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 Post subject: LOTR - The Third Age
PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 4:30 am 
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The RPG of my dreams has just been released for XBox and PS2. Does anyone have it yet and what are your thoughts on it?

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 5:18 am 
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My friend has been talking endlessly about getting this game, is it good? I personaly cant wait for MEO (Middle Earth Online) The only lotr game i have is TTT for game cube.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:18 am 
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This game looks like heaven, but purly enough (for me) it won't be released for PC. And if so, it would a terrible port.
However, it looks still extremely good and I should play it somewhere else for at least a while!

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 7:31 am 
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If iget a ps2 i might get it
How much?
It sounds wicked

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:06 am 
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Strange that I have never heard of this game until now. I've been so caught up with the release for Battle for Middle Earth that it must have slipped. And my fave type of game too. A RPG. I'll get a review and some pics posted up as soon as I get back from Uni today. Cant wait to check this out

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 11:40 am 
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If only this was going to be a PC release as well. I dont understand why any games are not released on PC - they were designed on a PC, so surely it would actually be less work to make them PC compatible than console compatible?

I'll just have to play round a friend's, unless I get too engrossed in Battle for Middle Earth as soon as it is delivered.

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 1:52 pm 
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I think the game isnt that good at all...

The story is very untolkienisch IMO...
(Some thing like a Citadel guard from gondor and an elf and a dwarf travel the same road as the fellowship and encounter all kinds of creatures who werent killed by the fellowship).

And all the fighting is turn based... which i think is boring..

I havent played the game yet, I only saw some previews and trailers. So maybe it is a great game, but somebody will have to convince me first :wink:
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 3:26 pm 
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Electronic Arts set the cinema-to-console bar high with its The Lord of the Rings games. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King contained unprecedented amounts of movie footage, celebrity voice work and director participation. With The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age it turns the volume down on the cross-over appeal and aims squarely at RPG fans eager to roll the dice in Peter Jackson's version of Middle-earth.

The adventure is divided into three distinct parts, hence the old, working title The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Each act shares its climax with that of its respective film, only here players will be seeing the story from another angle. That's because The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age's characters aren't members of the Fellowship, but rather little-known folks, based on actual onscreen performers (though you'd actually be hard-pressed to spot them on your DVDs) whose adventures parallel those of Frodo and the gang.

Like most citizens of Middle-earth, your party knows nothing of the Fellowship's mission to destroy the One Ring. In fact, the first playable character, Berethor, is a Gondorian charged with following Boromir to make sure that the son of Gondor successfully returns the rediscovered magical weapon to its "rightful owners." As is common in RPGs, consequences eventually steer Berethor in a direction much different from that of his original quest. And, as usual, he eventually meets other adventurers who join his side. A Dwarf named Hadhad, Elegost the Ranger and the Elven Idrial round off the party on display at E3.


Fans of Gandalf and company need not despair, though. Your party crosses paths with characters from then films just in time for many of the trilogy's high-impact moments. You'll be able to fight along side Aragorn and Gimli at Helm's Deep and help Gandalf the Grey take a chunk out of the Balrog in Moria. No matter how hard you try, though, you won't be able to change the course of the movies. Though your party gets its fair share of blows in on the fiery beast, you will eventually part ways with the legendary opponents. Gandalf and the Balrog have a date on the mountainside and you're not invited.

Berethor and his crew still have plenty of opportunities to do smiting of their own. The second battle sequence shown at E3 pitted the good guys against a pair of Cave Trolls, one of which is outfitted with a drum. The turn-based battle system plays much like your average RPG, like Final Fantasy VII for example. One at a time you select attacks (or actions) for your characters, let the enemies have their turn, then rinse, lather and repeat. Like the aforementioned Square Enix game, The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age has melee attacks, magic (called "craft") and over-the-top creature summons. Idrial can cast "Battle Steed" which summons a watery horse (like the flood that overcomes the Nazgul in The Fellowship of the Ring) to slap enemies with a blast of H2O.

The characters move through dungeons, like the Mines of Moria, in much the same way they moved in EA's movie tie-in games. In fact, many of the locations and people bear a striking resemblance to those in their two games. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the same character models and textures from the games were carried over to this title.

The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age has its own version of overworlds, such as The Plain of Rohan, which you navigate as one character on horseback. This is where the game opens up and allows players to explore and visit towns. There you'll be able to uncover quests, sub-quests and side stories, only about half of which will be mandatory. When above ground or moving through dungeons monster attacks will come in three ways. Random encounters will spring baddies on you. Scripted encounters will occur when you cross certain lines. There will also be roaming enemies which you can chose to attack by simply approaching them.

All of the key traits of contemporary RPGs will be present in this title. Elemental attributes play a role in items and attacks. Equipment, such as armor and weapons, will have varying rarities. Arcane objects from the Second Age will be more powerful, effective and rare than everyday Third Age stuff. Equipping said armor and weapons will change the look of your characters.

