What is The Third Age, the Lord of the Rings RPG that follows the films?

It is EA's turn-based RPG about a second fellowship walking in the first one's footsteps.

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is a 2004 turn-based role-playing game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube, released worldwide in November 2004. A separate turn-based tactics version for Game Boy Advance was developed by Griptonite Games. It is a loose adaptation of Peter Jackson's film trilogy, and the same rights rule applied: because it is not an adaptation of Tolkien's novel, anything from the novels not mentioned or depicted in the films could not be represented.

Instead of replaying Frodo's journey as Frodo, you control an original party whose story runs concurrently with the films, playing what the article calls a key, previously unseen role in their events. Executive producer Steve Gray described the design as an S curve that weaves in and out of the path of the Fellowship: sometimes behind it, sometimes next to it, sometimes in the same time and place. The party helps Gandalf fight the Balrog, stands at Helm's Deep, and even fights the Eye of Sauron atop Barad-dûr, an event that takes place in no film.

Combat is the headline. The game is an RPG in the style of the Final Fantasy series, and its turn-based system is similar to Final Fantasy X's Conditional Turn-Based system, with an on-screen battle queue showing the order of turns and time pausing while you choose commands. EA said the same thing at the reveal in April 2004, announcing gameplay similar to Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. Reviewers noticed: the game was praised for its graphics, but some felt it was somewhat too derivative of Final Fantasy X.

Its other signature is Evil Mode. As you complete each area of the main game, that area unlocks in Evil Mode, where you control the forces of Sauron and fight against your own party. Finishing an area's battles, with no saving between them, unlocks special items for the main game.

THE PARTY

Original characters, film events

Berethor and Idrial

Berethor, a captain in the Citadel Guard of Gondor, travels to Rivendell to find Boromir and is rescued from the Nazgûl by Idrial, an elf in the service of Galadriel. Gandalf guides them through collectible film clips called Epic Scenes, narrated by Gandalf himself.

Elegost, Hadhod, and Éaoden

The party grows with Elegost, a Dúnedain ranger, Hadhod, a dwarf, and Éaoden, a member of Rohan's Royal Guard. The characters were each based on a minor character or extra named by the film production crew but never named on screen.

Morwen

Morwen joins on the road to Helm's Deep hoping to find her family, and the party finds their bodies, killed by wargs, before the fortress. She is later stabbed by the Nazgûl on the Pelennor Fields and saved by Aragorn, a story thread invented entirely for this game.

THE NUMBERS

Reception and sales, as documented

Metacritic

GameCube 74 out of 100, PlayStation 2 73, Xbox 75. The Game Boy Advance tactics version scored 67. Metacritic classified the game as mixed or average reviews, except the Xbox version, which it classified as generally favorable.

The Final Fantasy X comparison

Reviewers praised the graphics and visuals, criticised the story and character development, and some felt the game was somewhat too derivative of Final Fantasy X. IGN scored it 8.5 out of 10, GameSpot 7.7, Eurogamer 7 on Xbox.

Sales

According to Electronic Arts, The Third Age was a commercial success, with sales above one million units worldwide by the end of 2004.

What is The Third Age, the Lord of the Rings RPG that follows the films?

THE PARTY

THE NUMBERS

THE FIRST WORD