"The Lord of The Rings: The Third Age is an action/role playing game set in J.R.R. Tolkien's world of middle earth. This LOTR game is unique in that it does not focus on the well-known Fellowship of the Ring. Instead, you play as members of a band - which is never mentioned in the books or movies-that travels a parellel course to the Fellowship. While some die-hard Tolkien fans may resent this, Most should find in new and interesting.

In this game, there are two main "modes" of gameplay: adventure mode and battle mode. In adventure mode, the player explores the reigons of middle earth ( from the halls of Moria to the plains of Rohan), Picks up treasure and items (more on that soon) and sees little cutsenes that form the storyline.
In battle mode, the caracter gets to play: Battles! Each battle unfolds using a turn-based system, not unlike those pokemon gameboy games. In other words, you get a chance to do something( attack, heal a party member, use an item,etc.) then the enemy gets to do something, and back and forth and so on. Thhroughout the game you'll be fighting anything from orcs to trolls to nazgul and more.

Okay! that's the main idea behind The Third Age. Now lets look at all the details, and the ups and downs of the game.

The Party. The main characters in TTA are the members of a small band of warriors that you get to control. These guys include a Gondorian soldier,Berethor (the leader), a dwarf (hadhod), an elf (Idrial), a ranger (elegost), and others. You begin as Berethor, adding more players as you progress through the game. You can choose one of the available players to have run around in adventure mode, and a maximum of three characters in each battle( during battle you can swich out players if you want). Occaisionaly, a special character will join your group, such as Gandalf or Faramir. As you play the game, an intruiging little drama unfolds with the players.

Items. In adventure mode you sometimes run across old wooden chests. These contain valuable items. Some, weapons and armor, are character specific (don't try putting the Ithilien longbow in Hadhod's hands- it won't work) others, like the healing herb kingsfoil, can be shared througout the party.
The Third Age has its ups and downs, just like any other game. In its favor, there are certainly more points in the 'up' column.
The graphics in this game are definately top-notch. You can see the details on a helmet, then zoom out and take in the view of a cavernous Dwarven hall. Designers obviously paid a great deal of attention to the characters- down to the fact that they breathe heavier after running up stairs! Music is also integrated into TTA very well.

Battle mode may sound a little boring, but once you start playing, you get lost in planning stratiges to defeat tough bad guys and learning new moves.
All right, nobody's perfect. When fighting large groups of enemies, it can take a long time for goblin 1 to attack, then goblin 2, and on and on, leaving you sitting there, waiting to play. Also, when you meet secondary characters, such as elves or villagers, they tend to all look the same and tell you the same things.

In the end, this game hath been rated: 98% The Third Age is an exciting and interesting game with a few minor flaws." - anonymous