The Lord of the Rings : The Third Age

The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age for PlayStation 2 is a turn-based role-playing game released by EA Games in November 2004. Developed by EA Redwood Shores, it takes place alongside the events of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy rather than adapting J. R. R. Tolkien's novel directly. The game follows an original band of travelers whose route repeatedly crosses the Fellowship's path, giving its own party a view of the War of the Ring from Rivendell to Mordor.

The adventure begins with Berethor, a captain of Gondor searching for Boromir. He is joined by Idrial, an Elf connected to Galadriel, and later by companions including the Ranger Elegost, the Dwarf Hadhod, the Gondorian Morwen, and the Rohirrim warrior Eaoden. Their story runs beside familiar events from the films, but the group has its own battles and motivations. Film characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Faramir, Eowyn, and Eomer appear at key moments, while collected Epic Scenes use footage from the trilogy with new narration by Ian McKellen as Gandalf to put the party's journey in context.

Exploration is presented from a third-person perspective across a sequence of Middle-earth locations. Players follow primary quests to advance and can take optional assignments for extra rewards, using the on-screen map to track objectives. The route passes through areas associated with the films, including Caradhras, the Mines of Moria, Lothlorien, Rohan, Helm's Deep, Osgiliath, Minas Tirith, the Pelennor Fields, and the Black Gate. Encounters include planned story fights and random battles, with visual warnings on the field indicating potential danger or an approaching scripted confrontation.

Combat is the centerpiece of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age PS2. Battles use a turn-based system with a visible action queue, so players can see the coming order of allies and enemies and alter it with effects that speed, slow, stun, or otherwise influence combatants. Up to three party members fight at once, with opportunities in many battles to exchange characters. Commands cover standard attacks, items, weapon changes, and character abilities, while successful attacks build a shared momentum meter that can trigger the powerful Perfect Mode techniques.

Progression combines experience, equipment, attributes, and character-specific skill trees. Every participant earns experience after a battle, and level gains provide points for traits such as strength, spirit, constitution, speed, and dexterity. Individual characters develop weapon, magic, passive, and Perfect Mode abilities, while equipped Elf-stones can open additional Lightcraft, Shadowcraft, or item-creation options. This structure makes the party flexible without losing the different fighting styles associated with its members, and it encourages using learned skills repeatedly to unlock further techniques.

The PlayStation 2 version also includes Evil Mode, a separate challenge option that opens completed areas for battles fought from Sauron's side against the heroes from the main campaign. Victories there unlock items for use in the regular adventure. The Third Age arrived after EA's action games based on The Two Towers and The Return of the King, but it takes a distinctly different approach: a deliberate party RPG built around tactical turns, character growth, and a parallel journey through the film version of Middle-earth. It was released for PS2 alongside GameCube and Xbox editions; the Game Boy Advance game with the same title is a different turn-based tactics adaptation and should not be confused with this console release.