It can be tough to find a movie game that isn’t a complete waste of time.
You need to assemble a freaking fellowship and search the land just to find one.
But hey...if you’re ever on such a journey, look to their coming on the first light of
the fifth day.
Or just look to EA’s Lord of the Rings games.
You know, whichever.
See, last generation, Electronic Arts released a couple really good Lord of the Rings games
just as Middle Earth mania took over theaters.
Two Towers and Return Of The King were awesome hack-and-slash games that did a great job
recreating those epic battles from the movies.
But instead of releasing a third game with that same style, Electronic Arts took a different
road...through the mines of Moria.
Actually, they made an RPG.
So that’s a lie.
Anyway, the Lord of the Rings: The Third Age is precisely that.
This is turn-based RPG based on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
And I say the film trilogy because...the game actually takes place parallel to the events
of the movies.
That’s one of the best things about The Third Age.
As the hobbits traveled to Mordor and the fellowship did its fellowshipping, this is
a look at what was happening around them.
Or sometimes, right below them.
So if you’re a fan of the films, there are lots of little geek-out moments like that,
when something in the game echoes the movies.
In fact, Gandalf sometimes speaks to you directly during cut scenes, offering advice based on
the fellowship’s trials.
Of course, the problem is...you don’t really need it.
That’s the biggest issue with this game.
The Third Age is completely linear.
So you visit all these Tolkien environments, these awesome locations...and you have to
walk down a path.
There’s absolutely no opportunity for exploration or anything like that—it’s all very straightforward.
And you know, that applies to the gameplay, too.
This is basically an RPG lite.
Your party always overpowers your enemies, so the difficulty is never very high.
Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing—it certainly makes the game accessible.
But if you play a lot of RPGs, this might be a bit too simple to hold your interest.
Another slight issue is that...you know, it’s great to be playing as different characters
parallel to the fellowship, but that also means you’re not playing as the fellowship.
The game’s characters are nowhere near as interesting or memorable as the fan-favorites
from the movies.
So as interesting as the story is, that’s only because it plays off of a more interesting
story with more interesting characters.
Of course, that hardly means this isn’t a good game.
In fact, personally, I’m not even a big fan of turn-based RPGs, but I couldn’t stop
playing this one.
It’s just a perfect entry-level RPG.
The combat is fun, but never confusing.
The game feels big, but it’s never overwhelming.
It’s not perfect, but if you like the movies, you’ll love The Third Age.
Huge thanks to our friend David from Texas for sending us one of the coolest movie games
you’ll ever play.