The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (2004)

by EA Redwood Shores, Electronic Arts
Genres:Role-playing (RPG), Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Tactical
Themes:Action, Fantasy
Game modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Story:The Lord of the Rings:The Third Age introduces entirely new characters which aren't mentioned in the books or movies. The game does relate to the movies by including scenes from all three movies, with new background speech by Ian McKellen (Gandalf). There are seven playable characters in the game which have been created specifically for it, as well a small appearances by characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Eowyn, Faramir, and Gothmog. The game covers events in all three movies/books, mostly with references to major events shown through cut scenes, or the scenes from the movies with Ian McKellan's narration. A classic RPG game, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age has gameplay elements similar to Final Fantasy, where you have a party of characters, each with a different set of skills and attributes, who gain levels, making them stronger as the game progresses. Battles are turn-based, and let the gamer make different decisions on what they want to do to change the outcome of the battle. The game travels through many areas throughout Tolkien's Middle Earth, including The Pelennor Fields and Moria.Show more
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Stories about this game (14)
What’s your memory of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age?Share your favorite moments and see what others remember about this game.
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user avatar@photoleiauser avatar@photoleia
January 31, 2025
I have this on GameCube, and it is quite literally the only reason i still have a GameCube at all. I will be devastated if i ever can't find a functional GameCube, or if my Disc stops functioning and I can't find a replacement. The Third Age is a silly premise, making you "just miss" the main characters while hitting major movie locations. Technically it's satisfying and sounds design is great. The Third Age is such a wonderful comfort game. I've lost hours to this, and is the only LotR games I have any interest in still playing after all these years. Having access to this on the computer, and not having to worry about losing access due to failing technology, would be a huge reason to celebrate.
user avatar@Keret27user avatar@Keret27
February 05, 2025
Just a fun game that will keep you entertained for ages. Played it ages ago when it came out on playstation and thought it was an awesome game. If you like RPGs then you would probably enjoy it.
user avatar@Mephisto987user avatar@Mephisto987
February 07, 2025
My brother and I used to play this game for days on end leveling up all the heroes and finding all the best gear for each character. It was one of my favorite games of all time. I was sad when my original disk stopped working but I hope this gets enough love to come back.
user avatar@tvrsteveuser avatar@tvrsteve
February 22, 2025
First game I ever played that actually changes your party's appearance with every piece of equipment. It's more or less a Middle Earth skin for Final Fantasy 10, but it's cool to have a licensed game be a turn-based RPG for once. Love the mode where you play as enemy squads and bosses too.
user avatar@TheZaiususer avatar@TheZaius
February 17, 2025
I played this on GameCube. Two discs! It uses the battle system of Final Fantasy X with a more traditional leveling system. It's more like a dungeon crawler with cutscenes. There are no villages to visit so that aspect of typical RPGs is missing. It's a charming Lord of the Rings experience.
I played this game REPEATEDLY as a child on my PS2. I would play it at home alone, at home with my brother and at my friend's house with him. The premise is silly and the gameplay is probably a little by today's standards but man... This game deserves to be held up as an example of a fun, non-canon use of IP rights. The sad thing is we will probably never see a game use movie rights in this way again, as everything now pursues the need to be "canon".
user avatar@Acul1412user avatar@Acul1412
April 19, 2025
This was one of my all-time favorite games on the PS2 when I was a kid. Leveling all the different characters up and unlocking all the different moves for them was the coolest thing to me. Sure, it has some balancing issues, but it's still a lot of fun to play and can be pretty challenging at times, even with the broken skills some characters have. I would love to play this in high quality, maybe even a remaster of it. One can dream.
This game was one of my favorites in middle school. The concept of getting to play a game in a world I love without just scene for scene playing the movie was revolutionary to me. I'd love to have the opportunity to revisit these characters and their stories.
I play this game through 100% completion every year on my OG Xbox. It doesn't run the best most of the time but it is a blast to play. I would love to see it on pc, running at full speed. It's one of those games you just relax with or experiment in exploiting it's rpg systems.
All I remember is getting stuck in a part where I think the main human characters starts to get corrupted by Sauron or something and it was three fights in a row and I for the love of me couldn't beat this sequence. I was having fun up until that point and my PS2 is long gone, so it would be a good chance to replay it to completion of released here.
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