The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age

 PlayStation 2
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 89 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 89
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 89
  3. Negative: 5 out of 89
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  1. vonRichington
    Mar 26, 2017
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The things Lord of The Rings: the third age managed to get right, namely it's fairly decent (though inconsistent) graphics and RPG mechanics, are severely overshadowed by atrocious storytelling, lazy writing, and generally unlikable characters.

    The Game has you playing with your own little fellowship; Berethor, an edgy jerk from Gondor who has a Morgul curse on him making him even more annoying and edgy, Idrial, who is basically Arwen if she got friendzoned, Elegost, a ranger who's just kinda there, Hadhod, who's basically Gimli if he was a bit more emo, Morwen, who's basically Eowen if she didn't get friendzoned and used a pair of axes instead of a sword, and Eaoden, who is a massive troll.
    Your little band of heroes travels through many iconic Lord of The Rings locations, such as the Mines of Moria, where you fight the Balrog with Gandalf, for, some reason, Helms Deep, where the major plot twist happens, Osgiliath, where the OTHER major plot twist happens, Minas Tirith, where the background looks like somone scrubbed fecal matter on a field and said, "this is an army", the Pelannor Fields, where Mumakils will either roll over and die, or confuse/paralyze you until you roll over and die, and where Aragorn tells Berethor he bows to no one.
    Then go fight the Eye of Sauron atop Barad-Ur, and watch as the game just ends after you kill him.
    As you can tell, the story moreso resembles a bad fanfiction than the Lord of The Rings story.
    And if all that wasn't enough for you, play Evil Mode, where you get to kill the heroes over and over again.

    The gameplay becomes very tedious and boring as there are relatively few enemy types, and they mainly throw upgraded versions of the same thing at you with little variance.
    One other glaring issue is the relative lack of NPCs throughout the game, with only a few areas having any, almost none of whom contribute anything to the plot whatsoever, there is also a total lack of shops, all equipment is looted from the areas you travel through.

    All in all, this is a sub-par game with a few redeeming qualities that just don't make up for the time that it takes to slog through to the end.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Best PS2 Game of 2004
50
#50 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2004
29
#29 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 35
  3. Negative: 2 out of 35
  1. Total Video Games
    70
    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.
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  2. TotalPlayStation
    50
    An utterly average RPG gets an average score. Fantastic visuals and killer sound effects can't hide the fact that this is a marathon most gamers won't be able to finish.
    Read full review
  3. Yahoo!
    80
    The game lacks the complicated character advancement common in the genre, but it's fast-paced, looks and sounds great, and will keep casual RPG and Lord of the Rings fans happy.
    Read full review
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