The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age Preview

A Japanese-style RPG

Since the epic tale of the Lord of the Rings was reborn into the cinematic masterpiece that it is, the marketing machine has been in overdrive, permeating retail outlets everywhere with all manner of LotR-related knickknacks and doodads and tchotchkes. Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan. That's why I'm writing this in the first place. Anyone read the book? You know - the one the movie was based on? OK... Anyone watched the movie? What? You've got the keychain? Nifty.

Ugh, troll gas!!

Look, your shoelace is undone!!

Of course it would be stupid to pass up an opportunity like this. It seems that LotR has reached the climax of its popularity, so one of the best possible ways to ride that wave is to make a bazillion video games based on the series... And, of course, drink coasters.

There have been several games so far that have drawn their content from arguably the most well-known fantasy novel in the history of the world, and as such, have captured the attentions of gamers fairly successfully, to date. But it's soon getting to the point where you can't swing a dead Uruk-Hai without hitting a game that doesn't involve the influences of Prof. Tolkien. But, only in case someone got sick of the handsomely rugged Aragorn and that immaculately pretty Elf that skates down the stairs (Eru almighty!), EA has ingeniously thought of the way how to recycle the old recipe and spice it up with some new material. That is, in LotR: The Third Age you won't get to lead the characters from the Fellowship, but some completely new characters.

While this may be a big turnoff for the die-hard fans of LotR and LotR-based games, it may also hold a lot of appeal for those who a.) Need a change, and b.) Don't give a damn about LotR and just want to play the bloody game. Among the new characters introduced in the game, players will get to lead Gondorian warrior Berethor, she-elf Idrial, Dunedain ranger Elegost and a dwarf Hadhod. Berethor is a grim-looking man with some similarities to both Denethor and Boromir, who is a captain of the guard of Gondor. He encounters some rather nervous Ringwraiths along the way, which he would very much like to avoid. Later on, he meets several new characters that will become his friends and allies (all named above), among which is an elven lady, Idrial, who serves the Lady of the Golden Wood - yes, I mean Galadriel. I must admit I was surprised by this inclusion of a female character as I found it really strange to watch this Titty-Elf (as I first labeled her) draw a sword and engage in battle. You may find me misogynistic, but that is so un-Tolkien and so, um, un-manly. The only woman so far who was allowed to show some neat combat skills was Eowyn, but she was mortal anyway - watching a she-elf mix it up in battle seemed like sacrilege.

Anyway, the game lets you build a very heterogeneous party, consisting of the six members of different races and cultures, namely Berethor, Hadhod, Idrial, Elegost and two Rohan warriors who join you later in the game. From time to time you will get a seventh character, the Grey Wanderer himself (Gandalf). Although you get to fight on the side of the good fellows, it is possible to unlock encounters which will allow you to fight on the side of Sauron. This turn-based RPG puts you in some of the most spectacular, yet some of the most frightening scenes from LotR, such as the chat with the Balrog in Moria, the battle of Helm's Deep, the battle for Osgiliath or the battle on the Pellenor Fields, where you will meet some of the main characters in the trilogy. What's also interesting is that, apart from lots of movie material you will also get to hear the original actors who gave their voices to the characters they played in the movie. This will surely help in building the right atmosphere for the game.

The player will have the opportunity to visit all the important places from the movie and participate in some of its major battles. The plot at first sounds a little strange: you have to find Boromir and prevent the Fellowship in their attempt to take the Ring to the fires of Mount Doom, but eventually you find out that Saruman is a big bad liar with an impossible manicure and extravagant fashion taste. Your mission objectives will change and you'll find yourself helping the Hobbits and the others in their quest. Well, apart from that not much is known about the plot for now but I guess you got the general idea. EA wanted to make the game as open-ended as possible, so that you can at one point even choose to become one of Sauron's minions.

There are two game modes in The Third Age, namely the adventure and the battle mode. In the adventure mode, your party is represented by one character, and it lets you run around and explore, while the battle mode lets you kill or get killed by heaps of ugly mistakes of nature. The change from adventure to battle mode happens mostly near the treasure chests, but the most precise way to find out when you're going to engage in a fight is to watch the indicator in the shape of a blue Palantir or the eye of Sauron. The treasure chests are important because they grant you with experience points or helpful items, and if you do your best and complete your quests you will be rewarded with some in-movie sequences, narrated by Ian McKellen (the bloke that played Gandalf, God damn it). We have heard the items you'll get a chance to put your hands on will be rather impressive and valuable, and also fully visible on your character. Anyway, there are three sorts of encounters and they are random, scripted or with roaming enemies. Random encounters will occur when you stumble upon some evil-looking fellas, scripted ones will happen when you perform a certain action in the game and the third kind requires of you to approach the bad guys and engage in a fight with them.

The in-movie sequences called Story Cards are mostly eye-candy, but also serve to inform the non-enlightened ones of the events that are taking place in Middle-earth. I also have to mention that, apart from them, a boatload of material in connection to the original movie was used, such as the 3D modeling data created by WETA. In fact, The Third Age is being done in collaboration with WETA, so the results should be more than satisfactory.

This would be a Balrog. No shit, Gandalf!

We have a punk band you know.

When you switch from adventure to combat mode, you are allowed to fight with only three of your characters. The good thing is that you can change and replace them with the remaining characters during the battle unless they are surrounded by the enemy. Even if a character did not participate in the battle or got killed during one, they will still gain experience, so when they gain a level you can distribute points the way you like. The chars are standard and include strength, spirit, constitution, dexterity, and speed. When you assign points to different chars, you develop your character in a certain direction, so that you can manage all members of your party the way you like.

The battles are played out in the standard console turn-based RPG principle, with your company on one and the enemy on the other side. There are several types of attack - melee, magic and combo. Each character chooses the type of attack they want to perform, from whacking with a wooden stick and shooting with and arrow all the way to some less common attacks, such as "spirit powers" magic attacks. Idrial uses healing and water magic, whereas Hadhod cam learn bow skills and anti-beast spells. A very nice feature is the inclusion of summon creature spell, so Idrial can summon a watery horse similar to the ones that kicked the Ringwraiths' asses in FotR.

Another useful feature of The Third Age Battles is the tank/protect system, which helps you protect your weaker characters - the stronger members of the group will take more damage, and the weaker ones can safely hide behind them, which is very useful. Moreover, when you fill up the so-called "perfect meter" that monitors the amount of damage you deliver to your foes you will be granted with a super-powerful attack. Yes, I know it's very Japanese and console-like, but PC gamers might grow to like it eventually.

On the visual side, the game looks quite well. The surroundings contain all the important locations from the movie and the monsters look detailed and realistic. A lot of work has been put into making the game characters come to life, including the implementation of facial expressions that should help show off the appropriate emotions during some key scenes. The player will also be able to fully control the camera so that he can appreciate the beauty of his surroundings, but also to get a clearer picture of the battle area.