The Lord of the Rings The Third Age

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Play on the side of light or shadow. In an adventure that intersects the main plot points of the film trilogy, battle on the side of the Fellowship in their quest to save Middle-earth or unlock the evil missions where you fight on the side of Sauron.
• Deep gameplay that expands all three films. Travel to familiar and unfamiliar places such as the Mines of Moria, Helm's Deep, Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith, and a host of unexpected locations like the White Mountains Plains.
• Customize your hero or villain - Upgrade your character with an in-depth skill tree system where you can acquire unique skills in melee combat, ranged weaponry, defense, and magic.
• Discover a vast array of weapons, armor and clothing, and other Middle-earth items.
• Free-roaming gameplay. Explore, take on side quests, and uncover secret characters to join your party, or special weapons and items to boost your existing characters.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002HDS6Y
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 4.8 x 1 inches ; 2.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 3, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,165 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Game Boy Advance

Game Informer Review

This is EA's second title called The Third Age, and like the console game, we see the publisher fortifying its place as an RPG purveyor of some skill. A pure strategy game, I loved the combat's flank system, where you receive a semi-random amount of command points to spend on actions per flank. Since you can move characters and attack between flanks, there are plenty of ways to out-maneuver your opponent. Smart strategy also means using terrain and choosing your companions wisely. Despite its adherence to the genre, battles can be frustratingly long, and surprisingly, the lack of a driving story make this title a little dry for some. Not for me, however.

Rated: 8 out of 10
Editor: Matthew Kato
Issue: February 2005




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Product Description

Play as all-new characters from Middle-earth, interacting with the heroes, villains, and supporting cast who populate the world. Your heroes or villains are completely upgradeable, allowing you to enhance their weapons, fighting style, and attributes. Then you will embark on a free-roaming adventure where you can complete the primary objectives or seek out the various side quests and uncover hidden characters, secret weapons, and powerful items. Fight alongside or against key characters from The Lord of the Rings such as Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Eowyn, and the Balrog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turn Based Strategy For Grown Ups, November 13, 2004

By 

Eric Graff (Hudson, NH United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Lord of the Rings The Third Age (Video Game)

I've played both Fire Emblem and Advance wars, two very similar Turn-Based strategy games on the GBA. Both games were fantastic, but were a bit too...juvinile for my adult tastes.

Third Age remedies this. Instead of running silly looking anime-esque teenagers, the player gets to move around gorgeous LoTR sprites, whose animations remind me of the original Diablo game for the PC. There is a definite grittyness to the animations as well as the settings, all beautifully depicted. My only gripe with the animations is that they tend to be a little too dark and gritty. It's sometimes hard to tell one sprite from another. Luckily, a quick move of the curser identifies each character.

Which leads into the game mechanics themselves. Instead of using the standard "everyone gets to go once a turn" sequence of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, Third Age uses a randomly determined number to tell how units that can move each turn. While this doesn't make the game very realistic, it makes it feel more like a strategy board game than a true battle. Of course, the commanding heroes the player chooses in each battle helps to determine this number. At first, I was concerned with this, until I played my first battle with cavalry.

In the LoTR setting, it is the cavalry (mumakils, Rohirim and Worg riders) that turn the tide of most battles. This game simulates this beautifully, making cavalry and powerful tool in any skirmish. While most units simply move and attack or shoot, the cavalry units can move before and after an attack, making them incredibly powerful strike-and-regroup units. To date I haven't seen a wargame that gives their cavalry units the power they deserve.

The heroes themselves are upgradeable, earing experience points with each kill in their area of the battlefield. As they gain experience, they can purchase more powerful abilities (like Legolas' rapid fire, allowing more attacks per turn, and Gandalf's inspire, which allows other units to go when command points are used up). These abilities add a nice customizable dimension that is lacking in Emblem and Wars.

The music is pulled straight from the movie trilogy, as are many of the sound effects. Swords ring, fire and lightning explodes, and death cries resound, all held together by the riveting musical score.

If you are a fan of LoTR, check out this game. If you are a fan of Turn-based strategy games, but are tired of silly anime sprites, look no further. Despite the dark graphics and slightly difficulty level, I feel that this is the best strategy game to date on the GBA.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lotr awesome Role Playing Game, January 8, 2005

By 

Sherry Ledtke (LOTR Super Fan, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Lord of the Rings The Third Age (Video Game)

When I had first goten this game for Christmas, I had thought that the Third Age for gamecube might be more fun. I don't know about what that one is like, but I'm sure glad I opened this one for Gameboy!

You start out the game by picking if you want to fight for good or bad. Then you move to what charater you want to have for your leader. It's a very wide range of charaters! You can even pick the Witch King! I don't want to give much away, but you then go to different places and fight evil(if you're good) or vice versa. It's a very fun game that will take up most of those boring hours in the car when your going for 15,000 hours to your vacation spot!

David

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best strategy game EVER for Game Boy Advance, May 14, 2005

By 

Grishnakh (Edge of Fangorn) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Lord of the Rings The Third Age (Video Game)

This game is very, very, very, very fun. Don't buy it expecting an experience akin to the GameCube Third Age, though- this game comes to GBA as a strategy game, not a full-fledged RPG. The battles are intense and demand careful consideration for each move, lest your forces be eradicated by your computer opponent. The Third Age uses a turn-based battle system that reminds me of chess, the number of units you can move varying according to your commander's leadership skills. Their are six commanders total to choose from, my favorites being Aragorn and the Witch King. You can play this game as either good or evil. I like being good because it feels so good to destroy those nasty orcs, but I like being evil because then I don't feel so guilty when one of my units dies. Another cool feature of this game is that you can not only link up with others who own this game, you can also play two-player hotseat multiplayer on just one system. The bottom line? An awesome game for those who either like strayegy games or LOTR games or both. I couldn't stand Advance Wars, but I love the Third Age. I'm still waiting on Nintendo to come out with LOTR games for the DS....

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