The most interesting wrinkle in the RPG blueprint that The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age offers is the ability to play both sides -- Dark and Light. Make no mistake, we're not talking moment-to-moment alignment tweaking as in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This game promises to allow players to play through the game as the bad, guys. That's right. You'll get to pick the Balrog's attacks and get some payback on that bearded fool. Or will you? The Dark Side's storyline won't be as narratively deep or character driven as the primary Light Side narrative. There's even a chance that you won't be allowed to detrimentally effect the course of Tolkien and Jackson's intended storyline. Sorry, Charlie.

Still, EA's efforts to deliver a high-quality RPG to The Lord of the Rings fans seem admirable. Sure, there doesn't seem to be much innovation here. It's sticking to mostly tried and true genre conventions. At least EA's signature production values will remain present in the game. Ian McKellen is being tapped to record new narration to accompany the movie scenes that will make it into the game, in an effort to freshen and recontextualize the scenes to the RPGs perspective.


Overall it looks like a great game. I will try rent it out this weekend and give my view on it then. That screenshot of the Balrog looks amazing doesn't it :shock:

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 8:14 pm 
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Hi ive got this game and in my opinion its awsome! Well if you like the final fantasy games as the battles are like that.also its clever how they have done it as its not aragorn and your normal crew but you get partnered up with them in cirtain scenarios.

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 5:06 am 
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omg, my friend just got it, the graphics :shock: THE BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN :shock: it looks like RL

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PostPosted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 8:24 am 
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I may be going off the subject alittle but you think there is no good games on pc ive got a mac there are very few games to choose from from under £20

The screenshot looks wicked i wish i had a ps2

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PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2004 12:21 pm 
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Hi All,
I can vouch favourably for this title on the PS2. I've finished playing it through (on easy mode) and it was fun from woe to go.

My only criticism would be in the turn based combat system. Not the system itself but some of the complex animations that the characters perform when you get them exercising more advanced skills... they do drag after a while, especially if it's a skill you use often. An option to turn off the anims, or quicken combat pace would have been nice.

As for playing in 'Evil Mode' It's not as it's described in the review. When you finish a quest in one particualr section of the map and move onto a new section and save your game, you unlock the previous level in Evil mode. This comprises of beating the pixels out of the good guys in a few well chosen battle sequences, and yes you do get to play the Balrog... You don't play through the whole game with a developing plotline in this mode but you get access to some pretty nice 'Fell' weapons for your Good party if you complete an Evil level.

If you're into RPGs and LOTR, I can recommend this for good entertainment. Mind you I'm still hanging out for Battle for Middle Earth in December. :D

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 1:36 am 
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This game is really bad.............

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:30 am 
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Tarondor wrote:
This game is really bad.............


And why do you think so???

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 10:37 am 
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I rented this game over the weekend and I can tell you now I won't be bothering to fork out the money for it.

Graphically, it is awesome. The storyline visist many places that the Fellowship went to in the movie and the scenery is recreated magnificently. The mountain top campsite where the Crebain spotted them is one exceptional example of the faithful reproduction of the movie sets and locations.

But there my praise ends. The game purports to be a role playing game, but has no facility to choose any aspect of your character beyond the weapon in his hand and the skills he learns. You cannot choose a path to follow - the story line is fixed and all of the battles are predefined encounters. All interaction between characters is via cut scenes and the player himself has no opportunity to influence any of it in any way at all.

This is no more of a role playing game than Halo or Doom 3.

The combat is turn based, and the characters (enemie and friend alike) - while beautifully animated, have skills and powers that do not fit into Tolkien's world at all. My party of three (a Man of Gondor, an Elf Maiden, and a doughty Dwarf) battled against ONE Moria Goblin Shaman and repeatedly got their asses kicked when it wielded the "Flame of Udun" power (The Flame of Udun being the power of the Balrog!!!).

All of the characters have American accents (even the Elf), which goes against the PJ epic movies and for a non-Yank like me, just seems wrong.

And when the heroes win a combat, they flourish their swords about like gridiron players who've scored a touchdown. Sorry, but I kept expecting them to high-5 each other!

When you move your character around the map, he appears on his own - none of the party accompany him - but when a combat occurs, suddenly, they are all there again. Bizarre! And why do all the monsters fade to invisible when you kill them? And the items you find along the way are all conveniently stored in treasure chests by the side of the path.

Sorry, but for a game with such enormous promise, it turned out to be a heap of rubbish in my books. Not what I was lead to believe it would be at all - I'll save my cash for Elder Scrolls IV

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 10:44 am 
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Good Points Dagorlad. I guess I didn't have my sights set very high as the other games were completely linear, I expected this one to go the same way as well.

Graphically though, it is a treat, there is a lot of detail packed into the backgrounds and locations and they have gone to some length to give it the same look as key points from the films.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2004 6:52 pm 
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It comes across as a cheap Final Fantasy, even my friend who liie me is a big FF and LOTRs fan thought it was very disapointing and of bad game play quality. Good graphics though.

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:19 pm 
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i personnally think that this an awesome game

the only thing i find i can complain about is the plot and the game as a whole is not long enough, needs more depth

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 8:50 pm 
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I thoink it rocks, i really like the new persons and the ghraphic is okay( Not to good). so it is a good game .

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2004 9:16 pm 
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the graphics are the best part!!

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