves behind. There are lots of orcs to clear out of villages, lots of soldiers to round up for the Helm's Deep battle and lots of Uruk-hai to waste in Osgiliath. At one point or another you'll see just about every foe Tolkien wrote about and Peter Jackson filmed. There are a few twists and turns in the story - some that may well have the beards up in arms - but it'd be rude to give them away here.
With around 40 hours of gameplay to wade though, you'll spend some of your 'precious' time wandering the land, but mostly you'll be involved in turn-based battles. If you're familiar with the Final Fantasy style of turn-based combat then you'll know what to expect here. You take a turn to attack enemies or heal a member of your party, and then they do. And then you do. And then they do. It might not sound much on paper, but with the dizzying effects and cracking score taken from the films, it all adds up to a very enjoyable experience.
The Third Age feels as though it's been knocked together quite quickly. Many areas will be familiar to those who have played EA's previous titles, though the main characters don't look or sound themselves here. And because it's an RPG, there are loads of power-ups, spells, items and melee attacks to master. Your main inventory screen allows you to pick and choose your armour and weapons, while a scaled-down version lets you flick between spells and attacks during combat. Don't worry though, it sounds more complicated than it is and the interface is very simple to use. So much so that you won't notice it's there half the time.
But what does let the game down a little is the number of these turn-based random battles you have to get through to advance further. Parts of the game are open for a little linear exploration with a random encounter every now and again, but enclosed dungeon areas like the Mines of Moria will bog you down with battle after battle. It's especially frustrating when you want to get on and search for certain objects, but have to go through samey-looking battles every few minutes. When it all kicks off at Helm's Deep you have a series of brutal encounters with no save points to be seen anywhere. Some form of checkpoint in these areas wouldn't have gone amiss at all.
The Third Age stays faithful to the movie licence and dishes up hour upon hour of orc-slaying fun. It's not really doing anything new as far as RPGs go but, what it does do, it does well.
Official Xbox Magazine staff
// Overview
Verdict
Sadly not the RPG to rule them all. It's just a good game that blends a turn-based fight system with the classic story.
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