Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Reviews
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When we first started playing The Third Age, we were slightly disappointed by it, and we did find it slow and clunky, however, as we progressed through the game we did warm to it, especially when some of the depth that the game has, such as the highly detailed attribute system, developed. Whether the fact that the game follows a group individual, and not the actual Fellowship of the Ring, will put off fans of Rings is something that we will have to wait and see. There is no doubt that there will be fans who love the book and the films, and will be curious to explore this tangent that EA has created; whilst there will definitely be some in uproar that the almost Holy texts of Tolkien have been indirectly '˜tampered' with. This is not the best RPG title to be released this year by a long shot, but for those who wish to get into the world of Middle-Earth, The Third Age will satisfy some of the desire to become immersed in the story to a deeper level than the previous LOTR titles allowed and to those gamers who are completely disheartened by this release, then don't worry, because EA will be releasing The Battle for Middle-Earth very soon on the PC.
The second is at ComputerAndVideoGames with an overall score of 6/100 (is that right?):
We'd have loved a game that truly let you explore Middle-Earth - yes, we are that sad sometimes - but this isn't really it. You're left with playing a game that feels vaguely like chewing an endless pile of cream crackers. The cream crackers of vaguely interesting turn-based combat, interspersed with the odd sultana of story and the out-of-date marshmallow of film footage. Now, technically, The Third Age is a good enough adventure title. But when it comes to The Lord of the Rings, good enough just ain't good enough any more. Shame, because the potential was there.
The third is at GamesMainFrame with an overall score of 8.6/10:
Though the characters aren't depicted as well as I'd hoped, they're still done fairly well with realistic movements, but otherwise they seem to be quite papery, during Gameplay and the cut scenes. Speaking of cut scenes, these common pop-ups each have their own set of perfect sounds. Almost everything can be heard during these scenes, which have some dialogue that seems to have been ripped straight from the movies. The music is also straight from the movie, and the award-winning soundtrack seems to fit the mood of certain environments very well.
And the fourth is at EGLive with an overall score of 8/10:
Overall, this is a solid RPG and a good Lord of the Rings game, that has a few problems. The battle system could be deeper and the plot could have used some more work. The audio and graphics are great, and really transports you to Middle Earth. Lord of the Rings fans will love this game, everyone else will find it a nice rental. If you're just looking for a good RPG, you might want to wait. This one really doesn't offer anything new.
